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Google Maps, What the heck.

6K views 32 replies 14 participants last post by  bchplumbing 
#1 ·
Does any one know any tricks for getting on the Google map? I was listed in the middle and now my competitors are quickly getting wise to the game. I know that backlinks are important. Clicks to your website are important. I have a guy on there that is located at the edge of the city, has been in business less than a year and is at the top spot above companies throwing $ at yellowpages.com and dex. These big companies pay people to get them on important search engines. This new one van company is above a company that has 70 vans and has been in business for 70+ years. Any imput on this matter would be greatly appreciated. PS Geographics seem to play a small role. This small companie knows something I don't. He posts plumbing, plumber, Las Vegas 29 times on his home webpage and resubmitted his title from joe blow plumbing to joe blow's Las Vegas Plumber Plumbing Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas. Is this the trick? What a pile of crap.
 
#4 ·
I think I saw what you mean but rather than a Google Map it is the map which comes up with business names under the regular Google search. I noticed the top business had the most positive reviews while others had some dismal reviews. I don't know if that has anything to do with ranking or not.

Mark​
 
#5 ·
Thankyou for the imput on google maps.

We have a video we just put on. Youtube with a link. We have 20 positive reviews. We have many photos. We have worked hard to be listed on many search engines. If you get a chance please go to our website. Type in plumbing las vegas and scroll down to A Better Plumbing Company. We are in the generic search and have bounced on and of the map. We stay for a day or 2 and poof, we are gone again. Thankyou for your imput and I will keep on trying to get on that darn map.
 
#7 ·
Google Maps relys on addresses/seniority alone. I'm in 3rd place and that hasn't changed.

Some other companies are able to get listed under other cities, but I think they got in before Maps was refined. I'm still trying to trick Google onto letting me get listed under different towns, but Google keeps kicking it out.

Do not change your address if you are listed on the first page. You will get kicked back to oblivion. In other words, if you're on the first page, be happy.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Google Maps relys on addresses/seniority alone. I'm in 3rd place and that hasn't changed.

Some other companies are able to get listed under other cities, but I think they got in before Maps was refined. I'm still trying to trick Google onto letting me get listed under different towns, but Google keeps kicking it out.

Do not change your address if you are listed on the first page. You will get kicked back to oblivion. In other words, if you're on the first page, be happy.

not true.. a company here just started add BS addresses and a bunch of didfferent urls and is getting top listing on google maps over companies who have real addresses and have been there for a long long time. they have top listing overnight in all the cities in the denver colorado area.
 
#20 ·
thats true. I have done very well on my own without paying anyone to do my seo so far.
The yellow page reps are "SEO Professional with Google AND Yahoo Certificates". For a few hundred a month, they'll do everything for you. :laughing:

Sad, in a funny way. Those men are scrambling to make a living in the ever-changing world in which we live in, but all it makes you want to say is "live and let die".
 
#21 ·
I get calls all the time about how they can get me into the top search engines. I'm all ready #1 for FREE. No one had the domain name most people put www . what ever your company name is . com got lucky put NH for the state I'm in then what I do sewer and drain cleaning.com came up with NHsewerAndDraincleaning.com get mega hits but not much calls off it. many here still use phone books. But web will catch on here and I'll be waiting. 99% of my hits come from every where but here. The ones I do get the few I do get are property management companies. NH has a small population and even smaller business base.
But I do believe web is the future. Man I need to do a youtube commercial.
 
#23 ·
ranking on google notes

Just wanted to add a few notes:

  1. You can also create authorized new locations with phone #s that redirect to your main # - there are more then a few places that will sell you phone #s that redirect to a line you can answer and authorize the pin, a heck of a lot cheaper and faster then POBoxes.
  2. Google primarily ranks on maps based on a few things: location, citations (which are when your business address is listed on different sites and relevant directories), data from trusted sources, whether you're verified or not, etc.
  3. If you have the time, read through http://blumenthals.com/blog - it's not my site but an excellent resource on local search.
Hope that clears the picture a bit,
Ari
 
#24 ·
Internet not too strong for plumbing demand service in No. Florida. My son did some key words for the organic listings and yet no calls. Did a sponsored link for 5.5 months and got 1st position every day and.....no calls. I have a nice $2500.00 web page which may be growing weeds and an occaisional sales call--not customers. Service magic called me just yesterday and I reminded her of our former relationship and she said "oh yea, not too much activity". All this so I can ask how much activity on the internet do you get in your area?
 
#25 · (Edited)
I have some excellent tips for you here if you want to get better rankings in Google Local Listings:

Step 1 - add company info in in the following way for better rankings

1) Company Name - add main keyword then company name (example: Plumber In Calgary - ABC Plumbers)
2) Company Description - (200 characters) example: Looking for a plumber in Calgary? ABC Plumbing is a private plumbing company based in Calgary. If you are looking for a Plumber in Calgary, we can help!
3) Company Category - go with a few keywords (like "plumber" and "plumbing") as categories and then use a few of the generated categories that automatically pop up


Step 2 - adding photos, video and additional info

1) If you have video for your company, upload it but it is not essential for higher rankings although it can help
2) Photo upload is completely essential
3) Additional Info - just add all the main keywords (as many or as little as required) - also, if there is additional info like brands or parking, add this in addition to the keywords
4) lastly, double check it and then verify the listing


Step 3 - customer reviews

1) Get happy customers to leave reviews - for ranking, the number of reviews is not that important as long as there are at least a few. It is important to remember that reviews will actually help convert the traffic!
2) Make sure the company site has backlinks - this will help Google Local Listings rankings (try and have backlinks to the site BEFORE listing the company - maybe while halfway through the Backlinking process)
3) If an existing local listing isn't doing too well, ignore it and make a new one with these techniques

I hope this shed some light for you to get better rankings in Google Local Listing section. I always try and be as clear as possible but if you have questions, I'm happy to address them.

Happy plumbing!
 
#26 ·
#28 ·
Google

We have a kick ass prescense in about a 40 mile area around indy... got the domain names and paid a small fortune for them 2 years ago...

everything already stated is true...

you have a better chance of being on the first page with
the domain names for the city or small suburb you want to be in....



its all paid for itself probably 100 times over since then

yellow page dont hurt either
 
#30 ·
Does the domain name just have to contain the city and a key word. The city I'm in has already been bought.

Could I do something like "cityplumbingcontractor.com" or "plumbingcontractorincity.com"? Or does it HAVE to be "cityplumbers.com"?

We have a kick ass prescense in about a 40 mile area around indy... got the domain names and paid a small fortune for them 2 years ago...

everything already stated is true...

you have a better chance of being on the first page with
the domain names for the city or small suburb you want to be in....



its all paid for itself probably 100 times over since then

yellow page dont hurt either
 
#32 ·
Key words. If you have an adsense account you can go into ad words type in your web site name, then words & phrase ( called the long tail) and see how many times certain words are search for. Use those words and best vagas plumber and maybe some 6 or 7 that your competitor is using.

Get back links to your website by writing articles on article directories.

Put pictures up on your maps page. study search engine optimization for best results.
This is the World Wide Web not your local yellow pages. It takes time and a lot of hard work.
 
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