Top of Google Places but not Organic

[Ant71]

Hi There,

My website www.drivingbrighton.co.uk is number 1 for Google places for my area, however I'm not on page 1 of google organically. Is it possible to do this, or does Google not let you have a places and organic links?

Any opinions welcome!

Ant

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Antony,

I haven't seen a heatmap study or clickthru-type report covering this specifically. However, my gut feelings is that you are better off being #1 with places attached as the listing is so large and visible. I think you have cause to jump for joy with that top local ranking. I bet you are getting the lion's share of interest on that page of results.

Sorry I don't have anything to quote you. It's possible someone has done a heatmap study and that might be something you could research.

[Ant71]

Thanks Miriam,

Much appreciated.... Heres one more quesiton then. Is there any eveidence on whether it is better to be top of Organic search or like myself top of places?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Antony,

Marcus has given an excellent response. Yes, the organic and local algos are separate. Looking at the results for 'driving lessons brighton' from California, I am seeing a mix of pure organic results and blended results. It is technically possible to get more than 1 spot in the SERPs. You can have an organic result as well as a local result, but as you've guessed, the factors for doing so mean engaging in a strong traditional SEO campaign as well as what you are doing with Local SEO, or, having very little competition. It looks to me like you've got lots of local competitors, but if you can out-do them, there is some chance of seeing an organic result for your business in addition to the local one. I do note, though, that Google is not giving this special treatment to any of your competitors (at least not in the results I'm seeing). Each one either has an organic results or a blended places result, and this may be due to there being so many businesses competing for this term. Google has a lot to choose from.

Still, if you can utterly out-do some of them, there is a chance.

Good luck!

Miriam

[Ant71]

Thanks Marcus,

Really good reply. Yer im just link building at the moment. Finding a good quality directory is the challenge! Feel free to send me a message if you know of any!

So when you say "but the page of results blends content from local and organic (and other areas)". So if im number one for google places then i might not appear on the other positions on that page?

I'm writing articles, blogs etc to try to improve the content. Yep im getting traffic from places and getting business from it. But not 100% sure how much as analytics doesnt tell me this (but i saw an article on here about this so hopefully will have a look at this over the next couple of days).

[Marcus_Miller]

Hey Anthony

The local and organic results are a separate entity but the page of results blends content from local and organic (and other areas).

' I am guessing your targeted search term is 'driving lessons brighton' and there is no reason why you could not get a well placed organic listing to complement the local listing given that you did a little content development and some gentle link building. The competition for these terms is pretty weak so really, a little content, some good quality directories, maybe some guest posting if you can get your content out there. You could even offer a discounted first X lessons to people who +1 you which should give you more visibility for those users if they search again.

I would also look at the paid search listings as a way of getting a little more page coverage if you feel that is needed. The PPC can be turned off when you have a full schedule and kicked back into action when you need to fill a few more slots.

Out of interest, is this local listing driving traffic to the site? Is the traffic converting? If so, at what kind of rates? I am not sure how much business you need but a broader keyword strategy, some PPC and some very gentle content driven SEO should keep you busy.

Hope it helps and fire away with any questions. 
Marcus