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Great discussion here with many excellent points covered by everyone who has responded. I will only add, because I think this is something that may come up frequently, Google's new Keyword Planner Tool only changes the way you might do keyword research - not the way you optimize a site. It is still vital to locally optimize the website. The only difference is that you hopefully now have more and better insight into important terms to include in your optimization.
Hi Dan,
In general, you are correct that Google doesn't commonly show a double organic/local ranking on the first page for most companies. There are two main exceptions to this:
If the query,locale or both have little competition or Google lacks data about them.
The scenario in which a second page on the website is authoritative enough to gain an organic listing, independent of the page that is being linked to from the local result.
Around the Venice update in early 2012, double rankings became almost impossible to find. Slowly, it appears to me that they have become more common in recent times, typically in the above scenarios. There may be other exceptions, as well, but I believe these are the most typical.
Hi Linda,
I will definitely stop by your forum to read up on this. Sounds quite complicated, indeed. Thanks for the heads up!
"Also seeing significant uptick in users that can't reclaim a listing that was previously claimed and that's tied to the new dashboard update as well."
Ouch, that sounds like a tough bug! Thank you so much for popping back in. I appreciate hearing about what you're seeing.
Hi Thomas,
As you are running a design/SEO business, then Google does not consider your business model as truly local to anywhere and will only show organic results for queries like 'web design nyc'. So, everyone competing for phrases like this must do so organically. Your efforts will likely need to include on-going content development, link building and, perhaps, an additional outreach via Social Media, video marketing, etc.
Content development will most certainly stand at the core of your strategy, so finding something of interest and value to write about that will be relevant to your desired NJ audience is the task at hand. For web design firms, a natural choice would be beautiful writeups of projects you've completed for NJ businesses. You might also begin doing features of NJ-based businesses with awesome websites, or websites that could be improved, or websites that help the people of NJ is some special way. You can display some of your expertise by critiquing what works. Basically, you're going to have to brainstorm some great ideas that would make for excellent content and then keep brainstorming and writing so that you can begin to build authority around search terms that relate to New Jersey. But, again, the end goal here will be organic rankings rather than local ones, simply because Google stopped displaying web design and SEO firms for common local queries some years ago.
Your creativity is your best asset towards achievement of your goals. Lots of work ahead! Good luck!
Hi Linda,
Do you have a sense, from talking to your clients, of what percentage of US users are seeing the new dashboard at this point? I haven't seen any recent stats and would be interested to hear your take on this.
Hi Jonathan,
Would you like to link to your other thread? I'd be interested to see it. In the meantime, Google's Local algo has several hundred factors involved. Some of the most important of these are:
1. The business having a physical location in the city it's trying to rank for
2. The consistency of NAP across the Internet
3. Compliance with all Google Places Quality Guidelines (i.e. a lack of guideline violations)
4. The authority of the website
5. Proper choice of categories
6. The quality and quantity of citations
7. The number of Google-based reviews of the business
This is a start. For more information on this subject, I highly recommend that you study the 2012 Local Search Ranking Factors report. *Note, several big changes have happened since this was published but most of the data is still completely accurate:
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
Hope this helps!
Hi Monster Web,
Unfortunately, without actually being able to look at your unique business, this cannot be diagnosed as there are so many variables. If you cannot share this information here, in a case like this, I would recommend that you hire one of the Local SEO firms listed on GetListed.org's recommended companies list so that you can show your info to someone in confidence to begin diagnosing the situation. In the meantime, some things to consider:
1. You say you aren't ranking for desired keyword phrases, but are you at least getting a local result when you search for 'business name + city'? If not, then...
2. How old is the listing?
3. What is the status of the listing in the dashboard (pending, suspended, needs action, etc.)
4. If the listing does exist for the search in question 1 and is simply failing to rank for desired keywords, then...
5. You might be dealing with a penalty; be sure you are compliant with all Google Places Quality Guidelines (http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528).
6. Do some competitive analysis of competitors vs. your business. I like 51 Blocks free local search analysis tool for this. http://www.51blocks.com/online-marketing-tools/free-local-analysis/ This will give you a sense of how you compare to competitors who are ranking well for your desired keywords.
