Trying to de-mystify Google Places, Google Local & Google Plus
-
There is a lot of online 'noise' regarding the changes / merging and making the best out of Googles' Places / Local & Google Plus. Any tips, ideas, experiences or just plain revelations regarding all or any of the above services and how they will work & come together in the future?
-
Wow - that's a pretty all-encompassing question... I'm working on a blog post on exactly this subject...
But to really condense it all down - there are still a TON of bugs in the system, so don't attempt to merge your +Local listing with your +Business page unless you're absolutely sure that you don't have any data problems (so if you can push an update through the Places Dashboard and it shows up on your listing).
You'll need to request the merge by re-claiming your location through your +Business page, and it'll require postcard verification. After you've requested the postcard, don't change ANYTHING on the page or you can potentially break it and land your page in G+ Purgatory.
Once you get them merged, never use the Places Dashboard to change anything - do it all through your G+ page, or through community edits.
The release this weekend of the new +Biz management screen shows that hopefully they're moving in the right direction with a better admin experience. But for now, it's still pretty disjointed.
You CAN see some cool stuff on the right side of the SERPs once you've merged the two if you implement the rel=publisher tag... and we've seen G+ business posts get indexed VERY quickly.
BUT, you can't merge your +Biz with your +Local if you are a business with multiple locations - it's currently a 1-to-1 relationship - so if you want a single social feed for multiple locations, don't merge.
That was pretty high level... hope it helped...
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
-
Anyone Willing or Able to Help Out For A Good Cause? Trying to help a very pleasant women and her son who have recently fallen on hard times
Hi all, Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you are interested in helping out, feel free to direct message me for more information. Earlier this week I received a call from a very pleasant women named Martha. Her son owns a small site dedicated to his work as a pianist (can see the site here). They are having issues gaining traction in Google, they are not tech/search savvy and are looking for SEO help. They really do not have much to spend so partnering with an agency or hiring an SEO is not really an option. The part that is eating me up is the fact that Martha recently lost her husband and that left both of them in a very tough spot emotionally and financially. They are trying to build up visibility for the site with the hopes of finding more work for her son to help support them. Frankly, the site needs a good amount of work. It is a small one-page squarespace website. New pages need to be created, the site needs to be optimized and backlinks need to be acquired. If anyone is willing or able to help, please let me know. I am trying to help them where I can (guidance for how to optimize, they provided me the squarespace login so I may start going in and making changes for them) but unfortunately I do not have the time to give this project the attention that it deserves. Even if it is something as small as throwing a link their way, it would be very much appreciated. It doesn't have to be SEO specific either, if you can help them on social I'm sure that would be appreciated as well. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to read this. If you are interested in helping or just learning more, feel free to message me. Thank you!
Branding | | Joe_Stoffel0 -
Really, what are the benefits of creating a Google Brand page for an e-commerce site?
We have a jewellery store client who already have a Google My Business page set up for its store front business. Should we also create a Google Brand page for its e-commerce site (which has a different business name to the jewellery store)? This client already has a pretty robust Facebook profile. Is it worth it maintaining a Brand page then - since it targets Google plus users?
Branding | | Gavo
And what are the chances of a Brand page appearing on search results when you're not a Nike or a Calvin Klein? Thanks heaps in anticipation of your response.0 -
Doing two Google Local Listings for the Same Business
So I have a question. I'm working on an auto dealer's website and we're trying to gear their service center toward the general public (rather than just one brand - IE Honda, GMC, Buick). We have created a subdomain for the service page, and I was wondering if we could create a unique Google Plus page for it, in an effort to help its rank. Since the auto service center is on site at the dealership, I did not know if this would hurt us. Does anyone have experience dealing with this issue? Thank you!
Branding | | OOMDODigital0 -
Anybody else seeing branded organic traffic decreasing and direct traffic increasing? Anything to do with Google auto-filling URLs?
If so, what could the reasons for this be? Maybe because of Google auto-filling URLs? Thanks for reading!
Branding | | DA20130 -
What Other Local Listing Aggragator are like Localeze, UBL, Yext?
Hey guys what do you all use for listing your sites? Current I use UBL, Yext, and Localeze. Would it benefit me to use more? Also what other companies or services are like these three?
Branding | | qlkasdjfw0 -
Naming a brand & domain
Hi Experts, We are selecting a brand name and domain for a new ecommerce website. The major keyword in this industry is lets assume xyz. It is by far the most searched keyword in this industry, but it just sounds horrible for branding purposes. For SEO purposes how important is it to keep that keyword in the domain / brand name? can we make up for the lack of that keyword in the domain / brand name if we decide to pick a brand name that does not have xyz in it? Thanks for the help 🙂
Branding | | TVape0 -
Google Places Zoom level question
One of my clients (a dealership) has 2 google places listings. One for their actual dealership and one for their parts and service dept (they are separate buildings 5-10 mins away from each other). When you search for their name "Westchester Toyota" both in web and maps the only result is for the parts and service building. Both listings are active and verified (and both are in good standings). The weirder part is that if you take that same search in maps "Westchester Toyota" zoom out a few levels and search again Boom both listings appear... Not only that but the main stores listing is places as listing A. I'm wondering if anyone has ever had this issue and has a solution? I believe on the initial search Google is deeming the parts and service listing as the dominant listing (which is why it zooms in so far) but then Google throws me for a loop making the real listing the "A" when you zoom out. Note: The main listing is closer to Westchester, NY. Any insight is appreciated!
Branding | | Haystak0 -
Yelp Reviews and Google + reviews
After reading this SEOmoz thread http://www.seomoz.org/q/getting-reviews-to-stick-on-yelp-google I have learned that one cannot leave fake reviews because Google and yelp can see if the users are real by the user behavior. If one of your clients is happy with your service and they have never left a Google review or yelp review and you have them leave your company a review it will be filtered and not count. Google’s +1 is fairly new and I am not sure if many users use it. IMO a user is much more likely to Facebook "Like" something. Same goes for Yelp, I feel like many local services don’t have a high enough search volume to benefit from these areas. If a company cannot have a satisfied customer leave a review on Google + or Yelp because they are not active enough on these networks, the company does not receive the credit they deserve. I'm assuming SEOmoz has the contacts to make a change, well here is my idea: How about Yelp and Google + send a letter to the address of the review... (Same as a Google places listing, reviewer will receive letter and enter a pin number online to confirm review) this solves the issue and businesses can receive the credit they deserve. In all fairness if a company does right by someone, the company deserves the review, right? Otherwise this should not be a ranking factor IMHO!
Branding | | SEODinosaur0