Question 1: How many total "state + bed and breakfast" phrases results in Google Local Business (Map) Listings in http://www.google.com/?
Answer 1: Only 6
Delaware Bed and Breakfast
Maryland Bed and Breakfast
New Jersey Bed and Breakfast (See Sample Below)
New York Bed and Breakfast
Rhode Island Bed and Breakfast
Vermont Bed and Breakfast
It's interesting that only 6 states show up for bed and breakfast phrases as a Local Business Listing in Google search (http://www.google.com/) but when you click over to Google Maps (maps.google.com) all 50 state bed and breakfast searches return results. INTERESTING!
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Question 2: Is it possible to get the highest possible Letter "A" placement for a state level phrase in maps.google.com if the property owners have NEVER CLAIMED THEIR LOCAL LISTING?
Answer 2: Yes!
Even though all Google Local Business documentation says that to achieve highest possible level placement in Google Local and Google Maps the number one thing you MUST DO is to claim your listing, I find it VERY INTERESTING than on 24 of the following 50 states, the property in the highest possible Map Placement (Letter "A) DID NOT CLAIM THEIR LISTING!
Check out Evergreen Inn Bed and Breakfast below from the New Jersey snapshot above. They've never claimed their listing (see Red Shading). And as you can see from the quote below, "Traditional SEO has little to do with Local Placement." The SEO company for this Bed and Breakfast cannot take credit for a listing that has never been claimed. Keep Reading!
Quote From Local Search Ranking Factors
Steve Hatcher - "Other than the business website being recognized as the authoritative source of info about that business I don't see traditional organic SEO factors on that website having much influence on the local, non-organic, rankings."
Following is the research of all 50 States where the top Bed and Breakfast Listing has either been claimed or not!
Alabama – not claimed
(A-Listing: Cobb Lane – Acorn IS Customer, but there is no credit due to Acorn IS here, because this customer has not yet claimed their listing. So even the great SEO we did organically for them had little to NO effect on this unclaimed Local Business listing.)
Alaska - claimed
Arizona – not claimed
Arkansas - claimed
California - not claimed
Colorado – not claimed
Connecticut - claimed
Delaware – not claimed
Florida - claimed
Georgia – not claimed
Hawaii – not claimed
Idaho – not claimed
Illinois - claimed
Indiana - claimed
Iowa - claimed
Kansas - claimed
Kentucky – not claimed
Louisiana - claimed
Maine – not claimed
Maryland - claimed
Massachusetts - claimed
Michigan - claimed
Minnesota – not claimed
Mississippi – claimed
(A-Listing: Fairview Inn – Acorn IS Customer where this listing has been claimed and edited by Acorn IS. And yes, indeed on this listing we are happy to take the credit for helping this inn place at the highest state level results in maps.google.com!)
Missouri – not claimed
Montana – not claimed
Nebraska - claimed
Nevada - claimed
New Hampshire - claimed
New Jersey – not claimed
New Mexico - claimed
New York – not claimed
North Carolina – not claimed
North Dakota - claimed
Ohio – not claimed
Oklahoma - claimed
Oregon - claimed
Pennsylvania - claimed
Rhode Island - claimed
South Carolina - not claimed
South Dakota - not claimed
Tennessee - not claimed
Texas - claimed
Utah - not claimed
Vermont - claimed
Virginia - claimed
Washington - not claimed
West Virginia - not claimed
Wisconsin - not claimed
Wyoming - claimed
Will Google's Local Algorithms change in the future to give more weight to those Claimed Listings over those that are NOT claimed? According to all we read, yes. But we don't see it in action yet! Stay tuned.
And if you want learn more, join us tomorrow on our FFA Industry WEBinar to talk even more about Google Local Placement, and it's current trends!
Lisa Kolb
President and Co-Founder
Acorn Marketing
