Understanding Google Places & Local Search – Developing Knowledge about Local Search
August 4, 2009Google Maps LBC: How to make % Complete = 100%Category: Google Places (Maps & Local) – Mike Blumenthal – 10:40 am
At the time of the introduction Carter Maslan noted: “We are making a change so that is more specific as to what the % complete indicates. If it isn’t available on rollout it will be available shortly.” A reader (Nick Thomas of G5 Search Marketing) couldn’t wait and produced this very helpful data to provide clear guidelines as to how to achieve a perfect score on your LBC listing:
Here is the same information in table form:
The writer noted that he tabulated these percentages by filling in a new listing and saving after each field was completed. He indicated that Google being Google the tabulation might not be the same if you were working on an existing listing. However my experience is that he has in fact identified the critical issues in reaching the 100% Complete level. Please consider leaving a comment as your input will help me (& everyone else) better understand and learn about local. « Google Maps suffers Brain Fart: “The Cluster” works in mysterious ways – Google Local Business Center Down Times Announced »
59 Comments » |
If you grew up in the American school system like I did, you always wanted to know: How do I get a 100? Ever since Google introduced the Data Rich Dashboard in early June, this has been a frequent question on the minds of all that have frequented the Local Business Center and filled out the details for their business. How do I get 100% Complete on the Local Business Center Dashboard?
I’m not a fan of publishing email addresses publicly on the web, makes you SO open to automated spam. So 95% may well be good enough.
I wonder if adding more info in one field or another may compensate for the 5% of the email.
Comment by Stever (206 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
I don’t think you can make up the 5% by beefing up other fields…ie adding another video or three. Try it and let me know.
But here is what Carter said about its affect on ranking (caveat emptor):
Comment by Mike (2495 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 1:55 pm
Nice chart and spreadsheet, Mike. I like a test in which answering something as easy as hours of operation gets you 5% of your grade! Stever’s point about 95% being good enough interests me, as I wonder what correlation (if any) there is between completeness of data and rankings.
Nice to read a post from you, Mike. It’s been mighty quiet on the Local front for a week or so.
Comment by MiriamEllis (623 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 2:29 pm
@Miriam
The fish are jumping and the livin is easy.
Certainly the act of claiming the record boosts its standing. Content creates relevance but it is not clear to me that having 10 photos instead of 2 would change things that much…that being said why not have 10 photos?
Comment by Mike (2495 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 2:34 pm
I suspect you’re right Mike.
I was not a keener in school and had no aspirations to get 100′s. Those students that got 90′s on a test and then nit-picked with the teacher over an extra point or two got no respect from the likes of me. “C’s get degrees” was my favorite moto in university
I did however do much better than mere C grades (towards the later years, don’t ask about the early years!) but not because I actually tried too hard.
So depending on the business and their own goals with a Maps listing, like whether or not including an email address is important to you, I would not fret too much over getting right to that 100% completion level. If completion % does have significant relevance in ranking you can always make it up elsewhere, like getting more reviews and citations.
Comment by Stever (206 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
@Stever
I would agree with you and the screenshot above is the only 100% that I have gotten and it has not affected ranking in the least. Most of mine end up in the 85 to 92% range although some are lower…
As always the issue is having enough information for the customer to make a good decision.
That being said, I find Google’s lack of transparency on this issue (whether from lack of time or intention) to be disconcerting.
Comment by Mike (2495 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
Steve -
What is a keener? Is this an interesting Canadianism?
Comment by MiriamEllis (623 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
Seems it is a mainly Canadian slang = www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=keener
Comment by Stever (206 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
Ah, sort of a ‘geek’. At least, that seems the closest Americanism.
Comment by MiriamEllis (623 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
The question for me is whether it implies being a “suck up” or not.
Comment by Mike (2495 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
@Miriam – kinda like a geek, but not necessarily with the “social ineptitude” associated with geeks and nerds.
@ Mike – yup, suck up is certainly implied
keener = someone who is overly keen.
Comment by Stever (206 comments) — August 4, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
Do you guys think that having a 100% complete listing in Google maps will give us extra visibility and better onebox?
