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Category: Local Listings

Examine the impact of maintaining consistent and accurate local listings on your local SEO strategy.

  • MiriamEllis


    Hey All My Favorite Local Community Members! I think we might start having questions come up about this, so I thought I'd do a quick post. Google has just confirmed that they have removed the 'Reviews from Around the Web' feature that has so long been a part of their local SERPs display. Mike Blumenthal confirms that this is official, here: http://localu.org/blog/google-more-reviews-links-removed-from-knowledge-panel/ Apparently, you can still see your reviews from around the web in your Google My Business dashboard, but they are gone from knowledge panels, etc. This may not be a feature greatly missed by many, as the business owner had so little control over what was displayed in this section. So ... upshot is: if you've just noticed that this feature is gone, it's official - it's gone.

    | MiriamEllis
    4
  • LeeAbrahamson


    Hi all, We've been researching relevant, real organizations in our area that allow members to link their websites from the directory. I've basically got two buckets of prospects: Chambers of commerce type sites with more authority (DA ~40+) but less relevance to our niche (injury law) Bar associations with less authority (DA ~20) but super relevant. Assuming that they cost the same and covered the same geographic area, which links would you go after if you had to choose one or the other? Thanks in advance.

    | LeeAbrahamson
    0
  • InfinityTechnologySolutions


    I listed clients listed on about 200+ local citation sites and was NAP complaint. However, when I run a backlink checker using MOZ, SEMRUSH, etc it only show 8 -12 and none of them are the citations. Anyone have any pointers?

    | InfinityTechnologySolutions
    0
  • SUCCESSagency


    Hi All!  I'm doing some research for non-local SEO clients and finding that many of them have messy and extremely inconsistent listing profiles (via Moz Local checker). It seems to me that this would be a good thing to take care of, even for a non local site. Anyone have insights on whether or not this is something we should take care of? If so, any details on how or why it would or would not be a good idea? Thanks! Ricky

    | SUCCESSagency
    0
  • Sanjayth


    Hello My website www.prismpharmamachinery.com Ranking Down last from 5 to 6 month, Before It was Up, goes down By 5 to 6 pages. Any Expert can help for this query, Then Please reply. Thanking you in advance,

    | Sanjayth
    0
  • Ryan_V


    Hi everyone, Our client wants to add two new locations. Not sure what phone number to use.
    We have main phone 800 number, with no adders associated, and local phone numbers for locations which we do SEO for. New two locations are not for SEO purposes. Client just want them to be listed on website and on major directories for now. Understanding NPA importance:
    Should we use main 800 for both locations? 
    Should we get new phone numbers for each one? Thanks

    | Ryan_V
    0
  • LMcLaughlin


    I've recently been researching local memberships and associations to submit my business information to as a way to get involved in the community and gain backlinks simultaneously. A specific listing I was looking into, Think Local First (http://thinklocalfirst.net/Members) has a DA of 37 with the listing page at a 26 PA ( and homepage at 42 PA). After checking out a few of Think Local Firsts's currently listed websites on OSE, I've noticed that not one of them is showing an inbound link from this organization. I would like to represent my business on this page, but would prefer to gain a link from doing so. Can anyone give me any insight as to why this isn't reflected in the business's backlinks? I did check a couple sites with majestic and Ahrefs with the same results. Thanks in advance!

    | LMcLaughlin
    0
  • Gavo


    We have a Google+ Local page, however, we are not appearing at all in Google Maps when searched for relevant keywords, such as Tax Accountant Dandenong (for google.com.au). What can we do to make sure that our business appears on Google Maps when relevant keyword phrases are searched?

    | Gavo
    0
  • Kerry_Jones


    Hi there I've been doing some research into directory sites that my clients are listed on and noticed that some appear to have flat-lined in organic search traffic indicating a penalty. I would like to know if clients with business citations on these penalised websites (without links to clients websites) will be having a negative effect on SEO? Thanks

    | Kerry_Jones
    0
  • Gavo


    Does anyone know of a good article that lists all the things needed to get good Google local pack results? That would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance!

