The WSJ has done an outstanding job here of pointing out the scope and consequences of the recent changes by Google search.  If you are in the trenches on this as a consultant or as a business owner, you will get a much better picture of the complexity of the Google Places and Google everything search.

As Google Tweaks Searches, Some Get Lost in the Web

Wall Street Journal

"Keep track of changes to Google's algorithms by following its Webmaster Central Blog. Content is king. Make sure your website has original and accurate information. Google places the greatest value on sites providing the best possible user experience.Wall Street Journal"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303505504577406751747002494.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj

We have employed only white hat approaches at Randy Kirk and Associates up until February of 2012.  In February we experimented with some inexpensive backlinking approaches.  We saw some great improvements until Venice and Penguin hit.  These wiped out our improvements in most cases, but because our underlying work was so strong, none of our clients got truely slapped.
In fact some clients that are now vying for positions in highly contested territory, like our computer consulting client in LA, are seeing steady major improvements with strong white hat backlinking and citation approaches.
Tell us about your experiences since these big changes took place?  What new have you learned that is helping you improve your Google Places rankings?

How to Set Up and Get Great Rankings on Google Places Book

Those of us in the Google Places consulting business, and those who read this blog and have decided to set up Google Places and attempt to optimize Google Places all on their own, now have a succinct, if somewhat tame book to help them.  To be honest, I've been planning to write this book for a while, but who has the time?

First the good news.  SEO for Google Places – The Secret To Crushing Your Competition with Local SEO and Google Places   is well written, easy to follow, and I didn't see any glaring errors.  Therefore if you want to spend $.99 and you have a Kindle, you are set.  I didn't have a Kindle, so I downloaded Kindle for Mac (FREE!), and paid my $.99.  I read the book in about 30 minutes or so.

Now the not so good news.  It was very, very basic.  You will get far more information reading every article on this blog than you will in the book.  But the book is way, way better organized.  And it is basically free at 99¢.  it is definitely worth that much.  And more.

There were at least a half dozen things in the book that are not on this blog.  I intend to correct most of those over the next few weeks.  So you may want to get an RSS feed to this blog or merely follow it or my Twitter.  I will, of course, give author James Dreeson full credit each time.

To be real, he wrote the book to sell his company services, which is why I would have written the book, if I had written the book.  He isn't going to get rich at 99¢ a copy.  And I am happy to help him line up more clients.  He seems to be a solid guy and knows his stuff.  There is so much business to go around that I can't possibly handle it all.

One of the things I got from the book was a list of great Canadian primary citations.  I have been having a heck of a time getting my limousine service in Toronto to rank.  There seems to be some kind of a glitch.  But having those additional citations should help a bunch. 

If you haven't bought my latest book yet, it was written for the bicycle business, but you can be sure it will have ideas on every page that will apply to your business.  Find it at http://www.bikeshopowner.com

Local Search and Google Places Domination to Continue As Smart Phones Become Major Source of Information

Who knew?  Local Google Search including Google Places business listings, Google Maps, and just the emphasis place by Google on local businesses, association, and more now dominate many searches, where just five short years ago, a local business could hardly be found.

Google Places, Social Authority & Keyword Translation: Tips From ISS London

Multilingual Search

"Lisa Myers did a presentation on Google Places from a global perspective. Google Places now operates in over 100 countries and local results have started to dominate listings. With the proliferation of smartphones we'll only see local searches rising ...Multilingual Search"
http://www.multilingual-search.com/google-places-social-authority-keyword-translation-more-tips-from-iss-london/17/05/2012/

I'm not prepared to say that local will grow even more dominent, but clearly this article has it right that with the smart phone taking over, local is forever.  The result is that for some businesses who wish to stretch their territories like a lawyer in Bergen County who may wish to cover all of NJ, the goal is, and will continue to be, elusive.