Comment by Mercylivi (2 comments) — August 5, 2009 @ 12:54 am
Fantastic! You know I have always wondered how to get 100% on the LBL, call me a perfectionist, but i never liked settled for a high B or low A. So, in wondering about the 100% making a difference in rank…I wouldn’t think something like additonal info would have an overall effect, but lets say a listing has 10 pictures compared to a listing with 1 picture?
Comment by Mike Ramsey (93 comments) — August 5, 2009 @ 5:10 am
@Mercylivi + Mike Ramsey
Going from 90 to 100% is unlikely to change much UNLESS the viewer finds it more compelling and takes some action. Very few will see the extra info as so few go into Maps. Given how the Local OneBox is constructed having extra details or an extra photo or two will make little to no difference in how Google handles the record…with the rare exception of some very long tail search showing your record as the result of added details…
As Stever points out you need to meet a balance between what the business, the customer and Google wants & needs….The customer being the guide and the business being the final arbiter.
Comment by Mike (2495 comments) — August 5, 2009 @ 6:59 am
Of 9 sites generally the percentage of clicks to the LBC fall at less than 3% of total number of impressions. Now I know that some of the impressions turn up some categories and instances when our site(s) ostensibly show in maps on topics for which we generally don’t optimize, nor do we generally expect actions. It is possible that visitors go inside the LBC at somewhat less than 4-5% of the number of relevant impressions.
To the extent that we have up to 10 pictures and a video….I don’t really think that 3 pictures versus 10 pictures is going to make a big difference for that potential 4-5% of visitors…as it regards our services.
If filling out the lbc in its entirety would move my maps ranking from 2-> or 8-> or anything like that….I’d fill out the damn thing with video’s and pictures galore.
Although, about 2 weeks ago, when I was trying to update w/ pics the lbc wouldn’t take them.
I gotta give it another try since there was an update. But seriously, think of this perspective:
1.The more pics you have the higher your maps rankings:
2. The LBC is often broken and doesn’t accept pics:
C’mon Google. get this ()*%(_* thing working!!!!
Comment by earlpearl (741 comments) — August 5, 2009 @ 11:03 am
Did google search this AM for… get google maps 100% +LBCI
It is great to see your chart! very helpful! I have seen improvement simply by adding ‘hours’ — i iwill carefully look over everything here. I have never added any sort of ‘video’ — I will add it later this week to my LBC — And as to email? I never publish email — maybe i will make up an address for this use only — and see what happens! Many thanks from minneapolis!
Comment by Phillip Murphy (1 comments) — August 5, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
Although no one will ever redeem it I think adding a coupon should give you >100 or an A++
Comment by Andrew Shotland (26 comments) — August 5, 2009 @ 10:34 pm
@Mike, thx for the great explanation! Highly appreciated!
Comment by Mercylivi (2 comments) — August 6, 2009 @ 1:07 am
Thanks for this information mike!
Comment by Martijn Beijk (59 comments) — August 6, 2009 @ 8:51 am
Another reason for only achieving the “good enough” instead of chasing perfection, especially in the realm of search optimization, is to keep your competition in the dark as to what you are doing to get top rankings.
Many small business owners are not yet very knowledgeable about optimization for search, be it in Maps or organic search, and if that is representative of your immediate local competition then only do enough optimization to just barely out rank them. Otherwise you can spark an optimization war forcing you to need to bring out the big guns and aggressive tactics.
So if most the other listings showing in a 10 pack only have a small handful of reviews, or less, few have even uploaded enhanced info and photographs, do not go about implementing a review generating campaign obtaining dozens of reviews, upload a full boat of photo’s, etc… Otherwise your listing stands out from the rest in a far too obvious way and your clueless competition quickly gets clued in.
Save your ammo for when you need it.
Hotels, Restaurants, Florists already know what it’s like to be deep in the trenches of the local optimization wars. And the bad guys (spammers) are winning the war in the Locksmith industry. If your industry is not yet hyper competitive inside Google Maps don’t be the one that pushes it in that direction.
