Ranking Differences for Google+ Local vs. Places Listings
-
I'm seeing some odd behavior with Google+ Local and Google Places listings for clients. I'm wondering if anyone else is seeing it...
Here's the situation:
We've recently bought on 4 new clients that all have duplicate listing issues, and, weirdly, all have both places and a Google+ local created listings.
For three of those four, the Google+ local listing is outranking the Places account for a brand name search (e.g. Dr. John Doe). Weirdly, in one instance, the Google+ local account that is outranking the Places page is named in a less accurate fashion. e.g searching for "Dr. John Doe" the rankings look like this...
A) John Doe Plastic Surgery, P.C. - Dr. John Doe
B) Dr. John Doe, MD
Anyone else seeing this sort of behavior?
How are you creating local listings for clients these days - via the places dashboard, or Google+ Local?
-
Hi Bede,
Got it. No, I have not run into this or seen it reported. Very interesting. I think that might be worth reporting to Google via their data issues phone number, though I suspect they might tell you to merge the listings...in which case, I personally wouldn't follow that advice. You could try to call them about it, though:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
Wish I had more insight on this, but I've not seen it before.
-
Hi Miriam,
I think the confusion comes from my incorrect use of terminology more than anything.
What I had noticed in the examples I mentioned was that Google+ Local pages that were being managed via the old places dashboard (what I was referring to as a "Places Page") were being outranked by those that had been created (By clients) in the Google+ Local dashboard. This is for brand-name searches.
So, we ended up with 2-pack listings:
Rank 1 - Newer listing, created via Google+ dashboard (New Page > Local Business or Place > Search and find via Phone Number etc.).
Rank 2 - Older listing, created back when Google+ didn't exist, and places was the only option.
Does that make sense?
I had read about the new dashboard and merge feature on Mike Blumenthal's blog. No sign of for me yet, but I'm definitely excited about it!
Thanks for responding!
Bede
-
Hey Bede,
I'm so sorry I didn't see this thread earlier. It just showed up in my inbox today. I am a bit puzzled by what you are describing, and this is doubtless due to the confusion surrounding agreed-upon terminology for Google's products. To me:
-
There are no Google Place Pages anymore
-
They all became Google+ Local pages (with the new interface), though many are still being controlled via the Google Places Dashboard.
-
They are shortly about to all become Google+ Local pages being controlled via the new Google Places for Business Dashboard that Google is rolling out (and which, apparently is supposed to make the merging of local and social features easier via a simple verification action).
-
But if you don't have the Google Places for Business Dashboard yet, merging is hazardous. Who knows? It may still prove to be hazardous in the new environment as well. Too new to tell.
Do my definitions match yours? Am I missing something? Please, let me know as I am very interested in your question, Bede.
-
-
Hi Bryan,
Thanks for the response.
My post wasn't so much about "How do I fix this" as it was my observation of Google+ Local pages ranking higher in the local SERPs than a page that was created with the older Places dashboard. I was hoping other people might have experienced similar situations.
In the situation that I'm talking about, the pages are actually Google+ Local pages and Places Pages (rather than a standard Google+ Business page). The merge process that's currently available is for combining Google+ Business pages and Places Pages, rather than a Google+ Local page and a Places page. As far as I'm aware, you can't merge a Google+ Local page with a Places Page at this point.
That aside, unfortunately we've found the merge process to be very unreliable - we're generally not doing it at all right now, due to all the issues people are experiencing.
I was also asking out of curiosity whether more people were using the Google+ Local interface to create a new local listing, or if they were using the Google Places dashboard.
Again, thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.
Bede
-
Hi Bede,
You can merge them http://www.seroundtable.com/google-page-local-verification-15526.html
Also, when it comes to a doctors/dentists you can have a listing for the name of the place and each dr. that practices there.
Hope this helps.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Seeing different Google 3-Pack results on Android mobile browsers vs. IOS mobile browsers. Why is this?
I am researching new SEO recommendations in lieu of Google's controversial "3-Pack" update. I am noticing very different results in the Google 3-Pack on a android mobile browser when I do a local search query versus a query in apple mobile browser. For example if I do a Google search for "Seattle Sporting Goods" I am able to see direction links and full address numbers for businesses in the 3-Pack. However the same query on a Android phone provides only "teaser" street name results, no direction links but still shows business reviews. Is it possible that the 3-Pack update is still in flux? Shouldn't the Google 3-Pack show uniform results across all different mobile browsers? This could impact my SEO recommendations.
Image & Video Optimization | | RosemaryB0 -
Local: Checking to make sure this NAP is good before launching campaign
Hello, I'm launching a local campaign. Here's my NAP, I want to make sure that it looks good and that there aren't any new developments in local SEO that will effect my campagin. Here's the address we'll use: 913 S Latah St #H, Boise, ID 83705 where H means suite H Any suggestions before we launch this campaign? Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Sat in a York Based Office but I get a Google Lincoln local listing :-(
Buongiorno from 27 degrees C Wetherby UK 🙂 Imagine this scenario... I'm sat in a York Based HQ law office and Google term Langleys and the Local listing is for Lincoln is rendered 😞 The lincoln office is the smaller sister site 75 miles south of where I'm sitting as illustrated here appears (this is wrong) -
Image & Video Optimization | | Nightwing
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/langleys-local-listing-jinxcopy_zps26e3492a.jpg I then do the same thing in a wetherby based office and get the York based local listing appears. So my question is please" what is influencing which local listing is rendered?" Confused,
David0 -
Local SEO: Can you add citations too fast?
Should you spread adding citations out over several weeks or can you add them all at once?
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Why Google doesn't want to show our images?
Our website http://www.fiberscope.net has a good positions in search for the most of important keywords, but for some reason store's images are not visible in search results. All images have ALT attributes but represented in Google Images very poor. Any ideas and suggestions regarding this issue?
Image & Video Optimization | | Meditinc.com0 -
How does google decide what city a blog belongs to?
I'm trying to build links from more local blogs at the moment and considering a huge list of blogs that are in my city, of which many do accept guest posts. I'm trying to discover a metric to thin this list down further. Is there any way of finding out if google considers a specific blog to be local to a certain area? What signals does google consider when it is making this analysis? Is it the content? or is it the "about the blog author" section? Thanks, Storwell
Image & Video Optimization | | adriandg0 -
Google Places - Under Review
Working with a new company. In the Google places listing they have two listings...obvious duplications created under the same account. Both show as "Under Review" and have been for months. SHould I try and delete one listing (tried...has not worked so far), delete both and start over? This is one of several franchises in the same area with similar names and similar issues, as well as older companies that bought the franchise and still show in Google Places with old phone number and address. Any help appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | AgileInt0 -
Ranking Penalty in Google Places for Primary Cell Phone Number?
Say a business runs out of a home (so, technically, the address of the business has a land line). But the business owner works outdoors all day long and so really runs his business off his cell phone. Is it OK in Google Places to list the mobile phone as the primary contant number, and list the home phone as a secondary number? Or will Google penalize the business's ranking in local search results for using a cell number as the main number?
Image & Video Optimization | | keethgee0