These are just a few thoughts. If you would like to share information about the listing, we can take a better look at your unique situation. If so, please share not only your business info, but also the keyword+geo phrases you are trying to rank for.
Hi Jason,
Good discussion going on here. Thought I would add, I like using 51 Blocks' free Local Competitive Analysis tool when researching issues like this one. Here's the link: http://www.51blocks.com/online-marketing-tools/free-local-analysis/
Hope this helps!
Hi Chanel27,
Kudos to you for wanting to hire a designer with Local SEO savvy. I think this is a very important choice for local businesses as design firms that work mainly with virtual businesses will often not know how to properly organize and optimize a local business website.
I highly recommend that you visit the Trusted Providers list at GetListed.org. Visit the websites of the companies listed there, all of whom have recognized Local SEO expertise, and see which of them offer design. Some only do consulting or Local Search Marketing, but some also do design and would be good candidates for the project you describe. Once you've narrowed down your options to firms on that list who offer local business website design, you might like to have a chat with a few of them to see which ones really 'click' with you. Here's the link:
https://getlisted.org/static/resources/trustedproviders.html
I personally know many of the business owners on GetListed's Trusted Provider list and can say with certainty that you should be in good hands with anyone you choose from that list. Good question and good luck!
Hi Ricky,
Absolutely, when working with local businesses like dentists, you should be specifying their location in many areas of their website. These might include title and meta description tags, alt tags, link anchor text, on-page content, and schema-encoded NAP (name, address, phone number) on the footer and contact page of the website. Of course, do this in a non-spammy manner - as Wesley mentions - stuffing is neither necessary nor desirable. Your brick-and-mortar clients will typically be hoping for inclusion in Google's local results for the city in which they are physically located. Google will show these results both to searches who are in that city or who are including that city in their search term. For SABs (service area businesses like plumbers and carpet cleaning companies), again, the client should aim for local inclusion for the city where they are physically located, but organic inclusion for their service cities where they aren't physically located. This is how it typically works.
Hi 20_Creative,
Linda has given a very helpful and on-target answer here. Your potential client is certainly entitled to having more than one website (though I find that can be a sort of complicated approach vs. simply having a landing page on the website for each store) and a Google Place Page/+ Local page corresponding to each physical store, but each location is only likely to rank for its city of location, so this needs to be understood as you plan your Local SEO approach. I recommend a quick re-fresher on the Google Places Quality Guidelines:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528
Hi Shay,
Good question! I'll do my best to provide a thorough answer here, because the topic is somewhat complex. I'll number my points for easier reading.
If your business has a single physical location but serves clients in multiple locations (like a plumber, a mobile notary public or a carpet cleaning business) your business would be classified as an SAB (a service area business). Special rules and opportunities apply to SABs.
It is of primary importance to understand how Google views local search. In Google's eyes, any business is a most relevant result for its city of location. So, a barber shop in Chicago is a most relevant result for people search for 'barber shop chicago' or searching for 'barber shop' from a Chicago-based device. This also applies to SABs. So, even if a plumber located in San Francisco also serves clients Oakland, Mill Valley and Berkeley, Google still sees him as a most relevant to San-Francisco related or based searches because that is where he has his physical location.
What this means is that SABs can typically only pursue Local rankings for their city of location and and must pursue Organic rankings for all of their other service cities.
This means that you will only be creating one local business listing at each local business index (like Google Places for Business, Yahoo Local, Bing Places for Business, Yelp, etc.). This listing will revolve around your core business NAP (name, address, phone number) You will NOT be creating local listings for your service cities. Please especially familiarize yourself with the Google Places Quality Guidelines so that you do not risk penalties for accidental guideline violations: http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528
You will be working toward high Local rankings for your city of location via a variety of methods, including having a very strong, locally-optimized website, getting listed in various indexes, getting cited by other types of publications such as local blogs and websites and earning a diverse, slow but steady variety of reviews , among other things.
For your other service cities, you will be employing traditional SEO methods in hopes of gaining visibility for these other places you serve. This will typically included the development of city landing pages on your website (see: <cite>www.solaswebdesign.net/wordpress/?p=1403</cite>) and earning links from influential places.
