Google Places Resources

[dotcomdesigns]

For those of us who are into Google Places I've found some resource that might be of interest to people. I'm in the UK so I tend to look at that market but there's some things here that benefit everyone wherever your market is.

Please share any other resources you find to help others.

Tools:

http://www.whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder/ - Citation finder. You enter your search phrase and the software will locate all the sites where the top listings are getting citations from. There?s a limited free version going up to $100 a month for heavy users.
http://www.localsearchtoolkit.com - Analyzes results shown on Google Places. Lists citations, reviews, photo uploads, verified or not and so on.
http://www.brightlocal.com/seo-tools/ a number of local SEO tools, some paid, some free, some still in development
http://www.chaddo.com/index.php/google-places-software/ - Chad Kimball's software

Analytics - Tracking GP traffic is not that simple apparently;

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/tracking-traffic-from-google-places-in-google-analytics

http://www.localseoguide.com/how-to-track-mobile-visitors-in-google-analytics/ - tracking mobile traffic

Citations - tips and advice

http://www.sitevisibility.co.uk/blog/2010/03/31/creating-a-citation-plan-to-rank-higher-in-google-local-listings/

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2010/12/10/guest-post-top-10-local-uk-business-directories-compared-rated/ - list of UK business directories for citation that apparently Google take notice of

http://www.brightlocal.com/blog/2010/09/08/comparison-of-top-uk-online-business-directories/ List of top business directories in the UK, it?s a couple of years old but still useful if your looking for some directories.

http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/how-to-rank-higher-in-google-places-local-in-the-uk/ - UK specific

http://www.poweredbysearch.com/local-seo-citation-webcams/ - using a webcam to promote your listing! No seriously, it?s true

BHW Pages to download Google Places WSO's

Google Cheat Sheet: WSO 307645 http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/member-downloads/267190-get-google-places-cheat-sheet.html
Google Places Takeover WSO 490728 http://www.mediafire.com/?25cbt7r77327xbi
Google Maps Letter WSO 291544 http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/member-downloads/359439-get-offliners-amazing-google-maps-placement-letter-gets-new-clients.html
WSO 258166 Google ***** http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/member-downloads/359727-get-offline-25-384-only-5-days-amazing-system-anyone-can-copy.html


Other Reading:

http://www.seo.com/news/google-places-page-update-means-googlenative-reviews/
http://www.seo.com/blog/ways-rank-today-localized-serps/
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/one-dead-simple-tactic-for-better-rankings-in-google-local

http://searchengineland.com/does-including-a-physical-address-on-your-website-help-rankings-19669

http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/10-likely-elements-of-googles-local-search-algorithm/519/

http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/35-local-link-opportunities-you-missed

http://www.whitehat-blackbelt.com/2010/10/google-places-do%E2%80%99s-and-don%E2%80%99ts-for-your-business/ - GP dos and don?ts

http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/seo-industry/local-search-war-facebook/

 

[iiaok]

Excellent resource, dotcom. +rep given.

 

[HostStage]

Bookmarked,

Thanks for the time you took to compile those sources.

 

[dragon123]

Thanks dotcom, great to have all these resources in one place.

 

[vegas23]

Thanks dotcom, looks like I have some reading to do!

 

[meannn]

Thanks for the sources, nice list.

 

[Tommybee]

You are the man.... loving this thread

 

[billyblanco]

excellent list, but u missed one big one: davidmihmDOTCOM/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

 

[iiaok]

Link for billyblanco's suggested page:

http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

Really good article for Places.

 

[Baadier]

surprised you got so few thanks on this OP. well done, its a useful list. Thanks and rep given.

 

[britcpa]

nice one dotcom. thanks for putting all of these resources in one place. how's your recent experiment going (last time i read on another thread, i think you were about to start distributing prospecting letters by hand?)

 

[ESM2012]

Awesome job on the Google Places resources. Has the 7-pack been replaced with the 3 to 4-pack in your area?

 

[boom1]

thanks dotcom, really useful

to post above, in my area it is now a 3 pack and not the old 7 pack

 

[skillz]

Thanks! I will be looking at it in depth later.

 

[dotcomdesigns]

thanks dotcom, really useful

to post above, in my area it is now a 3 pack and not the old 7 pack

Yeah I've spotted just 3 slots lately, why is that? I thought maybe it was because they don't have enough businesses to fill 7 slots or am I missing something?

 

[theag]

do you guys have any insight if there is a difference in the usage of the tools if using them for German keywords and sites?

I'm going to start GP in 2 weeks after my exams are finished and looking forward to absorb all the info.

 

[TheCrazyMan]

Awesome man, great list, thanks

 

[sicnarf]

Can someone please explain to me what a citation is? I've seen the word around the forum but I don't understand what it means. Thanks

 

[CoyoteAssassin]

This looks like a good pile of stuff to read. I'm thinking about getting into it and this will help.

 

[Markthedude]

This is awesome! I'm working on a Google places but the website for the project is not fully setup, it's under construction for the next 2-3 weeks. Do you guys recommend that you have a fully setup website before working on Google Places?