It’s every local business owners dream to get their business listed on the Google Maps. This is a game changer for your business, in fact it could be the difference between 5 service calls a month and 50 service calls a month. There is quite a bit of work that goes into getting your company listed in this supreme spot. But this is not an article on showing you how to get there. It’s an article telling you what NOT to do while you are trying to get there.

1. Using a fake address to try and game the system

This is such a common thing, I see plumbing and HVAC companies that want to be on the map for every city they service. It’s pretty simple how this works. You get listed for the city you have a physical address in. For instance let’s say the nearest main city near you is Fort Lauderdale, but your address is located in North Lauderdale. There is no way you will get listed on the map for Fort Lauderdale, even though the suburb you are in is only 5 minutes away. If you do indeed want that map location for Fort Lauderdale, you will need to move your company  to a Fort Lauderdale address. Not a PO box, not a virtual office, not a UPS store, a real street address in that city. You could get an executive office suite with a suite number but you must have a commercial address in that city. Notice I said commercial address, just because your friend lives in Fort Lauderdale does not mean you can use that. It may work in the short term but in time Google will catch up to you.

2. Stuffing your business name with keywords

This is a big no no, Google will slap you and remove you from the map placement. Your business name has to be your business name as it is legally listed. So if your company name is AAA Plumbing, Inc., then list it as such. Do not make it AAA Las Vegas Plumbing and Drain Cleaning. This is a keyword stuffed name and will get you removed.

3. Do not move your positon on the actual map

I’ve seen this done many times resulting in the same issue, a Google slap. Moving your pointer on the map to try and reposition yourself is a bad practice

4. Filling your business categories with keywords

If you are a plumber then your category is Plumber, if you are HVAC then it’s HVAC. Avoid Las Vegas Plumber, Las Vegas Drain Cleaning, Las Vegas AC Repair etc etc. Google will certainly catch this.

5. Showing your address if you are a service business

The new rule is that if you have a business where you go out and service the client. They do not come to your place of business. Plumbers and HVAC companies both fall into this category. Then you must hide your business address. If Google finds you and see’s your address they will remove you from the listings. Now don’t let this scare you off, there are some major positives here. If you are a business with a physical address you show up on the map as a pointer in that very location. But if you are a service business with a hidden address you show up of the map as a service area covering all the areas you service.

Now you might be asking, so if I show up as a service area why don’t I show up in the major city I am a suburb of? Just because your address does not show to the public, Google knows what it is, it’s in the backend and they reference it as a center point for your service radius.

Following these simple rules will help get you on the map and best of all keep you on the map. Don’t get sucked into the dark side of trying to cheat your way into a better position.

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