Maybe I'm missing something, but I can create a map on Google, drop markers in as many places as I like and save it as private or public.
Is that not what you're trying to do?
The problem with Google maps is that it will not allow you to enter multiple venues for your single account. You end up with your home address or head office being the only venue. This is worse than useless. Does anybody know of a way around this?
I'm thinking of solving this by setting up a Google account for each venue - but I then need the venue to receive a post card and pass it on to me. That isn't always as easy as it sounds - most village halls don't have a letterbox! And I'd probably need to give each account the same name and Google probably have a way of stopping this.
Does anyone know of a more elegant solution?
Maybe I'm missing something, but I can create a map on Google, drop markers in as many places as I like and save it as private or public.
Is that not what you're trying to do?
No, its not.
A business can register an address with Google and when someone does a search in a suitably sparse area a map will appear with little alphabetic pointers.
Try http://bit.ly/k3j2Bt which is a search for dance class Perth Scotland. As usual Franck is a heroic leader on my PC, hitting page one of the results.
On my PC Zumba makes page 1 as well, and that is another global brand, so the "only one venue" theory that worried Andy is wrong.
Google is ramping up its local marketing so it gives ranking preference to companies that are on its map.
It also owns Youtube and gives higher rankings to sites with relevant video content so another way to head for the coveted page one of the search results is to have video content that is recognisably relevant eg dance_class.wmv and use relevant tags.
The problem with Ceroc's coveted Flash graphics is that search engines are still very poor at best, and usually blind, at reading graphics.
I say "on my PC" because Google tailors its search results to what it perceives as your interests. The fact that you often do a search on Ceroc related items means that you will preferentially see Ceroc in your results. This may be very different to what someone with no previous interest in dance will see. That is why I advocated the use of a proxy like www.proxify.com, that hides "you", to do the tests.
HTH
Is that the same as Google Places?
This page suggests you can load multiple markers and it seems to be free. I've not tried it though.
Edit: Or is this the problem? From hereYou cannot create Places listings for stores [venues/ village halls?] which you do not own, but which stock your products. Instead, consider asking the store owner to update their own Places listing with a custom attribute specifying brands or products they stock, including yours.
Last edited by DavidY; 8th-June-2011 at 08:02 PM.
Love dance, will travel
I know the Zumba venue is not Franck's it is a Zumba venue. Like Ceroc that is a franchise operation with each franchisee running one or more venues, just as Ceroc does. Zumba manages to get multiple venues on the map, Franck does too, so it is possible. Perhaps an email to Google, or a phone call, will discover how they do it.
What ratio of Ceroc venues are franchised? I mean it was the case that all the venues outside London were franchised but those in London were owned by Ceroc themselves with the exception of the Casbah.
Just a thought - Why not ask Franck how he does it ?? Revolutionary I know!
Franck... Are you online today??
WT
Erm. Add the venue to Google maps, not your business there.
I know Ceroc Addiction is on tonight. I've never been to that venue before, but their website tells me the name of the venue. If that venue were on Google Maps I'd be able to find it, and tell whether it's nearer Marie's Chippie or King Kebab.
If every bugger that rents out that venue puts their business on Google Maps at that location, the map will be lost in noise.
It also means a Google postcard to the venue asking "Do you exist" will receive a simple "Oh. Yes. Thanks for asking." which is kind of easy for the venue owner.
Or am I thinking like a general member of the public here, rather than a commercial operator?
Google answers your search query. If you ask about dance classes you will see all the dance classes at tht venue that Google knows about. You should not see a search result for the Judo club or the choral society that meets there.
Google gives priority in the search results it shows to businesses that are on the map because it wants to sell advertising to the Fish & chip shop around the corner etc
If you look for a Salsa class you used to be likely to see a Ceroc HQ paid ad. That adword campaign may still be running.
This may help:
http://www.stefandrew.com/micro_brew...oogle-map.html
Thank you. It's very similar to the situation for dance teachers. We are like the brewery. It looks like I'd have to get my venue to get their own entry on google places.
I actually did a search on goole to see if there was anything useful. What I found was my original enquiry to google support! Here is the link.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/...f87cce25&hl=en
I'm starting to wonder if the only way to get a proper google places entry for each venue is to set up separate google accounts for each venue as if each venue was a separate company. I'd be like a mini Ceroc, I'd have 'Rocsters - Worthing', 'Rocsters - Horsham', etc. Does that seem like a reasonable and workable solution?
It should not be necessary, Zumba knows how to do it. I will ask one of the Google guys on Twitter.
Having a separate website or blog entry for each venue is one way to get better ratings from search engines, but using tailored relevant content. Google does not like duplicated pages/content. The sites/blogs linking to each other helps too. Keeping the sites active also helps.One way to do that is a Twitter or Facebook feed.
I was very disappointed to find that my local venues did not come up on the first results page of a Google search for "Dance classes Bedford". It seems I had not grasped the scale of the problem.
A Google search for "site:ceroccentral.com Dance classes" comes up with no hits, the text is not on the standard Ceroc site template. Nor are "dance lessons" "dancing lessons" and other common phrases people type in to find dance classes.
OTOH a search for "site:cerocpassion Dance classes Higham Ferrers" does get a hit on page two because that phrase occurs in the venue description supplied by the Franchisee.
I suggest Ceroc Franchisees try to make up for the search deficiencies of the standard site template by using the pages they can change, like venue descriptions and News, to show phrases someone searching for dance classes might use.
eg Dance classes (highest use I have found) Dancing Lessons,
I suggest that franchisees get as many sales phrases as possible into the pages they control. If they can upload photos they could rename them things like "dance_class_venue_Bedford" You can compare the number of times phrases are entered here:
BTW One phrase the standard template does contain is "partner dancing", it is on the home page. "We have been introducing people..." The problem is that Google actually downgrades sites that contain exactly the same text as many others, and there are dozens of standard Ceroc franchisee sites on the web. Ceroc Passion get hits for "partner dancing" because it appears in the description of the Rugby venue. I did not look deep enough to find the home page.
HTH
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