Phil

The 2012 Local Search Ranking Factors – out Today

June 11, 2012 by Phil Leave a Comment

Of all that’s been written and said about local search, there’s one single-most important piece: It’s David Mihm’s annual “Local Search Ranking Factors” study.

The first one came out 4 years ago (at almost exactly the time I got started in local search). It’s the Rosetta Stone for all local search specialists and for many more business owners all over the world.

This year I had the honor of being one of the 41 contributors. Answering the questions put everything I’ve learned so far through the wringer, but it was a lot of fun, very eye-opening, and more than worth it.

Even if you do nothing else for your local-search visibility today, first read David’s extremely helpful recap.

Then give the 2012 Local Search Ranking Factors themselves a read-through.

You’ll definitely have to pull up a chair, but you’ll be glad you did.

A huge thanks to David for masterminding the whole thing and bringing it to life – as always – and to my fellow contributors for their superb insights and dedication to the local-search community.

By the way, if you have a question about any of the ranking factors, my two cents on them, etc., just leave a comment!

How to Edit Your Google+Local Page – Step by Step

June 10, 2012 by Phil 17 Comments

Update – 5:33pm, 6/10:

Be sure to read Linda’s super-helpful and clarifying comment at the bottom of this post. The steps I lay out here may help you, but in a different way from how I thought they would. Long story short, it seems I got my wired crossed 🙂

The switchover from Google Places to Google+Local pages has probably been pretty hands-free for you: Your Places page automatically became Google+Local page.

Unless you’ve already gone into your new listing, it probably looks a little bare. Some of the info from your old Places page may be missing on your new page. But making edits or adding info to your Google+Local page can be confusing – especially if you haven’t logged into your Google+Local page yet. It’s easy to get lost.

I think it’ll once again be easy to make edits to your local listing once Google goes through the next round of changes and switches over completely to “Google+ for Business” pages.

But in the meantime, during the long transition, you need to be able to navigate the confusion. That’s why I’ve put together this step-by-step walkthrough on how to edit your Google+Local page.

(By the way, I’m assuming you created and claimed your Google Places page some time ago, and that you just want to know how to edit your listing through the new Google+Local interface.)

Follow steps 1-19 if you haven’t logged into your Google+Local page, edited it, or added information to it since May 30, 2012. In other words, if you haven’t done anything with your Google+Local page, follow ALL the below steps, 1 -19.

Follow steps 13-19 if you’ve spent some time in your Google+Local page but simply want to know how to edit it (or forgot how to). If this describes you, scroll down to step 13.

How to edit your Google+Local page IF you’re logging into it for the first time:

1. Click the “+You” button in the top-left of Google’s homepage.

2. Click “Sign In” and sign in with the Google account you used to create your Google Places page. (If this isn’t possible, it’s still fine if you use a different one.)

3. Fill in your name and click “Upgrade.”

4. Feel free to skip the next few steps – the ones that ask you to find your “friends,” add a profile photo, etc. You can always loop back to these later.

5. You should now be on your Google+ page. In the bottom-left corner of the screen, click the “More” button, then click “Pages.”

6. Click “Create new page.”

7. Under “Pick a category,” select “Local Business or Place, enter the phone number of your business on the right, then click “Locate.”

8. Click on your business listing (it should have a red map pin).

9. Select a category from the dropdown menu. These are only rough categories, so just pick whichever one seems most applicable.

10. Click “Create.”

11. Add a main photo to your Google+Local page, or click “Continue” if you feel like skipping this step.

12. Click “Finish.”

How to edit your Google+Local after the initial setup (above):

13. While logged into your Google+ page, hover over the “Pages” button on the left, and click on your business name when it appears in the drop-out menu.

IF you don’t see the “Pages” button on the left, hover over the “More” button in the bottom-left, and then select the “Pages” button when it appears in the drop-out menu.

