I have noticed two changes in SEO from Dec 2014 to Now
-
Why has most of the local pages from google disappeared? There were normally 3-6 local listings on Google but now it has vanished? Has the algorithm or rules changed?
Secondly i noticed a massive swing in seo rankings. I have done some testing i i found that google now gives you different rankings depending on the area that you in. So i can safely assume that the algorithms have changed and you now get results based on your area? The top 4-5 rankings stay the same but everything else changes to your current location.
Am i wrong, what has changed. Please help.
-
Thank you for your valuable feedback, i appreciate it.
-
Hi Ashwin,
You asked: "So what happens to my Google plus page now? Do i discontinue using it"
No I'd still keep it current and use it, for reviews for one thing. But additionally the data from your G+ L page still gets used and fed to other places like the knowledge graph. And your page may still show up and rank in Map search and Google+ search as well. Plus you never know when she'll come out with some new display format and use that local data.
But the other thing to keep in mind is that sometimes packs disappearing is temporary and based on a wide variety of factors like query volume. So the pack could come back. I've seen packs disappear for a week and then come back.
-
I did stick to this, because the situation that you have described matches the pigeon update.
And, as Linda Buquet has mentioned in her response to this question, with this update some 7 packs are reduced to 3 packs, but there are industries where it has completely disappeared.
The only thing which would stop me from dropping Google+, is that you may never know when it will come back (it could be only a large scale test for South Africa at this moment), and if you stop totally working on it, then you are loosing there.
Like I usually mention in my answers, this is a personal opinion.
-
You seem to be clued up on this subject. Maybe i could ask you another question?
Why doesnt the local pages (Google Plus pages) Show up anymore, are they doing away with that now?
-
Then it could be, that you are experiencing the Pigeon update.
-
English is the official language in South Africa Correct
-
I was asking for that info, because maybe you are in an area which was affected by this update. Although this update was meant for UK, Canada and Australia, I could believe that it has also affected other English search queries (especially that English is considered as an official language in South Africa - right?).
-
I am from South Africa, thanks for the response
-
In my belief:
You shouldn't drop any inbound marketing channel, just because there has been a Google update, which currently doesn't work as you wished.
Maybe I would reduce the number of hours that I spend on this task, but for sure, I wouldn't drop it.
But that is me, I like to have more than one channel working around me.
-
Thanks for your response. So this technically means that very little or no local pack details will appear anymore because of the update and this also means that Google is focusing heavily on Local SEO. So what happens to my Google plus page now? Do i discontinue using it and focus on backlinks. Im very confused.
-
Yes if you are outside the US, then I agree with the others. The Pigeon algo expanded overseas and exhibits many of the characteristics you are describing.
Many report 7 packs being reduced to 3 packs, but in some industries packs are totally gone.
-
Google has rolled out the Pigeon update to some countries outside the US including the UK, which has changed the landscape of local SERPs.
The top listings will now often be sites such as Yell, Yelp, Trip Advisor, etc with the local results then coming in underneath.
-
Hi!
I do not know where you are from, but I think what you may have seen is the Google Pigeon update, which was rolled out to the UK, Canada and Australia on the 22nd of December 2014. Read more about it on: http://searchengineland.com/google-pigeon-update-rolls-uk-canada-australia-211576
I hope it has helped. Gr.,Keszi
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
-
Google Is Linking to Wrong Local Page - How To Change?
Hi All Thanks in advance for any support. I've setup two "local" pages to target the next door town for one of my clients. One page targets "t shirt printing" and one page targets "embroidered workwear" However when I search for "embroidered workwear town in question" google connects the search to my t-shirt printing page and not the embroidered workwear page. Would it be possible to advise on what I need to do for the correct page to be linked to the search term? Here is a link to the search term in question **https://tinyurl.com/vvgr5r5 ** and the page that we would like to appear in the results, not our tshirt printing page https://tinyurl.com/s77md9o Thanks in advance for any help
Local Listings | | ruislip180 -
Dental Practice Acquisition SEO
Hi Mozzers! I have an interesting online marketing challenge I would love to hear the community's thoughts and advice! My clients (a dental practice consisting of 3 dentists) are taking over (buying) the practice of another dentist across the hall (same address except for suite #), who is retiring (we'll refer to him as "retiree" from here out for simplicity). The retiree's dental practice has close to zero online presence. He has citations across the web (google listing, yelp, healthgrades, etc), but no website. My question is: How would you go about consolidating the web presence for my clients? We want to get the traffic for existing and potentially new patients searching for the retiree. The retiree isn't retiring right away. His presence for the next several months will be vital to my clients' success as he will introduce new patients to my clients and pass the torch, so to speak. Would you create a landing page for the retiree on my clients' website & claim/add my clients' NAPW on all of the citations? That seems to be the best & simplest idea I've come up with so far, but I would LOVE to hear if anyone has any creative thoughts or ideas. THANKS!
