Miami Internet Marketing | SEO | Josh Nelson

Below you will find a step-by-step guide for checking, claiming & managing your Local Business Listings on Google, Yahoo & Bing.

Step 1: Go to www.getlisted.org

Step 2: Enter your company name and address.

Step 3: Check to See if your listings are active & if you have claimed them or not:

Step 4: Click on the Listings that you have not claimed and CLAIM THEM:

Step 5: Claiming your Google Listing:

Just follow the instructions from there. I would encourage you to add as much detail and multi-media as possible. Where they ask for pictures & videos – upload them! Add your hours of operation, contact info, payment options, etc.

***NOTE: You will get to a page that asks, would you like to confirm your listing via Phone or Mail. Choose the “Phone Option”. When you do it this way you will recieve a call from Google’s automated system with your PIN. It makes claiming your listing much faster.

Here is what your Local Listing will look like once it is claimed:

To learn about how to Improve Your Placement on the Google Map click here. As an internet marketing consultant I help South Florida Businesses evaluate their marketing strategy as a whole and implement online marketing initiatives that drive increased sales activity and revenue.

You can reach me directly at 786-325-6761 or via email josh@joshnelsonimc.com.

Are you a South Florida business owner that is looking to learn more about internet marketing & to increase your presence online?  Then you have come to the right place. My name is Josh Nelson & I am an internet marketing consultant serving the South Florida Area (Miami, Fort Lauderdale & The Palm Beaches). Here at my website you will find valuable information about Internet Marketing as it relates to LOCAL BUSINESS. As you have probably already experienced, there is a TON of information online about “internet marketing” but very little of it pertains specifically to “local business”.  This site is dedicated to internet marketing as it relates to local businesses here in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale & Palm Beach area.Here you will find step-by-step strategies & tactics that you can implement immediately to improve your online presence and start to dominate the South Florida market for what you do.  The first resource I recommend you review is “The Ultimate Online Marketing Checklist For Local Business”. It takes you through what I feel are the most important things that you should do immediately that will have the biggest impact on your local presence online. You should also check out my post titled SEO Strategies for Local Business.

If you’d like to learn more about me and my roll as an internet marketing consultant just click here to learn more. Or better yet, call me directly at 786-325-6761 to schedule a free one-on-one consultation.

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1. Go to http://www.Google.com/places

2. Click on Create an account or Log-in using your Google Username & Password

3. Enter all of the necessary contact information

4. Then click on “List your business”

5. Enter your phone number so that Google can determine if you already exist in their database

6. If your company comes up, click “Edit” if it doesn’t, click “Add New Listing”

7. Fill in all of the necessary information

• Update Your Company Name to Read “Company Name – Core City + Main Service) – E.G. Heights Roofing – Miami Roofing Contractor” E.G. Reserve Dental Group – Boca Raton Dentist”
• Add your Website Address – This will create an important inbound link
• Upload PHOTOS – AS MANY AS POSSIBLE – Use personal Photos – Pictures of yourself (the owner), Pictures of Your Staff, Pictures of the Office, Pictures of Your Trucks, Your Logo, Coupons, Pictures of your work. People Connect & Resonate With People. Leverage that in your Map Listing
• Upload a Video if you have one (If you don’t – Get one made!)
• List your hours of operation & services offered

Press Submit

8. You will be asked how you want to confirm your listing – via Phone or Postcard.

• ALWAYS CHOOSE PHONE. It is much faster & will ensure that your complete the process
• The Postcard Option takes 2-3 weeks

 9. You will receive a call from Google’s automated system immediately. The automated system will provide you with a 5 digit code

• Make sure you or someone is available to answer the Office Line listed in your map listing.

10. Enter that code on the next screen & press “GO” in order to activate your listing

You will see a confirmation page indicating that you have successfully activated your listing.

That’s it! You have completed the 10 steps to claiming & setting up your Google Map listing on Google Places.

Here is what your Google Places Account Admin Area will look like once you are complete:

Here you will be able to edit your listing, add a coupon & check our your Google Places Page Stats 

• How many people are pulling up your Google Places Page
• What are they searching to get to you
• How many of them are clicking to your site, etc

Here is what you Google Map Listing will look like on Google once you are Complete

• Look for the “Business Owner Verified” check box in the top right corner
• GET REVIEWS – Getting reviews has been proven to increase placement in the map listing

Feel free to give me a call at 786-325-6761 or shoot me an email at josh@joshnelsonimc.com if you get stuck of if you have any questions. You can learn more about my Local SEO Strategies by clicing here.

Now that you have claimed your Local Business Listing on Google, Yahoo & Bing (click here if you haven’t) you need to take additional steps to improve your placement on the maps in your area.

