How to Create Multiple Google Places Listings

Hi. My name is Andy Williams. I’m one of the search specialists here at Koozai. Today we’re going to be talking about setting up multiple Google Places profiles.

If your business has got multiple locations, the last thing that you want to do is set them all up manually. Now thankfully, Google has given us the chance to load them up via a data feed. So this is the area we’re going to be looking at today.

First off, of course, you need to look into your Google Places profile, which is done with your Google account. Then you’re given the option to upload a data feed. This should be done with a spreadsheet. Now this can be saved in various formats, including .csv, .txt, .xls, .tsv, .xlsx, and then .ods. There are some headers that have to be included in order for the feed to work, and these are the store location, the company name, the address, the city, the county, the post code, the country code, and, of course, the phone number.

So first off, the store code. This can be anything that you want it to be. So this can be Store 1, Store 2, or it can be a location such as Hampshire 1, Hampshire 2, however you want to play. The name, this should be the company name. Don’t try and add any keywords to this. Just have it as your company name, nothing more. The address, make sure you’ve got the full address included. You can add address line one, two or three to make sure that you’ve got the entire address included. City, county, and post code of course are self-explanatory. The country code should be set up in the way that Google wants to set this up. So for example the UK is GB, USA is US. Make sure you do a search for that to make sure that you are the correct country code.

Finally, the phone number. Make sure that this phone number is exactly the one that’s relevant to that location. Don’t use one for a call centre or anything like that. Don’t use a generic number.

I would also add the email, the URL, opening hours, payment types, categories, and of course, the description. Now these are optional, but I think these should be included. Opening hours and payment types, of course, these are probably more relevant to an actual store or a shop. If you’ve just got an office that people don’t really visit or you don’t offer that, don’t worry too much about the opening hours. Same with payment types. If you’re a store, make sure that you include that you take cash, checks, or credit cards.

So once you’ve filled in all of these areas, you can then upload it to Google, and then you’re given the option to test it for any errors. If this comes back free of errors, make sure that you publish. From there on in, you’re given to option to bulk verify. This will verify every single profile. Make sure that you do this.

There are, of course, some don’ts as well. You don’t want anything to go wrong. So make sure that you don’t put in the wrong phone number. As we touched on, make sure it’s the physical location phone number, not a generic number or anything like that. Don’t add keywords to the categories. Google have set out their categories. Make sure you use them correctly. You don’t need to give any additional information. Google know what they are. Don’t put in the wrong address. That might sound a bit silly, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t put in the full address. If you’ve got citations that could be coming into this profile, make sure you use the full address. If you don’t and they don’t marry up, it’s not going to happen.

Don’t set up multiple profiles. You only need one, Google only needs one, so make sure you only have one. You’re not going to be gaining any advantage by having more than one. If anything, you’ll just be confusing everything and you might have no listings at all.

Finally, make sure you don’t go into the wrong category. Again, you’re not going to gain anything by trying to get extra traffic by putting yourself into a category that’s not truly relevant to what you offer. Make sure you only use the relevant categories. Of course, make sure the description is used to its full extent. You’ve got 200 characters, make sure you use them. In this one, you can include some keywords, so make sure you do. That will add relevance to everything.

Hopefully you found that useful. Hopefully that will also save you time. I’m Andy Williams. Make sure you go to Koozai.com and read our blog. Make sure you like us on our Facebook page and, of course, subscribe to our YouTube channel and then you can see more of these videos. Thanks a lot.