14. Your business name should appear. Click “Switch to this page.”

15. On the left, click “Profile.”

16. Click “Edit profile” (near top of page).

17. You’ll see a menu of info that you can edit (“Introduction,” “Hours,” etc.). Click once on each area you’d like to edit, make any changes you’d like, and hit “Save.”

(Make sure to use the same info you put on your Google Places page, if it’s not already showing up.)

18. When you’re done editing or adding your info, click “Done editing” (near the top of the page).

19. Grab a cold brew to reward yourself for a job well done. Then get back to work on the other steps toward more local visibility in Google, getting reviews, etc. 🙂

(In case you weren’t sure, despite the switch to Google+Local, these steps are as applicable and necessary as ever).

Also make sure to request to be notified by Google when the next changes roll out.

Cheat Codes for Google+Local Customer Reviews

June 1, 2012 by Phil 25 Comments

Cheat codes to get you to the next level...of customer reviews If you’re confused as to how to get customer reviews on your Google+Local page (the page formerly known as Places), your customers are probably confused-er.

Common questions from customers include:

“Do I need a Google+ page to write a review?”

“How do I find your business in Google now?”

…and

“How do I write you a review?”

If you’re like many business owners, your big question is: “How do I show my customers how to review me – without overwhelming them?”

Here are some instructions you can customize to your business – which walk customers through how to post a review on your Google+Local page:

This handout is specific to one of my clients, as you can probably tell. But feel free to rip off the layout or adapt it to your business.

If you’ve got mad PDF-editing skills, you can customize the handout to your business.

Or you can take the images I use and stick them in a design program of your choice. (Here’s a zip file of the images.)

Or you can doodle it on paper, scan it in, and then print it or email it to your customers.

Note that the PDF contains embedded links that take customers straight to where they can sign up for a Plus account and to your Google+Local page.

As an alternative, here are some written instructions you can send customers (you can use them verbatim, though you may want to make step #5 specific to your business):

Go to https://plus.google.com/

Create a Google Plus page/account

Log into your Google Plus page (or stay signed in)

On the left side of your Plus page, click the “Local” tab

Search for us near the top of the page (in the boxes next to where it says “Google+”)

Click the little pencil for “write a review”

If Google asks you any questions, just click “Continue”

Select a rating number (“0-3”), write the review, and click “publish.”

Right now, in this “transition” period , there are several ways customers can post a review for you. I’ve simply found that the above steps – particularly the ones in the handout – to be the most straightforward and the least likely to change long-term.

I’d love any suggestions for how to make the steps easier, though.

(By the way, you can always have me custom-make a Google review handout – like the one above – for your business. I give these review handouts to all my clients, and I’ve made them as standalone pieces for hundreds of business owners who’ve just needed more Google reviews.)

Happy 1st Birthday (to This Blog)!

June 1, 2012 by Phil 2 Comments

I created this blog exactly one year ago. A lot has happened in the world of local search since my first post.

Although LocalVisibilitySystem was born in ’09, today also marks one year since I went live with the site in its current form. It’s the site I always wanted to have. If you’re one of my “old-timers,” you may recall that things used to look wayyy different (just a couple of really long pages and no blog posts).

The site’s coming along, but it’s just the beginning. Every day I learn something new from my clients, fellow local-searchers, and other great people. All I’m doing is dipping my cup into a river of fresh, useful ideas on local search.

So, in order to keep the good stuff coming, I’ve got to know: what would you like me to write about next? Or do a video on? In other words, what would you find useful in your ongoing push for more local visibility to customers? Just leave a comment!

It doesn’t even have to be an idea for a post: I’d really appreciate any suggestions for what you think would be a good addition to this site.

I know the next year will be every bit as crazy as the last one. The recent merging of Google Places and Google Plus has already made for a wild ride. But my purpose is still the same: to help make sense of it all and to help you get or stay visible to local customers.

Thanks for tuning in so far, and stay tuned for more!

