Heads up on new Google Local Guidelines
-
Good Morning All!
I'm starting this thread just as a heads-up to all of the super folks in our community who live and breathe Local that Google has just launched one of the bigger overhauls of their quality guidelines that I've seen in some time. I want to be sure no one in our community misses this. Check out:
https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en
Not only has the title and style of the page undergone a revamp, but don't miss these changes:
-
Google abandons the use of descriptors. Now you see 'em, now you don't. I have to say, I knew from day one that these were not going to last and thought they were a terrible feature for maintaining NAP consistency.
-
Significant tweaks to Google's explanation of choosing categories, including requiring the use of unique categories for different departments. I thought this was interesting because category differentiation has long been a Local SEO tip for reducing the risk of merging. Now, this practice is a guideline.
-
New guidelines for naming practice/practitioner listings
...and a whole lot more! Mike Blumenthal has posted a good little post on the guideline update here:
If you have a minute, check out the changes today, as you may discover you need to make some edits to your Google+ Local pages to be guideline-compliant.
-
-
Mikes drill-down is especially apropos of this whole change....do click to see what I mean, eh!
And thanks Miriam - nice nice catch!
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
-
New Google My Business - No more Google+?
I created and verified a new Google My Business page for a client and found that there won't be any more Google+ created automatically. I spoke to Google Support and they confirmed this is the case because apparently, the two Google products confuse people. Now, if we want a G+ page created for our client, we have to go and 'Apply' for one here - https://plus.google.com/create We're not sure how to go moving forward with new clients. Has anyone tried to apply for a G+ account successfully using the above link? If we create a new Gmail account, don't we get a G+ account anyway (or is that not the case as well)?
Local Listings | | nhhernandez0 -
My website Not ranking in google
Hey there, My website Created in wix , & its Ranking in google, i have searched & get know That Websites By wix are nt getting indexed by google is this true?? If not then what are steps i can take To boost MY Site SEO I have Read article Of Wix Here . please check, Thnx in advace
Local Listings | | falguniiepl10 -
Good service for loactions for google maps
Hi guys, I have one client from the locksmith niche. His service is in almost all the us but he dos not have fiscal location. Because that all the locksmith niche are consider a bit gray, so we noticed that Google not all the time accept the address (Virtual offices). Do you know good service that can give me good solution for this ? something that will give me good reliable address... Thanks
Local Listings | | EdmondHong870 -
SEO best practices for store locator and local pages - 301 or not?
I have been struggling to answer this on my own and now throwing up for the Moz community for a life line. Our company has several location across 6 states. We have local pages that we are working to improve with better content. We also have a store locator that will list the stores but the pages are not the same. See below example. I can't help but feel like I am splitting juice and traffic that should be combined to one page for each location. Any ideas or advice on how we can best combine/funnel the traffic to one optimized page? Here is an example: State local page - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/michigan/ Locator page for state - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/locator/?state=MI City local page - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/michigan/grand_rapids City Locator page - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/locator/?id=183&state=MI
Local Listings | | devonkrusich0 -
List of categories for Google Business for the UK
Does anyone have a compete list of the business categories for the UK Google Business listings? I have done a few searches on line and not uncovered anything up to date. Thanks in advance.
Local Listings | | highwayfive0 -
Business from UK Showing up in Canada local search, how can I report it?
Hello Everyone, So we have a problem. There is another business with the same name as ours showing up on Google Local/ Google maps when I type in our business name in Google. Our name is Brighton College, and the other business is Brighton College, however they are from the UK. They are showing up on the right hand side with their wikipedia page and on Google Maps and we aren't, but I'm searching in Canada on Google.ca across the street from our college. Any idea on how to fix this? Thank you!
Local Listings | | jhinchcliffe1 -
Correlation between ranking on Google organic result page and ranking on the local listing
Hi Moz fans, A quick question: any correlation between ranking on Google organic result page and ranking on the local listing or vise versa? Thnx Saab
Local Listings | | S.Saab0 -
Google automatically generating and verifying duplicate business pages?
Was on the phone with Google Support about duplicate, verified pages showing up and they said they're doing a "cleanse" in which an automated system is reviewing existing listings and making decisions as to how those look, which often results in a new page that Google then automatically verifies. Their Support phone system has been bogged down with people calling in, but I'm not seeing anything when I search about this issue. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Local Listings | | copyjack0