8 New Location Pages Have Been Indexed But Only 1 Is Showing in SERPS
-
Hi All
Thank you in advance for any help.
Previously we were sending all keyword traffic to our homepage, targeting the main keyword garden rooms plus the seed keywords eg garden studios, garden offices etc.
We created 8 new pages, 4 for each main seed keyword and location and these went live on May 12th. The pages are indexed by google.
The issue is that all searches, except for garden annex brighton, are still pointing to the homepage and not the new location/service pages and now we're on July 27th it seems enough time has gone by.
We've setup this post to ask the question, what can we do to reinforce to google that we want the services pages listed in SERPS and not the homepage?
Here is the list of new pages : -
-
garden offices brighton
-
garden offices sussex
-
garden gyms brighton
-
garden gyms sussex
-
garden annexes brighton
-
garden annexes sussex
-
garden studios brighton
-
garden studios sussex
Many Thanks
-
-
Hello!
I am going to try to help you understand what may be happening and, the most important thing, how you can fix it.
Crawling, indexing and positioning are three fundamental concepts related to the operation of search engines and the visibility of a website in search results. While they may seem closely related to us, they actually represent very different stages of the process a search engine goes through to display relevant results to users.
That is to say, it is not the same that a url is indexed than the fact that a url is positioned in the SERPS. Understanding this is crucial. Below I will tell you how to get those urls to rank well.
If there is no obstacle to indexing, Google will go through the url and index it, that is, it will place it in its index. But to get to show it in the SERPS, you not only have to index it, but you have to position it, that is, consider it relevant for certain keywords or search terms. So your urls may be perfectly well indexed... and perfectly poorly positioned, or simply not even appear in the SERPS.
Once the crawlers have collected the information from the urls, they send it to the search engine's index. The index is a giant database that stores copies of all crawled web pages and the information associated with them. During this indexing process, search engines organize and classify the information collected to facilitate rapid retrieval of relevant results when users search. Well, now you have your urls indexed and ready for the next step.
Ranking, and therefore appearance in the SERPS, has more to do with relevance and quality to a specific search query. When a user performs a search on a search engine, the engine uses sophisticated algorithms to determine which pages should be displayed and in what order in the search results. The objective is to present the user with the most relevant and useful results based on their query... and if your website is very recent or your SEO optimization is not correct or the authority of your domain is not good, you simply will not be able to appear in the results of search or you will appear so far away that you will not be visible to any user.
This strategy of creating urls with specific locations is very good, in fact, we use it a lot for our clients and always with very good results, but you have to take into account some things to make it work perfectly:
-
Index the new urls manually in Google (I understand that you have already done it, so one less thing!)
-
Think that Google POSITIONS urls, not websites, that is, you have to work each url of the different locations separately, each one has to have its SEO optimization, its incoming and outgoing links and its correct internal link, its rich text , all as if you were working on a complete website.
-
Take great care of the content of each url, when we use this type of strategy, one of the biggest mistakes is to copy the text from one to another and modify it slightly. This is a mistake and we will never be able to position them well. Each one has to have its own text, even if the service is the same, make an effort to tell it in a totally different way so that Google does not start considering them duplicate content.
4.Make sure the keyword that url works for is searchable! It seems silly but you have to check it.
-
Make them have enough content to not be considered thin content. If it can be 3,000 words, better than 2,000.
-
Build incoming links for each of them separately, add and expand text with some frequency, take care of your internal linking.
With this, little by little each url will be positioned for its specific location and you will have a great SEO strategy working, but be patient, it takes time and effort, but, yes, afterwards it is wonderful to see them work.
Good luck, if we can help you with anything else, we are here for whatever you need.
-
-
Here are some things you can do to reinforce to Google that you want the services pages listed in SERPs and not the homepage:
-
Use canonical tags: Canonical tags tell Google which page is the main version of a page. You can use canonical tags on your homepage to point to the relevant service page for each keyword.
-
Use hreflang tags: hreflang tags tell Google the language and region of each page. You can use hreflang tags on your service pages to tell Google that they are localized for specific locations.
-
Build backlinks: Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They are a valuable signal to Google that your website is high-quality and authoritative. You can build backlinks to your service pages by guest blogging, submitting your website to directories, and participating in social media.
-
Optimize your content: Your content should be well-written, informative, and relevant to your target keywords. It should also be well-optimized for SEO. This includes using the right keywords in your title tags, meta descriptions, and throughout your content.
-
Use strong anchor text: When you build backlinks to your service pages, use strong anchor text that includes your target keywords. This will help Google to understand that the backlinks are relevant to your service pages.
-
Promote your service pages: Promote your service pages on social media, in your email marketing, and in your offline marketing materials. The more people who know about your service pages, the more likely they are to link to them.
