These factors have an impact on how a local website is viewed by search engines
Physical Address also in City Search
It's best if the city you want business from is actually part of your business address.
Area Code on Google Plus Local Page
Your phone number should not be an 800 number. Your area code should match your business location.
Accurate Business Category Associations
Make sure your business categories listed in directories match up with what you offer local consumers.
Proximity of Address to Center of City
The closer you are to the center of your town is a big plus.
Quantity of Google Plus Local Reviews Received
Get as many reviews and testimonials by your customers on your Google Plus Business page
Quantity of Citations
You want as many directories and authority sites pointing to your website as possible.
Small Businesses are Missing Out on New Leads and Sales Each Day
Here are some surprising stats concerning small businesses and their local maps listings.
01.
43% of businesses have an incorrect or missing address.
It's hard to get new business when customers can't find you.
02.
60% of small business sites do not have a phone number listed.
Not displaying your phone number makes it hard for new prospects to call you.
03.
93% of small businesses websites are not mobile compatible.
Not good when you consider 63% of consumers use mobile to access websites.
04.
37% of small businesses have an incorrect or missing name online.
This makes for poor branding or no name recognition.
Including and monitoring your business in local maps, review sites and directories has never been more important. Consumers now like to check out what your previous customers have to say about your business before deciding to do business with you.
Reaching More Local Consumers and Businesses
Google has recognized that there is a lot of advertising dollars in the hands of local businesses and local consumers. Google is constantly monitoring and changing their products and services for local businesses to better serve local markets. What was formerly known as Google Places has now turned into Google Plus for local. Google is heavily pushing Google Plus because of the popularity of social sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Google is not the only search engine or directory that shows local maps for businesses. Some other top search engines and directories for local web traffic include Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, Best of the Web and Hot Frog to name a few. What makes map listings unique is that customers can submit reviews which can later influence potential customers. It is very important to have your business listing optimized on these services. Also, you must monitor what is being said about your company on these directory/map sites. We suggest having satisfied customers post reviews about your business, as these reviews can influence search engine rankings too.
Where We List Your Site to Obtain Top Map Rankings
In the Photo Below, You can See the Local Map Listings Circled
