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New Look Google Places

By Andrew Thomson

If you have your head in the sand over the last few weeks you may not have noticed that Google Places has made a few major changes to its map results, these changes are the most serious changes made to Google Places since it was launched a number of years ago - see attached image. I might add that it seems Google is trying multiple versions of the new format too, so it is a little difficult to know definitively what they are actually up to but, the general consensus is that things are changing.

So what is different about Google Places now? Here are a few of my observations:

• Most dramatically the map is now located on the right of the screen

• Reviews from Google account holders, and citation sites, can now be seen on the right of the screen

• Contact details for the local businesses can be seen alongside the place marker in the SERP results

• There is more emphasis on search results rather than map results

• More visibility and emphasis for Adwords advertisers – I am sure no coincidence

No matter what your business it is most important to take advantage of this free service – not enough people do it – whether you are a large or small business the issue is just as critical as people and Google move towards more localized search results.

Also, the recent changes to Google Places emphasises the importance Google Places sees with B2B, not just consumer to business – you would be naive to think that that wholesale buyers of your products would not post comments on your Google Places listing, this is a great coup for retailers worldwide.

So when it comes to marketing and getting a better localized rank with Google and other search engines never has optimizing your listing been more important. In fact, local businesses now have a number of marketing mediums that now need to be optimized: your website and your local Google Places listing. Google Places is now the modern day Yellow Pages.

One such method is titled ‘additional information’ in Google Places and is the last step you need to do before you verify your listing and, in my opinion, is one of the most underused optimizing tools in Google Places and one of the most effective. To find out how to optimize this incredible SEO tool click on the external link titled ‘additional information’. The information you could provide your customers here is effectively limitless, the only limit is your imagination. My advice in this section would be to not only list things like parking availability & other critical business information for a potential customer, but to list things like URL specific products on your website – YES you can list URL’s here that, when saved, become hyperlinks to your website. Just imagine the possibilities...

With that in mind, and all the other possibilities with Google Places, your listing can basically become a second website or a support tool for your business. Remember though to have an effective and trusted listing by both your customers and Google, all information on your Google Places listing & website must be 100% accurate, I talked about this issue in great detail in an earlier Intel article, it can also be viewed in external links titles ‘7 Tips’.

Lastly, the Google Places, formerly Google Maps, search engine optimization process includes observing the local business listing analytics (separate from your website) and making decisions about how to give your listing a supercharge…and did we mention this goes well beyond Google? Variety of other websites are included such as True Local, Start Local, Hotfrog Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, Local.com, Merchant Circle, Citysearch and many others that include search engines, social communities like FaceBook, 411 websites, GPS websites, and business directories.

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

Canberra Florist Shop
Send Flowers To Canberra Daily.
www.canberrafloristshop.com.au

You mentioned that business large and small, should useGoogle Places, Andrew. You didn't include, ecommerce business.
Can we make use of this, if we only sell on the internet and don't have a retail outlet for walk-in customers?
Keep up the good work.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Hi Frederick

I should have been more specific, but when I mentioned small businesses I did mean 'bricks & mortar' & 'clicks & mortar' - that is Ecommerce websites, though the penetration is quite limited unless you are very imaginative.

When I say limited I mean that a florist business who is purely online, say located in a home studio in New York, would be able to compete on a level playing field in Google Places, in terms of online orders, as a 'bricks and mortar' store. But, a business like an online baby store will not have the same impact or level playing field in Google Places.

This is usually because if someone is searching for flowers they will always use a city, town, or suburb name in their search. Whereas, someone who is searching for baby products will usually search terms without a city, town, or suburb name and use generic terms like 'baby bottles', 'baby formula', or 'buy baby clothes'.

I hope that makes sense.

frederick Nov 16, 2010 22:08

‘additional information’ in Google Places - I agree, it's very useful to use. Thanks for article

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