Use Google Places or Google +Local?
-
Hello everyone,
My name is Zachary Russell, and I run a Philadelphia based WordPress Development and SEO firm, ProTech Internet Group. I have been doing work lately, and have been neglecting the fact that my own site needs work, I have now changed that. I have done a complete redesign and started repurposting content to have a well-rounded content strategy that can appeal the the widest possible audience. My issue I'm having now is this: I have both a Google Places page and a Google +Local page for my business , Obviously duplicate listings are a problem, but I don't know which one to get rid of. They both have 0 reviews and limited +1s, I just don't know which one I should delete, and which one I should push to get more reviews moving forward.
Also, moving forward, would it make sense for me to have a Google +Business and a Google +Local page?I don't know if this would cause any conflicts either.
Thanks for your help and have a happy new year!
Zach Russell
President, ProTech Internet Group
-
Hi Zach,
I want to be sure I am understanding your question. I'm not sure what you mean by having both a Google Places page and a Google+ Local page for your business. Google Places is currently still in existence as a dashboard for Google+ Local. See: http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2623007
Now, your query is kind of special, because of the nature of your business. Back in early 2010, Google stopped showing true local results for web design and seo firms and certain other types of marketing firms (see: http://www.searchengineguide.com/miriam-ellis/google-shoves-their-liaisons-off-maps.php) I believe that there may have been 2 factors involved in this decision: 1) heavy spamming in those verticals and 2) a belief that such businesses are more virtual than local.
As you can see in this Mike Blumenthal article from just last month, Google continues to treat these categories of businesses differently, when it comes to Local: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/11/12/google-local-search-results-where-none-have-gone-before/
Because of this, any efforts you make with Google's Local products will be hampered by the fact that they do not choose to display website design companies in their true blended/local results, though I believe it's still possible to exist within maps.google.com.
However, Local SEO Andrew Shotland had a highly-publicized experience with his SEO company and Google last February that is worth reading about, if you haven't already: http://www.localseoguide.com/hey-seos-if-google-maps-calls-dont-answer/
I hope these resources will prove helpful, and if you would like to return with further clarification about what you mean in regards to having both a Google+ Local page and a Places Page, I would be glad to read it. Please, link to objects whenever you can. Thanks!
-
Bede,
Thanks for your answer. I get so frustrated with Google sometimes when they are so unclear with things. This is a great example of that. We don't know what is best for us to do; and it should be in their guidlines.
Anyway, on a separate note. There are some cool things that happen in Philly area with the marketing scene. I just helped start a meetup for Digital Marketers in West Chester; I think that's an hour away from you, you may want to drop in sometime.
Thanks for your help
Zach Russell
-
Hi Zach,
Sounds like you're quite close to us. We're over in Lancaster, PA.
I've been wrestling with the places vs +local issue too, and don't have a solution. I did just have an interesting experience, though. We recently had a client who created a Google +Local page (without telling us). That +Local page is now outranking the original Places page for brand-name searches. I can't tell you which one ranks better for non brand-name searches, because I'm still cleaning up data upstream, and they're not really ranking at all at this point because of that.
I'm not sure if this is indicative of anything at all, and I'm hoping someone else can weigh in on the subject, because I'm still trying to decide what to do. That said, I thought it might be something to consider.
For the Google +Business and Google +Local page merge question, there is a merge process that should give you (some) of the functionality of both a +Local and a Business page. But... the whole system has been described as, among other things, a train wreck whose implications are unclear.
In my personal experiments, I've had a couple of instances where the merge process has not worked at all. So, at Kiwi, we're taking a "Let's wait and see" approach with the system. I'd rather see two separate pages than the kind of mishmash disaster Google is capable of creating with local business information.
Edit: Oh, one other thing to consider on the +Local vs. Places question. Updates to Places are taking an extremely long time to push to the listing, and some information is not arriving at all.
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
-
Local Seo for Two Offices?
What is the best way to go about doing local seo for two offices? Everything I can research on local seo provides awesome information...if you have one office, but we have two: one is in downtown Tampa and the other in a northern suburb. Anyone have experience with this that they'd like to share? I'd appreciate it. Happy Friday! Ruben
Image & Video Optimization | | KempRugeLawGroup1 -
How do you know if you are listed in google+ local?
OK This Google+ local and Google places merge is confusing. My first question is how do you know if your company is listed in Google+ local? I've done a search in Google Plus (logged in with another gmail account) but couldn't find my company on the results. Second question is that I am also not able to be found in maps.google.com, is this related? Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | donovanfox0 -
Google+ Business Page Location Problem
I run a business in the St. Louis area. Oddly, St. Louis is broken up into more than 100 municipalities. Google keeps listing my plus page by the small municipality I am in within St. Louis, which limits my ability to show up in the St. Louis local search results. However, other businesses in town are being listed under St. Louis instead of their municipality. Any ideas on how to change this? When I go in and try to change it myself, it just stays the same. Thanks, Steve
Image & Video Optimization | | BardolLawFirm0 -
None of my images are being indexed by google.
None of my images are being indexed by google. Here is a link to one of my site images : http://www.yourlamode.com/sitemap_images.xml Its been uploaded for more then 5 days
Image & Video Optimization | | spidersite0 -
Can this make one's local listing vanish from Google local search?
Hi All, Does anyone know if selecting "Yes, this business serves customers at their locations" under "service areas and location settings" in Google Places can cause a business's listing to disappear from Google local search? My interior designer client has a bricks-and-mortar location, was ranking at about #20 for "interior designer" in Portland, and now has dropped from local search. I had "No, all customers come to the business location" selected previously. In the past week, before the vanishing, I made these changes: 1. changed the service area to "Yes, this business serves customers at their locations", 2. removed "Portland" from the description in Google Places, and 3. submitted maybe two dozen directory listings to high DA sites (using Whitespark as the tool for determining where to post). Thanks everyone! Zack
Image & Video Optimization | | HammerandHand0 -
How to Fix Issue for Inactive Products in Google Merchant Center?
Today, I was checking my Google merchant center account. I come to know that, there are 145 inactive products are available from product feed. I have checked few products manually and found following error. "The URL specified in your data feed wasn't working correctly when we reviewed this item." You can view more by attached image. I have checked my URLs and it's working well. There is no issue in URL. So, How do I fix issue? 6327664099_0430ef187e_b.jpg
Image & Video Optimization | | CommercePundit1 -
Placing video testimonials on website vs. YouTube
We have produced a number of video guest testimonials. Any SEO considerations or other hosting it on our website (what software to use?) vs. YouTube (and just embedding it on the webpage)? Are there certain situation or circumstances when YouTube is not the best choice for placing video on a website? Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | ahw0 -
UBL or LocalEZE? Local listing submission vendor.
We are between UBL and LocalEZE for our preferred local listing submission vendor. DIfferences:
Image & Video Optimization | | qlkasdjfw
*UBL does not have a relationship with local data vendors, but submits to axicom and infousa (as examples) which LocalEZE does not.
*LocalEZE has active feeds set up with many local vendors. What are your preferences? We are leaning twoard LocalEZE, Razorfish (the agency) is among their notable clients. What about submitting to both? I would be fearful that the data will overlap.0