Link building to Google+ profile: any local SEO value?
-
Has anyone found value in building links to Google+ profile for local seo rankings? My gut tells me that it will, but I am not 100% sure.
If it does, then does that mean that all the traditional SEO factors that would go into ranking a site organically also work for ranking locally for certain keywords?
So far, I have found that the best thing for moving up rankings is reviews on Google+, but then does that make local SEO (from a high view point) just a race for high reviews and building the most citation?
I am feeling like the differentiator for local SEO is UN-structured citations and links to Google+ profiles. Any thoughts?
See you at MozCon!
-
Totally! What a great article. So glad to be able to share it here, Anthony.
-
He may have literally covered every question that could have been asked
Thanks for reaching back out and sharing the article!
-
Good news! Mike Blumenthal decided to write his follow-up piece on this. Check it out:
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2013/07/02/should-you-do-linkbuilding-to-your-g-page-for-local/
I hope everyone who participated in this thread and all of our members who are into Local will take a few minutes to read this post. Well worth the time!
-
Hi Anthony,
Fantastic you are attending MozCon! Thanks for your follow-up comments, and do keep checking Mike Blumenthal's blog for more on this. I believe he may soon publish a piece on this topic that should be really good!
-
Mike over at Nifty makes a remark similar to the remarks made in the links you provided me above (reference question #21). Not only does he say that it will probably only help your map listing rank higher for your brand name, but he also flat out says: "The type of links that help your map listing rank higher are ones that point at your website."
http://moz.com/blog/40-important-local-search-questions-answered
Thank you for the resources above I think in a weird way they validated what I am seeing with my small, single client lol. At a certain point, there are only so many "quality, niche, location-based" (all or either) directories that you can submit to, and if links to the G+ page are superfluous, then it becomes a matter local links/local unstructured citations for your website, and reviews for your G+ (along with any centroid bias you may be benefiting from, or having to overcome).
This is what I have observed, granted that this is one client in one region, and not nearly enough data to make a strong statement regarding the validity of this claim: I did all the NAP stuff, I submitted to all the directories, I optimized the website, I did all the stuff that we are supposed to do. Once all that was done, I told the client to adjust their business in order to easily facilitate reviews. They already had reviews, but they were kind of just stagnate in the local results. Each review they received after I was done doing my stuff gave them at LEAST 4 slot bumps, each time. They are now in the middle of page two of maps, and they have shown no slowing down in movement upward with each review (I assumed the shifts upward would slow down the closer to the top we got).
Now, we are competing against people that have one or two GOOD local links/ local unstructured citations, which appear to have been earned from good old fashion marketing.
I think this may be where things slow down a bit, but I have my local NAP targets and I will keep this thread up to date with what happens moving forward.
Thank you both for providing me great resources I hope to see you guys at MozCon! (I already mentioned that above but I'm just really excited. If my summer school financial issue didn't occur I would not have been able to go!)
-
Hi Anthony,
I want to link to some resources for you to investigate here.
Back in early 2012, I had a conversation with Mike Blumenthal which prompted him to write a brief piece on the then-common advice of building links to the old Google Place Pages. He accurately summarizes why this practice was a poor idea:
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/01/24/google-places-myth-linking-to-your-places-page/
However, a lot has changed in the past year. A lot! Here is a more recent conversation on this topic at Linda Buquet's Local Search Forum, presenting differing opinions on linkbuilding in the new +Local environment:
Your question has inspired me to ask Mike B for an update on his 2012 piece. I don't handle linkbuilding in-house at my company, and I think what you've asked about is really important. I'm going to suggest to Mike that he do a follow up (if he's not too busy) and let's both stay tuned to see what he says. Also, stay tuned for the new iteration of David Mihm's Local Search Ranking Factors 2013, which is coming soon (and eagerly awaited!) Hope what I've linked to helps, and I do plan to shoot Mike an email to see if he might have time sometime soon to do an update on his earlier much-cited piece.
-
Robert,
Thank you very much for the response. Yes, I agree that it is indeed its own animal. I also feel as though the ranking factors are very inconsistant, as you mentioned. I am going to follow those people, definitely. Thanks again!
One last thought, as I am just a little unclear. Do you think that Google authorship plays a role in the local SEO game (or "publishership")?
-
Anthony,
I am not sure I am even understanding your question, but I will try to help. First, Your Google + profile is not statically local. Are you talking a human Google + or a business Google + profile? Either way, think about authorship and being a contributor to various sites; that is linking and that does increase the value of your Google + site. When you have a G+ that is gaining authority and you link to a site, you provide link juice the site. But...