-
Track your progress: Use a website analytics tool to track the traffic to your service pages. This will help you to see how your SEO efforts are performing and make necessary adjustments.
-
Be patient: It takes time for Google to index and rank new pages. Don't expect to see results overnight. Keep optimizing your content and building backlinks, and you should eventually see your service pages start to rank in SERPs.
.
Warm Regards
Rahul Gupta
Suvidit Academy -
-
One thing is Google indexing the pages and other is to have them be listed as the most relevant for the search result. I believe you still need to let more time go by for those new pages to get their proper relevancy. This is one of those times when it is difficult to decipher the logic behind the Google Algorithm, since your home page has been in the index far earlier than those new pages it is pointing back to home page. I had a similar case with a client of mine, and eventually we got the right one. We did however get some backlinks to the newer pages. Maybe that was the defining tactic.
Glad to chat about how it goes. Drop us a line at https://stedica.com
I hope this helped. Cheers
-
I am having similar issue here. Google search console shows the posts are indexed but they are not on SERP even if i search for the exact same title with my site name on it...
Someone help: URL: https://careerwagmi.com
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
-
Happy Local New Year from Miriam
First, I want to thank all of our awesome community members here who continuously post interesting, tough and good Local SEO question in the Moz Q&A forum. I love chatting with you all, and I hope you'll keep asking away, giving us all the opportunity to muse and learn together. I think 2018 is going to be challenging and fun, and have a few thoughts on that I'd like to share, hoping you'll reply with your own tips and predictions. In the new year, I believe: Quality is going to further solidify as the most apparent differentiator of local businesses, giving those companies with the most considerate and excellent service and policies the upper hand. Memorably good customer service will drive the high-star reputation and word-of-mouth marketing that leads to success. Small local businesses have an advantage here, in their agility to implement the most genuine home-town excellence, but bigger brands can strive for this, too. From skilled phone service, to adequate in-store staffing, to employee training, to dedicated management of all online local assets, to initiatives that make a lasting, positive impression on consumers, quality is the key ingredient to loyalty, which is what every local business should most pursue in 2018. Speaking of loyalty, I would especially advise SABs to leave no stone unturned in earning it. Google's LSA program will be a serious disruptor of business-as-usual in this sector, changing the makeup of local SERPs and striving to become the middleman in the service industries. SAB owners won't love having to rent back their customers for a fee to Google, so developing Google-independent streams of leads and repeat customers will be vital in any city where LSA rolls out in the coming year. Serving in a smaller town? Begin working on Google-independence anyway, particularly via word-of-mouth marketing so that you have these streams running in advance, should LSA move beyond the more densely-populated areas. While developing Google-independence, don't overlook Google opportunities that are still free. I think Google Posts was the most interesting development of 2017, and there has been some anecdotal evidence that weekly use of this form of knowledge panel microblogging may give a small ranking boost. Be an early adopter and take advantage of that. 2018 may be the year in which Google finally cracks down on two things: keyword stuffing of the business title and review spam. I'm sure they're tired of the complaints surrounding the former and if Google's commitment to identifying quality remains in place, sooner or later, they have got to deal with this false signal of relevance the same way that have with EMDs. As to the latter, Google's increased focus on reviews over the past year is apparent in the sheer number of emails they are now sending out regarding them. Also fascinating to see that we're closing out 2017 with third-party reviews finally reappearing in Google's local products, after years of absence and trouble with the FTC. Overall, Google knows that their review corpus is dependent on consumers trusting it, and better spam detection methodologies and better/faster response to review spam reporting has got to be on their to-do list. This could be the year! For local businesses, protection lies in abandoning any type of spammy practice (from keyword stuffing to self-reviewing). And, being proactive if you are the victim of review spam. Report it. Raise a polite but firm hullabaloo. Let Google know you hold them to reasonable standards of accountability in their role as public arbiter of brand reputation. The best Local SEO agencies and local business will dig deeper into the history and tactics of organic SEO than ever before. We need to understand Hummingbird, RankBrain, and matching content to the buyer journey with the best of them. We need to master not just linkbuilding, but the relationship building that makes it most authentic and of most lasting value - and this is an area in which local businesses have a massive advantage over virtual ones, in that we can actually meet our neighbors face-to-face to build beneficial bonds. And we need to get a real handle on the technical side of SEO, understanding how site structure, handling of the robots.txt file, and the management of indexation and accessibility issues impact us. When we put high-level knowledge of all these considerations together with our Local SEO know-how, we can be successful in new, exciting ways we may have overlooked in the past. Oh, there's so much more I could say about the interesting things I see coming in 2018, but I'd love it if you'd talk now. What do you see in our industry's near future? I'd love to know. And let me take this opportunity to wish you all a fun, exciting and prosperous new year!
