How To Optimize Your Business Name


In order to optimize your business name in Google Places, there are certain things that you should and should not do.  You should list your business name just as it appears in the offline world.

What you should not do, as per Google's quality standards:

- Don't put marketing slogans or taglines in your listing.  For example, if your business name is Joe's Plumbing, do not try to manipulate search results by putting "Joe's Plumbing, the best plumber in Sacramento" as your business name.  You might get away with it for a short while, but eventually Google will find you out and you may find your listing at the end of the line.  As Google tightens its standards, you may even find that your listing does not get approved in the first place.

- Don't put your website address or your phone number in the business name field.  Unless your website address or your phone # is actually part of your legal business name, do not include it.

- Don't stuff keywords into your business name listing.  Trying to game the system by inserting keywords is prohibited.  "Joe's Plumbing" should not try to gain Google Places rankings by putting, "Joe's Plumbing - Sacramento Plumber".

If your business is located within a bigger business or a mall, you can and should give searchers this information in the business name field.  An example would be "Verizon Wireless (inside Best Buy)".

One way you could optimize your business name listing to include a keyword, would be to legally change your business name.  For instance, using the pizza listing in the picture shown above, the business owner may be able to pick up additional Google Places rankings if it were to change the business name from "UFO Pizza" to "UFO Pizza of Portland", or just "UFO Pizza Portland".  Changing the business name would require that you change your business name everywhere it is listed online, which can take a lot of time, but may be worth it in the long run.

Here at http://googleplaces-ranking.blogspot.com/ you can find everything you need to get started ranking in Google Places.  You may call or email with your questions, or if you want to hire me, I would love to do the work for you, so you can focus on your business!