This document discusses how local businesses can optimize their Google Local listings. It recommends claiming and verifying the business listing on Google+ by providing accurate information. Photos should also be added to the listing. Customer reviews on Google and other sites are important for rankings. The business should encourage positive reviews through check-ins and asking customers to review. Keeping listings and reviews up to date helps the business attract new local customers through Google searches.

1. In previous posts we discussed reaching out to your community and attracting mobile and web
customers in your local marketing efforts. Now, we discuss how to take advantage of Google Local
search. Increasingly, customers are turning from traditional directory searches (i.e., the phone
book) to search engines (i.e., Google) to find local businesses like yours.
Getting to the top of Google Local results
When Google updates its search algorithms, businesses often worry about how these changes will
affect their ranking in search results. Will all your careful effort into SEO and keyword placement on
your website go down the drain? Not quite, but there are things you can do to enhance the
chances of appearing among the top results. Google is now rolling out changes to Google Local,
emphasizing photos and maps, as well as directory listings and reviews associated with your
business. (Note: It’s sometimes also called Google Places.)
In some markets, when consumers do a local search for, say, pizza, Google Local displays a
“carousel” of results across the top of the screen with a photo, business name, and number of
reviews. In other markets, the results page shows a map on one side of the screen, with top results
for that area listed on the other. When the consumer hovers over a listing, the map is replaced by a
snapshot view of a photo, detail map, business information, and links to reviews and directions. To
optimize your placement in local search results, it’s worth taking the time to claim your Google+
page for business, as Google Local tends to display Google listings first, then links to each
business’s website. Plus, it’s free.

2. Claiming your Local listing
Google provides detailed instructions for verifying and editing your listing, but here are the basic
steps:
 Verify ownership of your Google+ account, preferably using an email address that has the
same domain name as your business website.
 Create or edit listings for each physical location of your business, following the quality
guidelines: simple, straightforward, accurate entry of your address, phone number, website,
categories, etc.
 If you serve customers at your business location, make extra sure your map marker is
accurate. If you serve customers throughout a region, indicate your service areas.
 Add photos – Google will choose the photo to display in search results, so make sure all the
photos you upload are attractive, in focus and professional-looking.
Verifying your Google+ listings makes it easier to correct inaccurate or outdated information on
your business. However, like any local marketing initiatives, make sure to keep it fresh and up to
date.
Reviews count
Whether on Google+, Yelp, TripAdvisor or other popular sites, consumer reviews may not be your
favorite reading, but they are here to stay. Like old-fashioned word-of-mouth and referrals, reviews
inform and influence your customers, and they DO factor into your search ranking. Besides offering
your basic everyday stellar service and products, you can encourage positive reviews by:
 encouraging social media engagement through check-ins—which not only promote your
business name to the customer’s Facebook and Twitter followers, but also can lead to reviews
later
 asking each happy customer to write a review
 reaching out to previous reviewers, both good and bad, to thank them and/or follow-up with
their complaint
Remember —reputations are built over time. Good reviews written by active users over a longer
period look more real and trustworthy than a whole bunch of excellent ones written anonymously
within a very short period. Though changes to Google search may seem intimidating, they help
spotlight real, trustworthy businesses actively serving their community. Claim your Google Local
spot online and attract prospective customers to your business.
POSTED IN: DEMAND GENERATION / TAGGED: WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION

3. A thought-leader in the technology marketing space, Julie Bevacqua is a leading expert in
business-to-business (B2B) marketing with hands-on executive experience in corporate, industry,
and product marketing; demand management; and social media. She has held executive positions
at global enterprise software companies, heading up integrated marketing strategies from brand
differentiation, demand generation, sales and marketing integration, and digital marketing
strategies to media and analyst relations and corporate social responsibility.
By taking every opportunity to extend the company’s digital footprint, Julie guides her team to
achieve online dominance within the global marketplace. A natural networker, motivator and
mentor, Julie shares her marketing and business savvy through her blog www.JulieBevacqua.com.
Business and corporate marketers and entrepreneurs gain unique insights into the latest
techniques on digital and social marketing that can be applied in any organization.
Julie lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia, a haven for technology and enterprising
upstarts, dubbed ‘Silicon North’.
Reach Julie Bevacqua at:
LinkedIn: Find Julie on LinkedIn
Twitter: Follow Julie on Twitter
Google+: Add Julie on Google Plus
Blog: Visit Julie’s Blog