    | Gavo
    0
  • Rich_Coffman


    Imagine someone who has 2 separate businesses with the same (home) address. Both are verified Google My Business G+ pages, each with its own separate website. Essentially the old business that is being de-emphasized is a guitar lesson teacher's studio. This G+ page is set as a storefront where people come to. The new business is similar, it is music lessons (private in-home instruction). This G+ page is set to have a service area - this goes along with their new business model. We all know that consistent NAP is essential BUT do you think these are competing against each other because they share an address even though the businesses are separate?

    | Rich_Coffman
    0
  • Leo_Woodhead


    Hey Mozzers, thanks for your awesome help today. I have another related question to local listings. We're currently rebuilding our website and we have multiple physical locations across the UK. Is it beneficial SEO wise for us to display just one address on our contact page or should we list the 5 addresses that we have? I have also been checking out our local listings and it appears that we have inconsistent listings across the 13 sites that Moz local lists in the UK and then across various other directories. How important is it to get these cleaned up? Cheers in advance Leo

    | Leo_Woodhead
    0
  • Sam-P


    Ive got a site thats currently ranking #2 in the local 7 pack listings for the search term : "garden design [city]" but is not ranking at all for "garden designer [city]" (note the "er" at the end of designer). The search traffic for these 2 terms is pretty much the same, and id like to get the site ranking for "garden designer [city]". The only thing i can think of is thats different is that in the <title>tag for the homepage of the site we have "Garden Design [City] - .....", is there any other way i can try and up the local 7 pack ranking for my site other than changing the title tag ?</p> <p>Im thinking of running a link building campaign for the phrase "garden designer [city]", but apart from that i cant think of anything else that could help up my rankings for this, any ideas ?</p></title>

    | Sam-P
    0
  • Midleton


    Hi there, I've got a question related to the location of the queries shown in GWT. My company operates just in Spain but according to GWT the majority of my queries comes from Sweden. Let's say 75% Sweden, 20% Spain, 5% rest of the countries. Of course I've set as Internatinal Targeting Spain as country, How could this be possible considering that spanish it is not the main language in Sweden. Can this be changed? Thank u 😉

    | Midleton
    0
  • RainmanCreative


    Hey there, Mozzers! I need your help. I have a new client whose new site just went live. Today, I started the process of cleaning up their business listings throughout the web. To my surprise, I noticed that a lot of the directories already had a website domain included. I called my client to find out what was going on. Turns out they already have a site with another company, targeting the same keywords. I came across this site before during competitive analysis, but never put two and two together since it has a different name, phone number and branding (logo, color scheme, etc.). I asked if he was willing to change the link to his new site (the one we're doing SEO for),  and he flat out said no. He knows the site is doing well in the SERPs and doesn't want to harm its rankings. sigh His advice? Create new listings for his 2nd location. This location has a different physical address and phone number (no toll free/shared). But I feel like this is wrong. It's the same business, but we're trying to pass as another company just to get 2 sites to the top of the SERPs. This might also confuse users. What do I do? Plus, does that mean we should only include the 2nd location on the site we created and not the 1st? I already have a disadvantage since all the quality link juice is going to the other site. smh I need y'alls advice, please! -Kanya

    | RainmanCreative
    1
  • jacksonmc


    Client was in an obscene YP.com contract. Now they are cloning the site I built for client, inserting the phone number that gives them credit for the leads. It's harvesting content immediately, loading pages I created just today. Client site : http://www.shephearstmeadows.com/
    YP clone: http://www.awomansway.calls.net/ Is it possible this is hurting the site's score as source of original content? Anyone know how to stop it? Thank you,

    | jacksonmc
    2
  • nickowain


    Hi All I have researched 20 plumber blogs and citation sources all have page rank 1-8 and good trust and domain age. Would it be wise to have a backlink to each of my 20 web pages from these 20 different blogs? plumber blog a backlink to all 20 pages on my plumbing site plumbing blog a backlink to all 20 pages on my plumbing site how to fix leaky tap blog a backlink to all 20 pages on my plumbing site how to pick the best gas boiler blog a backlink to all my 20 pages on my plumbing site and so on as my website is united kingdom and serve UK only, should i not use USA blogs & citation sources as this might not help increase my organic rankings? thanks

    | nickowain
    0
  • nickowain


    I have 400 backlinks to home page no backlinks to the other 20 pages, i have used yelp, free index and other online citation sources all lead to my home page as do articles, blogs etc. My home page ranks position 1 page 1 google for keyword, should i know start adding backlinks to the other 20 pages via links from blogs, articles, youtube, etc Site is 2 months old thanks

