How To Get Your Website Found In Google Local And Maps

When your potential clients include your location when searching for your keywords then google shows on top of the regular results also listings from google maps, that’s what we call local search.

If your site offers a local service, like gardening or local products, like a retail store, then it’s very important to make sure your site can be found in local search.

Below the most important and crucial steps you need to take to get it right, because google is very strict and without a proper business listing within google maps, your site will simply not show in the local search. It really is very important.

1.    Get Your Google Account

You need to tell google about your business. To do so the every first step is to get a google account and set up google plus. Then you can create your business listing in Google by adding it to google places, which works in associated with google maps, which is why it shows up in google local search. 

2.    Read The Google Places Quality Guidelines

Be aware of what you’re doing; you’re asking google for a favor; don’t abuse it. they actually do manual checks, and if they don’t like how you filled in your business listing, as in; if you’re too much preoccupied with spewing promotional language and stuffing it with keywords, then you will be treated as such; a spammer. So read the google guidelines first, there just a few pages, it really doesn’t take too long to do it right from the first time, to make sure it actually pays off. 

3.    Get Reviews

You can imagine just about anybody will try to cheat with those reviews, so google is really very strict. Still, as long you make sure you help your clients with the review and they simply give a genuine testimonial, then you’re done with setting it up. In other words; yes, do try to get a couple of genuine reviews, but be very careful, because a small mistake might get you in trouble. Obviously the very thing you need to do is to read the google review guidelines. 

4.    Get Links

In theory it’s simple; get links from pages that make an association with your location. 2 most common types of places to get links from:

a)    Local directories

You need listings from directories that will also publish an address or categories according location, like the yellow pages, or Yahoo local.

To get started you need to have a good list of local directories, keep your credit card or paypal ready, because most of the good ones can only maintain their value by charging you for it. Prepare yourself and collect all the little snippets of information you will need, like a brief introduction to your company and descriptions of your services/products, use something like Roboform and open the directories 1 by 1, search for your place in the category tree and click the submit button.

b)    Local Content

Websites that are about your location, like the local newspaper or even tourist sites about your area.

But there are many different platforms, some might be blogs, so then a comment will already be enough, others you need to contact personally and start the conversation and basically ask for link exchange. Yes, I know link exchange is dead, but there’s a difference between hunting for anchor text links and those extra sets of links you need for 1 specific purpose, in this case; defining your location for google, and to do that link exchange will do just fine.

I hope the principle is clear; you need to get links from websites that are from the same location as your site; making associations, links in other words.

So, first you need to get a google account, and then set up your personal profile, then a business listing, then some reviews, and then links.

It can be a tedious and sometimes frustrating job, boring to say the least, but all and all it doesn’t really take that much work. If you were to spend 1 hour a day it shouldn’t take you more than 2 weeks to see some really good results. How much more is needed as always depends on the competition, but not showing up in local search is too much of a waste to skip the set up for a google business listing. It really pays off.