Can We Outrank The Google Places Local Listing 7 pack in 2015?
-
Hello everyone,
I would like to know if it's possible and if any of you had success outranking / ranking above the Google Local Listing 7 pack?
I am in Canada and every time I search for something like (city+dentist) (toronto dentist) I do not see any organic result above the 7 pack. I searched for like 10 city and every searches the local listing are the first to show up and the organic result under it.
So I did not see any organic result outranking the Google Places and I look at like 10 different city if not more.
So I would like to know If i can rank above them for organic results with no Google places, with no physical address, local phone number and/or citations even if there is currently no organic result showing up above them ?
What do you guys think ?
Thank You
-
Hi Vasily,
You've received some great feedback here from the community and nice of fellow Canadian Jim Rudnick for letting us know he hasn't seen 7-packs in months. I digress here, but in the US, I am still not only seeing 7-packs for dental searches but am also seeing major directories outrank them organically. Ah - the fun of Local SEO!
Basically, I agree with what Brady has written. With their 3 or 7-pack display ranking up top, they are showing you what they think is best for customers and best for Google. Getting this to change is unlikely, though a major algo change on Google's part in 2015 could, of course, throw all of this out the window
For now, your best bet is to be able to achieve consistently good visibility in the packs-n-stacks in your area.
-
Saw it - in english only. I think it would take a little while until we will see it in german... THX 4 the respond.
-
Haven't seen any 7-Packs in months now...I too am up in Canada using g.ca and they're all gone for all of our own searches....
-
I believe it rolled out internationally this past month (December). Check out SERoundtable for updates. Barry's great with that stuff.
-
not really the right place, but has anyone an idea if and when Pigeon update is coming to europe?
-
You can, if you narrow your objectives, specialize and try to rank organically.
If you're trying to rank for "big city" + "short, popular and highly competitive keyword phrase" then you won't be able to outrank local search results. At least not for the short term.
The recommended approach is to carve a geographic or specialty niche for yourself, produce excellent, compelling content, and build some popularity and authority. Once that's done, you can consider expanding and going after some of the more popular and general terms like "toronto dentist".
See what Matt Cutts has to say on the matter here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XHAhn8HCzs.
-
Are you still seeing a 7-pack? From what I've seen, the latest Pigeon update has removed almost all local 7-packs for a more compact, 3-pack or the new "local stack" (or whatever we're calling it). When I Google "toronto dentist," I'm getting a more compact 3-pack, granted I am in the States.
To answer your original question, I'd probably say no just because it's probably not the best way to focus your local SEO efforts. In most cases the local packs are at the top of SERPs (underneath ads, of course) but very rarely are they half-way down the SERP. I have some clients targeting keywords with SERPs that trigger the local pack between organic listings 1 and 2, but that's becoming rare.
Your goal should be to rank in the local pack (or higher in it, if you're already there). What I can say is the way to possibly jumping the local pack and the way to move up in the pack are likely the same tactics: basic local SEO. There are a ton of blog posts out there from awesome experts like Andrew Shotland and Mike Blumenthal, but some important initial questions to ask yourself and audit your website with:
- Basic SEO principles: duplicate content (all forms), good title tags, img tags, etc.
- Local SEO principles: business city/state in title tags, NAP on (basically) every page, local phone number used (not 1-800), etc.
- Technical principles: all the basics, 404s, bad 301s/302s, XML sitemap, using schema for local business (or more specific schema [there's now a dentist one, I believe], etc.)
If you're a multiple location business there's a whole lot more to the Local SEO principles, but I'd recommend checking out some of the experts' and their blogs for those. Some of those recommendations and answers can be too long for a Moz Q&A.
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
-
Structured data for business listings
If I have a page of 20 local business listings, do I need to provide structured data for each business listing? is that necessary and would it help with SEO? So if I have a page of Vancouver Brain Injury Lawyers, and list off 20 local law firms that focus on that type of injury, should I have structured data for each law firm that I list?
Local Listings | | EBKMarketing0 -
Google Address Listing
I am in the process of getting all of my directory listings updated using MOZ local and I am getting some errors that I am unable to change via the Google My Business configuration. When I place the address information into the Google My Business for our business, it is changing it to read differently than what our official mailing address is with the USPS. The official address for our business is 8900 Highway 65 -- but when typed onto GMB it is showing up as 8900 IN-65. Because of this, it is throwing off MOZ and it is not able to find the other profiles or it is saying there are inconsistencies in the listings. Is there any way for Google to change this listing to the correct address to how it should appear? Thank you!
