Take two businesses both with the same physical address and list them with Google Places. Now imagine one of the businesses gets 20+ positive reviews while the other has maybe a handful. Which one do you think will show higher in the Google Maps listing? Oddly enough, the business with the lesser number of reviews can actually show up higher in the results. The question you have to ask is why would it beat out the listing that has more reviews? What is the secret to a great Google Places listing?
The answer lies in the details. Take a close look at your listing. Have you filled everything out as fully as possible? The more blanks you leave, the more it can n egatively impact your listing. Your description should of course contain sufficient information; however, you can’t just stop there. Fill in your hours, email, payment types accepted and even categories. Remember, the more complete it is the better your chances of ranking higher.
Next, you should upload some photos to your listing. Google allows you to load up to ten images so make them count. Let people see the best side of your business. Make sure that they offer a personal touch as well. The more easily the potential customer or client can connect with you before ever meeting you the more likely they will be choose you over your competitors.
The next thing to fill in is the video section. Let’s face it; today it is all about videos. How many times do you catch yourself watching some viral video that has had millions of views? Google Places allows you to embed up to five of your videos. Simply upload them to YouTube and then copy the URL. Add these URLs into your Google Places listing and voila! Remember, keep your videos professional looking and don’t do anything you might later regret.
Now, there may be times when two businesses are sharing a suite and so have the exact same address. How do you keep the big G from flagging your listing as a possible duplicate? Simple, Make sure that when you enter your address you make it different from the other business as much as possible. For example, if the other business uses abbreviations such as RD, ST, AVE, etc make sure that you spell each one out for your listing. Also, if you are sharing a suite with another business you can list the suite number on the same line as the street address or on the second address line, whichever is the opposite of the other business.
As long as you are two different business entities, then this is fine and can really help boost your ranking if it is getting knocked because of the address. There are many other steps you can take to help maximize your Google Places listing.