Google Local Business Center Listings – How Does Your Dealership Show Up?

Where is your dealership listed on Google’s Local Business Center Listings?  Are you listed?

Google’s Local Business Listings are part of Google’s ‘Universal Search’ that is attempting to blend local information with news, images, and videos for search terms.  Below is slide from David Kain’s JD Power Online Internet Roundtable Presentation that does an excellent job of showing the difference between paid, vertical, and organic listings on Google:

Getting listed in the paid search is simple.  Launch a pay-per-click marketing campaign and see your dealership listed as soon as Google processes your payment.   This is why Google’s stock price is in the $600+/share range.

If you want your website to be optimized in the organic listings, it is crucial that your website is being indexed properly by the search engines.  If your website has crazy graphics, flames, or purple gorillas holding balloons singing ‘Coom-by-ya‘, chances are your website isn’t going to be ranked very high by the search engines.  Search engines don’t have optical nerves like you and I  to see images and animation and frankly don’t have enough time to listen to your dealership’s website.  Before you do anything on your website, make sure it is inline with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

If a website yells on the Internet and the search engines (and more importantly, your customers) don’t hear it, does it make a sound?

BUT…with vertical search, getting listed is as easy as getting Google the information they require for your website.  Through Google’s Local Business Center, you are able to take control of your dealership’s information and make sure that each department is listed correctly.  If you Google your dealership’s city, state, and franchise and don’t see yourself listed, make sure you click here and take control of your dealership’s vertical search results ASAP.  In addition to Google, I also recommend going to Yahoo!’s Local listings and doing the same thing.

Another thing to be aware of are the reviews that are being posted by your customers about their experiences at your dealership.  It only takes a few negative reviews to turn a potential customer off on your business so make sure that your customer reviews are as positive as possible.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to customers that have left negative feedback in order to right any wrongdoing they feel that they have experienced at your store.

A few minutes spent on this simple task could result in more traffic, leads, and visibility in the future.