Google Place pages and regular listings in search results
-
I'm trying to clarify something about search results which contain local listings.
Here is the search string for Google that will give you the same results that I am seeing -
http://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=letting agents glasgow&pws=0
Of the results that are returned, some of them have data which seems to be related to their Google Place page but the "title" links directly to their website.
What I wanted to know is, "Is it their actual website that has given them those rankings" or "Are they listed where they are because of a well optimized and ranked Places page?
-
Again, many thanks for your answers and your time in looking at these results. I hadn't even noticed that the first listing hadn't actually claimed their place page (which does surprise me).
When you say that a company could achieve the same results by doing appropriate SEO on the local and organic level, I take it you mean SEO on the Places page and local targeted SEO on the main site?
Many thanks for your help and advice on this. I wanted to gather as much information regarding this area within the local search before committing to the client.
I have done a great deal of research about local search and SEO but was unsure of what was making Google actually rank these sites where they're ranking them.
Regards,
Michael
-
My opinion is that both have properly optimized websites, with the listing in the A position having the potential of strong backlinks and extremely well optimized site(although I have not done much analysis.)
Since the listing in the A position is rather far from the city center, and it has not even claimed the Googles Places listing, any optimization that has occurred locally would be from info Google has scraped from the web.
The listing in the B position has claimed/verified their Google Places page, but has done a poor job optimizing it. However, it does have a city center location.
I believe a company that wishes to compete in that market listing could do well if not better than the current top listings by doing appropriate SEO on the local and organic level.
-
Hi and thank you for your answer. From your experience, looking at the top two results, would you say they are most likely to be ranked where they are due to strong organic SEO of their site AND optimization of their places page?
I have a clients site which, due to way it is set up, cannot compete with the number one site from an organic SEO point of view but I could easily compete with its Places page.
Thanks,
Michael
-
Hi Michael,
Good question. There are a number of ways listings can show up ranging from organic only results, local only results(google 7 pack, and a mixed result of organic and local.
In your example, the organic/local mix is what we are seeing. In this case many optimization factors are taken into account that include local and organic factors.
A well optimized page + strong organic seo is what would be needed to give a company the best chance at ranking in a high position. This would include a verified and well optimized Google Places page.
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
-
Seeing different Google 3-Pack results on Android mobile browsers vs. IOS mobile browsers. Why is this?
I am researching new SEO recommendations in lieu of Google's controversial "3-Pack" update. I am noticing very different results in the Google 3-Pack on a android mobile browser when I do a local search query versus a query in apple mobile browser. For example if I do a Google search for "Seattle Sporting Goods" I am able to see direction links and full address numbers for businesses in the 3-Pack. However the same query on a Android phone provides only "teaser" street name results, no direction links but still shows business reviews. Is it possible that the 3-Pack update is still in flux? Shouldn't the Google 3-Pack show uniform results across all different mobile browsers? This could impact my SEO recommendations.
Image & Video Optimization | | RosemaryB0 -
Google+ local SEO question regarding attorney services
Should attorneys check the boxes for: 1. My business has service areas where I visit customers at their location and
Image & Video Optimization | | cgman
2. I serve customers at my business address (within x miles) This is for a law firm that sees clients in the office, as well as making accommodations to visit them at their location when they are unable to come to the office.0 -
Google Places Images
Hi, i recently added a image to google places listing uploaded via the google places dashboard. It was uploaded about 3-4 weeks ago. The image is exactly 1024x1024 in size. I'm not sure whether google is not displaying it because its too big, or because it takes a while for google to start showing images for places listing. I was reading it can take up to 6 weeks. I don't want to have to wait 6 weeks, then find out the reason why the picture wasn't uploaded was because it was too big. Any suggestions on how i can find out which one is the case? Thanks, Matt
Image & Video Optimization | | Mattcarter080 -
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 categories for local limousine service
I manage the Google places page for a SAB (local limousine company). The question is, should I add "taxi" and "airport shuttle service" as categories? I have listed only "limousine" and "car service' for now and I want to play it safe although those 2 are related to limo service. Sometimes people refer to limo service as "taxi service" or they are inquiring about prices for shuttle service to the airport and they end up booking the service quite often. Does Google look to our website to find these words in the content? Google Analytics show lots of people are finding us through those two keywords as well although you cannot find the word “taxi" on our website. The interesting thing is that when searching for "taxi + my zip code" the company shows up 4th on maps results and when searching for "shuttle service + my zip code”, the company shows up 2nd on local results and also 2nd in organic results. Is this enough to make me add these 2 categories? Second question is about the area served, does it make a difference (in rankings) if I choose “Distance from one location"over"List of areas served"? What happens is the red pin would be in a different location. If I choose "Distance from one location" the pin would be right in the center of the city (which I think it shouldn't matter anymore that much since the proximity to the centroid is not a ranking factor anymore). If “list of area” served is selected, (the city name will be chosen) then the pin would be about 5 miles West of the city center. Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thank you!
Image & Video Optimization | | echo10 -
How should I list my client in Google+?
My client is a personal injury lawyer with one office in a highly competitive major metropolitan area and another office in a very small town. They are changing offices in the major metropolitan area in June and will have a new address. They are already doing well in serps related to the small town but are nowhere to be found in the metropolitan area serps. Currently I can find unclaimed listings in Google+ Local for both offices. I cannot find any Google+ business page and they don't know of one. Given this information and the current state of Google+ how would you proceed to list this client? Specific questions include: *Would there be any straight SEO benefit of making a Google+ Business Page for them? *Would you claim the Google+ Local listing for the Metro office that is going to be moved in 5 months? or would you wait until the office is moved then create a new Google+ Local listing?
Image & Video Optimization | | JesseCWalker0 -
Google local places
I got pin via phone and verified my sites four weeks ago , after logged in google place account there is no data, status is active .can anyone help me to show data and getting result for local search.
Image & Video Optimization | | Alick3000 -
Does position in local directories effect google detecting citations?
There are a lot of local directories that i have seen google pull citations from. Quite often i see people putting listings in these directories prefixed by several "A"s, so that they will appear on the first page of the list. Just how deep does google crawl through the pages of these lists? will google actually crawl through all the pages? Some of these directories offer paid listings that appear at the top of the directory. We have been considering purchasing some of these paid positions, so that google would be more likely to pickup our citations. In one case i have noticed a directory: shopincities.com do something that spiked my interest. Basically, if you start clicking through the different pages of a category, the site will block you after 3 or 4 pages in. It serves you an error saying that you are not human. In my mind this is to prevent google from fully crawling their whole list, so that the people who pay for the top positions are picked up, and the people who don't pay, even though their profiles are listed there, never get crawled by google. So would you pay for position on these directories? here are some examples: http://www.shopincities.com
Image & Video Optimization | | adriandg
http://www.411.ca
http://www.goldbook.com
http://www.n49.ca
http://torontodirect.com
http://www.yellowpages.com Or would you just throw a whole bunch of A's infront of your business name so you appear on the first page of listings? Or do you belive it doesn't matter how deep you are in the listings, and with enough time google will find it regardless and credit it as a citation?0