How to Rank On Google Places for 100 Keywords or More

 How to Rank on Google Places for Hundreds of Keywords

Over the past four years or so, I have worked with hundreds of companies who wanted to get to number one on Google Places.  And it would be a breeze if they only wanted to have great ranking for one Google Places keyword.   Fortunately in most cases there are only 2 or 3 keywords combined with two or three cities.  But already you are now up to 9 combinations.  The more keywords, the harder it is to get all of those covered.

Sometimes, however, the client is in so many critical businesses, but all related, that the list is almost endless.  One example is a audio-visual equipment rental company in Brooklyn, http://DJPArentals.com.  That's one keyword:  "Audio-visual equipment rental in Brooklyn."  As with any major city, however, the client wants to be found in NYC, Queens, Manhattan, and Long Island.  So each keyword has 5 geo variations.  Now some folks call what he does DJ equipment rentals.  Some call it Sound equipment rentals.  Others call it PA equipment rentals.  Then there are the various products.  An important one is speakers.  Then we get into the brands, such as Technics, Pioneer, Rane, QSC, Mackie, JBL, and Serato.  Within those brands there are models that are very well known like the DJM-800. 


The question becomes, how does one set all this up so that you can rank for 100 or even hundreds of keyword and geo combinations like speaker rentals nyc.  Especially when many seo articles will tell you that you can only optimize the website home page for five keywords at the most...preferably only one.  For those of you who are loyal followers, I'm going to give away a tightly guarded secret that I'm unlikely to repeat anywhere else on this blog:  The optimization of the website home page rule of five maximum is for national accounts hoping to score the most critical and competitive keywords.  I can show you case after case where my clients are ranking top 1-3 on 20 or more important keywords.   

Set up the home page with five major headings.  Each of those headings should tackle one major category such as "Sound Equipment Rental Company in Brooklyn Serves NYC, Queens, Manhattan, and Long Island."

Within the paragraph below cover some keywords regarding speakers, including specific brands and models.  Link some of the keywords to internal pages.  Now repeat with a headline about DJ Equipment.

At the bottom of the page, set up a 50 word footer.  It should look something like this.  DJ Equipment Rental NYC | DJ Equipment Rental Manhattan | Sound Equipment Rental Queens | Speaker Rentals NYC     And you can set up links on these to inside pages.  You get the idea.

What does all of this have to do with Google Places.  Google looks at your website and your Google Places listing together to determine what you should be ranked under.  Sure, you want to use these keywords in your categories, descriptions and detail sections.  But you also need to optimize your website.

Do you use these techniques for multiple keywords?  Do you have other suggestions?

 

Mother's Day, Google Places, and Smart Phones - A New World AGAIN!

There's a whole new thing you might have heard about it.  You can carry a computer around in your pocket that has more power than a NASA computer did 20 years ago, and can do far more things you really care about.  Oh!  You knew that?  LOL

I got my IPhone when SIRI became the new buzzword.  I didn't know if I needed an IPhone.  I just knew I wanted one.  Now, I am like the rest of you smart phone owners.  Siri sleeps just inches from my head.  As one pundit reported:  What else do humans possess that is never more than 6" away 23.5 hours a day?

So Google, always ahead of the pack (not) has finally begun to give merchants a way to create mobile offers online.  This is through Google Places.  You merely sign into your account, go to "offers" and fill in the forms.  NOTE:  Goog says this is free "for now." 

So I have a client who has a maid service in Cincinnati.  His client is upscale marrieds and single professionals.  Maybe 99% of those have at least one smart phone.  He just started his business http://www.WeCleanCincinnati.com.  He would love to rank for maid Cincinnati or housekeeper Cincinnati, and we'll get him there eventually.  But in the meantime, he can circumvent the process by offering a coupon or special, like a Mother's Day deal, that will show up on mobile phones. 

It's brand new.  I haven't even tested it yet.  Just telling you about it early.  Tell me what you think about it.  Have you tried it?  Did anyone call?  Were there any problems with it?