    | nickowain
    0
  • nickowain


    Will my pages rank better in local city search if i have menus like "seo tips city" , "city google maps", "city electricians best online directories", . So a Google searcher in x city looking for seo services for his electrician business types in G box "city electricians best online directories" would having this term in the menu help or is it waste of time to have it in menu? thanks

    | nickowain
    0
  • MERGE-Chicago


    Our business has a location in Milwaukee, WI and Chicago, IL but one URL and want to keep the name the same because obviously it is a single company. I am trying to find the best way to: A. Optimize the NAP for consistency
    B. Figure out how to merge google local with the G+ for each location separately
    C. What to do with the publisher tag Appreciate the help!

    | MERGE-Chicago
    0
  • RCDesign74


    Hey everyone, I think i've got a good handle on citations, but had a question regarding multiple locations. I'm going to be doing citation building for a local lawyer, and he's got 4 locations. I'd like to build citations for each of his locations, but I was wondering if the business name needs to change? Ie. If I am building citations for Town 2 and Town 3, should the business name be listed as "Company Name Town 1" for the first location, and "Company Name Town 2" for the second? Or is it fine to use the company name throughout all citations, and just change the location/phone number to the location based info? I'm just worried about Google seeing differing info, but the same company name, and possibly penalizing me for it. Thanks in advance!

    | RCDesign74
    0
  • nickowain


    If i have "chelsea plumber" ranked page 1 position one in london UK area, and a searcher types "plumber" from an ip adddress in chelsea will it show page 1 position 1 or only for a "chelsea plumber" search thank you

    | nickowain
    0
  • MattRyanNonnie


    I am sorry if this is the incorrect place for this but I have searched all over trying to find a reputable firm or person to create or modify my current webpage and rank it better for my keywords. There are just so many people and companies out there, everyone I have worked with has done seemingly nothing for what I paid them (could not be transparent or answer questions). Everytime I look for a firm I come across this site and I use Moz Local, seems like the place to find or get help finding the right person or company to help me. I am looking for an expert in local SEO. I want to ensure that my website is always on top of the current algorithms, I want someone that can rank offsite pages like Facebook and Yelp. Can create or work off my current responsive wordpress site to ensure it is properly optimized to rank well for the local keywords I want. I am not cheap, I am willing to pay. But I need someone who knows local seo in an out. Map listings, citations, link building, different landing pages for services for various local cities, and web design. Graphic arts is a plus as well. I would really appreciate any help or references in finding the correct person or company for me. If it matters I am a local plumber and hvac company based in the chicagoland area.  Could anyone please lead me in a positive and honest direction?

    | MattRyanNonnie
    1
  • mgordon


    Is it possible that being a third party manager to a Google plus account have a negative impact in local rankings since access is coming from a different city? Example: I work in Houston but manage a client's Google account that is in New York.

    | mgordon
    0
  • iubeda


    Hi, Does anyone know a reliable SEO agency specialised in Baidu? Thanks! Isabel

    | iubeda
    0
  • RainmanCreative


    Hey Mozzers! Got a question for you. I’ve been assigned my first ecommerce client. He doesn’t want to list his physical business location, as he fears that including his address will hurt him on a national level (he ships all over the world). He’s not particularly interested in ranking locally, although he wouldn’t mind it. He only wants to show a PO box address. Will this help or hurt him? I believe it’s the latter. Also, he has 16 shipping points across the U.S. Is it helpful to add these cities and states to the site? Thanks in advance! -Kanya

    | RainmanCreative
    0
  • BohmKalish123


    I am considering adding our actual service area to our Google My Business profile, but I don't want this to dilute our local search results.  As it is, we come up in the top 3 or so when searched in our HQ's city and several nearby cities when you search for us in Google Maps (although when I look at the top 10 organic for Google for some reason when you search for these cities + our keywords Google doesn't show any local results). Our actual service area is fairly large, comprising the states of CA & Hawaii & parts of CO, AZ, and UT.  I would be adding the service area by zip code rather than radius, as a radius wouldn't make any sense in this case (particularly considering the distance between HI and CA).  Is it better to keep our relatively high ranking in local results?  Will adding the service area not affect local results negatively? Also, do you know why Google isn't showing me local results when I look for our keywords + our nearby cities?  When I look for these keywords in larger cities like LA or San Diego, Google always shows me local results.

