Is your Google Places listing accurate? Have you created a Google Places account, claimed your listing, and edited the incorrect information only to find that your listing information stays the same? If you’re like most marketing professionals who handle your business’s local listing accounts, chances are very good that you’ve encountered plenty of frustration when trying to correct information on a Google Places listing. However, while it may be time consuming, a Google Places listing can be edited to reflect a company’s most recent information, such as address and phone number, albeit in a relatively indirect manner. Allow us to explain…
The first thing you should realize is that while Google appreciates the information you provide it about your company, that information does not represent the end-all, be-all of data Google uses to create your listing (that’s right, Google creates your listing…not you). Google scours the Internet, searching for any information about your company it can find. The majority of this information comes from listing directories, so suffice it to say that, if you don’t have a well balanced legal Internet marketing campaign already in place, you’re going to run into roadblocks on your way to ranking well in Google Maps.
This brings us to the second thing that you need to realize. Creating and maintaining accurate and strong ranking local listings takes a lot of work, even if all you’re concerned with is your Google Places listing. Because Google relies on a multitude of other websites whom it considers authoritative in terms of business listing information, marketing professionals must make sure that all of those listings are accurate as well. So, while all you may be concerned about is Google, it isn’t the only site you’re going to have to deal with in order to obtain an accurate Google Places listing.
So, with so many marketing companies out there promising unsuspecting businesses page one placement in Google, it’s important to understand the actual process behind acquiring a page one ranking. A lot of effort has to go into a multitude of listing sites, strong SEO must be present throughout your website, and dynamic content needs to be regularly updated in order for search engines (Google included) to favorably rank your website. If the company you’re dealing with promises to do the above, you’re good to go. If not, you may want to rethink who you choose to help you with your legal Internet marketing campaign.