Google Places Reviews Effect More Than Rankings

Sometimes we get so caught up in the details of how to optimize Google Places or do perfect SEO on our Website, YouTube video, or blog, that we lose sight of the very reason this stuff exists.  There would be no Google Places if there were no customers trying to find your local business online.  So Google places was designed for them, not for you.  Reviews intrigue potential customers and reviews drive decisions.

Try it yourself.  I did.  Pick any subject you care about.  Google a business that provides goods or services related to that interest.  Quick!  Which business are you going to call?  The one with the cute name?  The one whose listed first?  For many it will be the one with a lot of good reviews.  And for a big percentage of those, it will be about how many stars are lit up, not a detailed look at the content of the reviews.

This is the biggest no-brainer in the history of man.  Why aren't you spending massive time and energy getting great reviews.  You'll drop $500 to some slick guy on the phone promising you ranking or to get you listed on a bunch of directories.  You'll pay $1000's for a great website.  How much have you paid for Google Adwords?  But, I can assure you that those reviews on Google Places and Yelp are worth more than your great website.  They will find the Google Places listing before they will find your website in most cases.

For example, my client has a bike shop in Rolling Hills CA, and he is ranked very high on every keyword having Rolling Hills in it.  However, the big population center is Torrance, right next door.  He want a high ranking for bike shop Torrance, bicycle Torrance, and bicycle fittings Torrance.  There are quite a few shops in Torrance, so this is hard.  His website is on page 1, but Google Places is not.  However, when you look at his beautiful stars all lit up and twice as many reviews as anyone on the page, he is going to get a first look. Check him out at http://www.PVBike.com

What is keeping you from getting more reviews?  Have you had a different experience than I have when looking for a supplier?  Tell me about it.  

How Long Does It Take to Get Great Ranking on Google Search and Google Places

The headline blares:  "We will get you page 1 ranking on Google Places in 30 days or your money back!"  And the great thing about this headline is that it is not always a scam.  On a day to day basis, I suspect that I am able to meet that promise at least half the time.  So if this company is any good and is successful on every bakery in Bettendorf Iowa or piano teacher in Culver City CA, they will have 33% really satisfied customers who will recommend them highly.  For those they can't get, like maybe Miami lawyer or Computer Repair Los Angeles, they take the loss if the customer complains, or they talk the client into giving them more money.  Good gig, huh. 

So how long does it really take to get ranked on page one for Google Search?  How long does it take to rank number one on Google Places?  It is all about competition, and where you are starting.  If you are that Criminal Lawyer in Miami and you're website is five years-old, and you already rank 15 for criminal lawyer in Miami, a good SEO job should get you to page 1 pretty quickly.  Maybe even 30 - 60 days.  But what if you are currently at #500 or even #150.  It might take 120 days or longer to get to page 1.  What about number 1 on the page.  That might take a year for a competitive keyword in a competitive city. 

What has to be done to achieve these seemingly impossible rankings? 

• On page SEO has to be great.  Title Tags, Headlines, body copy, footer, links.  
• White hat back links have to be even better.  BBB, Chamber, AVVO, City Bar, State Bar for lawyers.  Other great links for others.
• Content on the website well written, original, with citations, pictures, and great navigation.
• User friendly website that keeps people on board.  Videos, interactive elements, attractive buttons and other elements to keep the visitor involved.
• Site map well constructed and loaded up to Google Webmaster Tools
• Constant evaluation of traffic and patterns to improve results.

What would you add to this list?  Did I get anything wrong?  Have you had any experiences, good or bad, with the folks who offer the guarantees?  Tell me your story in the comments. 

PS.  If they are all so good, how come I'm at the top of Google Places Expert, and numbers 1, 2, and 3 under secrets of Google Places.

