Easiest way to get out of Google local results?
-
Odd one this, but what's the easiest way to remove a website from the Google local listings? Would removing all the Google map listings do the job?
A client of ours is suffering massively since the Google update in the middle of last month. Previously they would appear no1 or no2 in the local results and normally 1 or 2 in the organic results. However, since the middle of last month any time they rank on the first page for a local result, their organic result has dropped massively to at least page 4.
If I set my location as something different in google, say 100 miles away, they then rank well for the organic listings (obviously not appearing for local searches). When I change it back to my current location the organic listing is gone and they are back to ranking for the local. Since the middle of July the traffic from search engines has dropped about 65%. All the organic rankings remain as strong as ever just not in the areas where they want to get customers from!! The idea is to remove the local listing and get the organics reranking as the ctr on those is much much higher.
On a side note, anyone else notice very poor ctr on google local listings? Maybe users feel they are adverts
thanks
-
Hi Carl,
You are not alone in wondering about this phenomenon in which a local listing appears to make organic visibility disappear. We've had several questions come into Q&A about this recently. In fact, what is happening is that the organic listing has typically been absorbed into the local blended listing which contains both first party data (like, from the company's website) + 3rd party data from Google's local index and other sources.
If clients are concerned, it will be helpful to educate them about this and, also, to show them heatmap/eyetracking studies like this one that shows how local listings get the lion's share of eyes on them in the SERPs:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/eyetracking-google-serps
Many such studies have reached similar conclusions. Because of this, a high local blended rank is generally to be prized.
In the past, it was common for dominant businesses to have both a local listings and an organic one on the same page of the SERPs. I saw this everywhere, all the time. Now, I am hard put to come up with a single example of the results being configured in this way. Now, pretty much all local results are blended results and the appropriate goal for most local businesses is to get a high blended local listing for their main search phrases.
Regarding deleting the local presence from Google's index, it's really important to realize that this can be really tough to do - some would say impossible. Remember, Google can create a local page for any business at any time from third party data, hence, all the unclaimed listings that have always existed in their local index because they were created from third party sources and not from the say-so of the business owner. So, unless the client were to remove every reference to his local business from his website and across the entire web, there is always the chance that Google will re-create a profile for the business without his permission.
Because of this factor, and because of the vast power Google now has over the local business scene, business owners have had to determine to learn to play the 'game' with Google as well as they can. In most cases, the highest goal being aimed for is a high-ranking blended listing, which it sounds like your client has achieved. So, typically, this would be a time for congratulations rather than concern.
Hope these thoughts are helpful to you!
-
Carl - A couple of peple have questioned whether their listings in local caused declines in non-local results.
You mentioned that the problem you described coincided with a Penquin update. Penguin appears to be penalize the keywords contained in the offending links as well as set a sitewide ceiling on organic referrals per day.
Is there a reasonable chance the site is penalized by Penguinn? If so, are the offending keywords the non-local or local variety? You've probably done so, but I'd inspect the IBL's carefully before I'd delete any reputable links.
-
yes, will give it ago. Annoying to lose the local potions but would rather have the organic ones back. thanks for the help
-
Hmm, this sounds very strange.
If removing the places page will fix your problem temporarily then perhaps this is something to do then, but continue to look online to see whether there are any other things you can do to get those listings back!
-
Hi Tom
Thanks for the reply. Yes, all the pages on the site are optimised well. Prior to the middle of last month the client would rank normally 1 or 2 in organic and have a local listing on the same page. However, since the middle of last month (the date seems to exactly match the last Panda refresh) we cannot seem to have a local and organic listing on the same page. The organic listings still rank very well if the location of the user is removed from the box so the google local vanishes.
All very puzzling. While it would be ideal to keep the local listings, at the moment they are causing considerably more harm than good as they are stopping us ranking organically.
Have checked other competitors in the niche and it appears the same with them. All the sites in the local listings have vanished in the organic listings.
-
Technically, yes, removing the Google Page will remove the results, but I'd think twice before doing it personally.
Have you checked all of your on page content to make sure your page is fully optimised for your location? I've found that our Google Places listing compliments ours, but yes the places listings get a lower click through rate.
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
-
Splitting Google analytics data
Hi Everyone I'm not sure if this can be done but thought i would ask anyway. One of our clients has a website which is a 3 tiered website, basically this means different access levels for different users depending on their ip address. The split is as follows (business 1, business 2 and the general public all see different things and areas within the website) Now what we are wanting to do is essentially split our analytics data for each of the 3 different users on the site, Can this be done through Google analytics? Thanks in advance. ps If im not clear enough let me know and ill try clear it up
Reporting & Analytics | | TheZenAgency0 -
What is the best way of understanding bad backlinks?
I want to building trust link profile and i have to know which backlinks bad for my website. And i have to disavow bad links.
Reporting & Analytics | | umutege0 -
Google Analytics - Keywords (not set) or ( not provided) WHY???
In Analytics, most of my visitors are landing on my home page, but when trying to see wich keywords they use, most of them are: (not set) or ( not provided) See screencast: http://screencast.com/t/AKwPW76qLVsN Can you tell why? What is going on? Is there a way to solve this? Thank you, BigBlaze
Reporting & Analytics | | BigBlaze2050 -
Interpreting Keyword Difficulty Tool results
I have been running various reports using the Keyword Difficulty tool. The columns are color coded - are there one set of signals that are more important than others? I am trying to analylze why we are ranking where we are and where our competitors are weak enough to overcome in a short term. I cannot seem to find a formula for the top indicatators for moving up in ranking. One of my sites in ranking number 5 but is neck and neck with the number one site for results. The other site is number 6 for the same term but has virtually no strength in the data like links, mozrank, trust, Social, etc...The sites 7-10 are much stronger on data. Maybe since they are from the same C block that helps? Any advice or experience would be helpful.
Reporting & Analytics | | devonkrusich0 -
Google anomaly
Hi, As per Google's Keyword Tool , the exact search volume for a particular keyword is 22000. As per Google's Webmaster Tool , my SER for the same keyword is 5.8 BUT , I see only 500 impressions for this keyword in webmaster ! Can someone help decipher this behavior ?
Reporting & Analytics | | iamnew0 -
Google encryption of search results
Hello Is there any definitive information on whether the recent changes to the way Google encrypts search results for people logged into Google affects the traffic present via the Google Adwords Keyword tool? Plus, how does SEOmoz ensure/minimise the affect of personalisation/localisation etc. on the rankings data provided via the pro tool. Thanks in advance for your assistance. Kind regards Neil
Reporting & Analytics | | mccormackmorrison0 -
Do Google Analytics filters affect link building?
We recently made a few link wheels for specific product pages. We've been having great results with all of the wheels except for one. The one we are having issues with is the only link that we were using a Google Analytics filter on; it looks like this http://domain.com/page.htm?zSource=Specific Keyword%tracking My question is does Google ignore links that are obviously utilizing their analyitcs custom filters? We're doing some more testing to try to find out if it truly is the link or if the wheel is a bad one. There are so many things that could go wrong but with so many of our link wheels working well, I wonder if the filters are what is causing such results.
Reporting & Analytics | | MichealGooden0 -
Google Analytics All Kinds of Messed Up
Anyone have their google analytics go straight crazy on Thursday, 8/11/2011? 30% increase in visits No increase in visitors Huge drop in pageviews and time site Higher bounce rate More return users
Reporting & Analytics | | ChrisKolmar0