I'll close with a common SAB question. SAB owners often ask if there is any chance at all of them being included in the local results for their service cities. The answer to this is, it can happen, but it's uncommon. If a business happens to be in an area of very low competition (like the only carpet cleaning company in a large rural area) then it does sometimes happen that they will show up in the local results for more than just their city of location, but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule.
With the right approach and lots of hard work, SABs can see tons of benefits from promoting themselves on the web. There are extra hurdles to jump, but it can be done. Hope this helps!
Hi Matt,
Unfortunately, yes, it can take weeks for images to go live these days. The only way to speed things up is to submit user generated images instead of doing it from your dashboard and I think this is an odd workaround. So, while you should be sure you're complying with the guidelines Tim linked to, you will have to wait it out. This is something Google will hopefully improve!
Good discussion going on here! While I agree with the comments here that strong local businesses are still faring well in the SERPs, I, too, have noticed Google's bias towards Yelp and actually blogged about this recently. A few years ago, there was a similar situation going on with Merchant Circle. Practically every local search would bring up Merchant Circle listings, but it seems to me that MC has now been replaced by Yelp with similar results. I rarely see MC results on page one, but Yelp has become extremely dominant. This could change, of course, but for now, having a well-maintained Yelp profile is very important for most local businesses.
Hi Sida,
If you wish to go beyond the free basic Yahoo Local listing, you can get an enhanced listing for about $10/month in the U.S. I am not being shown UK rates, but here is the page I'm looking at:
http://beta.listings.local.yahoo.com/comp.php
Honestly, unless you have money to burn (and few small businesses do), paying the amount you've specified may not be a good investment unless your company has proof that your customers are heavy users of Yahoo! Local. There are countries where something like YP is so dominant that paying for inclusion may be worth it, because they are literally one of the only strong indexes in 'town', but this is probably not the case in the UK.
Jonathan - please let me know if you still don't feel that your question has been answered.
Hi Abith,
Typically, yes, your inclusion in the local results is likely to cause the disappearance of your previous organic rank. This is because your previous organic rank will be subsumed into your new blended local rank. It has been uncommon since the Venice update of early 2012 for any business to have more than one page one spot in the SERPs. Exceptions to this:
In areas with low competition (like a single bakery serving a large rural area with no competitors) or areas for which Google lacks much data.
When a second, interior page of a website is strong enough to achieve a second organic ranking, independent of the index page which is typically what is used on the Google+ Local page.
Sometimes, I'm surprised by the exceptions I run into out there in the wild, but typically, no, if you have a local ranking, you generally won't also have a page 1 organic ranking.
Hi Call Ring Talk,
You have already received such awesome and helpful replies from the community, I will only add a bit here, some of which will be a summary of what others have written.
Local rankings depend on a ton of different factors. Where you have a physical location, your best bet is typically to pursue local rankings. If you are a Service Area Business (SAB) you must pursue organic rankings for your service cities. Per your original question, the development of city landing pages on your website is one of the best tactics for achieving organic rankings for cities where you serve but where you have no physical location. For more information on the topic of city landing pages, I have been told that this piece has been really helpful to a ton of people:
The Nitty Gritty of City Landing Pages
If the whole concept of Local SEO is new to you, I recommend that you read through all of the articles on GetListed.org, which is a MOZ website. Here is the link to the Learning Center:
https://getlisted.org/static/resources/
I further recommend that you follow Local Search Godfather, Mike Blumenthal, on a regular basis:
And that you review the 2012 Local Search Ranking Factors report, though many things have changed in the past year. For many years running, this has been the premiere Local SEO industry survey:
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
One of the keys to successful Local SEO for any business is staying on top of the nearly-constant changes that happen in this area of marketing. Keep current and it will serve your business well!