Google and Panda, Venice, and Penguin Changes - SEO and Google Places Effect

Since February of 2011 Google has declared all out war on weak content, and has tightened it's localization approach.  Three major algorithm changes with code names of Panda, Venice, and most recently, Penguin, have wrecked more than a few expensive SEO efforts and driven website traffic down by large percentages for those counting on suspect back link campaigns.

While I have commented on some of this in prior posts, I have been waiting out this most recent Penguin change to see what the impact really was or is.  The last two weeks have seen the return to normal fluctuations in rankings for websites, Google Places and other media.  In fact, it would appear that the various bots are being very, very conservative over that period, with changes given only grudgingly for improvements in content, linking, layout, etc.

The big takeaway according to almost all pundits that I follow and my own observation:  The White Hat SEO strategies have won, and won big.  In fact, being 100% honest, this is going to be a huge benefit to SEO marketing guys like me.  The $1000 website is history.  The skinny, 3 post a month blog is useless.  The strategic media play is no longer going to provide a good return on investment.

What will give great ROI online?  Great content, properly optimized, that provides a great user experience.  It will cost more and require more careful execution. 

Websites and Blogs

The most immediate and direct effect is on websites and blogs.  I think it isn't that productive to  talk about what won't work anymore.  Rather, the important thing to stress is what Google is going to reward.  Not surprisingly, what Google wants you to put in your website or blog is to provide relevant information, the more and better written the better, outstanding navigation including internal links, and engaging overall presentation that results in a great visitor experience.  They also want the site to load in under four seconds.

Our clients who have been willing to spend $3000 or more for such content, navigation, and customer satisfaction are finding their rankings solid and improving.  Those clients who have had sites built by others that are templated, lacking in written content, and/or having poor navigation are now having serious traction problems.  Worst of all are those sites that relied on cheap back links to prop them up.

One such example would be a home remodeling contractor in Dallas that I consult with.  His Google Places ranking is fantastic for keywords like kitchen remodel Dallas or remodeling Dallas.  But because the content of his website is kind of skinny, he has seen slippage of his website at http://www.UniqueHomebuild.com.  We are going to add a bunch of new content to the website, and we expect to see it quickly move up in rank.  We also expect that this effort will help already amazing ranking on Google Places. 

Google Places

In that Google Places rankings have always been effected by website ranking and content, one would expect these changes to effect Google Places ranking.  Unfortunately it is really hard to track this aspect, since Google Places has had multiple changes in that same period.  We certainly have seen massive shifts in ranking, and many categories are much "cleaner" than they were a year ago.  However, I can't substantiate and direct linkage of Panda and Penguin to Google Places.

What have you seen?  What impact have the changes had on your site?  

Duplicate Google Places Listing Replaces Outstanding Listing in Rank

My client, a BMW repair service in Greensboro, NC has seen his Google Places Listing come under attack by a some unknown person.  Just as we seemed to get that under control, a duplicate listing shows up.  As an example of how crazy some ranking turns out to be, this new listing that is unclaimed and has one review is now ranking #1 for many important key words.  The real listing, which has been in place for a very long time and has 25 reviews is now ranking on page 3 for those same terms. 

Since the client had nothing to do with the new listing being created, and because of its ranking, we're going to let it sit for a week.  Eventually we will claim it and kill it.  Then the question becomes whether the original listing will go back and occupy those slots where it used to be and the duplicates are now.  If you live in or around Greensboro and need work done on your BMW, Mercedes, or MINI, check out my client's website at http://www.eurobahnmotorsportsnc.com/

If you are dealing with a similar situation, you generally will want to follow the above directions.  Claim it and kill it.  You can just notify Google about the duplicate, but it will take longer to deal with it. 

Marketing Consultant at Play - This Job Is Fun and Has Side Benefits

I am a marketing consultant residing in West Los Angeles, California, an easy bike ride to the beach.  I work out of my amazing 400 square foot sun room.  My "employees" are all working out of their homes, so no commercial rent to pay.  No phones, no computer network.  Envious yet??!  It gets better. 

