Hi over the past few posts I have been covering some  web resources you simply must be using and adding to your internet marketing arsenal to spread your business and you as a ‘brand’ across the internet. Its obvious really the more place your name crops up, the more people will get to know you & what you do.

Here’s Just One Illustration Of One Web Resources We Use & Its Impact

Again that why Sam & I devote as much time as we do to article marketing – see this email from my article submission company I use:

Congratulations! The distribution of the following article has now been completed:

To get an idea of how far your article has distributed, search for your article title
in quotes on Google – copy and paste this line into Google:

“How To Use Google Adwords to Grow Your Online Business”

(Note you won’t see all the places your article is listed, but it gives you an idea)

Ok guys – 9,447 listings and that’s just the beginning

How cool is that? So to my mind using as many web resources as you can, outsourcing some if you’re stuck for time has to be done!

Remember that’s just one article – we submit around 10 a month – so suddenly you can understand the growth opportunity I hope!

So read on and discover more tips to grow your business:

Do You Still Use Yellow Pages?

Google is the new Yellow Pages, and Google Places gets you listed there.  When people are looking for local services – a car repair shop, a dentist, a good slice of pizza or anything else – they now look online.  With the Farmer Update of spring 2011, Google changed its algorithm to favour local search.  That means you’ve now got an opportunity to be at the top of its results page if you can use Google Places effectively.

What Is Google Places?

Google Places is an extension of Google search.  It’s a totally free online marketing service for brick and mortar businesses.  That means you can’t use it for your online business, but if you’re an SEO offering services to offline businesses, it is golden.

You create a page for your business (or your client’s business) and list its contact information, website URL, hours of operation and other info.  It automatically includes a map in searches (that’s the little map you see these days at the top of the search results).  Customers can also add reviews of your business.

How Places Search Works

When you use Google Places, you target keywords like ‘pest control in Minneapolis.’  When somebody in Minneapolis searches for a local pest control service, your business comes up.  Google Places search results come up before regular ones, and that means you stand a really good chance or ranking for number one if you play your cards right.

My Top Tips On Dominating Google Places

Your Description.  In addition to your contact and business information, you also get to include a short 200-word description.  This should be enticing, or course, but it should also be keyword optimized.  The same rules of SEO apply with Google Places.  Make sure it’s in there, but don’t stuff.

Pics And Vids.  You can also include pictures.  If you’ve got a burger shop, include a pic of a juicy burger just oozing with flavour.  If you’re a law firm, include a short video with a lawyer talking to the viewer.  Take advantage of these options and use them to draw in visitors and make your page unique.

Multiple Pages For Multiple Locations.  If you’ve got several different locations, make a different page for each one.  Don’t just have one with your head office’s information.  Include local phone numbers and real street addresses.  Google doesn’t like P.O. Boxes.  If you don’t have a local number, you can hire a virtual number service to get you one.

Backlink To Your Page. 

As I said, the same SEO rules apply.  Google looks at the links that are coming in to determine your site’s relevance.  Build some backlinks from relevant, high-quality sites and this will push your ranking up above the others.

Connect Everything. 

Make sure that all of your other sites are connected to your Places site.  This includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and wherever else you’ve got a page.  You can use some of these as your backlinks.

Super Secret Ninja SEO Tricks. 

Now, we’re going to get a little bit tricky.  There are some SEO tricks that will help a bit.  One is to include your keywords in your photo descriptions and alt tags.  Put these on your code where they won’t be seen by the naked eye, but they’ll be seen by Google’s spiders!

Monitor Your Places Page. 

You should always keep an eye on the reviews you’re getting and also your analytics.  The reviews will give you feedback from customers that you can use to improve your services.  The analytics give you feedback from Google that tells you whether you’re optimization is working or not.

Ask For Reviews. 

Finally, you’ve got to ask your customers for reviews.  Most people will be happy to give you a good review, but they just need to be reminded.  Getting lots of good reviews will get you ranking higher and also bury any bad reviews that come.

Google Places is wonderful because it’s uncharted territory; you can rank high for simple keywords if you know how to use it right.

To your success

Tony

 Leave a comment & let us know what you need help & advice on-We’ll try & help!