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
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
-
In addition to the resources already listed, I'd also recommend checking out the learning center at http://getlisted.org/resources/
Specific to the, "Any surefire ways to get more citations there?" question...
Check out your competitors places listings, too. See if they're getting any citations from local sites, resources, or lists. If Google is indexing these citations for your competitors and adding them to place pages, it will probably tie them to your places page too, if you can get listed.
-
I agree, great advice. I have been updating every possible directory I can find online. What a mess!
Do you know if Google Places update as often as the normal search results?
-
Thanks Donnie! I appreciate the feedback. Those resources are going to be very helpful. I don't know why but out of the whole SEO process, optimizing Google Places seems to be the most frustrating.
Thanks again!
-
Great advice sir, thumbs up!
-
Hi Brant,
AS Donnie mentioned, The More About This Place area are not links per se, but are mentions of your site around the web. This can include your current site and old site. Your new site will more than likely be mention the next time Google updates its info for Google Places. The more citations(mentions of your website the better.
The BEST thing you can do at this point is make sure the directories and review places have your proper NAP, also known as Name Address and Phone number. Again, Donnie mentioned reading David Mihm's website to review the local factors for SEO.
Make sure your NAP and website match ACROSS the web, everywhere you can list it appropriately. So there may be some major updating on your part, and that can help gel your info across the web together so your site becomes more powerful.
-
Howdy Brant,
You can update the website url by logging into your Google account, then clicking "account settings" at the top right. After that, click "Google Places", then update the listing(s) of your choice.
Citations aren't necessarily links to your site. SEOs more use the word to represent 'mentions' of your website, along with address, phone, etc throughout the web.
Here's a recent video I highly recommend you watch.... The Basics of Local SEO.
Also, David Mihm posted an updated version of the Local Search Ranking Factors, which I highly recommend you read. All of it
Don't forget to read every word in the Google Places Help Center as well.
I know it's a lot to study, but you're engaging in the optimization process, so it's crucial for you to understand as much as possible.
If you're still having trouble after all of that, I'd be happy to help you with some specific advice, just let me know (free of course). Otherwise, I'm sure some other mozzers will post some great ideas to this question as well
Does this help Brant?
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 Local landing pages
Just wondering what the best way to handle the landing page from a google plus local profile is. I had changed it to page that I created for the specific location with a citation with correct NAP, but realized that in OSE that my root domain lost almost all its G+'s. I'm torn and just looking for some advice. I've done quite a bit of work trying to correct citations, adding citations, and reading reading reading to learn more about Google Local but the results have been pretty rough.
Image & Video Optimization | | jonnyholt0 -
HELP my client wants to run two yoga companies from the same address
My client has been very successful in local for yoga hertford. Now she wants to do an additional site with five other yogies. The name of the company is obviously different and as with her original company hertsyoga - the actual venues for the sessions are all over the place but principally at a local venue called the Castle which hires out a studio. My question is what do I do to keep her Nap consistent. She apparently has friendly neighbours who are happy for her to use their address (one door up), and apparently they wont move! But I really don't think they will be happy for me to put their address on the site and in citations locally. What should I do?
Image & Video Optimization | | catherine-2793880 -
Local listing services that will do phone verification of ownership
can you please tell me some local listing directory services that will do phone verification instead of sending out the post card?
Image & Video Optimization | | netlover0 -
Google Local Listings dropped in all major keywords
One of our websites had dropped dramatically in all of his major keywords over the past several days. He was ranked in the maps section in google (the old pages not the google plus pages) in the top 3 in his most important keywords and all of a sudden they dropped off the first page completely - not just down one or 2 places. Not sure what happened and how to fix it.. help please!!!
Image & Video Optimization | | levylevy0 -
Google + Local for client with no physical address and multiple phone nos
Hi I have a client who is service-based and goes out to his local customers' homes to conduct his business. He operates from home so does not want to show his home address, he also has a number of local telephone numbers that divert to his mobile. I was wondering which type of category to put his business into, my ideal would be local business but for that I need to add the address the question is can I still hide the address the way you used to in the old format or is there other recommendations to optimise his local placement?
Image & Video Optimization | | AllieMc0 -
What to do if your categories are missing from Google Places/Plus page?
A client's Google Places/Plus page used to show four or five categories. Now, Google only shows one category. When I go inside their edit page, all of the categories are still listed. Is this a temporary occurrence? Does anyone have a similar experience or advice on this?None of the competitors seem to have the same issue. Ever since the Google plus integration, it's been impossible to see any changes updated.
Image & Video Optimization | | micasalucasa0 -
Local SEO: How to optimize for multiple cities on website
Hi, I couldn't find any reference to this, so if the answer is already here, I would appreciate a link to the answer. That said, my question is this: When a local business services a large geographic area, I wanted to know how to optimize for the multiple towns? I already have the main city in my title tags, but there are at least 40 areas that surround this town. Should I have a "Services Area" page, and place all the towns there, or should they all be in the footer? I saw this one guy - in the same niche who put all the towns in his meta keyword section - but I think that's incorrect, especially since Google doesn't look at that particular meta tag. Any help would be appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | jayestovall1 -
Google Places for Mobile Businesses in many cities
How do you set up Google Places account for mobile businesses where the drivers get calls from their homes and service customers in their respective cities? The problem is, the drivers don't want to list their home address as their business address, yet they still represent a service for a particular city. Any ideas?
Image & Video Optimization | | ocsearch0