Google categories for local limousine service

[echo1]

I manage the Google places page for a SAB (local limousine company). The question is, should I add "taxi" and "airport shuttle service" as categories? I have listed only "limousine" and "car service' for now and I want to play it safe although those 2 are related to limo service. Sometimes people refer to limo service as "taxi service" or they are inquiring about prices for shuttle service to the airport and they end up booking the service quite often.

Does Google look to our website to find these words in the content? Google Analytics show lots of people are finding us through those two keywords as well although you cannot find the word “taxi" on our website. The interesting thing is that when searching for "taxi + my zip code" the company shows up 4th on maps results and when searching for "shuttle service + my zip code”, the company shows up 2nd on local results and also 2nd in organic results. Is this enough to make me add these 2 categories?

Second question is about the area served, does it make a difference (in rankings) if I choose “Distance from one location"over"List of areas served"? What happens is the red pin would be in a different location. If I choose "Distance from one location" the pin would be right in the center of the city (which I think it shouldn't matter anymore that much since the proximity to the centroid is not a ranking factor anymore). If “list of area” served is selected, (the city name will be chosen) then the pin would be about 5 miles West of the city center.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Thank you!

[SEOAndy]

in terms of categories, they are more reference points than definite areas, that is why you can actually input anything you want into there. so yes taxi is a go-er

the difference between the two is that one dictates you saying "we serve within 5 miles radius" it includes every city and town in that area... the second says we only serve this town or city ... (state country etc). the radius is more for local businesses and locations for companies who have multiple offices or shops.

[echo1]

Thanks Andy!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Echo1,

If you find that those keywords are driving traffic, then yes, I'd select them as your categories...but not as your first categories.

Regarding services radius vs. areas served, I recommend you read this thread:

http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/service-area-business-issues/4780-setting-milage-radius-versus-static-location-places.html

Hope this helps!

[echo1]

It does indeed Miriam, exactly what I needed. I new about the 20 miles radius, I even asked a few Google moderators about but I got mixed responses. Anyway, thanks!

[MiriamEllis]

You are very welcome!

[WilliamCarr]

Here's a great resource for finding the right category: http://blumenthals.com/google-lbc-categories/search.php?q=&val=hl-gl%3Den-US%26ottype%3D1

According to Google Places quality guidelines, "Categories should depict what your business is (e.g. Hospital), not what it does (e.g. Vaccinations) or products it sells (e.g. Sony products or printer paper). This information can be added in your description."

[echo1]

Thanks William, I did use that tool but it did not returned to many options as it did by studying the competition and the answers here.

[echo1]

Hi Miriam, I just ask a new question and I thought I might get a faster answer here. Here is the question: in Google Local, my first category is limousine service, which I picked it from the pre-selected categories, should I create new other categories which will be basically other high traffic keywords?

This is what it says on Google Help:

"Categories: Select at least one category from the list of available categories."

Are there any rules against this practice?

I checked Mike's categories's tool as well and this is what I got: Limousine Service, limo, limos, limosine, limousine. Should I create custom categories for all these keywords? The SEO company that I work with suggested to add a Geo modifier to better target our main keywords.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Echo,

You're getting some great feeback here. I will only add...be aware that Google is revamping their whole category stance. In the new Google Places for Business Dashboard, there will be no custom categories, and instead of 5 possible categories, you will be able to choose up to 10. But all 10, if you use them, have to be pre-selected categories and the new category wizard seems to take care of the longstanding issue of ensuring that all categories describe what a business is rather than what it does.

For more on the new category landscape, see:

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2013/04/02/categories-in-the-new-places-for-business-dashboard/

Mike has just actually updated his own, awesome category tool in an effort to reflect that Google has just added a ton of new categories to their taxonomy.

What I don't know is what will happen to the custom categories previously selected by business owners once the new dashboard is fully rolled out. Very curious about that and don't have an answer.

[echo1]

Hi Miriam,

The problem is that my Dashboard has the old interface, I can still create custom categories. The question is, should I add "Chicago" to my keywords or not? Somebody else just answer here saying that this would be against Google guidelines.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Echo,

Yes, I understand. You have an existent listing, and still have the old dashboard. But new listings are being given the new dashboard with the new category fields in many cases.

No, never put geo terms in your custom categories, business title or business description. That's a short road to a big penalty.

[echo1]

I was afraid you were going to say that. The Local SEO company that I work with for making sure our Google Places page and Google plus page are properly optimized suggested that in order for me to rank for my keywords, I have to put the geo terms in the new custom categories. This company has been referred by somebody that you know well, an expert in Local SEO and a Google forum moderator. I know that she just teaches those people what to do and it is up to them to implement it but I thought I would share this information here because if somebody else would have been in my place, they would have been penalized.  When I saw the company's proposal, I came here for help because you guys are the only ones that I truly trust.

Thanks for your help!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Echo,

Hmm, I'm not happy to hear about that. What about the Local SEO I suggested to you? Sounds like you chose someone else? No one should be advising you to put geo terms in the categories. Not good.

[echo1]

Your guy seems very professional, we are setting up a different project. For local, I chose somebody else indeed but just for troubleshooting the pages..it seems I should have hired the other company to do everything.