Local SEO | | MiriamEllis11 -
Separating facebook pages for 2 separate but similar companies
I am currently working with a payroll company that has two separate businesses. Payroll services and Time and Attendance services. Currently the client has 1 facebook page with about 50 likes that caters for both companies. My question is.... Should I separate the payroll and time and attendance companies and create 2 separate facebook pages, or since the businesses are so close together, we could use the one page to promote both businesses. We also have a similar issue with LinkedIn company pages. What do you guys think? Separate pages or combine pages? Currently there are 2 separate websites for each companies services.
Local SEO | | donsilvernail0 -
Correct setup: One business, one website, two bricks and mortar locations
Hi all, we have a furniture business with two physical stores and one website, which has the ability to sell online but we hardly sell anything but we're just about to start Google PLA on a few products, let's say our website is at: nicefurniture.co.uk We have nicefurniture.co.uk/first-location and nicefurniture.co.uk/second-location set up with all the store info, a Google Map, contact info, etc. This is linked to from the footer on all pages. Issue 1: I have been told conflicting things about how to best set up our Google My Business page. One person says set the URL for both to our homepage, nicefurniture.co.uk and the other says point each GMB listing to the store location pages OR we should buy www.furniture-first-location.co.uk as our URL and point the GMB listing to that. To me, that doesn't make sense as we'd be spreading our domain equity with a new domain, surely? Issue 2: How do I get each GMB location to show up in Maps, etc when people search for 'furniture location' or even 'sofa location' or 'dining table location'? Would I need to optimize the store pages on our site? Issue 3: Years ago we did set up another URL, let's say nicefurniture-cornwall.co.uk and on it there are about 500 pages, all with links pointing to our main website. Google Search Console for our main website lists this other website as one of our top linking domains. Does that mean if we remove nicefurniture-cornwall.co.uk we'll risk a drop in rankings? Many thanks for your input.
Local SEO | | Bee1590 -
Local SEO Best Practices for 2,000+ 'location' service area business
Hi Moz Community! We operate a business where we have a network of 2,000+ technicians around the country who help people repair their mobile phones. These techs do the fixing at the customer's location, making them service area businesses. Even after scouring all of the go-to places on local SEO, I'm struggling to find best practices for this type of situation - the fact that our techs are operating in service areas presents a number of challenges. The biggest one, it seems, is that inevitably service areas are going to overlap. When I talked to a Google rep on this he said this "might" cause our locations to get de-listed and we'd just have to test and find out. Other challenges include the fact that we cannot bulk upload the service areas of our techs, and we cannot bulk verify - meaning there is a ton of work to do at our scale. Any suggestions on where to go to find resources on this specific topic, or an example of someone doing this well we can model? Thanks everyone!
Local SEO | | JohnGroves1 -
All of our clients are showing an increase in traffic from Brazil?
Hello, I am concerned as all 30 of our clients show traffic coming from Brazil-and they are all locally-serving businesses. What's more, the visitors from Brazil is increasing in GA. It's looking more and more like our competitor is trying to thwart our good rankings by using some overseas IPs to mess with traffic. Is there anything I can do? There is no reason why any of our clients would be relevant to Brazil, as they serve only local clients. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Local SEO | | lfrazer0 -
Local Pages for National (Service) Companies
Hi there, I was wanting to know the value of local pages for a service company that operates nationally. They do not have a phone number or address, but they do maintain employees in each of the locations and are thus, keen to emphasize this fact with location pages. The location pages merely explain that they have staff in each of the locations and experience working there, alongside a variety of information that is relevant to the industry/market in that location. None of the location pages are currently ranking well at all - in fact, all of the ones I've looked at so far have had a page authority of 1. Most of the major towns, cities and counties for the entire UK have been covered which means the location pages constitute a significant proportion of all of the pages for the entire site. My questions are: Is a national service company likely to benefit from having location pages? And could it even be something they could be penalised for at some point down the line? Thanks very much, in advance, for your time. Kind Regards, Tom
Local SEO | | National-Homebuyers0 -
How to have different facebook web address connect to the same page?
Hi i seen some huge website does that, even their facebook cover photos are different but they are all linking to the same page. one of the example is groupon. You can check their fan likes are the same across different web address such as Singapore and Malaysia. any idea guys?
Local SEO | | andrewwatson920 -
Im a big fan of niche web develop/seo companies. I was wondering how many clients can you ethically take on in the same field, located in the same city
How do niche web development companies justify having multiple clients in the same field in the same cities. I would love an explanation on how to justify this, and how many clients in the same field/same city is acceptable. A good example would be an seo company for auto dealers or hotels. Thanks
Local SEO | | aholyman0