I made the decision early on in this business, to not have a vertical client base.  Many warned me to do so.  And while 5 of my 25 clients are bike shops in places like Lexington, Ky, or Ontario, CA, I get the fun of working with a wide array of businesses.  In my current group is a New York City Acting School, a Miami, FL Criminal Attorney, a Greensboro, NC, BMW Service and Repair business, a Nail Shop in Kihei, Maui, and a Los Angeles Personal Trainer. 

This approach allows me to learn about many different businesses, the way they operate, and apply what I learn about the LA Personal Trainer to the Ontario, California Bike Shop.  I'm going to begin a series where I give you some insight into just how I do that.  If you want to be sure and keep up, subscribe to the blog.  We'd love to hear your comments, too.

Piano Teacher Wants West LA, Culver City, El Segundo, and Venice CA

Very frequently the calls I get have to do with expanding the territory.  Take the piano teacher that wants to have his Google Places listing showing under piano teacher West LA, piano teacher Culver City, piano Teacher El Segundo, and piano teacher, Venice.  This same caller wouldn't mind also being seen under piano teacher Mar Vista,  piano teacher Santa Monica, and piano teacher Marina Del Rey.  To complicate matters, he's also like to be under piano lessons, piano instructor, and music lessons.  Does this sound like you?

While I believe that Google Places is still the most powerful place to show up online, when it comes to multiple suburb positioning, my goal is to have SOMETHING showing on page one for each of those keywords.  It might be the Google Places listing, the website, a press release, a blog post, or a YouTube video.  I would prefer to have that something be above the fold, and the ultimate goal is to have that something be number 1 on the page. 

Remember, even the sophisticated searcher is using the "Everything" search, not to the Google Places search.

In order to get coverage for multiple suburbs, you need to redouble your efforts on all the things we talk about in this blog.  Great website with those keywords in a footer on page one and mentioned in headlines and body copy.  Lots of great citations in directories, YP's, and local search engines.  Solid, relevant back links to the primary website.   Reviews in Google Places that include a mention of the cities you want to be seen in. 

It won't hurt to mention your cities in the more details section of your Google Places listing, but I see people putting the city as part of the category description.  That is not something you want to do.

Specialty Pharmacist, TNH Pharmacy II of Los Angeles, A Huge Challange for Google Places Ranking

Anyone who tries to tell you that they will get you a page 1 listing on Google Places guaranteed has never worked on difficult keywords.  Since there are very few companies that deal in the specialty pharmacy field, I thought getting my client, TNH Pharmacy II, to a top ranking would be a cinch.

What exactly is a Specialty Pharmacy?  They deal with medications for folks with cancer, Hepatitis C, other acute care drugs, and anti rejection meds for transplant patients.  TNH Pharmacy II is actually located in Van Nuys, CA, but was interested in having a good position on Google Places for Los Angeles and other suburbs of Los Angeles.  In fact, they really wanted Orange County, Riverside County, Ventura County and more.  And again, because there isn't a huge number of companies that do this work, I thought it would be a cinch.

Six months after we began the effort, we were not really showing up, even in Van Nuys.  Then we realized that by some oversight, we had not done SEO on the website at http://www.TNHPharmacy.com.  I never said we were perfect, only really, really good.  Do to some communication issues with hosts and other providers, we were not able to get the SEO finished right away.  So we threw quite a few citations at the situation, and were able to move them to #1 in Van Nuys and some of the suburbs of LA.  They are in the top few for most suburbs.

A variation of the keyword is Oncology Pharmacy, and they now also rank for this in many of the LA area cities and number 1 for Oncology Pharmacy Los Angeles.  We'll report back on the effect of proper SEO on the website and see if we can't move things up even more. 

Have you had similar circumstances?  Tell us your story.

