Getting a free local listing with Google’s Local Business Center is easy, but attaining top positioning is not. You must understand the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of how Google ranks their local listings, which does NOT play by the same traditional SEO strategies for the organic listings.
Here are a few tips (but not all our stealth Google LBC’s strategies, reserved ONLY for our paying customers 
) :
- Do your research and make sure you know which keywords locally are triggering the Google Local 10-Box. Then do some keyword research to see which one of those phrases is getting the most traffic and optimize the listing for that keyword. It’s really hard to optimize for tons of keywords on a local listing (Pick your battles right).
- Make sure you fill out a FULL listing, by adding photos & video (Pimp out that listing).
- Make sure you get your category section correct and that it contains the keyword phrase you’d like rankings for.
- Make sure your main keyword is in your business description.
- Get as many citations from creditable websites – make sure the data matches exactly as is in our Google Local Listing.
- Get tons of reviews from your customers.
If you follow these tips listed above you should do alright. If you want the pros to handle your Google LBC listing – check out our Organic Search Engine Marketing Silver Package.
Great point for local businesses!! Just a heads up Google has been switching that 10-box to 7 and in some cases 3! So to your point its really important to do the research and get the keywords correct. -All the Best and thanks for the info
Paul,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes I have noticed the 7-box lately too. Looks like it might be sticking and replacing the 10-box. It may e 7-box, 3-box, and 1-box. I have seem to be able to get a 1-box for some of my clients if there are enough citations and reviews, which is awesome because it pushes all the competition off the local listings. Very cool!
Matt,
Great idea to handle the postcard mailers to solicit online reviews and do the input for the B.O.
Someone mentioned that Google Reviews done using a Gmail account seem to get ranking juice in the 7-Pak? Not sure if you’ve heard this or if it’s true, but in Google World, and the direction Google is going to link up social tools, it does make sense.
As always, solid info video with good tips.
Google Local Listings are going to play a bigger and bigger role for Local Biz.
Having fully completed Profiles, getting citations, and Reviews will be the difference makers.
Walt
Walt, Thanks for stopping by again – much appreciated and glad you jumped into the conversation here. From my understanding you can’t writer a review without a Gmail account. Yes I see with Gwave and some other G-tools that soon all this will be integrated into one social system. Not sure how it all connects, but I think all will be revealed to very shortly.
hey google has done aloth of changes recently not only to the 10 box listings only revealing 7 now but as well when you create a business account in google places, instead of claiming or adding a new listing that has your same phone number, name or address, bun now you just enter the phone number you want listed so you can just edit the listing. This new system cuts down on too many loose listings with the same phone numbers!! I much like googles new changes