Since Google’s shift to universal search in 2007, it has become increasingly important to reach your target audience through a variety of media including content, images, videos, and Google Maps.

Follow the tips contained in this article, and you will be several steps closer to getting your Google Places listing to rank within the top search results for your target keywords.

Claim Your Google Places Listing

Claiming your Google Places listing is a must! Not doing so isn’t an effective use of your listing and also leaves your listing open to potential sabotage. This is one of the most common mistakes I see small business owners make.

Remedy: You can claim your listing by clicking on the text on the right hand corner of your listing that says, “business owner?”

Depending on what Google chooses to do, you will need to verify your Google Places listing with a pin number that is given by telephone, or via postcard, which typically arrives at your business address within two weeks of claiming your listing. If you have changed your listing a lot, they will make you verify over the phone. Google does this for security reasons if it suspects strange activity with your listing.

You should also make sure that the address you add to your Google Places listing matches the address on your website exactly. For example, if you abbreviate “street” on your website to “St.,” make sure you do the same for your listing and anywhere else that you add your business address to on the Web.

Online Reviews (Google Places Reviews)

Online reviews are a great way to increase the trust of your business online and a great way to trump your competition in local search results.

For many local searches, Google Places listings are almost guaranteed to show up, and if there are enough Google Places listings matching that search term, you can expect multiple Google Places listings in the search results.

A recent eye-tracking Google SERPS study, which can be found on SeoMoz.org, has shown that when people are looking up local businesses, their eyes tend to gravitate toward the Google Places listings for most local searches. Many times they have shown attention to them more than the first organic search result!

For example, if I typed “Chicago pizza” into Google, I get multiple Google Places listings in the search results for nearby pizza restaurants. Getting reviews for your Google Places listing can really help your listing perform better in local search.

Claiming your Google Places listing is a must!

A great way to get existing customers to write reviews for you is to add your Google Places listing as a page on your website. This approach is a lot easier than directing them to your Google Places URL, and a lot easier to remember.

Either way that you choose to get reviews, the more you have, the better.

Here’s a hint: when you do ask for reviews, try and ask if they can be descriptive as possible in the first sentence. The first few words in a Google Places review are highlighted in bold letters, which will make your listing stand out that much more.

Local Directory Submissions

Local directory submissions are great for link building and exposure to potential local customers.

If you’ve ever looked at your Google Places listing, you’ll notice that reviews show up from all over the Web (example: Yellow Pages, Judy’s Book, Angie’s List). So the more reviews, the better.

Next … Location-Based Keywords