Tag Archive for: google places

Free Local Listings for SEO

Local listings are an increasingly large part of search. Google places results now pop up at the top of search results automatically. This is good news for local businesses. If you have a physical location, you better take full advantage of the opportunity!

You should always start by claiming your business on Google Places, then work your way down by submitting information to Yahoo Local, YellowPages.com, and maybe even Bing Local. From there, you want to convince search engines that your business exists and is significant to users. To do that, you’ll have to submit to many alternate local directories.

In Chapter 9 of our book, SEO for WordPress, we talk about local listings and their explosive power in the hands of local businesses.

We at TastyPlacement have been scouring local directories to figure out which best factor into local rankings.

Directory Link Post speed Pictures Notes
Kudzu.com Yes Slow No
MojoPages.com Yes Immediate 4
SuperPages.com(search)
Supermedia.com(data entry)
Yes Moderate 4
InsiderPages.com Yes Immediate 4
ExpressUpdateUSA.com No Moderate No
advertise.local.com Yes Moderate No Upgrade to Premium to add pictures
local.botw.org Yes Moderate Logo only Must email a representative to edit mistakes
MerchantCircle.com Yes Immediate 4 Must email a representative for multiple listings
Hotfrog.com Yes Immediate 4
Yellowbook.com Yes Moderate No May require phone verification
Foursquare.com Yes Immediate No Customers can check-in
thinklocal.com Yes Moderate No
cityslick.net Yes Moderate No
USYellowPages.com No Slow No
MyCity.com Yes Immediate Logo only
BizJournals.com No Slow No
mapinsight.teleatlas.com/mapfeedback No Slow No Provides a tracking number
justclicklocal.com No Immediate No
DiscoverOurTown.com Yes Slow No
MetroBot.com No Moderate No
BestDealOn.com Yes Moderate No
Manta.com/claim Yes Immediate Logo only
Infignos.com No Slow No
Yellowassistance.com No Slow No
MyHuckleberry.com Yes Immediate 4
BrownBook.net/business/add Yes Immediate 4
CitySquares.com Yes Immediate No
Navteq.com No Slow No
CitySearch.com Yes Slow Logo only
Yellowee.com Yes Immediate Logo only
MatchPoint.com Yes Immediate 4
Mapquest.com Yes Moderate No They have a number of options for verification
Sustainlane.com No Immediate 4
Localprice.com Yes Slow No
Thumbtack.com Yes Immediate 4
Scrub the Web No Slow No
CommunityWalk.com Yes Immediate 4
ChamberofCommerce.com Yes Moderate 4

Google Hides “Dead” Girl on Google Maps: “This Image Is No Longer Available”

Google Hides “Dead” Girl on Google Maps: “This Image Is No Longer Available”

Last week, we reported on the apparent dead girl on Google Maps. As it turned out, the dead girl was “playing” dead in the street just as Google’s imaging van drove by. The widespread media frenzy over the photo ultimately prompted Google to remove the image from Google Places, reporting a blank image with the message This image is no longer available. You can see the removed image here.

No longer available

The Daily Mail of the UK reports that Google has been forced to remove some images from its “Street View” feature throughout the UK based on privacy protests.

Here’s a screenshot of the original Maps entry showing the young girl in the street: