Google Places

Recently, Google Places has become almost like the new “yellow pages” for local businesses and has grown more and more competitive. Google has now even combined the information on business listings with its other, organic search results, which is why you as a business should make an effort to optimize your listing.

Digital Digg can talk to you about how you can incorporate Google Local Business Listings into your marketing strategy to make you stand out from your competition. We know how to upgrade your Google Places listing to give your business the best chance at the best exposure. Our experts will help to create and enhance it so that you don’t have to worry about it.

Several of our customers have gotten immediate results from us. This is because the trained professionals we have here at Digital Digg know how to work the Internet to your greatest advantage. You don’t have to stress over getting “lucky” enough to have the top spot in search engines because we dedicate our effort to obtaining that for you.

Google Places – A New Name with New Features

Google once provided a local business listing service called Google Local, which is now called Google Places. Not only is the name new, but it also has some new features that can prove useful with small businesses. For example, you are now allowed to upload up to 10 pictures you’re your business listing. If you do not have any pictures, Google will automatically put one on your listing for you.

Because your listing’s information has now been combined with your organic search result placement, you must take the time to optimize it. In order to stay a step ahead of your competition, it is best that you hire a professional, experienced Internet marketing company. Here at Digital Digg, our team members have years of experience with marketing businesses online and earning our clients the highest possible rankings. The higher the place you have on a list of search results, the more customers you will attract to your website. We give our clients the opportunity to take advantage of each new feature on Google Places as soon as it becomes available.

Being Designated as a Google Favorite Place

Occasionally, Google names specific businesses “Google Favorite Places” and sends them barcode stickers to put on their doors and display. Then customers can scan the barcode with their smartphones to get instant information about your business. This is a very high distinction as less than one percent of all businesses in the US earn it.

How to Add Your Business to Google Places

It is necessary that you look in the right place to learn how to do this yourself. There are several methods to put your listing on Google Places, some of which we list here for your convenience.

Make sure that you have reserved at least a few hours of your time to develop your business listing. It takes focus and effort to set up an efficient, attractive listing so you will need to spend some time with it. First of all, you must create a Google account and log onto it. Once you list your business you will have to answer the phone number associated with your business and get a special code to write down into the system for validation purposes. Make sure that you do not try to set up your business on Google Places until you have a working business phone number and never use toll free numbers as your primary numbers.

• Search for your business on Google Maps. Unless it is brand new you should have a local unclaimed business listing already there. When you’ve found it, click the link that reads “more information.”
• Then click that reads “business owner” to change/add information to your listing on the “edit my business information” link in Google’s Local Business Center.
• Most importantly, you will come to a list of blank fields that you must fill. Think carefully about what you will write in each category. Be sure to write

• The name of your business, not a bunch of related keywords. This may get you kicked from Google.
• The business’ phone number.
• The business’ full address.
• A fax number, if applicable.
• An informative description of your business. Be as specific as possible.
• The categories of your business.
• Service areas/settings (new feature). You will be able to specify what you do and do not do/sell, the locations/range of locations to which you are available, etc.

• Add the website address for your business.
• Specify payment options for your business.
• List your service hours.
• Add any other details not mentioned before, such as

• Your level of training/experience.
• Other important information that people would not have known.
• Links to your other places on the Internet, such as Facebook pages.

• Offer a special/exclusive coupon for your business.
• You are now capable of “posting” updates to your business listing. You should take advantage of this unique ability once a week at the least.
• You may also upload up to 10 different photos of your business. They can be tagged and labeled with keywords specifying what they are.
• YouTube videos can be posted on your listing as well. Just be sure to follow Google’s guidelines and avoid any controversial topics.
• Finally, you can submit it when you are done by clicking on the “submit” link. Google will then validate that you are the company’s true owner by calling you, as mentioned above. You must complete this step to truly activate your business listing. If you don’t want to validate phone number you can always wait to be mailed an address, though this is not recommended. .
• You are able to change your information on the listing at any time after it has been added. If you are unsatisfied as to where your listing is appearing, you can either continue to tamper with your listing until you achieve your desired results or call a professional to assist you, such as at Digital Digg. We are always more than happy to help you achieve your goals.

It is always a wise idea to create profiles for other search websites and engines. This helps to attract more information to your Google Places listing.

Analyzing Your Google Places Traffic to Enhance Your Ranking

Uncover exactly how many people have been visiting your website, whether that number is increasing or decreasing, which keywords are the most popular, how Place Search options affect people’s search engine experience and more.

The Role of Reviews on Google Places for Lawyers

Customer reviews and testimonials play a major role in the listings on Google Places. This way, viewers can openly see other people’s experiences with particular companies whether positive or negative. These reviews are also significant in Google’s rating of the businesses and ultimately the business’ level of exposure. Customer reviews are connected to the person’s preexisting Google and Facebook profiles to verify that they are not anonymous and therefore more reliable.

Never Try to Eliminate Negative Reviews

Though there is a way to remove negative reviews, you should never put it to use because you will pay the price for at least a year. Instead, simply work on getting a bundle of positive reviews so that you can minimize the negative review’s effect on the business.

You may also add comments to customer reviews, which is a great feature in case you need to personally interact with the customers. This not only helps you to clear up any issues, but also shows any potential customers that you pay attention to feedback, whether positive or negative. Even a general comment that welcomes customers to contact you personally about any concerns they may have or a simple display of appreciation for positive comments will really reflect your business in a very positive light.

You May Now Add Your Business’ Yahoo and Bing Profiles

In addition to your Google Pages listing, you may add listings on both Yahoo and Bing. Yahoo offers a highly recommended enhanced listing for an extra $9.95 per month, which is well worth the money.

Our Professionals at Digital Digg Can Do the Work For You

Here at Digital Digg, we have experience with creating business listings on Google Places. You can try to do it yourself but your best results will lie in our hands, guaranteed. This is because we have learned over the years exactly how to help our clients get to the top of Google Places with their listings.

Rather than spending hours of time that you may not have trying to set up your listing yourself, contact us to discover more about how we can help you get instant, positive results. Don’t be your competition, rise above it. Don’t waste your time trying to perfect your listing only to see it be pushed off the first page. We are dedicated to continually adjusting and updating your listing so that it stays at the top and gains the most exposure for your business.

Digital Digg realizes that it is not enough to simply have your website professionally designed if you have no publicity. We can help you take control of the search engines themselves and get your listing as many views as possible by taking advantage of all the marketing programs that are available to you, including Google Places.