• Establish a Consistent NAP – You need to establish a consistent NAP (Name Address & Phone Number) across the web on your website as well as on the major Data Providers (InfoUSA, Super Pages, Yelp, City Search, etc).
  • Consistent Name – Pick the format for your name & stick with it. E.G. Tiger Team Roofing not Tiger Team & Sons Roofing.
  • Consistent Address – If your address is 1267 SW 29 St, Suite 10 you want to be sure that it reads that exact way on and not 1267 SW 29 St #10.
  • Consistent Phone Number – You want to you the same number on each of these sites (if you don’t, it will hurt you).
  • Some of the Data Provider listings that you want to be sure that you are in include:
    • InfoUsa
    • Yelp
    • City Search
    • Super Pages
    • Insider Pages
• Get Reviews – Reviews are a key determinant of placement within the Map Listings.
  • The number of reviews of your local listing is a key determinant in placement.
  • As a practice, you need to request reviews from your customers in order to get them. A strategy that we use takes a three pronged approach:
    • Send an initial email to your client database asking them to write a review of your company on Google and provide them with the URL to your Google Places page.
    • Keep an open ear for Happy Customers and ask them if they would be willing to write a review. If so, get their email at that moment and let them know that you will be sending them an email with the link to write the review.
    • Have a “Review Us” card printed and give it to your customers after service.
• Build out your Places Page – You have the option to upload photos, videos & coupons.
  • Fill your Places page with Quality Content. Add all 10 photos with pictures of the office, pictures of the staff, your logo, pictures of your coupons / special offers, pictures of your trucks & equipment, etc.
  • Upload a video or two. These videos don’t necessarily need to be High Definition or Professionally Produced. Break out your digital video camera or even your iPhone and take a few choice shots. Record yourself (the owner or manager) explaining who the company is, what you do, and what your unique selling proposition is.
• Select the Right Categories – You have the option to choose upto 5 categories. It is very important to select the appropriate categories and/or add new custom categories as needed.
• Increase your Citations – All things being equal, Citations are a key determinant of placement. Just like in SEO where in-bound links determine placement with Local Listings citations determine placement. He who has the most quality citations wins.
  • Citations or listings across the web that contain your NAP (Name Address & Phone Number) with or without a link.
  • In order to build up your citations:
    • Add yourself to the local directory sites where you are not currently listed.
      • InfoUsa
      • Yelp
      • City Search
      • Super Pages
      • Insider Pages
      • Search for “your industry, Directory”
      • Search “Your City, Direcotry”
    • Look at the listings of the people who have Spot A, B & C on the Map for your services and look that their citations. In many cases you can go out and get those same citations!

As an internet marketing consultant I help South Florida Businesses evaluate their marketing strategy as a whole and implement online marketing initiatives that drive increased sales activity and revenue.

You can reach me directly at 786-325-6761 or via email josh@joshnelsonimc.com.

This document was created by Josh Nelson – Miami Internet Marketing Consultant  - for the Miami Plumbing Contractors Association to help Miami Plumbing Companies understand and quantify the online marketing opportunity for their plumbing business.

Each month there are over 14 Billion searches across the major search engines (Google, Yahoo & Bing). The latest statistics indicate that over 35% of those searches are “local” in nature. The questions that most plumbing contractors want the answers to are:

• How many of those searches were specific to “Plumbing Services” in my service area here in Miami?
• How do I get my company website to show up in those searches and direct those searchers to my website?

This document contains data pulled from the Major Search Engines over a 12 month period and helps to answer both of these questions.

How many searches are there for “Plumbing Related Services” in the Miami Area on a monthly basis?

Based on the historic data available from Google, Yahoo & Bing there are over 10+ million searches related to “plumbing services” on a monthly basis. We are able to isolate the number of those searches that originated within the Miami Area based on IP Address. The data shows that there are approximatly 255,425 searches related “Plumbing Services” in the Miami Area each month.

What types of words are people typing that are being clasified as “Plumbing Related”?

How can I ensure that my company is showing up on the search engines for the more than 250,000 searches that are being initiated for my services each month?

There are a number of things that you can do to position your plumbing business to show up in these searches including:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – This is the process of optimizing your site so that it appears in the organic section of the search engine.

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Pay-Per-Click – This is the process of paying for placement for the keywords that you select:

There are benefits & limitations to both approaches. Ideally you need to have a strategy for both SEO & SEM. If you’d like to work with an expert to ensure that you have a strategy in place to connect with the over 200,000 searchers each month then I would love the opportunity to meet with you one-on-one.

Belolw is a recording of the Presentation for your Review:

 You can reach Josh Nelson directly at 786-325-6761 or via email josh@joshnelsonimc.com to schedule a Free Consultation.