Google Plus Business (How to replicate categories from Places)- Advanced
-
I'm very familiar with local promotion. However, I work in some fairly competitive local markets and in most cases only a few dominant keywords are necessary for the client to perform well.
With new clients who aren't grandfathered into the old places interface, I cannot setup custom categories. This is known to everyone, but what I would REALLY appreciate is if someone could explain how I can at least to some degree replicate that targeting?
To put it in perspective, for the standard categories (through Google Plus Business) my client rank very well; thus you can assume the client's local strength is solid; but when it comes to the few specific terms I need, I can't see to replicate the effect.
Please help... anyone!
-
Hello Miriam,
Thank you for your feedback. I was not aware of item number one and I'll look into it. In the meantime I'm trying to get an understanding of the factors which can replicate the effect of "custom categories" for new clients who I don't have the old Google Places interface for and could really use the effect of custom categories.
As to your point on number three; I have done some testing and from what I can tell there is little or no value from the description field (probably because it would be too easy to spam).
I do see some competitors ranking with the new Google Plus Business accounts even against others that have categories so I think there has to be a way to do it... I just don't know how.
Thanks
-
Hi Chris,
Mgordon is actually correct - Google's custom categories are on their way out and do not exist in the new Google+ Local dashboard. You might want to look into this further in case it will affect any of your clients.
-
Hi Mgordon,
Google is completely doing away with custom categories, and I have come across other threads with business owners expressing concern that their most important categories do not exist in the new pre-set category taxonomy. There are three thoughts I can share with you on this.
- I have heard talk that Google may be open to hearing requests for additional categories to be added. When/how this will happen, I don't know, but here's a thread in the Google And Your Business Help Forum which mentions this possibility: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!searchin/business/custom$20categories/business/A3zjPqFi6C8/LVjo_aOBxq8J
You might want to do some more searching around the Google forum in case there was a discussion of this I happened to miss. Google staffers do sometimes start threads to address concerns like these, but the custom categories are definitely going away, so they can't be part of your marketing strategy.
- Have you used Mike Blumenthal's category tool to check for synonyms that may trigger an appropriate new category for you? Here's the link:
http://blumenthals.com/Google_LBC_Categories
- You can, of course, mention those lost categories in the business description field of the Google+ Local page, but it's my opinion that Google has devalued this area of the page to some extent and I don't know what effect, if any, it has on influencing rank at this point.
Sorry not to have a solution here. I do suggest searching around Google's forum for more discussions started by people finding themselves in your same situation with the new category system.
-
Hello,
Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick (correct me if so) you want to set up some custom categories in Google local?
You can still do this here - <cite class="vurls">www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter</cite>
obviously the custom categories will change the way you rank in a local area so I'll leave it to you and research to find the best one's but it can be good for telling Google this local business does this e.g
bookshop that sells special books
categorizes in :
antique books
Google have changed the names up but Google local is now Google places etc.
I hope that helps.
etc.
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
-
Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business Knowledge Graph - Need Urgent Solution??
Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business for our company. We have updated new image on google business But still, Google is fetching and showing old image on the google my business knowledge panel. What will be the right fix for this? Our site URL : www.yolobus.in
Local Listings | | AnkitS.19900 -
How to remove a link in GMB "Products & Services: places.SinglePlatform.com"
I manage a GMB account for an HVAC client and noticed in their knowledge graph it shows: "Products & Services: places.SinglePlatform.com" I cannot find this anywhere on the backend on GMB. Has anyone experienced this and how did you fix/remove the link? Luckily, the link goes to the clients profile on SinglePlatform, but the info is outdated.
Local Listings | | Bryan_Loconto0 -
Another Business is Using My Client's Address
This morning my client contacted me that another business is using their address as their own! They received a Google verification postcard with pin number on it, but luckily had the foresight to not give it to the person when they called. After some research, we also found out that they are using our address on Facebook and LinkedIn as well. The kicker is: this business is another SEO firm! You would think they would know that using our address would cause NAP issues for their own business. Has anyone dealt with another business trying to hijack their address for local rankings? Any advice on steps to take to report this abuse would be appreciated. Since this person is obviously unscrupulous, we don't want to provoke them into taking any other negative action online that could affect our business.
Local Listings | | IlluminousGwen0 -
How best to delete a duplicate Google My Business listing
Hi Mozzers, I am in need of help please. What is the best way to remove a duplicate GMB listing? Is best practice to a) Mark as permanently closed and wait for Google to update b) Call GMB in India and ask them to delete the redundant listing (do they even do this for you?) c) Delete the page from within my dashboard settings I am worried my NAP data is being diluted by inaccurate historical listings (most of which I have been able to claim ownership of) Any help appreciated. Ben
Local Listings | | Bendall0 -
Please advise on GMB and citation building - 1 owner, 2 businesses, 1 address + 1 phone no.
Our client has an established driveways business, "A", that has been servicing higher end customers. This business has GMB and citations built. He has now started another driveways business, "B" that targets mid-class customers. This second business operates out of the same office with the same phone no. A Google rep has advised that the 2nd business will not be able to have a GMB of its own if it's operating out of the same address as the 1st business. How would you actually tackle citation building and creating a GMB for this second business?? Would appreciate any advice!!
Local Listings | | Gavo0 -
How to track google business traffic as organic into google analytics?
Hi mozzers, After noticing that all Google business(known in the past as google places) traffic gets recorded into direct traffic I would like to get this into organic traffic instead. What is the best method to do so? I found this great post http://moz.com/blog/tracking-traffic-from-google-places-in-google-analytics by Rebecca Lehmann but was written in 2011. Are these method the only one available to track this traffic or is there a new method we could try that would track all this traffic into organic search? Thanks for letting me know!
Local Listings | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
Problem Shooting with Google authorship
The following two photos show the problems that we are having with setting up our Google authorship. What steps would be necessary to correct these errors? abyP0Vg db4ZOgA
Local Listings | | Dynamo-Web0 -
Google+ Business Listings: Hours Displayed Incorrectly
Hi, When I do a search for our brand + location name (basically making sure we at least appear for that) the hours displayed are incorrect except when I log into our account to edit the hours they are right. Ex: Google SERP displays hours 8am - 11pm but within business listing account hours entered are 8pm - 10pm. Has anyone come across this and why would it be? Is it a case of other citations showing the incorrect hours? Thanks for your help WMCA
Local Listings | | WMCA0