My CliffsNotes on the Google Places-Plus Merger

May 30, 2012 by Phil 6 Comments

About an hour ago I dashed off the following in an email to all the awesome people on my email list – my immediate reaction to today’s update:

—

Today Google officially merged Google Places with Google Plus. You’ve probably heard about this. (Google Plus – you know, that Facebook-wannabe social network that Google has been ramming down our throats for about a year.)

Some people have trumpeted this for months, and have been proclaiming “Google is dead”, “search is dead,” and spouting other nonsense. They make it very easy for you to freak out and feel overwhelmed.

Sure, it’s a shake-up, but it’s not quite as dramatic as some people might lead you to believe. You’re a business owner. You’re tough. You’ve adapted to online changes a heck of a lot bigger than this.

Anyway, here’s what you need to know – and what I suggest you do – in the form of good news and bad news:

The bad news:

Your business temporarily has two local “faces”: the Places page we’re accustomed to, plus the new “Google+Local” page (near the bottom are some links with more info about the latter). People can still get to the old Places page, but the new Google+Local page will become your new “face” shortly and the old one probably won’t even be findable. If you’ve set up a “Google Plus Page for Business,” great. That will probably come in handy down the road. If you haven’t, it’s not like you’re now invisible, but you should just create one as soon as you can.

Customers now have to take different steps for writing reviews for you. Basically, they have to create a Google Plus page, log into it, search for your business in the “Local” tab in Google Plus, and finally write the review. It’s not much harder: sure, it’s a little more involved, but it’s mostly just different steps for writing a review.

Google is trying to make you use Google Plus, whether you like Plus or not. I know I’m not wild about it so far. (I started using Facebook in 2006, before most people knew it existed, and even that early version was more fun and easier to use – which is why it caught on.) At this stage, you only really have to deal with Google Plus if you’re trying to get customer reviews – which you should – but Google will certainly find more ways to get you to use it. None foreseeable or worth worrying about for the immediate future, though. Still, you should create a Google+ for Business page

Eventually it may be a good idea to ask customers for “feedback” other than reviews – like to “+1” your website or to add your Google Plus Business page (if and when you have one) into their “Circles.” You’ll probably have to worry about this at some point, but not right now.

It’s confusing. There are so many PR-stunt types making exaggerated claims about this change. It’s hard to filter out all the noise and know what to do.

The good news:

The rankings haven’t been shaken up, at least based on what I’ve seen with my clients and others. If you ranked well yesterday, chances are you’re ranking just as well today.

You can still manage your Places / Google+Local / whatever page the same way you always have: by logging into your Google Places page and editing it.

It used to be worthless to try to get links to your Places page. But Google is treating the new pages as indexed search results – meaning that if you get link to your Google+Local page, you’ll probably get a visibility boost.

There may be fewer Google bugs down the road, and/or more “support” if you have a question or problem. Google may continue to make things more confusing before they get less confusing, but eventually it will probably be easier to manage your local visibility in Google.

You the business owner don’t have to DO much right now. Google has mostly just changed the look of how your business is represented online – and they’ve done it for you, rather than asking you to drop what you’re doing and take some action in order for the update to take effect. (Again, the only caveat is you should create a Google + for Business page, but that’s quick to do.)

The fundamentals have NOT changed. The steps for growing your local visibility are still the same. There’s going be an increased emphasis on reviews, and probably eventually on “+1s” and having customers add you to their “Circles,” but we’re not there yet.

Here’s some great info I suggest you read when you get a minute:

Superb summary by Matt McGee

Professor Maps’s take

What The Man has to say about the change

Great in-depth perspective from David Mihm. If you’re freaking out and feeling overwhelmed, I especially recommend read this.

Tones of great detail from Greg Sterling – with all the screenshots you need.

The bottom line is this:

If you’ve been working on getting more visible in local Google, keep doing what you’re doing. The names and looks have changed somewhat, but the fundamentals are still the same, and they’ll still get you the results you need. No need to worry. You’ll be just fine.

If you feel like doing something right now, just go to https://www.google.com/+/business/ and create a “Google+ Page for Business.” For now, just create

Your thoughts / questions? Leave a comment!

Phil

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