Local Listings | | cpayne0 -
Having two GMB listings at same address
We currently have two verified GMB listings at the same address - I "inherited" these when I joined the company, and was considering merging them, as I am aware it is generally not recommended to have more than one listing per company per location. However, the two listings highlight two different sectors of our company so I decided to keep both and optimised them as best as possible by completing the information, adding pictures etc. One of the listings uses our legal company name, one uses our name that we trade under as an e-commerce business. The listing with our legal company name links to our corporate website and focuses on installations we do, while the listing with our e-commerce business name links to our ecommerce website and focuses on products we sell through there so they differ a bit from each other. Both serve the entire country, so they are not targeted specifically toward local searches. The following differ: Business name, sector, website
Local Listings | | ViviCa1
The following are the same: Address, phone number, opening hours So far we haven't had any issues, both are verified and show up in Google, but recently, we have had the following notification pop up: Fix locations with duplicate addresses__Use shop codes to differentiate locations that have the same address. Click each location and give it a unique address or shop code, or remove it. I'd appreciate some advice as to what would be best in this situation. Should I just add shop codes to differentiate the two listings in order to be able to keep them both? If so, what purpose do these shop codes have, how should I format these and will these be publicly visible within our listings? If you would suggest merging them, how could I ensure that it shows up whether people search for our e-commerce business name or for our legal business name as these are different? Thanks in advance!0 -
Local Help! Google+ Accounts for New Brand & Service Sites
Hi Mozzers! I have a lot of knowledge in local search, G+ page setup/optimization, etc, etc... However, I'm about to begin a business based around "home services". The brand will be ABC Home Services as the umbrella. Then under it will be the individual services like "ABC Carpet Cleaning" "ABC Roofing", etc... Each service will have it's own website for optimization purposes and local search authority building as well as the services will be developed over the course of a couple years ie: carpet cleaning would go up 1st, then the next service and so on... I have purchased all of the domains I want for the services to focus on. What do you recommend I do in terms of setting up Gmail accounts/G+ accounts? Individual service related Gmail accounts and have a main "ABC Home Services" Google account and then add in the service G+ pages over time? I'm open to any questions, but trying to make this the most efficient for me and my team and also the best if can be for local optimization goals and criteria. Thank you! - Patrick
Local Listings | | WhiteboardCreations0 -
Getting listing in Google map results
Hi all A website i'm current working on isn't showing up in the google map list results on normal search page, anybody know of any reasons this may be? I've never had any issues previously i just registered on google places but since changes to google business it doesn't seem to be automatic any more. Currently i have two different other websites showing in these listings for the search term however my client is questioning why they are not showing up here also as they have the same business type related to the search term.
Local Listings | | mari-rose0 -
Removing website from search while you have Pending Google Places Listing
Hello, If you have assign a website in Google places that is in Pending mode, and you removed the website in WMT, from the searches. Will be denied in google places? Thanks for your help.
Local Listings | | EVERWORLD.ENTERTAIMENT1 -
Convert Google Plus page to Business page
I have a google plus page for my company edspire.com, https://plus.google.com/b/107395030190889162381/107395030190889162381/posts When I created it I don't think I set it up as a business so I'd like to convert to one. As far as I can see it is not possible to do this. What is the recommended process, do I just create a new one and migrate content over or is there some way to merge them? Should I then delete the old one or is it helpful to keep double posting? Thanks, Jim
Local Listings | | yojimbo230 -
Which Local Listing to Delete?
A local business has two Google+ Local listings: an unverified unclaimed listing an unverified, but claimed listing Both are duplicates with correct address and phone numbers. Listing 1 ranks. Listing 2 doesn't rank. Should I: A) report listing 1 and verify listing 2, or B) claim and verify listing 1 and delete listing 2 With A there's a risk of killing a listing that's ranking well and not getting a replacement. With B there's a chance of going against Google guidelines, as I understand claiming duplicate listings is a no-no (?) Suggestions? Thanks!
Local Listings | | MatterSolutions0