Google Local Tips

Local search is essential to small businesses – especially professional services like Attorneys. When someone searches for a lawyer on Google, trends show that they are looking more for a lawyer in their city or metro area rather than search State-Wide. When Google changed their map algorithm to Google Places, it focused specifically on Local Search & enabled businesses to communicate with customers as well as supplement their Google profile information to include hours of operation, photos, videos, coupons and product offerings. We assume Google is serving maps more than 1 billion times a month.
How do you take advantage of Google Local? First of all - List your business in Google Places. Despite being free, I am always surprised & shocked at 1) SEO Companies who are NOT optimizing for Google Places & 2) SEO Companies that charge to optimize for Google Places. Optimizing for local should be a staple of good SEO. If you’re not on Page 1 locally, your SEO company is not doing an efficient job of SEO.
If you’re doing it yourself, Google provides a number of training videos to explore the features, including tools like tracking of actions (meaning how many times users showed interest in your business listing). It also shows information on maps, driving directions or direct clicks, as well as impressions (how many times users saw your business listing as a local search result). Ratings and references are important too, but we’ll get to that later in the article.
While Google Places is important, don’t forget to register at:
* http://local.yahoo.com/
* http://www.bing.com/local/
Next step - Verify Your Business: If you’re not sure if you’re in the maps or not - simply search for your firm name. Just to be sure, include the city or county you are supposed to be listed in.
If you are not listed, have your SEO Company or you fix it. For example, if you’re a tax attorney in Beverly Hills, search for “tax attorney Beverly Hills.” Here, the top local results show (just below Google’s paid search results) as well as a local map on the right, hovering over more paid listings.
If you see your local result, make sure it has been verified or not. If an arrow points to “Business owner,” it means it needs verification. If you don’t see your local listing, create your own.
Google pulls the data on this result (address, phone number) from some of the larger business aggregators like infoUSA or AVVO for lawyers, and attempts to match it up correctly. However, that data could be wrong. If that’s the case, it is important for you to take corrective measures. When you verify your business information in local search results, it helps insure that the information others see is correct. Again, you’d be surprised how many lawyers or other business owners don’t even do this.
Select your categories: When registering, make sure to assign your business to the listed categories that best describe it. You can add up to five categories, and if you’re a lawyer, I would take advantage of the most accurate categories. Again, I am amazed at how many Divorce Lawyers show up in the maps of Injury Lawyers. The more accurate you are, the better for your overall SEO, not just Local SEO.
Add as much information as possible, including hours, payment types, e-mail address, phone number, URL/web address, photos, videos and coupons. Fill out each field, if appropriate.
When you’re done, make videos, upload them to YouTube and link them back into your local profile on Google Places. Screen cam your PowerPoint presentations. You can include up to 10 pictures and five videos.
Get listed in Other Local Directories: Google Places is important, but so are other local business directories like Yelp and Merchant Circle. Here is a list that any good SEO Company should put you in. Again, make sure that all your information is correct, and keep the same formatting across all locations.
* Better Business Bureau
* Brownbook.net
* Citysearch.com
* judysbook.com
* Kudzu.com
* Best of the Web
* local.com
* MerchantCircle.com
* yelp.com
Get Reviews: Don’t be afraid to ask clients for reviews. Offer some kind of incentive for engagement and visits to your website or to do a review for you. Add a friendly reminder with your office invoice mailings or email newsletters asking your customers to review you and their experience. Ask for your clients to do reviews on all of the above local directories, not just Google Places.
One Important Tip: Don’t go crazy & ask all your friends to review you at once. It will put up a red flag in Google’s eyes & it will actually hurt your rankings. (See below).
Top NEGATIVE Factors to HURT your local listing at Google: There’s someone that tries to work the system & push things (I’m sure you get calls from those folks every day saying “I can get you on Page 1 of Google”). However, this latest Algorithm change proved that all the people that were manipulating & ‘spamming’ the maps before are now gone! Still, I feel it’s important to tell you what NOT to do when setting up your Google Map Listing, and what things will affect your rankings in a negative way.
Top Negative Factors
1. Negative Ratings
2. Location Keywords in Categories
3. (800) Phone Number on Website w/o Local Area Code
4. (800) As Primary Place Page Number
5. Multiple Locations on Places Landing Page
6. Multiple Place Pages w/Same Business Title
7. PO Box on Website w/o Physical Address
8. Multiple Place Pages w/Same Address
9. Hiding Address on Your Place Page
10. Multiple Place Pages w/Same Phone Number (Most Harmful)
Dave Hendricks of the Attorney Marketing Network helps firms get new clients by improving their internet presence and drive measurable leads to their business. He presents a regular Attorney Marketing / Attorney Networking Seminar locally at The Law Offices of Magana Cathcart & McCarthy. Google Adwords Certified, Dave is an Internet Marketing Consultant and has over 16 years of sales and Internet experience in the technology space (9 years within the legal market). Each month, there are literally thousands of people searching for a local attorney in all the major practice areas. Dave helps firms take advantage of that search and be found on Google, Yahoo, and Bing, using successful website design, Search Engine Optimization, Google Local, and Pay-Per-Click techniques.

Dave’s next luncheon seminar is Tuesday, February 22th at 12:00 at the Law Offices of Magana Cathcart McCarthy -- 1801 Avenue of the Stars #600, Century City.
Lunch is included, and you will receive a complimentary evaluation of your website by attending. Space is limited, so save your spot by contacting Dave directly at 818-618-2227, via email at dave@AttorneyMarketingNetwork.com , or by visiting www.attorneymarketingwebsites.com to sign up online.



Michael Douglas Carlin is the director of the movies Luvicide and American Federale. Recently he completed a ten-year stint as the Publisher and Editor of the Century City News. Here his articles turned into three books: Rise a Knight, A Prescription for Peace, and Peaceful Protests.