Comment by Stever (206 comments) — August 6, 2009 @ 10:49 am
Lame that categories are 0%…given how much they seem to affect ranking? Perhaps G hasn’t quite figured out how to reconcile its own categories with those of its data providers yet?
Comment by David Mihm (155 comments) — August 6, 2009 @ 11:16 am
@David
I have found the 0% percentage a bit peculiar as well.
Comment by Martijn Beijk (59 comments) — August 6, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
It’s thought provoking that the percentage of completeness has no bearing on your ranking. Makes me feel like Google is like a kindly aunt trying to help you be the best person you can be, but since she’s not a strict parent, she’s not requiring you follow their advice, just being helpful.
But then again, maybe I’m just thinking in weird family metaphors because it’s a full moon.
Regardless, interesting info – another gem, Mike!
Comment by meleighsmith (14 comments) — August 7, 2009 @ 4:48 pm
@ meleighsmith
My sense is that google looks at the 100% from the point of view of the mythical user of Google that might want that info.
Not very business has every attribute so I think they are actually more like the paternalistic boss rather than the kindly relative. It is his/her interest to provide a better experience to Google’s users.
The 100% does not contribute to ranking directly in a 95% ranking higher than a 90%. That being said, having relevant information that Google can use to achieve find and categorize your listing as opposed to someone elses helps your listing being shown.
Comment by Mike (2495 comments) — August 7, 2009 @ 5:13 pm
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Mike, after all the mystery of Google, LBC is really fun. I can do something and see an immediate result. But, I’ve also wondered about the 90% and voila – answers revealed!
I am suprised to see the table is missing items such as Coupons, being links to User Generated Maps, and User Reviews. Perhaps Coupons are the only items of the 3 controlled in LBC?
<b.Have you found Coupons to be of any value? We made a User Map for a motel group, which seems to be linked to all the Member LBC listings and it ‘feels’ like it has a positive affect.
User Reviews seem to have an affect – though not always positive.
Do you think an image sourced from a website is equal to one uploaded and stored on Google? I always thought it might help the website to have an image sourced from Google, but they claim all their links to websites are nofollow.
Comment by Mark Oliver (7 comments) — November 9, 2009 @ 3:53 am
@Mark
Don’t confuse your need/desire for ranking with Google’s need for a record that serves their perceived needs of their visitors.
From Google’s perspective, they don’t really want the business creating the User Content or Reivews, they want the “user” to do that. And yes the coupon is the only one controlled by Google but up to this point, not a very popular or well supported one.
In the years that we have played with coupons, I have not had any redeemed so they have little value in terms of motivating customers or tracking. I have never tested in terms of ranking but they couldn’t hurt.
A year ago, when we tested reviews against ranking it was quantity not quality that mattered. It could very well be that with the places upgrade that has changed.
I have never found a correlation between photos, photo quantities or sources and ranking. If there is an influence it is very small.
Comment by Mike Blumenthal (1555 comments) — November 9, 2009 @ 7:28 am
The speculation that the piechart above represents what you must do to get to 100% is not accurate. I have a site which is 100% complete in Local Business Center but has only 3 photos and 0 videos.
Comment by MetaEd (1 comments) — December 10, 2009 @ 1:42 pm
@MetaEd
I have done so as well on one site with 4 images and 1 video so either Google has changed things (unlikely) or more likely there is more than one way to accomplish this.
That being said, the chart provides reasonable and dare I say, more guidance than Google provides on this point
Comment by Mike (2495 comments) — December 10, 2009 @ 3:05 pm
Thank you for answering my question. I believe my 85 % complete will become 100 % complete if I follow the remaining steps of adding 9 more pictures, but I am not sure that my listing will still appear as my collegue/competitor’s listing that shows up does not have any pictures. Would you business owners Google “hypnosis neptune nj” and see that Jersey Shore Hypnosis is the ONLY Google Maps Listing that comes up but Robert Fried Certified Hypnotist does not. Jersey Shore Hypnosis has no pictures. When I log into my Maps account, it says Active. I am puzzled why I am still not coming up in Google Maps during an organic search. My website