Local Listings | | Derrald0 -
What's the 20/80 rule in local SEO as it relates to health care organizations
Hello all, I'm in charge of local SEO for a health care system that covers the entire state of Nebraska, with dozens of clinics all over the state, but mainly Omaha and Lincoln. I'm trying to build a cohesive local strategy for our organization, and a big part of that is figuring out what are the 20% of the actions I could take that will get me 80% of the benefit. Based on your experience as a local SEO specialist or ideally someone who does local SEO in a health care setting, what are the key things I should focus on? I'm not new to local SEO (just new to health care). My guess would be to focus in on getting a good local page on our website for every clinic/location etc., and getting a good Google Page listing for each one as well. But I figured I'd seek out advice on this before I plunge ahead.
Local Listings | | Patrick_at_Nebraska_Medicine1 -
Google Local Business SEO
Under "http://moz.com/blog/everybody-needs-local-seo" Q) There is a paragraph saying "If your business has multiple locations, you should have a unique location landing page for each Google Plus Local listing." Does it mean that for each of my shop (location), i have to create an brand new google plus page for it? Q) There is a paragraph saying "you're dealing with a single location, then we're talking about your home page - but these elements should also be locally optimized on product and services pages. City and state in the title tag. City and state in H1 heading" For example, if my country is australia, i have to create a page within my website and the it is optimised to the keywords "Gold Coast | Australia" in my 'product and services page'?
Local Listings | | kevinbp0 -
Best practice for local SEO when two offices handle different services?
Our agency has three main services - SEO, PPC and web design. We're in the process of setting up a new office in a different city where our PPC team will be based, while SEO and web will stay in the original office. How do we handle local SEO/Google My Business listings in this situation? Geo-targeted service pages and two separate GMB listings?
Local Listings | | CustardOnlineMarketing0 -
Ethics questions / discussion on SEO
Please forgive me if I'm asking too many questions. I'm new to MOZ and have a little bit of experience with SEO, but not that much at all. The question of the day pertains to using keywords that refer to another brand in order to bring search traffic to your site as well as compete on searches against your competitor. I'm certain this is not a unique case, however; it's early in the morning and my brain isn't working well enough to come up with a comparable example, so I will use my own situation. "Pop Warner" is a youth football brand. It's been around since 1929 and it's synonymous with youth football now. If someone is looking for a place to enroll their children, they will typically search for "%Town_Name%" + "Pop Warner" Pop Warner however; is not the only national governing body for youth football. The association (company) that I'm doing work for is an American Youth Football Program. Now, is it considered bad form, evil or whatever to optimize using a term such as "Pop Warner" on my site if I'm NOT affiliated with pop warner whatsoever? If the answer is yes, can you provide me with direction as to how this should be handled? If no...than I know how to handle it.
Local Listings | | UpperCapeSpartans0 -
My #1 (A) ranking client in Maps is now #38 after update?
We have a client with 4 locations and all of them do pretty well in Google Maps. Since the latest update, we dropped from #1 (A) all the way down to #38 in Maps. We're still #1 for our keyword in Organic but our Maps got crushed. We use Yext for the citations but we also do some a lot manual ones too. We have 3 reviews on that location but not sure why the big drop. I'm not even sure where to being to get it back. From our research: We noticed our categories were a little out of order. Our primary was "legal services" instead of "personal injury attorney" (we've now updated that.) I've noticed that all the listings ahead of us, minus a few of them, have their homepage as their link. We've always used a local landing page that has hand written directions on how to find us, our hours and who people will meet when they come in. Things relevant to that location. Our domain authority is a 40. Our homepage Page Authority is 49 and our landing page for that location is a 22. What else should we check to see what's happened? Should I move the Google+ page to the homepage instead of the sub-page (as well as the citations we have)? Thanks for your help!
Local Listings | | DarinPirkey0 -
No access for UK Get listed and now Moz Local Alternatives to Moz?
Ive had a pro subscription now for quite sometime and it was a shame when Get Listed UK was removed, now Moz has released its Moz Local and thats also just for US customers. I presume UK and other countries are a low priority, so don't expect anything for us for the foreseeable future! Ive taken out a subscription for Whitespark, but is there an alternative to Moz that people know of that does support us poor UK people?
Local Listings | | Ant710