Google Places - Brick Wall...How to Get Around It?

Ok, so i have a Google Places listing setup, it has:

Correct biz details (obviously)
Verified
5 videos
5 images
1 stock category
4 custom categories related to main keyword / search term
3 google reviews
300 local business listings on local directories
5 reviews on each of the top 3 local directory listings
Google has picked up all three of 3 of these and listed them on my places page
Geo Sitemap uploaded, site is GEO tagged, KML file uploaded
Yet, still not close to the 7 pack...
I think im on page 6 as we speak.

anything more can i do...?

Ive just splashed the local directory listings with a few backlinks to possibly increase their popularity, even tried linking to the absolute places URL and
getting nowhere....

Pretty competitive niche but there are some pretty average listings above me....Was thinking i should be higher by now...Any help here guys? Local SEO wiz's out there?

Here's a few tips:

* The local business website as well as the business directories should have exactly the same citation (business name, address, phone no.)

* Check your competitor's Google Places optimization and aim to go one better. For example, if they may have citations in business directories with more authority, then target these.

* If the search results are a mixture of Google Places and organic listings, then you will need to do organic SEO as well.

* Build localised backlinks to the business website, e.g. if the target keywords for the Google Places page were: adelaide plumber, then target these keywords for the business site.
Note: Backlinks to the Google Places page are not a positive ranking factor.

You've not mentioned any timescales, but it can take anything from 3-6+ months for a competitive niche, depending on the competition.

Thanks for the update...

1) I have all address details, phone numbers, opening hours etc all the same.
2) As stated, competitor listings are all pretty average (have already checked) so not much to improve upon.
3) I am currently ranking number two for organic, just below the 7 pack. (for a mixture of related KW.
4) I have built 300 local business listings and built other BL with KW / City - City / KW etc such as ___ ___ Melbourne and / or Melbourne ____ ____ etc etc

The listing has been up around 2 months now.

check where does your top 5 competitors are getting their backlinks and also tap on to them.

I have noticed Google places listings can be pretty random. Often I see listings at the top that are hardly optimized. There are some good ebooks in the download section that people have uploaded on the past month. Might be worth checking them out. Other than that keep posting reviews/adding more directories. I also make sure reviews contain related keywords. I don't over do this but hey it could help!

Your case seems quite difficult to tackle but anyhow you can go around if you try out and find some info on other forums also.

It might be too early to tell, they don't update it that often. You might technically already be outranking them, it just hasn't been displaying the updated version. I've noticed they update it at random every 1 - 3 months.

alexandervich said:

It might be too early to tell, they don't update it that often. You might technically already be outranking them, it just hasn't been displaying the updated version. I've noticed they update it at random every 1 - 3 months.

Click to expand...

Yes, this is very true.

Make sure that you add photos and descriptions to those directories where you have added reviews as well. Also you can add photos to flickr or panoramio, make sure they have alt tags and upload them from there to your places page instead of directly from the computer.

As mentioned above, targeting their website with backlinks with the anchortext that you want them to show up on GP will also help.

Any info on actually backlinking a review? Helpful\not helpful?

Have you GEO-Tagged all of your images through flikr before uploading? And have you GEO-Tagged your YouTube videos? Also, contact the webmasters of local newspapers and try to get an article published on one of the sites. This has helped a lot for me.

It maybe a bit early still I wouldnt worry till month 5. Places is slow as shit! In your G account that the places listing is under build custom maps. I make 10 different maps using 10 keyword variation Titles. In the info bubble description area you can add html use your keywords/ related keywords and link to inner pages of your organic ranking website. This combined with what you got going on should give you the nudge to get in there.