Google Places Quality Guidelines

We get calls from people wanting ideas on how to set-up their Google Places account. The process is really quite simple - be truthful and fill-out as much info as possible. Google provides Google Places Quality Guidelines which can keep you on track and prevent you from taking liberties that might harm your ability to be included on search results.

While following these guidelines will technically get you through the process there are some ways to (legally) optimize the relevance of your listing for your placement. We routinely help clients find the absolute optimum content to help their online ranking viability. As a general place to start we offer the following information.

Ownership: A Google Places listing should be claimed or set-up by only the business owner or their representative. (NEVER try to claim the name of a competing business!)

Business Name To Be Displayed: Should be exactly as it would appear on a sign or business card. Don't try keyword stuffing anywhere in your listing! I know that you see competitors doing it but it will eventually cause a problem.

Business Location: Use exact information to enable the map functionality to work properly. There is an option to "not display my address" if there is a need to not disclose your location (i.e., home based business where you cannot receive customers) Any Google Places listing MUST be a physical office location - not a P.O. Box or general office park address.

Multiple Locations: You may hand type or submit a spreadsheet (in a proper format) if you have multiple locations. Do not create multiple listings for a single location, which includes using multiple city names.

Content Suggestions:
- Phone number should be a local number (land or cell). You have an option to add a toll free number.
- Website Address should be a complete URL to your home page.
- Categories should include at least one suggested category. You may create your own categories for the remaining four spaces. Do not add a city/state to any category name.
- Business Description should be "factual" and not ad/marketing content. Do not duplicate categories or other info previously provided. used in your content.ns) or things it sells (e.g. Sony products or printer paper). This information can be added in your description or as custom attributes.
- Service Area should be a defined radius as this seems to work better that defining "points of reference".
- Photos, up to 10 can be uploaded, and will be displayed in the order that you upload. Your first image should be a powerful image such as your BBB logo, logo, or image that represents your business.
- Video content can be uploaded if it is your content. Google favore video content so we definitely recommend uploading at least one video.
- Content Fields are provided for noteworthy content such as brands carried, specialties, accreditations, etc.
- Google Tags are available to help your Places listing stand out from the pack. These are the "yellow arrows" that you have seen on some listings. The cost from Google is $25 per month and the Tag can be used as a link to your website, your location map and a few other choices.

For more information please feel free to get in touch with us or visit our page on Local Search Marketing