Hey RTV virtual tour providers in RTV land. I know you’re all chomping at the bit to come to Nancy’s show next week. Here’s a little homework for you to do between now and then.  This will be a little but different for everyone but, when you do a google search for YOUR CITY virtual tours, do map results show up? Everything from service related industries to product sales are showing up in these searches, because Google realizes users want a phone number or directions to the nearest store. Local Local Local!  We’ve talked about this for years and now it’s time you get off your tail and get in before your competition does.

Nancy Bain just showed me that recently, Google streamlined their places page directly into Google+, creating a Google+ Local Page. Now, all your virtual tour business listings will be merged into one to be used across Google Search, Google Maps, Google Mobile, and Google+.

With Google+ integration, it is more important than ever to make sure your virtual tour business’s local listing is optimized to its fullest potential. When users search for a local virtual tour or real estate photographer, they want to be provided with the best virtual tour provider in their area. To the user, “best” equates to who is listed 1st and that’s the A on the map!

The new Google+ Local pages can be indexed by search engines (Google Nancy Bain), giving your virtual tour businesses more of a chance to rank well in Google, reach a highly targeted, local audience and encourage people to get involved with their social presence.

If you don’t already have a Google Places page, now is the time to get one RTV! Here’s ours:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/101212777204461459485/posts  As you create your local page, you’ll want to keep a number of standard local SEO best practices in mind that I’ve showed you over my many years of excellent service to you:

•    Make sure your photography or virtual tour business listing contains a phone number within the area code of the city you’re located in – proximity is a huge factor in local ranking algorithms.
•    Don’t over stuff keywords in your business title
•    Use your “Contact” or “Location” website page in the “Website” field – these pages tend to have stronger conversion rates
•    Incorporate target keywords into the “Description” and “Category” fields of your listing
•    Upload pictures in order to make your profile as appealing as possible to new visitors
Once this is set up, you’ll want to create your separate Google+ Page, under the “local business or place” category. It’s a good idea to beef up your presence on this site, as social signals will likely play an important role in local SEO in the future according to Nancy.
•    Build out your personal Google+ profile and begin forming connections via Google+
•    Get in the habit of posting updates and connecting with followers on your Google+ Page
•    Encourage customers at your local business to leave reviews on your new Google+ Local page

Thanks everyone and we’ll see you on our show next week. Get ready to get on the “Bain Train!”

Jason LaVanture

RTV, Inc
Virtual Tour Software & Digital Marketing Training
Order a virtual tour: 866-947-8687