Hi Ignite,
You've pointed out an interesting negative nuance of being included in the local results. Google will sometimes show more than one location in the local pack of results for a multi-location business, but not always, and if you have more than a couple of locations, it's very unlikely that they will all show up in the Local results unless you are literally the only game in town. For a broad phrase in a metro location, you probably will never achieve more than a single Local result, unfortunately, so, yes, I can see what you are saying about your previous organic results essentially being a more accurate representation of a franchise-type business than a single local result would be. There isn't really anything you can do about this, per se, but developing content that achieves you broader visibility organically for things like 'best clam chowder in boston' and other more long tail-type phrases is a path open to you for diversifying traffic.
Hi Ignite,
I'll bring your experience as a PRO member to the attention of our Help Team. I'll point them to this thread. Thank you for letting me know!
Hi Tim,
I think this is such a good point you make:
...building a wider footprint that is more valuable.
I think that diversity of the kind you describe is very healthy. *Bear in mind, you cannot rely on the figures in the Google Places dash, but yes, broadening the footprint is so important. Like your answer!
Hi Ignite,
They are included in current ranking reports for PRO members, yes. Hope you will give it a try!
You are experiencing a common phenomenon with your organic vs. local rankings. Since the Venice update, it has become uncommon for any local business to have more than one spot per results page. So, if you make it into the local pack of results, you are likely to see your previous organic rank disappear because it has been subsumed into your new blended local rank. There are exceptions to this, but what you are describing is pretty typical.
Unfortunately, I do not know of any high level studies that have compared CTR for local vs. organic. It would be great if someone would publish such a study. Hope this helps.
Sounds like an a-ha moment to me, Jeff! Good find, and keep digging. It's amazing how many times a piece of data can be duplicated on the web. Citation cleanup is not a favorite job of mine, but it is worth the effort.
My pleasure, Lisa, and I really like the Google=IRS analogy. Agreed! Hang in there. I know how you feel.
Hi Jeff,
So your client's profile's duplicate listing has a different website address than the authoritative listing? My advice is the same to follow the steps I've outlined and see what happens. Patience is a big virtue in Local. But, I will add to this...you are going to need to back this up with a citation cleanup campaign if there are other local business listings out there with your client's old website listed on them. You need to clean up the whole Internet record for the client in a case like this, or there is a chance that your Google+ Local listing will revert to old/bad data because of the way data feeds from one source to another. Thought I would mention.
Hi Bodie,
Yes, I think this is playing in the grey area. If the business owner actually wants to make his used and new car dealerships two companies with completely separate legal business names or DBAs, addresses with separate walk-in entrances, phone numbers and websites with completely unique content, then yes, you'd be talking about two different businesses, but that seems like an awful lot of real-world trouble to go to just to get a second Place page, eh? Chances are, a car dealership with both used and new cars is simply a single business with different specialties and should only be running a single website with a single Place/+ Local page.
What would happen if you went ahead with this plan, anyway, without the company actually being two legally separate entities? Honestly, you might be able to get away with it for awhile. Google is often not super sharp about upholding their policies and iffy stuff can ride for a long time. But...the risk is big. Should Google ever decide that they don't like what they are seeing, they could penalize or remove the listing from the index and if there is any association at all between the 2 listings, they could penalize the whole profile. This isn't a risk I would take for my clients, and for a business model like you're describing, like a car dealership, I would not advise the hypothetical approach you are considering. Rather, I would recommend that the client build the strongest local profile he can for his business and then consider other forms of marketing such as Social Media, Video Marketing, new content, development, etc. to continue to build additional visibility.
Hope this helps!
Hi Lisa,
I would recommend that you try to have a phone call with Google staff. Follow this process.
First, find all duplicate listings and click the 'report a problem' link on the right hand side. This will take you through the report a problem trouble shooter.
Then, I would wait a couple of weeks and if nothing changes, use this troubleshooter:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
Choose this option, as I am presuming you've got incorrect data issues spread out over a variety of duplicates:
Listing data, including title, address, phone, URL, categories, hours, description, or coupons
Then click the 'yes' button.
You will get a phone option and can hopefully have a conversation with a live person at Google regarding your multiple issues with the client. If they give you advice, I would then check up on the validity of it by visiting the Google and Your Business forum to see if it matches similar advice being given there by other Google employees (http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/business).
