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
-
Viral SlideShare = Google Penalty?
We recently published a slideshow on SlideShare.net and it ended up doing pretty well. It was featured on their homepage for 3 days, and we got quite a few embeds. Unfortunately, a few days later, our rankings in Google tumbled. I'm wondering if this killed our link velocity, which I suppose would have potentially got us a temporary, automated penalty? If you look at slide #4 and beyond, you'll notice that the logo links back to our homepage, and there's also a "View Quote" button that navigates to that specific quote, so users can find out more information, share it, or view any associated pictures. So, in total, there are quite a few backlinks in that slideshow (88 to be exact). Is this what likely caused our drop in rankings? Or is it more likely to be a coincidence? We haven't done anything else in the past couple of months, other than publish an infographic and a press release. And if this is a problem, how would we fix it? I can edit the slideshare and remove some of the links... but it seems sort of silly considering we haven't done anything blackhat. And, it would actually devalue our slideshow, because users would no longer be able to click through to the quotes. Thoughts?
Image & Video Optimization | | JABacchetta0 -
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 -
How do I improve positioning in Google Images?
Looking around in Webmaster tools today and I noticed we have hundreds of thousands of impressions in Google Images, but a very low CTR. I understand normal SEO, but what about increasing rank in Google Images? It is hard to get links straight to an image, and we already use proper alt tags. Any other ideas?
Image & Video Optimization | | EcommerceSite0 -
Any tips for optimising for Local Search/Google Places
I have a client that used to come up on Google Places consistently for some very competitive keywords - when they ranked quite low for them through their normal website - places would see them above all the organic results in normally number 2 position - whereas they would rank between 16 - 26 normally We have optimised the site and have 'A' grade keywords for the ones we are interested in google placing for and just recently we are out of it all together, even though we have improved their optimisation for that word with SEO Someone said that their phone number on the website had to match perfectly with google places and so does their address. Is this true? Is there anything else that will help them keep their position in places ? ie. setting up a Google + page etc., Any advise would be appreciated thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | intermingle0 -
Geo sitemap & google webmaster tools
Uploaded a Geo-sitemap last week and made sitemap_index.xml that includes the geo & normal sitemap. Google Webmaster tools shows a warning for the geo sitemap, telling me that the geo tag isn't supported. This is how the xml looks like: <urlset<span class="webkit-html-attribute"> xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"</urlset<span> xmlns:geo="http://www.google.com/geo/schemas/sitemap/1.0">http://www.mysite.com/locations.kmlgeo:format</geo:format>kmlSomebody, anybody knows the fix?
Image & Video Optimization | | nvs.nim0 -
Google Places Name Change - Duplicate Listings.
Need input on a Google Places change to avoid duplicate listing/phone number issue for a name change. Here is a summary: Company A has a Places listing and ranks week for key local terms. Company A has become a franchise and has a completely new name but same address. A New Franchise listing was created. It has same location but a different telephone (tracking) number. Both listings generally appear in Google Places but Company A (older listing) come up first. For branding purposes I would ideally like to eliminate (or edit) Company A listing and optimize new Franchise listing. We will need to eliminate the tracking phone number and add the old “Company A” phone number to the new Franchise listing. What is the best procedure to delete the Company A listing? I have access to both listings. Do I: -Strip Company A listing of most info…wait and then delete? Do I delete from my account or delete in total? -Just change the name of the “old” Company name to the new franchise name and delete the new franchise listing? An if so, in what order? -or do I just delete the old listing right away and edit the new franchise listing right away? -When do I add the old (and real phone number) to the new franchise listing? This same scenario has played out in other locations with disastrous results. Appears that Google looks at them as duplicate listings if the old Company name is still active and demotes both listings. Trying to avoid that problem that has been created by other companies. -Would adding Google Boost to the surviving listing help? Any input appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | AgileInt0 -
Optimizing Google Places
Hey everyone, Trying to improve my Google Places page for the Pet Medical Center of Las Vegas but am having trouble knowing where to start. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot that can be customized. Maybe I am missing something. http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1370&bih=718&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=pet+medical+center+of+las+vegas&fb=1&gl=us&hq=pet+medical+center+of&hnear=0x80beb782a4f57dd1:0x3accd5e6d5b379a3,Las+Vegas,+NV&cid=13431404354265657899 Does the small description act like the SERP in Google searches? Trying to rank for Vet Las Vegas. Any ideas?
Image & Video Optimization | | PMC-3120870 -
VSEO - Is backlinks help youtube video to rank well??
hey, I made a test & got backlinks to 2 youtube videos of mine and saw what should happening in next few days..but nothing got! I didn't get update or change in my videos even if the keywords are low competitions.. but when I read many posts & experts say that getting backlinks to your youtube video or VSEO count by google and we should doing it! the only way I've found to improve your youtube video ranking in google is to add it in blog & use video sitemap! but I'm also use video to direct affiliate link & there where I think backlinks should work to help me. I would to know from your experience is that worth to do or not or if backlinks for youtube are link ping we should do it directly when we upload video? PS: any info or idea you've it can be a very helpful solution for all! thnx
Image & Video Optimization | | akitmane0