Google Maps - Cleaning Talk - Professional Cleaning and Restoration Forum

Coloradocarpetcleaner · 01-20-2010, 05:01 PM

I'm not sure how many of you use Google and Yahoo maps for your service, but its free.A normal map listing looks like this:
Carpet cleaning Boulder

If you are able to optimize your listing it will come up on the first page and it is free. I'm wondering if anyone knows how to get your website or a nice landing page to pop up instead of the generic listing like the one above?

Google also has a link function where you can copy code for your own coupon and use it to link from other sites. I think this might help you pull up better in the rankings.It looks like this:
http://maps.google.com/coupons/page?...hl=en-US&gl=US

Does anybody know ways to help your listing pull up one page one?

JanQuest Business Systems · 04-08-2010, 04:41 PM

First of all, congrats on your website coming up #2 in the organic search results when I did a search for "boulder carpet cleaning". And you did it with only 8 backlinks! I suspect that you accomplished this high spot because your site has a good page title and your site is stuffed with good text that matches up with common search terms.

I'd suggest when you post on forums from now on that you include a text link to your site, also known as anchor text.

You can get your Google Map to show up in the "Seven Pack" (the Seven Pack is the list of companies right next to the Map) if you list your business in the right directories such as LocalEze, Boulevards, and DiscoverOurTown. Getting listed in the right directories can make all the difference between showing up in the Seven Pack and not showing up at all. These directories are crawled by Google all the time.

Best,

Kit Schulte, Start a Janitorial Office Cleaning Business the Right Way!

alphacleaning2009 · 04-15-2010, 11:45 AM

Thank you for posting these directories Kit, I'll get my business listed there.

Mighti · 05-14-2010, 11:45 AM

I think you mean Local Business Center now called Google Places.

Yes excellent ide and it is free.

Also if you're in New Zealand these are the directories - Finda, Hotfrog, Gopher, yellow.

annaus · 05-17-2010, 10:54 PM

Hi Guys,

I am new here. And I'm new to marketing online. How can I make my website in the first page of google map? We are from Brisbane, Australia. If anyone could help that would be great. I put on my title area "Reliable Trusted Cleaning Services" .. Any help for my page to rank well would be great thanks soo much. Cheers Ann

Mighti · 05-17-2010, 11:35 PM

Hi annaus

You have to set up an account with Google
Go to Google Places and Add a business.
Ad address with local phone number
Description add as many words with cleaning as possible but should make sense
Add the type of service and add as many as possible related to cleaning
Add pictures - name the pictures Brisbane cleaning 1 etc...
As many as possible.
Post a video on you tube about cleaning again name it with your company name and brisbane cleaning
Add reviews and get the reviewers again to add the keywords like brisbane and cleaning.

Get the idea.

Also add you business on other directories for free then the Google spider will pick your company up as related to cleaning in Brisbane and will rank you higher.

If you have a website use it as signature but type in Brisbane Cleaning and hyperlink

annaus · 05-24-2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mighti

Hi annaus

You have to set up an account with Google
Go to Google Places and Add a business.
Ad address with local phone number
Description add as many words with cleaning as possible but should make sense
Add the type of service and add as many as possible related to cleaning
Add pictures - name the pictures Brisbane cleaning 1 etc...
As many as possible.
Post a video on you tube about cleaning again name it with your company name and brisbane cleaning
Add reviews and get the reviewers again to add the keywords like brisbane and cleaning.

Get the idea.

Also add you business on other directories for free then the Google spider will pick your company up as related to cleaning in Brisbane and will rank you higher.

If you have a website use it as signature but type in Brisbane Cleaning and hyperlink

Thank you for your advice. Will surely try to do something with youtube.. As I am new any advice is greatly appreciated.. Trying to add my site to any new free listings I see around. Thanks soo much. God bless. Ann

Mighti · 05-29-2010, 06:04 AM

Hi Ann

You're welcome.

