Google Places "Pending" out of options
-
I used to enjoy the first place position for google places/local, and 30 reviews in the old pre-google local. I am a painting contractor in Seattle. Then in April 2012 I moved my shop six miles to a new location. My reviews were dropped and places moved to "pending" when I changed my address.
I am now in my 8th month pending approval for my google places page:
Seattle House painting local page
I have drilled down and exhausted every resource; including verification, having all my citations exactly in a row. All my review sites like Yelp and angie's list are address/info accurate. I used Yext to check all my local citations. I am set to do not show my address as Google indicates is best practice. There is nothing I have missed...but I am still "pending".
Do I need to hire a David Mihm? I am very frustrated seeing one competitor using multiple addresses and having two listings.
Any help or insight greatly appreciated.
-
Hi John, I'm not sure that's the best decision, honestly. Before you do that, I would advise you to hire a heavy hitting local SEO to help you with this. BTW, the screenshot you are showing me (I'm not sure which page that is) is not the one I would expect to see. Read this thread and look at the 4th post on it:
I am still not sure how the pending status is actually affecting you, John, as your listing is clearly live. I had asked about this, but don't believe you responded. I had also asked what the history of your communication with Google was about this, but did not see a reply on this from you. My advice is that you hire someone to dig fully into this beyond what I can do here in Q&A and figure out what the best steps will be for you. You mentioned David Mihm at the start of this thread, but David is no longer doing client work as of GetListed being acquired by SEOmoz. I would recommend any of these providers:
Mike Blumenthal, http://www.blumenthals.com/blog
Andrew Shotland, http://www.localseoguide.com
Mary Bowling, http://www.marybowling.com/
Matthew Hunt, http://www.smallbusinessonlinecoach.com/
I'd offer my own services but I am so busy right now, John, and troubleshooting complicated problems like this isn't really my area of client work. However, I do believe you would benefit from paying for an hour or two of consulting time from one of these folks BEFORE you make such a big decision. You need to present the whole history of your case and get personalized guidance. Hope my suggestion may save you from some headaches.
-
This is scary but I am going to delete my listing.
Please see picture show I delete places & map?
I think google is confused; although I have over 80+ citations. My verified map location shows but not the google places for universal search or places SERP.
-
Hi John,
I'm saying that this is what Google recommends, in the case of moving. Their guidelines regarding this are here:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=154102
Nyagoslav Zhekov (a very talented Local SEO and chum) wrote quite a good article on this topic that I think you should definitely read regarding closing a listing vs. editing one:
http://www.ngsmarketing.com/closing-an-old-google-local-listing-vs-editing-it/
If you read both of the above resources, you will see that Google recommends certain procedures, but that some Local SEOs are experimenting with whether it is possible to keep a listing an edit if the move is within the same city. Given the controversy over this, I don't want to advise you one way or the other. I want to give you the facts so that you can make your own decision.
I believe if you brought this up in the Google and Your Business Forum, you would be advised to close the old listing, but not everyone agrees with this advice.
Hope this clarifies what I'm telling you, John.
-
I moved six miles. I hesitate to delete my old listing...but I am out of options. Google communication has been boiler plate..do this, do that, wait a bit.
I have exhausted every option and explored every detail except deleting my listing.
-
Miriam, I see you recommend I delete old places and start again. All else has failed.
I moved last April and changed all my citations (yelp, angies, superpages, etc) I even use YEXT. All citations are identical.
I used to get 100-350 clicks from local serp until april 2012...so my business has been dramatically effected.
-
Hi John,
I'm stopping back in with another comment. The presence of links in your business description so surprised me that I brought it up in a discussion with Local Search Godfather, Mike Blumenthal. He informed be that this function has actually been available for some time...though it's rarely seen. Apparently, these links must be personally vetted by Google, so if you've got them, I must assume they are approved.
So, now, we go back to the questions about how you handled the move, how you've communicated with Google, what the effects of the pending status actually are on your business, and the presence of geo terms in your business description.
-
Hi John,
Oh, those pending states are so frustrating. So, there could be many things causing this, but let's take a look at your Google+ Local page. I am seeing something on it that I've never seen anywhere before. Your business description looks like this:
Shearer Painting is a Seattle Painting Contractor started in 1990, a full service painting contractor recognized as one of Seattle's Top ten painting contractors.
find out more information aboutHistoric House Painting, Wood Staining and finishing, Benjamin Moore PaintSee a walk through of interior painting project on a historic home and a Seattle House Painting project on a 1913 built home- You shouldn't be using the word 'Seattle' in your business description. It's not in the written guidelines, but many people in the Local SEO community believe that the use of GEO terms triggers a penalty.- But the thing that is really jumping out at me is the links in the description. I've never ever seen that before. I didn't even know you could put links in the description. My eyes popped open, and I have to wonder if there is any chance that this is the root of your pending status.According to Google And Your Business Forum TC, Joy Hawkins:"_If a listing's status goes back to pending after being active, it could be any number of issues, including a quality guidelines violation, and needs to be evaluated on an individual basis."_See:
http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/local-search/1278-pending-status-after-verification.htmlSo, perhaps there is a problem with that description, but on the other hand, as you've moved, I'm curious about the steps you took with your Google+ Local listing. These days, Google's advice is that if you move, you're supposed to close your old listing and open a new one, though there has been much debate in the Local SEO and MapMaker communities about whether it's possible to avoid this if you move within the same city. How did you handle your move?Regarding reviews, yes, it is common to lose them when you move. Google considers your new location a new place.What attempts have you made to communicate with Google? What response have you received.Interestingly, as your listing is live, John, how exactly is the pending status affecting you beyond a note in the dashboard? And, apparently, loss of G. Places analytics data?Can you provide some further information? Moves and pendings are complex, and in the end, communication with Google will likely be the only way to resolve your issues, but I'd be very interested in your answers to my questions and will help more if I can. -
Have you tried reaching out to Google local support yet? We'd give them a try.