You follow that with:
_If it does, then does that mean that all the traditional SEO factors that would go into ranking a site organically also work for ranking locally for certain keywords? _The answer to this is No. Local and organic ranking are two very specific animals and they have many specific requirements. Yes, you want the same types of things as organic for local but then there are many more issues and requirements. Also, it changes about every ten minutes with Google. If you are not familiar with the Carousel "beta test" wink wink that Google is doing, do a search on your city and hotels or restaurants or service stations. That in itself will show you what people who handle local are up against.
As to this question: _I am feeling like the differentiator for local SEO is UN-structured citations and links to Google+ profiles. Any thoughts?_My thoughts are these: Start reading things from people like Miriam here on moz, Linda Buquet, Mike Blumenthal, etc. Don't "feel" as that is more akin to guessing. Follow the guidelines they put out and read all you can on local. If you do that, and if you work on about 50 to 75 local listings, make mistakes, learn, etc. you will begin to know a bit about local. Trust me when I say it is its own animal. Telling you how to rank for local in a Q&A setting is nearly impossible. I hope you understand.
Good luck,
Robert
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
-
How do I improve positioning in Google Images?
Looking around in Webmaster tools today and I noticed we have hundreds of thousands of impressions in Google Images, but a very low CTR. I understand normal SEO, but what about increasing rank in Google Images? It is hard to get links straight to an image, and we already use proper alt tags. Any other ideas?
Image & Video Optimization | | EcommerceSite0 -
Google+ local SEO question regarding attorney services
Should attorneys check the boxes for: 1. My business has service areas where I visit customers at their location and
Image & Video Optimization | | cgman
2. I serve customers at my business address (within x miles) This is for a law firm that sees clients in the office, as well as making accommodations to visit them at their location when they are unable to come to the office.0 -
Local SEO: Ste vs. Suite vs. #
Hi, I used the spelled out "Suite" in my local NAP, but sometimes it's been shortened to Ste by citation websites. I'm trying to remain consistent here Should I use Ste H, Suite H, or #H? This is a good article on it: http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-citations/1605-suite-vs-ste-vs-your-citation-addresses-2.html but I'd still like your opinion.
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Google Places Creation
Hello, I am currently managing 200 clients for which I have to create Google Places. Can I create 200 different places for each client, and manage all them from one Gmail account? If one client doesn't want to continue the contract, can I transfer the managing of the place to another account?
Image & Video Optimization | | cvissi0 -
Question about Wistia and possible other Video Solutions for better SEO?
We are considering using Wistia as a more SEO-friendly video solution. In our preliminary tests, we like what we see with the exception of one thing. There is no way for video users to toggle the interactive transcripts on and off. From an aesthetic viewpoint, our team finds the scrolling text extremely visually distracting. For usability and SEO purposes, we know that having the transcript there is important. Unfortunately in the embed codes, you are limited to either including the interactive transcript, or leaving it out. There is no mechanism to allow users to view it if they want to, but leave it off if they don.t Has anyone here created a workaround for this problem or found another solution, like Wistia, that has a more aethetically pleasing and user-friendly presentation of trascripts/captions? Thanks! Dana
Image & Video Optimization | | danatanseo0 -
If my keyword have Keyword Difficulty Score 50 to 60 , then what kind of link build for get rank?
hello, i have 21 sites , if my keyword have Keyword Difficulty Score 50 to 60 , then what kind of link build for get rank?
Image & Video Optimization | | Brayvez0 -
Local SEO - Confirming an Address that Does Not Receive Mail
Hi guys, I have a question that might have been asked previously but warrants asking again. What is the best workaround for Google Local verification for a business that is located at a physical address that does not receive mail. I have a friend who lives in an area that does not receive mail. This particular person tried using a local PO box to verify, but as it turns out that is a poor option a) because it is not allowed within the guidelines of Google Local, and b) because the listing was not accepted as a unique address and is listed without an address in Local because of this. Is there anyone with recent experience in terms of getting around this and verifying perfectly legitimate businesses in no-mail areas? I would have thought Google would have provided a workaround for those types of businesses. Any thoughts / experience would be appreciated!
Image & Video Optimization | | toddmumford0 -
[local seo] How to compete against e.g. yellowpages on Google Rank 1 - 4?
Hi Folks, How to compete against the big SEO-powered pages like Yellowpages in the SERPs? I mean, they have thousands of Rd -> Rd Links as well as super Page and Domain Authority. How has a let's say Dentist or Electrician a decent chance to compete against those? Does Google give credit to them because of the Content they have on their page? These yellowpages totally take the fun out of it for my clients. Answeres would really much appreciated. Thank you. For me it feels like Don Quijote.
Image & Video Optimization | | gooddy1