    | BohmKalish123
    0
  • barkingtuna


    Full disclosure... I don't know much about proper Schema Markup. I'm curious about how specific everyone gets when generating the markup for different types of businesses that service a local area and rely heavily on Local Maps listings. For instance, I have a bunch of self-storage facility clients. Is it better to just keep it generic like any other Local Business? Here's 2 examples... which one is better: <div id="search-area" itemid="facility" itemtype="http://schema.org/SelfStorage" itemscope=""> <a style="color: #ffffff" href="http://goo.gl/maps/SjmZ"> <span itemid="facility" itemtype="http://schema.org/SelfStorage" itemscope=""> <span itemprop="name">Elliot Kyrene Storage Solutionsspan>span><br>a>
    <div itemtype="http://schema.org/PostalAddress" itemscope="" itemprop="address"> <a style="color: #ffffff" href="http://goo.gl/maps/SjmZ"> <span class="street-address" itemprop="streetAddress">543 W. Elliot Rdspan>
    <br><span class="locality" itemprop="addressLocality">Tempespan>, <span class="region" title="Arizona" itemprop="addressRegion">AZspan>
    <span class="postal-code" itemprop="postalCode">85284span><br> <span itemprop="telephone">480.940.0111span>
    a>div>h3>div> Or is this better: <div itemtype="http://schema.org/PostalAddress" itemscope="" itemprop="address"><h2><span itemprop="streetAddress">2636 W. Thunderbird Roadspan><span itemprop="addressLocality">Phoenixspan>, <span title="Arizona" itemprop="addressRegion">AZspan>
    <span class="postalCode">85023span>|<span itemprop="telephone">602-863-0111span>
    h2>
    <span itemtype="http://schema.org/GeoCoordinates" itemscope="" itemprop="geo"> <meta content="33.611544" itemprop="latitude">
    <meta content="-112.114374" itemprop="longitude">span>
    div>

    | barkingtuna
    0
  • Luckydtech


    Hi, I own a business in United States and serving multiple locations around US. I have listings for all my locations in Google Business as well as in Yahoo Local. To track the phone calls that are made through Google & Yahoo, I have provided a 2 different phone numbers in these listings in order to track it effectively. Recently, I read that even the tracking phone numbers will rise an inconsistent NAP in Google local ranking factors. If such is the case, how can can effectively track the phone calls separately from these business listing? Does anyone have any better idea for this? Thank you,

    | Luckydtech
    1
  • Cooper1


    Our current home page is texty, talking about why choose us and general information on what the service involves. We are currently developing a new web design and content architecture involving moving all the content out of the home page, and making the homepage a beautiful guide to the site, as is the best practice. I think the home page will generally result in a better user experience. SEO: we currently rank second for "service city" (going to our homepage). Our domain is service-city.co.uk. While the change is going to involve us adding lots of new good-quality pages with new keyword targets, our most important keyword by far is "service city" and the home page would probably still be the most appropriate page for that keyword. And I'm gravely worried the change will negatively impact this keyword. I would appreciate your thoughts

    | Cooper1
    0
  • Vspeed


    We are a service company that both travels to customer locations and serves customers at our business location. The split is about 80/20 (travel vs. serve customers on location). We just opened up a new office in a city about 1 hour away from our main location. The question is, should we create a new business page and account on Google local or should we add the new location to our existing google local account? The new location has a separate website, phone number, email etc. My inclination is to create a new local business account/page on Google. Has anyone experimented with both solutions and tested which option creates more powerful local signals for ranking?

