Google local - is 7 pack really gone
-
According to a searchengineland post, Google has replaced "7 pack" results. But they are still appearing for local queries. Like for query "pizza restaurant new delhi" ( in Google.co.in ), i can still see 7 pack results.
Has local and general search algorithms merged ?
-
Once again, a very detailed explanation. Thanks Ryan.
-
In the past the 7-pack results displayed in addition to the organic results. If you perform a "NY Pizza" search in Google you can still see the 7-pack at the top along with the 10 organic results.
Now the Places results appear mixed in with the organic results. Since the majority of users never make it past the first page of search results, they will never see any organic listings.
When I perform a search for "Sacramento Pizza" there are 12 results on the first page. The first 7 results are the old 7-pack results listed in a similar format to organic results. The next 4 results are all review sites like Yelp, Yellopages.com, etc. There is only a single remaining result on the first page for Rico's pizza.
Before there would have been many organic listings on the first page of SERPs. Now there is only one. That's a game changer.
-
Thanks Ryan for responding to my query.
"it is now even more important to obtain a Google Places listing."
Why is it more imp. now ? Please clarify ?
-
As Rand had previously suggested, a Google's Places listing sends a signal to Google and others that your business is real. It is another link which has to be earned. There is work required to obtain a Google Places listing and there are minimum requirements as well.
Based on the above my answer is yes, it is my opinion that a Google Places listing would have a positive effect on organic rankings. I don't have any evidence to this effect, but I believe strongly enough in it that I work to obtain Google Places listings for clients that don't have a local physical location. If you wanted to sell vitamins online but did not have a local store I would advise you to still create a Places listing because of the impact on organic rankings. It certainly can't hurt.
With the Places change that you mentioned in your original Q&A, it is now even more important to obtain a Google Places listing.
-
Thanks Ryan. What is your opinion on my other question, which i asked yesterday
"Does listing in Google places improve organic rankings".
I got the reply yesterday, but i thought you should be able to throw some light on this.
-
Thank you. That is an exceptionally well written article and I am sure the moz community will appreciate your sharing it.
From what I can tell, the change has not been fully implemented yet.
Query 1 - "Sacramento Pizza". The results appear in the new Place Search format.
Query 2 - "London Pizza". The results appear in the old 7-pack format.
So I theorized that like with many changes, it was rolled out with US sites first. But then I tried...
Query 3 - "NY Pizza". Of course "NY Pizza" is more of a pizza style then a locality, but the 7-pack appeared at the top with the organic results listed below just as in the past with the expected title "Places for pizza near New York, NY".
Queries for "Miami Pizza" and "Los Angeles Pizza" showed the new Place Search results.
Based on this limited testing, it appears the change has been rolled out in the U.S. but there are probably a few tweaks necessary.
Has local and general search algorithms merged
The idea behind the change clearly seems to offer local search priority in results. As the article shared, Google stated that the old results were still present but in the author's testing it seems the old results were replaced by the Places result and that would indicate a form of merger.
-
Yes, i should have done that.
Here's the link - http://searchengineland.com/new-place-search-shows-googles-commitment-to-local-53990
-
Whenever making a "according to..." statement, it would be helpful to offer a link to the information so we can all read and better understand the context of the statement. Can you please offer a link?
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
-
Local SEO: Links with the citations so should I slow down?
Hello, There seems to be some nofollow and dofollow links building as I add structured citations. Is this a reason to slow down the building citation process if you want the links to count? Do they help organic SEO?
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Google+ Business Page Location Problem
I run a business in the St. Louis area. Oddly, St. Louis is broken up into more than 100 municipalities. Google keeps listing my plus page by the small municipality I am in within St. Louis, which limits my ability to show up in the St. Louis local search results. However, other businesses in town are being listed under St. Louis instead of their municipality. Any ideas on how to change this? When I go in and try to change it myself, it just stays the same. Thanks, Steve
Image & Video Optimization | | BardolLawFirm0 -
Why Google doesn't want to show our images?
Our website http://www.fiberscope.net has a good positions in search for the most of important keywords, but for some reason store's images are not visible in search results. All images have ALT attributes but represented in Google Images very poor. Any ideas and suggestions regarding this issue?
Image & Video Optimization | | Meditinc.com0 -
Is anyone experiencing a large number of reviews disappearing in Google Places?
Just curious if anyone else has had issues with any clients losing lots of reviews in the last week?
Image & Video Optimization | | 4RealLocal0 -
Google Places - second listing, same name
We will open a new office at a new location and I would like to add it to our Google places. How do I do this? Per Google guidelines: "Do not create more than one listing for each business location, either in a single account or multiple accounts." - Website & Phone: Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, and provide one website that represents your individual business location_._ Do I have to another contact page on my website for that location too? I will end up having to business listing with the same name but different locations. I want people to know that we have 2 separate offices because they serve different clients. I want to show up in Google places for the second location as well. Any thoughts?
Image & Video Optimization | | echo10 -
Is a listing in this directory really worth $365/year??
Recently i noticed one of our competitors is getting a citation out of a directory called Refer Links. I contacted them to find out their pricing, and to be listed in that directory it is $365/year. I noticed that all the links to the websites are cloaked with php redirects and rel=nofollows' so i doubt it would do much for our page rank, so strictly from a citation standpoint, is this worth it? Here is our competitors listing: http://www.referlinks.com/listing/all-canadian-self-storage-inc--mobile-self-storage.html
Image & Video Optimization | | adriandg1 -
Optimizing Google Places Listing - Please Help!
I claimed the Google Places listing a few months ago - added a description and all the necessary information. Finally got the page to show up in the places category on the 5th page for the search "vet las vegas". Then on some computers it likes to show up on the 8th page and on others the 5th page - weird!?. I need some help on the following: How can I get Google to put my website as an link in the "More About This Place"/citation section? The old website which was at a different domain is present but not the new one (the new one has been live for 2 months). -Am I missing any key information to help with my ranking? The 8th page is a pretty poor ranking and holds no value whatsoever. The description I typed out on Google Places does not display in the search results. - I am assuming adding citations is essentially just about adding backlinks that Google can pull to add to the "More About This Place" section - any surefire ways to get more citations there? WEBSITE: http://www.petmedicalcenter.com PLACES PAGE: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&prmd=ivnscm&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1187&bih=649&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=vet+las+vegas&fb=1&gl=us&hq=vet&hnear=0x80beb782a4f57dd1:0x3accd5e6d5b379a3,Las+Vegas,+NV&cid=13431404354265657899&ei=5Bf1TdvWLIey0AGe-M3sDA&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=placepage-link&resnum=4&ved=0CEIQ4gkwAzhG Any other feedback or ideas would be really appreciated. Thank you to all the SEOMOZ members would have helped me over the last month - you guys are awesome! Thanks again, Brant
Image & Video Optimization | | PMC-3120871 -
Ranking Penalty in Google Places for Primary Cell Phone Number?
Say a business runs out of a home (so, technically, the address of the business has a land line). But the business owner works outdoors all day long and so really runs his business off his cell phone. Is it OK in Google Places to list the mobile phone as the primary contant number, and list the home phone as a secondary number? Or will Google penalize the business's ranking in local search results for using a cell number as the main number?
Image & Video Optimization | | keethgee0