Normally when conducting a search for a service or restaurant combined with a city state (roofing company atlanta ga) you would get a list of 3 or 7 businesses along with a map at the top of the screen. Below that you would see the organic listing of web sites.

Today Google has changed the way these results are displayed. Depending on the search term the local results are now sometimes listed down the page intermingled with the organic listings as you can see below.

Google Places New Results Layout

This is very interesting because no matter how good your SEO is the local results are going to push you down and nearly off the page!

Of course this is still new and I’m sure as we have a little more time with it we will figure out more little nuances with this new listing layout.

For those of you who have had me do your local listings you should be happy with this new update. Those of you who haven’t… give me a call and I will be glad to help you

Google Places will rank your local listing based on several criteria, one of the most important being citations that Google finds scattered across the internet. A citation is a listing for your company on a web site such as Yelp, or Kudzu, or SuperPages, etc. These listings normally include Company Name, Address, Phone Number, Web Site Address, Description, etc. The more (and better trusted) web sites you list your company on the more emphasis Google will give your Places listing.

Here are my top web sites to list your company on (in no particular order):

1. Kudzu – Kudzu makes it easy for you to choose the best service providers for your home and family so you can confidently get your to-do list done and get on with your life. Kudzu gives you honest, uncensored feedback on millions of business from homeowners just like you — plus thousands of money-saving deals in every major US city.
   Main Web Site: http://www.kudzu.com
   Add Your Business: https://register.kudzu.com/packageSelect.do?
   Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
2. Yelp – Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics. As of August 2010, more than 38 million people visited Yelp in the past 30 days. Yelpers have written over 12 million local reviews, over 85% of them rating a business 3 stars or higher.
   Main Web Site: http://www.yelp.com
   Add Your Business: https://biz.yelp.com/signup
   Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
3. Merchant Circle – MerchantCircle is the largest online network of local business owners, combining social networking features with customizable web listings that allow local merchants to attract new customers.
   Main Web Site: http://www.merchantcircle.com
   Add Your Business: http://www.merchantcircle.com/merchant
   Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
4. Angie’s List – Angie’s List is a growing collection of consumers’ real-life experiences with local contractors and doctors. More than one million consumers nationwide use Angie’s List to find reliable professionals in their area.
   Main Web Site: http://www.angieslist.com
   Add Your Business: http://company.angieslist.com
   Cost: Free to list your business on Angie’s List, but the customer has to pay to search for and rate businesses.
5. Judy’s Book – Judy’s Book is a book of local secrets that helps you to make decisions. Tips on local restaurants, shops, home repairs, health professionals and much more.
   Main Web Site: http://www.judysbook.com
   Add Your Business: http://www.judysbook.com/Biz
   Cost: Basic Listing – $9.95 one time, Enhanced, Enhanced+ and Premium – $10.49 to $49.99 per month.
6. SuperPages – Superpages.com is the local expert, and a top online resource for finding information and insights on businesses and retailers. Every month we help millions of consumers find valuable local business information from driving directions and hours of operation to Web links and customer reviews.
   Main Web Site: http://www.superpages.com
   AddYour Business: http://www.supermedia.com/spportal/businessprofilebegin.do?&tsrc=SP&campaignId=SP_FT_AddEditaBusiness
   Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
7. InsiderPages – Insider Pages was created to help people find the best local businesses through recommendations from their friends and neighbors. At InsiderPages.com, people share reviews of local businesses and find great services they can trust. Millions of people visit our site each month to get the Insider scoop on local businesses.
   Main Web Site: http://www.insiderpages.com
   Add Your Business: http://www.insiderpages.com/session/new
   Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
8. YellowPages – YP believes that providing a compelling local search experience will empower users to live their daily lives more richly and efficiently. YP helps users discover, find and connect with local businesses, events and attractions via online, mobile, or IPTV.
   Main Web Site: http://www.yellowpages.com
   AddYour Business: http://listings.yellowpages.com/Services/CreateServiceStarter.aspx?product=1
   Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
9. LocalEze - Localeze is the largest online content management company serving businesses, local search engine publishers and ready-to-buy consumers.
   Main Web Site: http://www.localeze.com
   AddYour Business: https://webapp.localeze.com/extranet/addbusinessdesc.aspx
   Cost: Free
10. CitySearch – Citysearch is the essential local guide for living bigger, better and smarter in your city. Covering more than 75,000 locations nationwide, we combine in-the-know editorial recommendations, candid user comments and expert advice from local businesses, and we keep you connected to the most popular and undiscovered places wherever you are.
    Main Web Site: http://www.citysearch.com
    AddYour Business: https://myaccount.citygridmedia.com
    Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
11. Local.com – Local.com is a leading local search engine and the largest local search network in the United States. The company provides over 19 million consumers each month with the most relevant search results for local businesses, products and services on Local.com and over 700 regional media sites.
    Main Web Site: http://www.local.com
    AddYour Business: http://advertise.local.com/
    Cost: Free basic listing, Premium listing costs $49.95
12. Brown Book – Brownbook.net is the free local business directory that anyone can edit.  You can add and find businesses in any country in the world, though you’ll notice that we’ve got most Listings in UK, USA, Canada and Australia right now.
    Main Web Site: http://www.brownbook.com
    AddYour Business: http://www.brownbook.net/business/add/
    Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.
13. Best of the Web Local – Best of the Web is a comprehensive directory of categorized, content-rich, well designed web sites – and the internet’s oldest search directory.
    Main Web Site: http://local.botw.org/
    AddYour Business: http://local.botw.org/helpcenter/jumpstartproduct.aspx
    Cost: Free basic listing, Premium listing costs $29.95 per month
14. Hot Frog – HotFrog is USA’s fastest growing FREE online business directory listing over 6.6 million US businesses.
    Main Web Site: http://www.hotfrog.com
    AddYour Business: http://www.hotfrog.com/AddYourBusiness.aspx
    Cost: Free basic listing with upgrades possible with additional fees.

