The Google Places Myth
Google is giving Place Pages priority when it predicts you are searching for a local business. Now, there are companies who will tell you that claiming your Place Page and filling out all the details just right will have you magically appearing on the front page of Google for local searches.
The fact is and I quote Jeffery Sussman, Google Product Manager for Local Search:
“A business claiming a place page does not result in preferential treatment”
To put it plainly, Google doesn’t trust you. Google uses three key factors in determining the ranking of place pages
- RELEVANCE – as in “I am looking for a dry cleaners”
- DISTANCE – Straightforward calculation based on the query e.g. “dry cleaners in Melbourne CBD” or the location of your computer based on your IP address or smart phone
- PROMINENCE – Google is very cagey saying only that this is taken from “many places on the web”. However, you can bet it uses PageRank as the main driver. Thats because you can’t fake, buy or borrow a good PageRank.
You can see this when “unclaimed” Place Pages are regularly listed instead of “owner verified” Place Pages.
So why bother professionally completing your Place Page with your logo, expanded categories, keywords, images, videos and reviews ?
Because Place Pages are for people – not search engines.
This detailed information professionally presented will help you connect with people searching on Google but it wont help to beat the system.
zen10 takes a holistic approach to Internet Marketing and while we use our fair share of tips and tricks the foundation is common sense and solid business principles starting with a great website designed for People and Google.
Get you Place Page pimped by zen10 today!