Perhaps.
Google just changed the entire game, until last week you could rank #1 in the organic or main body of search results and NOT in the 7 pack of Google map results (the maps or Google local business listings now known as Google Places) and you could still expect to get a decent amount of traffic/ exposure etc
No more... Google Places are now integrated into the first page of local search results, effectively crowding out the organic search listings. If Google returns 7 local business listings for Google Places, and loads 2 or 3 sponsored listings above the Google Places ones, there is only room \left for 3 organic listings!
For the past year having more reviews on "citation" websites such as Yelp.com, Insiderpages.com, and other yellowpages clones seemed to have little or no effect on improving Google Places ranking.
According to Blumenthals blog, more reviews is now likely to help.
Cheating on reviews has been pervasive, Google it seems, has given business owners enough rope to hang themselves. If you open a gmail account, leave yourself a bogus review, and open another gmail account from the same computer... did you really think Google wouldn't know both reviews were from you?
A quick check of some of my local SEO clients and I can breath a sigh of relief:
From Regional Search Engine Marketing in Maryland |
Yes we are for hire!!
Local SEO
Fees For Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Optimization:
Social Media Optimization: 8 hours of one on one consultation, create social media profiles with SEO ranking specifically in mind. First Hour is exploratory, we may or may not choose to represent you, we will discover if we can realistically do something for your product or service in this first hour. Fee $100.00 per hour or $700 come into our shop in Frederick Md or we can do remote log in where we can both move the mouse and I can answer questions over the phone live
Google Places or Google Local Business Listing ranking
Many small businesses come to us with excellent ranking in the organic listings (sometimes called the natural search results or the main body of search results) but they are NOT ranking in the 3 pack of Google Maps. Google Maps is often the ONLY search results displayed on a smart phone. Increasingly people will start using their smart phone instead of a laptop, you need your company to rank in the top 3 or you will be virtually invisible. Fee for top 3 ranking in Google Places and one listing in the top ten Google organic listings $2000 annually
Keyword selection: one on one consultation to select effective keywords $100.00 per hour Typically our clients have a long list of keywords they’d like to be found under, we counsel you should pick no more than 3 keyword phrases, sell one thing and sell it well. You only have X amount of Google authority available to you at one time, attempting to spread a finite quantity of Google Juice over many keywords is counter productive in our experience. Every 6 weeks add 3 more keyword phrases to target, do NOT attempt all of them at once.
Managed Company Facebook Pages
Ghost write content for the supporting blogs we create, get each of them to rank in Google and create content for your company Facebook page and get the company Facebook Page we create and manage for your company to rank in Google:
$1000 to $3000 upfront: between $500 month and $1000 month for retainer fee and content creation/management. Fee’s vary depending on the competitiveness of your target market. We can hit any target, some targets are harder to hit than others. Typical Fee is $15000 annually ideally for criminal lawyers, divorce attorneys that want to dominate the local search pages for the geographical area they practice law in.
National Rankings: fees vary depending on competitiveness of the selected keyword phrase. Fees range from $14,000 annually $2000 up front, $1000 month to as much as $25,000
David Bruce Jr
785 Wembly Dr
Frederick Md 21701
Google Android # 240 397-9804
davidbrucejr@frederickwebpromotions.com
Local Google Advertising Consultant
Worldwide Ranking Examples, if I were you I'd want to see what I'd be paying for, talk is cheap, put up or shut up:Google Search Results for "local Google Advertising Consultant"
#1 Worldwide out of About 64,000,000 competing sites
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=local+google+advertising+consultant
Google Results for "regional search engine ranking"
#1, #7 and #8 out of About 21,200,000 results
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=regional+search+engine+ranking