Use Google Places or Google +Local?

[Zachary_Russell]

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

[MiriamEllis]

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!

[Zachary_Russell]

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

[BedeFahey]

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.