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Google Maps can be very frustrating for car dealers and it gets worse in competitive markets. 

For example, if you search Google for “Arizona Honda Dealers” and click on the Maps tab, you get a list of dealers. If your dealership is not showing up in the first few listings, you can get frustrated. 

How does Tempe Honda get top organic billing?  The answers are fuzzy at times but it seems that there is a growing body of evidence that supports theories why some maps are shown more often than others.

Many companies and car dealers have asked me about how they can increase the “relevance” of their Google Maps listing. Keep in mind that the “address” of the Google Maps/Places is a dominant factor in which search results show a Google map.

Misguided SEO hackers have attempted to scam or influence Google Maps listings with fake addresses but Google is cracking down on this practice. In the example on the right, you can see one such scammer (Listing A) that created a listing called “Honda Dealers” with a bogus address as “Metro Area”. 

Google Maps has not yet got around to removing this listing which is pushing real Honda dealers off the top positions.  Google Maps spam is on the rise and I would report to Google any fake listings that do not represent authorized Honda dealers.

Authoritative Directory Verifications

From my testing on Google Maps, I have concluded that having a consistent name, address and phone numbers across “reference” websites can assist your Google Maps listing to be shown above those that have no external references.  That means that you should not use different tracking numbers for public business directory listsing that are different.

Google can see if the submitted “business name and address” can be found on other paid or free websites. If the submitted address is nowhere to be found, you can understand why Google may be reluctant to show that new Maps listing. I am leaning on a recommendation that car dealers “pay” to be included in some very highly ranked directories as well as making sure that they get a free listing on www.dmoz.org which is the undisputed king of organic search directories.

Using GetListed.org

One tool that can simply the process of seeing which directories have your listing correct is www.getlisted.org .  If you type in your business name and zip code, as shown below, it will search Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp and BOTW to see if your listing is there. 

The fact that BOTW is listed as a “top” directory is interesting because it is a paid directory if you want to get the most important parts of your business profile visible to consumers, at $30 a month.  That money making recommendation aside, the tool is a quick way to get a snapshot of where you are. 

When the search is done, you can click to get a report on those five top websites that looks like this:

Additional Directory Sites

I would also recommend these directories to ensure that a dealer is represented on multiple free authoritive websites:

• www.MerchantCircle.com
• www.InsiderPages.com
• www.Judysbook.com
• www.SuperPages.com
• www.BrownBook.net
• www.Switchboard.com
• www.InfoUsa.com

According to an InfoGraphic on GetListed.org, the network of business directory websites and facilitators is shown below:

Google Maps Visibility

The idea behind this graphic is to show that there are MANY websites in which you can register your business name, address, phone and website. The idea is that if your contact information can be validated in MANY places, it has a higher likelihood of being accurate. 

This begs the question… 

• Have you made an effort to synchronize your business directory information?
• Have you paid for a listing on Yahoo.com or Business.com?
• Do you need to?
• How have you validated Your Business address?

Let the questions start and I will answer them to the best of my ability….

In the past few months Google has upgraded the analytics and reporting tools for your Google Maps listing on what is now called Google Places.  Since I have been told that web surfers don’t like to read long articles, I will create a quick overview with photos.

The data screens have MANY digital marketing implications that can be utilized to refine your marketing investments.  That is best done on a one-to-one basis as I look at your Google Maps data.

It is vitally important that every business owner login to their Google Places (http://places.google.com)  account (formerly Local Business Center) and check out the new features and reports.  So, let’s get started.

Here is a basic Google Maps listing; more data shows on the page so this is just the top part of the listing.

Short Term Comments Added

You can now add comments to your Google Maps listing that will last 30-days.  This is a feature that is accessed when you view your Google Places report.   the comments can talk about your current sale or promotions so this should be added to your monthly digital marketing task list.

To view your report, login to your Google Places account, find your website listing and click on the “View Report” link as shown below:

Google Maps Analytics

When you login and click on View Report your screen will look like this:

Notice that you can add post comments on the upper right side of the screen.  These comments appear on your Google Maps listing page.

Do You Have A Perfect Score?

You can also see if you have completed all required information with your completeness score.  Most businesses will not be at 100% and that is due to a few factors that includes:

• No Videos Loaded
• No Photos Loaded
• Hours Not Specified
• Category Data Missing

Please make sure you get your Google Maps account to 100%.

If you scroll down the report, you get a great deal of useful information.  You can see why Google Maps is one of the highest FREE sources for calls and traffic to your website.

You should not be surprised that your map appears most often for your business name or the category you selected.

Google Maps – Today’s Version of The Yellow Pages

The visibility for your business address and phone number is one of the basic benefits of adding a Google Map, but there are other benefits.  Did you know you can add free coupons to your maps listings?  Did you realize how many calls and clicks you get every month so if that is the case, if your Maps listing updated each month?

Scroll down some more and you will see that you can also see which cities are requesting the most driving directions.  This data is perfect for refining your online marketing strategies.

Updating Your Service Area

One of the newest things you can do is to specify your service area.  Since many dealers will pickup cars for service miles away or deliver cars that are sold online, you should change the default radius and expand it to include more towns as shown below:

Wow…that’s the fastest overview to some of the new features of Google Maps.  This is more to say and especially how to leverage this data but first get past all these action items!

Questions?  Send me an email to:  info@pcgdigitalmarketing.com