Notice the link below the business name that says “Place page”. This is your Google Places Page, this used to be your Google Business Listing or Google Local Listing. I’ve seen it listed several different ways.

On that “Places” page you will lots of information about that business including hours of operation, types of payment accepted, photos and videos related to that business. Basically it’s like a simplified web site for your business. You will see all of this information and more… if you’ve actually setup your Google Places page for your business. Have you?

It’s pretty simple. Just set aside about 30 minutes to fill out the form Google gives you and after verifying that you are authenticate your update listing will appear in sometimes as little as 10 minutes.

To get started:

1. Do the search we just did to find your business.
2. Click the Place page link.
3. Click the Business Owner? link beside the map.
4. Choose the “Edit my business information” option and then click the Continue button.
5. Fill out as much information as you can about your business.
6. After authenticating your listing will be updated. Sometimes this takes place within a few minutes, sometimes it may take up to 24 hours.
7. When you submit the information Google will want to authenticate you as the business owner. They can either mail you a postcard with a code on it or they can call you at the phone number listed on your Google Places page. The phone process takes all of maybe 1 minute to complete, so that’s the method I would recommend.

Now when someone finds your Google business listing they will have the correct information about your business and not the generic information that Google automatically puts there.

I’m in the process of writing a more detailed report of each step of this process, but in the time being you can leave me a message below or email me if you have any questions.

That’s the question I’ve struggled with over the years of helping small businesses in small towns. Most small business owners think that if they have a web site designed for them, put it on the internet a flood of new customers will start beating down their doors. This is NOT going to happen.

They get sold by some “marketer” that if they put their business on Twitter and Facebook they are now tapping into the unlimited resources of social media. This isn’t going to help either.

I’m not saying that these services are bad or don’t work, the business owners just don’t use them properly.

So how does a small business in a small town properly use their web site and social media?

To answer that question you have to know how business works in small towns.

It’s all about who you know.

You get to know other business owners through the Chamber of Commerce, you meet other residents at the grocery store, you waive at the police officers, you visit the same local restaurants as everyone else. You get to know people. Once they know you they either trust you or they don’t. That’s how business works in small towns.

So how can you that translate to online marketing?

You collect customer’s email addresses and send out regular newsletters or coupons or updates about you, your business, your town, things they can relate to.

You ask your customers if they are on Twitter or Facebook. Connect with them there on a personal level.

You get on LinkedIn and find other local business owners or business owners in nearby towns. You have a connection because of the town you live in.

Above all make it personal! Don’t kill the relationship by blasting your products or services at everyone. Create a relationship!

Sure this same process works for larger cities, but small towns are a different breed. Word spreads much faster in small towns and you will probably see those same people the next time you go grocery shopping.

You have a web site, so what?

Sure having a good looking web site is important, but if the images and words you display on that web site don’t invoke a sense of trust in the viewers they won’t stay very long and they will definitely not contact you for further information.

Images are worth a thousand words, and if the first image I see on your business’ web site is of you with your shirt off mowing the lawn I don’t think I’m going to stay around long enough for you to convince me that I should purchase your eBook on dating.

I’m on the Twitter

Same goes for using Twitter and Facebook. Are you posting information that people will find useful? Are you encouraging your readers to visit other people’s web sites and use other people’s services? Or are you only talking about how great you are and how great your services are? People have a hard time trusting other people when the conversation is always one-sided.

Facebook is great for communicating with people who like your business, but just remember that more than likely you have your personal account linked to the business account. If I find your personal account on Facebook to be offensive because you are talking about how you are planning on getting drunk this weekend and on your business page you are promoting your alcohol and drug recovery program do you really think I’m going to trust what you are trying to sell me? Probably not.

Package it all together

Take into consideration your web site’s images and words. Do they make someone want to call you? Fill out your form? Sign up for your newsletter? If not, what can you do to fix that? Have someone you trust read over your web site and get their opinion (not your drinking buddy because he’s already drunk.)

On Twitter make sure you talk about other people (not in a negative way) and the service they are providing. Did you have a positive experience with someone? Did you meet someone new? Give them a quick shoutout to let people see you are human. Do they same thing on Facebook. People like to see that you care about other people and want to communicate.

Now get out there and do something!