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
-
Tips for improving google places page
link here When I started working on this page he had multiple incorrect listings. I removed the incorrect ones and created this page. It has been confirmed via postcard and up for several months now. I have the profile filled out to 100% completion. Yet it does not show up very high in local map results. A ton of the business that do show up higher have profiles that are incomplete. Many of them show their address when they do not serve customers at their location. So it is a bit aggravating. Any suggestions to make this profile rank higher? I have been creating more citations through whitespark and working on the actual site itself.
Image & Video Optimization | | Atomicx0 -
Can SEO companies be listed on Google Local, Bing Local, and Yahoo Local?
Can anyone confirm if SEO companies can be listed in the local results for Google, Yahoo, and Bing? I'm asking because when you search for most local terms, it will return their local listings. However, that doesn't appear to be the case when searching for SEO or marketing services - or at least none show up when searching from Houston and I'm pretty sure we have quite a few SEO companies here 😉
Image & Video Optimization | | ChaseCameron0 -
Is specifying a floor descriptive enough for Google Places?
Hello everyone, I have a quick question regarding Google Places. I have a client who operates her business in a building with multiple other businesses. This address is completely legitimate and our client provides fitness services at this location. We have asked her for a more specific location, but she does not have a suite or room #. The best we can do is the floor #, but there are other businesses on her floor as well. Would this lack of specificity affect her ability to rank in local results? There are 4 other businesses at the address. If we provide strong and relevant citations, will this be enough? Thank you and my apologies if this has been asked before. I searched the previously asked question but didn't find what i was looking for.
Image & Video Optimization | | Robertnweil10 -
Google Plus for clients
Hi folks, I am coming to the realization that most of my local business clients simply do not have the time, desire or knowledge to establish a Google Plus personal profile and business page. Therefore, I have been contemplating the best approach to establishing Google Plus business pages for multiple clients. It would appear that information attached to the personal profile for the primary Google Plus account is not revealed when a business page is viewed, and a single personal profile can establish multiple business pages, would it be safe to assume this may be the correct approach? For example: I have a personal profile and a page for my SEO business. Could I simply create additional business pages for my clients under my account - even though I am not business owner? Are there any adverse ramifications to this approach (e.g. ownership transfer, local SERP issues, etc.)? Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | SCW0 -
Amazon Store Name Change - Impact on Google Shopping
For a site ranking on page 1 in Google Shopping Results for multiple products, they're thinking of changing their store name to rebrand themselves and their website. They currently have items appearing on page 1 from their stores on ebay, Amazon, buy.com, sears, etc. Does anybody know if changing their brand name on these stores will impact their results on Google Shopping? Thanks, Mark
Image & Video Optimization | | Mark_Ginsberg0 -
Url in Google Places bulk upload
Hi, I'm preparing a bulk upload for Google Places and have a question about the url of every individual place. The website is structured this was: www.website.com/entrepreneur-X
Image & Video Optimization | | nvs.nim
www.website.com/entrepreneur-Y
... But you can reach every individual entrepreneur like this as well: www.entrepreneur-x.com
www.entrepreneur-y.com
...these URL's redirect to the pages listed above and they use the e-mail address info@entrepreneur-y.com Should I use www.website.com/entrepreneur-X or www.entrepreneur-x.com in the bulk upload? I think it's best using www.website.com/entrepreneur-x because the other url is a redirect. What do you guys think??1 -
Can different phone numbers affect your google places listing?
If you use a non-landline number e.g 0330 or 0845 etc does this affect your position within google places? Is it better to use a local number e.g 0208 (uk) And if you use a local number for your google places account but have a different number on your website will this have a negative effect?
Image & Video Optimization | | challen0 -
Multi-site listings in Google Local/Place pages
I've had problems with a client that is a local medical center with multiple sites/addresses. We've created a Place Page for each location and linked it to the location page on the client's website that matches the address on the Place page. But that means we're not linking to the medical center's home page -- and Google Places doesn't like that. I know this because after we'd owner-verified each Place Page, Google went in and just changed the website link that was a deep link to a location page and replaced it with a link to the home page. But now there's not an address match. How should we handle this? Related question: Does it make sense to claim a separate listing in Yelp and other local directories for each of the separate locations since they each have a unique address? Will Yelp & other local directories allow for links to non-home pages on the client's website?
Image & Video Optimization | | DenisL0