A Google Places Page / Maps Lesson -When Not To Believe Your Own Eyes

A Google Places Page / Maps Lesson -When Not To Believe Your Own Eyes

A local merchant in my community, the owner of a Bowling Alley questions why he would need my services since he was already highly ranked on the Google map. And gosh, he was right. What was most surprising was the fact that he hadn't claimed his page and didn't even have a web site.

As a result he openly questioned why he needed to hire me to get him set up. Just six months ago, it would have cost him thousands of dollars to get anywhere near the first page results. Now here he was on top of the local listings and all without lifting a finger.

Google's Places Pages are still in their early stages of development, and one of its best attributes may actually be hindering its adoption in some cases. The local nature of Places is its strength. It takes advantage of Google's ability to recognize the computer searcher's location. For example when I search from my computer at home, Google knows I am in zip code 55417 and shows me Skylane Bowl because its in the same zip code. It's the only bowling lanes in my area.

If you lived on the North side of Minneapolis, the odds are that they wouldn't show up any where near the top. The power of the Places Page is that local focus. The goal after all is to provide the searcher with the information they are looking for.

In the old days, you would do a search for bowling, or plumber or chiropractor and you would get results across the nation. A chiropractor in Seattle didn't offer a lot of value for a searcher in Minnesota. Now with the new Places technology a searcher here in Minnepolis will see results that are local to Minneapolis.

Now within these local searches, google uses multiple factors to determine who gets ranks first, second and so on. One of the key factors is clearly how close a business is to the searcher. The literature in the field is pretty clear about the major factors that Google employs to rank listings. The key to understand is that the top rankings do matter.

Most small business people are experts in their business and not how Google Places works. They may not appreciate the nuances of their Google places ranking or even its value. But while most businesses get the bulk of their customers from their immediate area, many need or want to draw from larger market areas. Most businesses need to draw from the larger area. The key message here is to point out that Google Places is a powerful new tools that is just beginning to roll out. While you may have a temporary visibility based just on your proximity to the searcher, other factors will increasingly come into play.

Don't be fooled by any current visibility that may be temporary. Google places pages are a vital new way for people to find your business. Businesses which take the time to appropriately set up their Google Places Pages will benefit by =being more visible to potetnital clients. It makes absolute sense to take action and get your listing set up properly.

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