Google Place pages and regular listings in search results
-
I'm trying to clarify something about search results which contain local listings.
Here is the search string for Google that will give you the same results that I am seeing -
http://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=letting agents glasgow&pws=0
Of the results that are returned, some of them have data which seems to be related to their Google Place page but the "title" links directly to their website.
What I wanted to know is, "Is it their actual website that has given them those rankings" or "Are they listed where they are because of a well optimized and ranked Places page?
-
Again, many thanks for your answers and your time in looking at these results. I hadn't even noticed that the first listing hadn't actually claimed their place page (which does surprise me).
When you say that a company could achieve the same results by doing appropriate SEO on the local and organic level, I take it you mean SEO on the Places page and local targeted SEO on the main site?
Many thanks for your help and advice on this. I wanted to gather as much information regarding this area within the local search before committing to the client.
I have done a great deal of research about local search and SEO but was unsure of what was making Google actually rank these sites where they're ranking them.
Regards,
Michael
-
My opinion is that both have properly optimized websites, with the listing in the A position having the potential of strong backlinks and extremely well optimized site(although I have not done much analysis.)
Since the listing in the A position is rather far from the city center, and it has not even claimed the Googles Places listing, any optimization that has occurred locally would be from info Google has scraped from the web.
The listing in the B position has claimed/verified their Google Places page, but has done a poor job optimizing it. However, it does have a city center location.
I believe a company that wishes to compete in that market listing could do well if not better than the current top listings by doing appropriate SEO on the local and organic level.
-
Hi and thank you for your answer. From your experience, looking at the top two results, would you say they are most likely to be ranked where they are due to strong organic SEO of their site AND optimization of their places page?
I have a clients site which, due to way it is set up, cannot compete with the number one site from an organic SEO point of view but I could easily compete with its Places page.
Thanks,
Michael
-
Hi Michael,
Good question. There are a number of ways listings can show up ranging from organic only results, local only results(google 7 pack, and a mixed result of organic and local.
In your example, the organic/local mix is what we are seeing. In this case many optimization factors are taken into account that include local and organic factors.
A well optimized page + strong organic seo is what would be needed to give a company the best chance at ranking in a high position. This would include a verified and well optimized Google Places page.
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
-
Identical pages with different URL's
Hi All,I have a page with the titleFunny charactersanother page as Funny Characters/VideosAlmost all data is same in both URL's except the videos page will have 20+ video thumbnailsHow can i set Google not to index the images only on this page and consider both pages as identical and not create any issues but yet scan the videos.Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | jomin740 -
Local Listing Directories value
Hello fellow mozzers, I would like to start a discussion on whether certain local listing directories are worth it. Most people are of course familiar with Google+ Local(Google Places), Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Yelp, Hotfrog etcetera.. I know there are a lot more of these big local listing directories. I am situated in Holland and we have a lot of small local listing directories.
Image & Video Optimization | | WesleySmits
Some of these directories are not really good quality. For example:
http://dordrecht.cylex-bedrijvengids.nl/bedrijf/pizza-presto-dordrecht-12014914.html This domain is filled with ads in prominent locations. They have a domain authority of 44 and as far as i can tell there are close to 0 reviews on companies. (So not a very active community). When you perform SEO for a local business you want the business to be found in the local search results. Google goes around the web to see if the business information (contact and address information, website etcetera) is consistent on different local listing directories. The links from the directories are still links and therefor they pass a certain amount of PageRank. How much value do you think local listing directories such as the links i will provide below will add to a business? Do you think it is worth the time to find these small directory sites and fill in information about the business there or is your time better spent on other SEO activities? I would love to hear your input on this subject Links http://dordrecht.cylex-bedrijvengids.nl/bedrijf/rietveld-doe-het-zelf-j-10800715.html
http://adviesbureaus.zoekeensop.nl/0392908-parket-expertise-bureau-etten-leur/
http://www.allewinkels.net/ijzerwaren-en-gereedschap/rotterdam/henk-schell-ijzerwarenhuis/0 -
Google+ Local City Centroid Bias
It's well-known that Google has a bias towards businesses located closest to the center of the city being searched in. How can you tell where exactly Google considers to be the center of the city? I think that the way is to just search the city name on Google Maps and the marker will appear at where they consider the center of the city to be but just wanted to double check on that first.
Image & Video Optimization | | ChaseCameron0 -
Google+ Local Reviews
Hi everyone, Is it against Google+ Local's guidelines to request one's customers to post reviews on their page? For example, asking my customers on my email list, or through Facebook if they can leave a review on the G+ Local page? Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | FernwoodFitness0 -
How To Do SEO For Google Local Listing?
Hi, I have been reading around but i still don't understand how we can rank better for local search listing from Google place. I have tried: Adding keywords to descriptions
Image & Video Optimization | | chanel27
Adding the max of 10 photos And also get my customers to comment on my Google place listing leaving testimonials. Is there any tips? 🙂0 -
Google Places Hide Address
I've read about the changes in requirements for Google Places - and hidden the address for my relevant local clients. Is there any step I can take to speed up the edit being recognised and displayed in SERPs. In addition, I would like to know, will the address also disappear from the actual Google Places page as well?
Image & Video Optimization | | catherine-2793880 -
How do you get links from a photo pointing to a third party site in Google Places?
How do you get links from a photo pointing to a third party site. I’ve seen a number on other Places accounts but I can't figure out how to do it. They had a picture/logo and the url underneath it (instead of it saying 'from the owner' underneath it), when you clicked the photo it took you to the website instead of just a page with only that photo on it. Please see image as an example. I've highlighted the image links below. Thanks in advance for your help 🙂 i0HxK.jpg
Image & Video Optimization | | HICRM0 -
What drives the position of the local pack in a google SERP?
I have noticed that sometimes search results appear above the local pack, and sometimes the local pack is right at the top. What causes this? is there a way to induce it?
Image & Video Optimization | | adriandg2