Cheers

alphacleaning2009 · 05-30-2010, 06:26 PM

Does anyone here add his company to paid directories? Does it help? If yes, what are some that you recommend?

whakataka · 06-10-2010, 10:45 AM

Personally I don't like the paid directories unless you think that customers are actually going there to look for services. For example, here in New Zealand we have Yellow.co.nz which is part of the Yellow Pages company. People might use that one to look for a cleaning service, but it's unlikely that they'll go to "somenzcleaningsite.com" to find you. Basically... it's not worth the money if your aim is to try to collect "backlinks," it IS worth the money if the directory demonstrates that they are a trusted directory that people will use to find your business.

Hope that helps!
Busy Bees Office Cleaning Auckland

imadam · 06-13-2010, 06:08 AM

i don't really understand google maps. i'm sometimes high on them but for the wrong service, or the wrong title! but then i'm low down and i don't understand why.

bahousecleaning · 01-17-2011, 07:47 AM

It looks like you've done some SEO work on your website which is great.

I'd like to also add:
Join as many local directories as you can. Yahoo local, Yelp, Merchant Circle, Kudzu, Bing Local, Insider Pages, just to name a few.
Social Bookmarking is also very popular now - Facebook fan page is a good way to go with 500+ million users and free traffic for your website
And finally some nice flashy graphics for Craigslist, OLX, Backpage, Ebay Classifieds, etc

imadam · 01-17-2011, 04:27 PM

hadn't heard of some of those directories so thanks.

bahousecleaning · 01-17-2011, 05:31 PM

No problem...Also reviews from your customers are important in both ranking in google and good information for potential customers.

imadam · 01-17-2011, 05:34 PM

gewtting customers to bother to give reviews is hard though. few will want to give reviews, and even fewer of those few will have google accounts to leave reviews, and then even fewer will then know how to review a business on google business directory

bahousecleaning · 01-17-2011, 05:43 PM

I know its hard but I always ask. Some write reviews, some dont. I use an email template below to send to my customers asking them for a review...

Hi customer name,

I wanted to thank you for using our cleaning services. We really appreciate it.

We are finding that on-line reviews are becoming an important part of our business. I wanted to ask if you could take a minute to write a review for us.

You may visit your preferred site to leave a review or comment. If you already have a GMail, Yelp or Yahoo mail account, choose one of those. You may use your Facebook login at Citysearch & Insider Pages. Otherwise a quick registration at Citysearch or InsiderPages might be easiest.

Citysearch Review
Insider Pages Review
Google Maps Review
Yahoo Review
Yelp

Thank you very much we really appreciate it…

Warm wishes,

imadam · 01-17-2011, 05:54 PM

good idea. will have to try it and see how they respond.

UltraBrite · 01-28-2011, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by annaus

Hi Guys,

I am new here. And I'm new to marketing online. How can I make my website in the first page of google map? We are from Brisbane, Australia. If anyone could help that would be great. I put on my title area "Reliable Trusted Cleaning Services" .. Any help for my page to rank well would be great thanks soo much. Cheers Ann

Hey Annaus. Personally, if I were you, instead of the title "Reliable Trusted Cleaning Service", I would make the title "carpet cleaning in Brisbane", or "Brisbane carpet cleaning", and then sprinkle it through out the text content of the home page. That is basic white hat SEO. I would however watch how many times its on your home page. If you over do it, thats would border on black hat SEO an may be considered "keyword stuffing". Its a very fine line you have to walk, where Google algorithms are concerned. Then again, that fine line could be considered Gray Hat. I tend to stick strictly with white hat, above board SEO. That way, I will stay off of Googles sh*t list.

As far as general SEO goes though, the guys that posted above me are dead on. Submit your sites URL in as many of the local web directories as you can. Better yet, submit to as many directories that are related to your business as you can find. That creates "relevance". These "backlinks" will drive your sites page rank up, and eventually (with a little luck, and a few voodoo prayers to the Google Gods) push you to the first or second page.

At any rate, keep us posted!

cdrx · 02-17-2011, 04:36 PM

Thanks for the tip about the Google places coupon link. I'll give it a try!