Local Business Listings for the Automotive Dealers are a must in todays Strategic Efforts. The Local Listings are free right now to build and manage, on Google, Yahoo and BING (MSN).
This are Examples of a Goolge Places.
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3225 South 108th St.,
West Allis, WI 53227
(414) 545-8010
Open Weekdays 9am-8pm; Sat 9am-5pm
2134 reviews
"Overall, I feel like I got a great deal from good honest people. Thanks again." - dealerrater.com |
Heads up... What you see and read here is subject to change at any time the providers deem so.
Google Places in July 2010 decided for several reasons to remove 3rd party reviews from results. Pantic struck among many that gave the power to the review providers. Be ready to adjust your marketing strategy as these changes can and will happen again.
Free is soon to change:
* Google introduced Google Tags, 30 days free than $25 Per Month. (Subject to Change)
* Google Tags retired April 29, 2011.
* Decemeber 2010 Google Started Rolling out The Paid Version of Google Places with Google Boost Ads. Only available initially in USA and Great Britain. - Watch the billing on this.
* 2011 - The Newest Google Advertising Platform is Google AdWords Express, which triggers listings from the Google Places, Maps and Mobile devices. AdWords Express is for local businesses looking for local customers. Watch the Billing on Google Adwrods Express. Pushes the billing over to the AdWords Billing if you have one.
Local Business Search Marketing Sepcifications
Post Categories, Store Hours, Phone Numbers, Address, a Correct Marker on the Map representing your location, you can Post Pictures of the Dealership, people, Events, Videos, etc... This is a great placement on the top of the Unpaid Results within the Search Engine and offer a prominent placement on the Results Page for many Local Keywords, Such as Broad Keywords, Such as or this dealership; Toyota, Toyota Dealer, New car Dealer, Used Cars for Sale, etc...
The one thing to look out for are the Social Networks attaching themselves to the Local Listing. Some of the Networks or Social Marketing Directories are or can be a negative impact to your Marketing Efforts. If you have not seen RipOffReport yet, hopefully you will not ever seen your name on this directory. But it is an unusual business model to say the least. This is where the term, Reputation Management comes into play. Once you start Social Marketing, you need to be ready to maintain the Same. You can not walk away. The management skills for Social Marketing is mainly based on Work Ethics, it takes a lot of work and management to stay ahead of your reputation.
We can help administer the accounts; from the intiail set up to maintenance.
Google understands the importance of its Local search
Goolge Local Works works geographically, so you don't have to worry about adding Ddemographics to your Search Query or misspelling...
Check it out by doing a search, clicking on "show options" and selecting "Nearby." You can choose to see results nearby either your default location or a custom location, and you can narrow down to results at the city, region or state level.
If you have not done so it is time to get started, these 3 steps are a good place to start:
1. Ensure your address details are included across your website (footer or header). When including your address, make sure to cover off the suburb, major city, state etc. This will help to ensure youre included no matter what filter the user includes.
2. Google Local Business Listing is a must for your business. Google will naturally be using its local business database to help assign locator data to its natural index.
3. Gather links from Local centric sources. Links from local groups, councils etc will help to identify your website as a key information source from a local area.
Google Places Help
Google Places Basics
Benefits of Google Places
Google Places Rating and Reviews Help:
Related Topics, Updates and News:
Google Local search "Near By Filter"
Googles Local Search "Search Options Panel"
What to do for Business Owners?
In no particular order here are things to consider if you have a business that depends on local business:
- Reputation management is at a whole new high now that review ratings are exposed so readily to searchers.
What to do: Start building your reviews as soon as possible by initiating a customer outreach program requesting feedback on various online profiles. Be certain to monitor your profiles regularly and respond appropriately to any issues that arise.
- In many cases the business description used in local search results is being sourced from the Meta Description tag on the associated business page.
What to do: Ensure your Meta Description tag is crafted to drive traffic. You need to keep in mind the tag has absolutely no weight in how your website is ranked so you can freely optimize the tag for improving click-throughs to your site; this is your chance to win over the searcher.
- Google Sitelinks are being used for some businesses in the results.
What to do: Visit your Google Webmaster Tools account and under Site Information go to the Site Links report and be sure to block any links you do not want to potentially appear in results.
- Images speak loudly about a location and will often play a large role in determining the next step for a searcher.
What to do: Make certain all of your images in your Google Places profile are recent and attractive so they drive clicks. Remember to view the image in thumbnail format (81 pixels wide by 56 pixels high) before determining a photo is worthy since that is how searchers will first view the picture.
- Links from relevant sites that prove your locality can dramatically help with improving your local search rankings.
What to do: Try to be included in as many relevant, local-focused websites and directories as possible. Here is a list outlining directories and websites Google is known to consider when evaluating US-based local rankings; Free Guide to Improving Local Search Ranking which does not appear to be too out of date.
Finally - The most important lesson to be learned is if you have not claimed the Google Places listing or Bing Local Business Portal listing or YAhoo Local and monay other Local direcotires for your business DO IT NOW! or call Real Traffic Productions for a complete Local Search Marketing Campaign.