Google+ Local Page Wrong Categories
-
The "new" Google+ Local page for one of my clients is not showing the correct Business Categories. Seems like it reverted to an old Category before we revised. I looked in my Google Places dashboard and the correct Categories are there. They do not have a Google+ Profile yet. Any suggestions?
They also seem to have disappeared for those categories we used to rank in the top three in Google Places results.
-
Hi Kevin,
Actually, you can see all of the categories if you click on them. Lots of changes, huh?
Miriam
-
Same thing for only 2 categories showing?
-
Hi Kevin,
You're very welcome! Yes, there is currently no sign of verification showing on the new Google+ Local pages. Google is aware of this and says they are working on it. Right now, it's best to expect things to be wonky. There are a lot of issues stemming from the changeover. Hang in there. I expect most of them will settle down over the next couple of months.
-
I can't believe I do not know this now, but how do you tell in the new format if a Google Places+ page has been claimed. I do not see the old "owner-verified" check mark anymore. Thanks for all your help
-
Hi Kevin,
If you can, I'd recommend using the same email address, just to simplify things for yourself. You can send Google your email through this form to be notified as to when the merge takes place:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/request.py?contact_type=verification_address_collection&&rd=1
Regarding the other issues you are having, don't give up on the Google 'Places' Help Forum. If you haven't used it in awhile, Google has recently really upped volunteer staffing in the forum and many more questions get attention thanks to the Top Contributors. It's a much more helpful environment now.
Good luck!
Miriam
-
And do you think it makes any difference if you set up the Google+ Profile with a different email than the Google Places? I assume you will be able to combine/share as in Analytics?
-
Thanks for the reply.
The listing in my Google Places admin is the same as it was before change and has the correct headings.....worked hard t prevent any duplicate listings but who knows if they pulled something from years ago.
I can send a fix request to Google but that hardley ever worked for clients even during normal times.
And there is no workd yet when we can combine the + and Places pages yet or how to admin them from a single area?
-
Hi Kevin,
Because categories are additive, is there a chance that the client had a duplicate Place Page out there and Google is pulling the old categories from it? In any case, you can edit the Google+ Local page through the traditional Places dashboard. Have you tried this yet?
-
"If It aint broke, change it anyway and force businesses in Google+" seems to be the deal here. More wasted time spent relearning, researching, resubmitting etc.
-
Google is going through a lot of growing pains right now as they transition Places to Google+ Local. You may have also noticed that reviews have disappeared, pictures and videos have changed - or like your listing, the categories and/or address might have reverted to old listings.
The advice given on the Google product forums is to "bump" your listing by going in to edit the places listing and just clicking submit at the bottom. This might trigger the correct listing to appear. However, if this doesn't work the answer is to submit a problem with the listing using the report a problem link inside the new places page. Google will look at it, but given the huge backlog of issues right now, it might be a few weeks.
I'm going through this myself with several client listings.
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 to Merge or Add YouTube account to Google Account
Hello Everyone. We have a YouTube account that has been around for many years. We also have a separate google account that we use for webmaster/analytics/adwords/mybusiness etc... We just noticed that our YouTube account is not linked to this same account that the rest of our business uses for all other Google services. Is there any way to add our existing YouTube account to our existing Google Account? We don't want to re-upload everything onto a new channel as we'd like to preserve the age of the videos plus the views and comments. Anyone know how to accomplish what I have in mind? Thanks in advance!
Image & Video Optimization | | Prime850 -
Local seo strategy for local gardening business ideas?
Hi all, I am just setting up a local organic garden maintenance business in my home town. I have set up the website, got social media accounts active (FB, Twitter and G+), set up google local listing (currently 5th in the local maps thingy), I have done loads of citations (many more than my competitors, but not a ridiculous amount), I've got 4 customer reviews on google so far, checked my DA against my competitors (mine 1, my comps 8-9), checked my comps links (less than 10) and been writing a blog on my website every couple of days. I realise the one thing I have against me is that my domain is just less than a month old. How long until google builds a bit of trust in it to see it come up in the serps? Also, I would love some ideas of what else I can be doing in the mean time. The idea here is to get the site rocking on all cylinders before the gardening season starts again in March. Do-able?
Image & Video Optimization | | HappyOx0 -
Address not recognized in Yahoo Local
Hey everyone, I'm working with a client to get their Yahoo listing all setup. The problem is that they're located in a fairly new industrial complex that looks like it hasn't been added to Yahoo's map data. I'm unable to create a listing for them because Yahoo doesn't recognize the address as valid. How long does it take for Yahoo to update their map data for newly constructed areas? Is there anyway to speed to process along (maybe something similar to Google Map Maker where users can suggest updates)? Does anyone know any workarounds or solutions for a problem like this? Thanks! Tim
Image & Video Optimization | | TimKelsey0 -
Any Legit Local Address Services Out There?
I have a client who lives in the UK but runs a US ecommerce site. I'd still like to get him some local trust signals but he has no options when it comes to getting an address here. Has anyone found a reputableplace where you can rent an address that isn't already being used by umpteen other companies?
Image & Video Optimization | | iAnalyst.com0 -
NAP - Name on a local website
From a local perspective, if the legal name of the business is "Rising Realty, Inc", when you added in your footer should I loose the "Inc" part to be consistent with all the other mentions of the business across the web, which are without "Inc"? Thank you!
Image & Video Optimization | | echo10 -
Local Listings for a Virtual Product
My company sells very geographically specific products online. We have local offices in cities connected to the product and they are labeled with terms such as "florida widget". Could I use local SEO and add my website link to Google maps, etc... with the local address or is that not allowed since the products are not sold in the physical local office but rather online?
Image & Video Optimization | | theLotter0 -
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 -
How do I get Google Places to pick up my reviews from other sites?
I have reviews on Yelp, Insiderpages.com, and Citysearch. All of my contact information matches up, but Google does not seem to be finding them and adding them to my Google Places page. Is there anything I need to do to make this happen?
Image & Video Optimization | | vinnyb20000