Google Places Optimization and YouTube Videos -

Google Places is a Google product.  So is YouTube.  Google loves content.  So, if Google Places offers you a place to put up 5 videos as part of the content, you should use that to the max.  Is there any strong evidence that having one or more videos will improve your ranking?  Not that I know of.  However, keep in mind that the purpose of any listing is not merely to be seen, but to have someone take action.  If 1000 cars an hour drive by my retail store, but nobody comes in, I'm not a happy retailer.

Therefore, you want to create nice videos, like this one I created for a Los Angeles Personal Trainer.
Give them solid titles that help to reinforce the keywords you are working on for your business.  In this case I used Lose Weight by Knowing Good Fats from Bad Fats - LA Personal Trainer and Nutrition Expert.  Repeat the keywords in the description on YouTube and then repeat the keywords again in the Tags. 

From there, you may want to upload the video on your blog, website, or even write a press release that tells about the release of this great new video.  You can also upload the same video on other video submission sites like Vimeo or Daily Motion.  Use slightly different titles when you do this. 

You can upload videos to Google Places from other submission sites, but why would you?  Google seems to go out of their way not to favor their own products, but YouTube gets about 90% of all video traffic in the world.  I'd use them for every video you do.

Los Angeles Personal Trainer Proves How Hard Google Places Ranking Can Be

How do I say this gently.  Some SEM companies don't give you the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  They "guarantee" page 1 or number one ranking for Google Places, but when you read the small print, they are talking about 4 top rankings out of 20 keywords/city combinations, and they get to pick 10 of those. Anybody can or should be able to do that.

But let's take the case of my client who is undoubtedly the best personal trainer in Los Angeles.  She is located in the very posh neighborhood of Brentwood, CA.  To make matters more interesting Brentwood is a "village" in Los Angeles, and there is an incorporated city of Brentwood in Northern California.   Brentwood in West Los Angeles is right next to Santa Monica.  My client wants to rank in Brentwood, Santa Monica, West LA, and Los Angeles. 

Personal Trainer in any West Los Angeles city or neighborhood village is very competitive, so we are starting out with a tough challenge.  A quick check of Google's keyword tool and we find that there are some nice long tail variations that might be easier than the crown jewel Personal Trainer in Los Angeles or Los Angeles Personal Trainer:  personal fitness trainer, fitness instructor and others. 

Now you combine the core five top keywords with the core five cities for a total of top targets.  You may be able to guess the outcome of a decent campaign.  Keywords 3, 4 and 5 in cities 3, 4 & 5 in priority are ranked on page one.  I would have passed the guarantee test with 7 out of 25 being highly ranked. 

We did have page 1 ranking for her top choices until the Venice or Panda two changes.  We have fantastic content on her website, but obviously our back link effort was getting her the extra oomph she needed.  We are in the process of climbing back into position.  The honest truth that some won't tell you.  It can take a year to get the top ranking in a competitive Google Places keyword situation.  And then you have to fight to maintain it. 

Los Angeles Life Insurance Agent Not Counting on Google Places Only

We would not devote so much of our time at Randy Kirk & Associates to the issue of Google Places if we did not believe it is the killer spot for you to show up online.  However, we never count on a Google Places only strategy.  In fact, quite the opposite.  Our theory is an all of the above approach.  We use every possible online medium to insure that our clients get found on page 1 above the fold as many times as possible for every short and long tail key word they care about.  Our Los Angeles Life Insurance Agent client is no exception.  We just completed 11 YouTube videos for him.  Each of those videos has a distinct title, great description, and lots of tags.

In all honesty, we don't care if all 11 of those become huge hits.  We are certainly intending them to become successful, but we would be happy if one of them creates two clients a month.  For a life insurance agent each client may be worth $1000's per year for many years into the future.  Plus each client may refer friends, neighbors, coworkers, or even be a business owner themselves with employees who need insurance.

If you really want to be found online, don't rely on Google Places Only.  What approaches to the internet are you using to get found that could help others who read this blog?

Here is an example of one of our videos produced for the Los Angeles Life Insurance Agent.