The whole point of GLBC is to create indexes that yield pertinent, real and helpful information for communities that improve the quality of  life for local community.

For lots of business owners seeking better local exposure claiming their business at the Google Local Business Center is their first step into the realm of search marketing. With all of the fancy new features the GLBC has rolled out, now is a great time to get started.

Google Local Business Center Categories – The Complete List

Picking the right category with the Local Business Center is one of the keys to success in Google Maps. Categories are critical to being considered relevant on.

Get Your Business Ranked At Google Without A Website

The search engine Local Business Listing is how you can use the Internet to generate sales. This is a service that is a part of Google Local Business Listing via Google Maps, Yahoo Local Listing and Bing Local Listing. …

Use Google Local Business Center to Attract Clients

Create an account on Google’s Local Business Center to ensure clients can find and contact you with the click of a button.

Google Local Business Business Center Introduction

Google Local Business Center Introduction … Google Friend Connect, Denver Colorado community blog. Demonstrating the social features on blogger you can use to create your own communities like IM in Denver CO. …

Local Search Ranking Factors

David Rodecker from Local Splash is up next. He wants you to go take care of your Google Local Business listing. Aha! His last name is Rodecker. [Look at that! Why do I bother? --Virginia] …

Google Local Listing

Google Local Business Centre (GLBC) listings are becoming a serious element in the SEO mix. Discover how to optimize your local listing search engine rankings. … Try to include up to five industry types to categories your business. For example if you own a restaurant, you might choose categories like restaurant, takeaway, cafe, business catering, Italian and so forth to describe your business. It is essential that your primary category is the most accurate description …

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Google Local Business Center Tips

The story

The other day I was doing a little temporary patch work on my roof due to the damage caused to the roofing by heavy winds and rain we received on the 20th of July.

While I was contemplating how hard it’s going to be on this ‘ole man’ to do a roof a gentlemen walking down the sidewalk interrupted my thoughts of the task ahead. He was asking me if I needed any windows or siding work. I had to say no as I didn’t really need those things.

After his unsuccessful attempt to gain my business we stood there and talked about about the general economy and how tough it is right now to generate income. After five minutes talking with him he revealed he was the owner of the company.

He told me  he has owned the company for 30 years and commented that this is the toughest times he has ever had generating income. He’s had to let several of his people go, including the people (sales) who generated potential customers.

I asked him how many new leads he had generated over the past week. He answered.. ” Maybe a few, but nothing solid. I’ve been walking neighborhood’s for almost a week ( I live on a small mountain) talking to around 100 people.  I haven’t had to do this in 25 years. It’s wearing me out!”

So of course after hearing that I had to ask him if he had a website. He answered that he was paying for leads from a website but hasn’t gotten anything from it. He also jokingly added that his daughter is better with a computer than he is.

As he was saying that I was remembering how my parents, now in their 70’s, thought they would break something if they tried to use the Internet. Now I can’t stop them from sending me those silly jokes about Wyoming! Ha ha.

On a serious note, my Dad  learned how to use one of the ancestry sites and traced his entire family tree AND found his daughter from his first marriage. Pretty cool.

Towards the end of my conversation with the exterior siding guy, I invited him to the office and offered to add his business online for him. I thought he might need a break from all that up and down hill walking.  He accepted.  This took us less then 30 minutes to do.

Getting your business online (bare essentials)

Getting a web presence for your business will take you less than 1  hour of your time (tops), you don’t need a website and it will cost you nothing. All you need is a computer and Internet connection.

Follow these steps below to get your business online and start beating the recession.

• Go to Google and create a Gmail account (called a Google Account)
• Go to Google’s Local Business Center at http://maps.google.com/localbusinesscenter and add your business details. Watch this video to learn more.
• Get verified. Google will give you very specific, easy instructions on what to do. Tip: Use the by phone option. Google will call you with a code that is used to activate the listing immediately.
• Advice: Get a website. This isn’t a  requirement, but if you don’t have one, chances are your business will not be displayed in the first 10 results (the sweet spot). Having a site will greatly increase your odds of being displayed in the top 10. It doesn’t need to be pretty, but the most important thing is to just have one.

If my Dad (an old truck driver) can teach himself to do research on the Internet than almost any business owner that has a PC in the office with an Internet connection has all the skills and tools necessary to get their business online and starting beating the recession.

If you know a small business that is not online please refer them to this post. If you can help them get online take 30 minutes and show them how to do it.

Small business is the heart and soul of our economy and rite now they need some help. If you have any suggestions please feel free to add comments to this post. Help small business owners succeed in this changing economy.

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Beat The Recession: Get Your Business Online

Here are a few highlights of the new policy that directly address manipulation;

• Do not attempt to manipulate search results by adding extraneous keywords into the title field, and do not include phone numbers or URLs in the title along with your proper business name.
• Provide the one URL that belongs to your business both in terms of the landing page and the displayed URL.
• Pages that redirect to another domain, or act as “click through” sites may lead to penalization. Use the description and custom attribute fields to include additional information about your listing. This type of content should never appear in your business’s title, address or category fields.

For more on the general guidelines for creating business listings visit the business listing quality guidelines.

With Internet marketing gurus now teaching people how to game  local business listings this change in the guidelines is right on time.

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Google Maps Fights Back Against Spam