    | Vspeed
    0
  • TheZenAgency


    Hi, I have implemented the code [https://plus.google.com/+Thezenagency](<a href=)" rel="publisher"> on my website. I have also linked my google+ page which shows a tick with the words "verified local business" next to my logo and name. The problem is however i still do not have the box appear on the right hand side of a branded web search with my location, picture, reviews etc. Is there another step which needs to be completed? This was a couple of weeks ago it was done. Thanks in advance

    | TheZenAgency
    0
  • measurableROI


    Hey, all!  I have a client who needs for people to see her website before they call her, or else she spends 15 min explaining what's already on the site.  Her Google My Business rankings are excellent for a lot of keywords (yay!), so people are seeing the number big and bold and just picking up the phone.  I called GMB support to ask if removing the phone number would affect rankings, and they said "I don't think so".  If this weren't a HUGE deal to the client, I wouldn't take the chance, but she feels that she's losing business by being on these calls when legitimate prospects try to call and get voice mail.  So...  any experience with removing phone numbers from GMB, or any other creative solutions to the quandary?  Thanks so much for reading!  ~ Scott UPDATE: Well, we went ahead and tried it anyway, and our GMB listins on the 7-pack nosedived!  STRONGLY recommend against this, at least with the current algorithm!!  The phone number is back now.  🙂

    | measurableROI
    0
  • PeteC12


    Hi All, I currently have location specific pages and my branch information(NAP) is currently displayed at the bottom in the page content. I was thinking off displaying the NAP again higher up the page so it's very visible for the user possibly under a h tag heading as well. Do you think it would be spammy or harm my seo efforts it my NAP was displayed twice on a page ?.  Once in the content which currently it's not visible unless the user clicks on the read more link in the content on the bottom of the page , and again further up the page where I have some white space which I can utilize Any thoughts greatly appreciated. thanks Peter

    | PeteC12
    0
  • Anward


    Hi, I would to get some advice on how to generate some links for my cleaning business in order to build high rankings across numerous locations for search phrases such as "house cleaning in [location]" and "domestic cleaners in [location]" etc etc. I'm hopefully on the right lines with my domain and url structure, and have set up numerous pages for each location (i.e. www.domain.com/cleaning-in-location) ticking as many of the on-page optimization boxes as possible (basically as per the whiteboard friday on mult-location businesses). I was thinking that for each location page I could set up a 'Things and places we like in [location]' in an attempt to showcase influencers' businesses, in the hope of receiving links and social mentions specific to each location page. Although this is a lot of work I was thinking that I should set up separate twitter and facebook accounts for key locations and start engaging with a local audience? From a local search perspective, is there more value gaining links from bloggers/websites physically in location_A to www.mydomain.com/cleaning-in-location_A?

    | Anward
    1
  • Ron10


    If I put my address on my website, does it help that page to rank for local searches?  especially if it's the same address that i am using for moz local and all my citations? I want my other pages to rank in different cities as well as i have a service that travels to all cities in my state.  Will that address of my home town on my home page make google think that i don't service other cities? Thanks, Ron

    | Ron10
    0
  • Rank-and-Grow


    I've recently been noticing local businesses adding the name of their plaza to their listing. Does this reflect on consistency of NAP across the web if only the G+ Listing has that extra landmark? And how would this effect the local map rankings? Any answers would help. xQbevNXSClU

    | Rank-and-Grow
    0
  • PeteC12


    Hi All, My ecommerce site has different category/landing pages for each of my branches . I'm currently getting some more citations done as wondered the following Is it a general rule to say, that the more citations you have the better as long as they are consistent and free? Given that I have different categories /landing pages showing the NAP of my individual branches along with unique content, should all these extra citations help with local rankings across my whole site or is it usually just helping the specific localized webpage it's pointing to ? I can get a company to help me do my citations but to do all the branches, it is going to be quite expensive. Is citations quite a big individual SEO factor in local search as opposed to on page seo factors etc etc. Any advice greatly appreciated. thanks Peter

    | PeteC12
    0
  • PeteC12


    Hi All, I have a number of branches as we have separate branch pages and separate google local listings for these. I have been trying to keep them in consistent for citation purposes but google keeps trying to tweak the address in the local listings. Sometimes for example , google is trying to remove the premises number from the Road e.g  78 Doncaster Road is the actual branch address but google local business wants it as Doncaster Road, I also see Google is wanting to sometimes remove the locality name etc?.. Also If the local listing has a county ( in America - you would have State) , google is sometimes wanting to remove this add United Kingdom in Country instead ?. Is this a problem and how to deal with it as I think this is obviously impacting my local rankings?. If i approve all these changes then do I need update all my citations and page addresses all the time ? Or can I just leave the suggested "Update" or overwrite googles suggestion with what I had originally. Does anyone else have this problem ? thanks pete

    | PeteC12
    0
  • seo.help


    I have a question for you... have a client who originally I built and ranked individual websites for them for multiple services. One website was for auto sales, one for auto repair and one for auto detailing. But the names were all different and individual. They decided to rebrand and they wanted to bring them all under one common name. And they were talked into building a new website under the one common brand name and put all the content under that website and have since 302 redirected everything. I know.... should have been 301's So of course now I have to go back in there and repair the SEO damage as everything has now tanked. So here is my dilemma I have the following brands/services - all located same city, some in different physical locations new website is XYZ.com XYZ Car Sales - located at 123 any street XYZ Auto Repair - located at 123 any street XYZ Auto Detailing - located at 456 any street XYZ Customizing - available at 456 any street Should I just build out the content on the XYZ.com domain and use subfolders so XYZ.com/customizing, XYZ.com/autosales, XYZ.com/autodetailing etc or should I use subdomains autodetailing.XYZ.com, etc And as a final question to this scenario... how does this affect the Google+ business pages for each of these businesses? If i use the subfolder method, should I have the XYZ Car Sales, XYZ Auto Detailing all point to the XYZ.com root or should each Google business page point to the actual subfolder? And how will this affect SEO? If I build out the Auto Detailing section for example I was thinking it would look like this XYZ.com/auto-detailing
    XYZ.com/auto-detailing/about-us
    XYZ.com/auto-detailing/services
    XYZ.com/auto-detailing/contact-us Will that be good enough for Google to properly link the content to that particular section/brand assuming things like Title Tags/ H1 tags, etc are done properly? Keeping in mind we have Google business pages already in existence for XYZ Auto Sales
    XYZ Auto Detailing
    XYZ Customizing
    XYZ Auto Repairs Your help will be hugely appreciated, Ive searched and searched, but most things seem to lead back to multi location SEO questions, this is multi-location but also multi brand and different business names (although quite similar)

    | seo.help
    0
  • conalt


    Hi, I have been experiencing different rankings while searching with  Google local site such as on: google.com.mt > English interface google.com.mt > native language interface but still searching in English. The search phrase is always in English. Also in both occasions the SERPs would contain English listings. There would be no Local/Map listings that affect results order. What is the solution to increase visibility on both English interface and native language interface? Thanks! Conrad

    | conalt
    0
  • Ron10


    I am currently showing up in local results for my business but when i run a Moz local test, it shows that i only have a current score of 29% and by using Moz Local it says i could get to a score of 86%.   Will enrolling in Moz local help my pages to rank higher  in the search engines for different queries, or does it just help my site show up in the local results at the top of the serps? I only have one business in one city so it might not be worth it for me.  My business is a service though and i travel to many different cities.  Any input on this would be greatly appreciated. thanks mozzers! Ron

    | Ron10
    0
  • edward-may


    Hi Guys So as I'm just starting out, I have been told and read certain blogs that in the early stages I should submit my site to certain directories, only I would not have any idea which directories I should submit my site to, besides the few that I already know. Any idea how I could find this out? Cheers

    | edward-may
    0
  • KempRugeLawGroup


    I just got an email from eLocal with information that is way farther off than any other email I have received from directories I know. I ran a search on them, and it definitely seems fishy. Plus, it's not showing up as a problem in my Moz Local account. However, I don't want an inconsistent listing if this is a legitimate site I should correct. Anyone have experience with them? What should I do? Thanks for the assistance, Ruben

    | KempRugeLawGroup
    0
  • mgordon


    Can someone tell me why some search profiles in maps don't show the profile image?  Meaning the business has pictures in their profiles, including their main profile, its at 100% completion and the audience is not age restricted and the images still don't show? Attached is an example (not my clients but you can see what happens) I appreciate any ideas! Thanks iIpSPaB

    | mgordon
    0
  • Trojan_SEO


    Hey Moz! I was recently hired for some local SEO work and discovered this about my client. His business used to be called something else before he purchased it.  He has the same phone number and same domain name, but there are Google My Business pages for both the old name and the new name, both of which have the same address, phone number, and domain name listed on them. I am not sure what the correct course of action is.  Should I begin removing the old information?  It seems as though there is no penalty in place but I don't want to build a campaign on a poor foundation.  Is there a way to let Google know that this old page should not exist anymore? Any advice would by much appreciated!

    | Trojan_SEO
    1
  • TheZenAgency


    Hi All I am having trouble getting my business listing on the right hand side of the page for branded google searches. I have added the rel publisher tag to my website and have also connected my website through my google business profile. It shows as verified on my google+ page but it still does not appear. Can anyone offer some advice? Kind Regards

    | TheZenAgency
    0
  • djreich


    I have an issue regarding local rankings for multiple locations within the SAME city, and I'm hoping to start a productive discussion about the various options for helping a second location gain visibility in the local pack. Here's the context…My business is an electronic cigarette shop in New Orleans, called Crescent City Vape. Our first location (Uptown) opened up a year ago and ranks very well in the local-pack as well as organic results for target keywords, as well as brand terms. Our second location opened up 2 months ago, also in New Orleans (Lower Garden District), about 3 miles away from the first shop. This shop, however, is not visible locally or organically, unless we get extremely specific with a branded search query like "Crescent City Vape Lower Garden District" or "Crescent City Vape St. Charles Ave." It does not rank locally for "Crescent City Vape" or "Crescent City Vape New Orleans" We have one website: crescentcityvape.com -- and both shops have a location landing page on the main site: crescentcityvape.com/uptown
    crescentcityvape.com/lower-garden However, when we launched our local SEO work for the first shop, we used the homepage as the URL in Google+ Local, as well as all of our citations. When we launched the second shop, we used the location landing page as the URL for G+ and all of our citations. We also added a location modifier to the business name on G+ Local: Crescent City Vape - Lower Garden District Both shops have 5+ reviews on Google+ Local, and both shops have citation profiles that are better than any other competitor. I'm confident that the local SEO basics are covered…and this is evident from the solid local and organic rankings for the original shop. My concern isn't that the second shop is ranking worse than the first. I expected this. But I am very concerned that the second shop doesn't even rank for a branded search like "Crescent City Vape." You have to get unrealistically specific with local descriptors to see the G+ local result for the second shop. e.g. "Crescent City Vape Lower Garden District". Here are some of the options and questions I've been pondering. Would love anyone's thoughts on what's worth trying and what might be too risky…since obviously I do not want to sacrifice rankings for the original shop. Changing the G+ URL of the second shop to the homepage (rather than that local landing page). In this case, G+ pages for both locations would link to the homepage. Then updating Moz Local and other citations accordingly with the URL as the homepage. My concern is that this will end up hurting rankings for the original shop more than helping rankings for the second shop. Removing the location modifier from the second shop's Google+ Local business name. When you google "Starbucks" or "McDonalds" you get a local-pack that usually includes 3 of their locations in the pack, and none have location modifiers. I'm wondering if the modifier is sending the wrong signal, because right now, when you Google "Crescent City Vape" only the original location shows up with a local result. Changing the modifier for the second shop's Google+ Local business name to something like "Crescent City Vape: New Orleans E-Cigs". Some of our competitors have added keywords to their G+ names and it's been effective for them. I know this is not aligned with Google guidelines, and may be a risky play. We don't have anything to lose with the second location if we try this…However, is there any chance this would negatively affect our original shop's rankings (since it's the same domain)? If we went in this direction, should I update our citations accordingly? And build new ones with this new "name"? Does page authority of the business URL have an impact on G+ Local rankings? i.e. would building quality links to the local landing page have much of an impact? i.e. is that a productive use of time and resources, as opposed to promoting the homepage and other more important landing pages? Appreciate your thoughts and feedback! Hopefully this discussion will be helpful for other businesses trying to rank for more than one location in the same city. Thanks!

    | djreich
    0
  • PapercutInteractive


    Hi All, I am working with a client that is changing its business name and website domain. Obviously, they want Google Maps to display their correct information. I know that in order for this to happen, they will need to do some citation clean-up and update their Google+ Local page, but does anyone have any opinions on the order in which these things should be done? Thanks!

    | PapercutInteractive
    0
  • blackrino


    So we are working on our citations. Now the issue is (not really an issue, but it is definitely very annoying) is that we have multiple locations. I get that you need to then have multiple listings. Where I get baffled is that I have read that you will then need to have more than 1 google + account for the different addresses. That seems like a lot of work to keep two google + accounts updated. Is this a must for SEO purposes?

    | blackrino
    0

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