Regarding claiming an existent listing, please read the following:
And be sure to follow all of the links in the above piece to get the full picture from Mike Blumenthal on this. Hope this helps!
Hi Bodie,
My pleasure. Are you stating that you work at a large business that has more than one front entry door for clientele (like a hospital with an emergency room and a separate radiology department?) If so, then you are allowed to create more than one listing for the business under the following Google Places Quality Guideline:
Departments within businesses, universities, hospitals, and government buildings may be listed separately. These departments must be publicly distinct as entities or groups within their parent organization, and ideally will have separate phone numbers and/or customer entrances.
If this is an accurate description of your business model, then I would simply have a single website with unique landing pages for the different public offices and tie these pages to the distinct Place Pages/+ Local Page for the business. Anything that doesn't really fit the above would not be a good idea.
I would not recommend associating an identical business name with two different websites and Place Pages if it is really the same business. What Google wants is for you to make a totally realistic representation of your business on the web; not to try to appear like you are larger, more diverse, or different than you really are in real life. I know how important it is to do all you can to gain the broadest visibility, but I believe that all efforts must be founded on an authentic presentation of any business, and this appears to be Google's view, too. Hope this helps!
Hi Wayne,
Your local area code phone number is the 'P' in your core business NAP (name, address, phone). Listing it consistently as your primary phone number is crucial to you sending a clear signal. Glad you asked, as this is very important!
Hi CG,
I will leave this question open for discussion rather than marking it as answered in case any attorneys drop by who would like to add to it.
Hi Cgman,
I can't speak for Linda, but what I believe she is saying is that SABs have extra problems to deal with, so why even list a brick-and-mortar business as one if you don't have to? Typically, a legal firm would be considered a brick-and-mortar business and listing it as such would simply be 'easier'. Linda, is that what you meant?
Sorry to hear that Chris. Bede, would you happen to have an update on what you reported about your client on this back in March? I'd love to hear, too.
Hi Chase,
Great questions. I highly recommend that you study GetListed.org's Local Search Ecosystem infographic to start getting a handle on the big players and the way in which data feeds from one source to another. It's a truly awesome illustration of how this all works:
https://getlisted.org/static/resources/local-search-data-providers.html
Hi CGMAN,
Which dashboard are you seeing? The old one or the new one? The 2 options that you've listed in your original question are worded in such a way that I'm not recognizing them. Please, provide further details. As an aside...a 119 mile radius is enormous. It's typically considered a best practice not to go above 20-30 miles and I would be surprised if the big radius you've set is actually contributing to rankings. Curious about that.
Hi BC,
Yes, you can typically expect the organic rank to be subsumed into the Places rank if you create a Google Places/+ Local page for the client. This is a very common outcome and it remains uncommon, though not impossible, for businesses to have more than one results per SERPs page.
Hi Jeff,
While I can't produce the exact results you are seeing in Canada, I am seeing some of the same things you are. Interestingly, the title of the result that says 'Two Small Men' isn't stemming from the Google+ Local page if you click through, and it also isn't stemming from the title tag of the home page. Wonder if there is a duplicate listing? On the one with (Moving Company) in parentheses, yes, that's a pretty clear violation. I understand how frustrating it is to have competitors getting away with violations. It's just like this in Local. Businesses can get away with intentional and accidental violations for months or years before Google takes notice and hammers down. You might consider reporting that your cities results are full of spam on the Google and Your Business Forum (http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/business). It might help, but I wouldn't count on it, unfortunately.
Regarding your duplicate, did you first use the 'report a problem' link on the duplicate listings? If so your next step would be to use this troubleshooter, which is the best way to seek resolution:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
If you've not tried this yet, give it a try.
Hi Tom,
Rather than re-invent the wheel on this, let me just link to Mike Blumenthal's excellent guide on how to handle the scenario you are describing. Be sure to read the article, in full, including looking at the previous pieces linked to in Mike's post:
I'm 99% sure this will be exactly what you need, but if you don't find the answer you were hoping for, just let me know.
Hi Jon,
Your competitor should not be included in the local results for his display homes as these fall under the following Google Places Quality Guidelines (http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528
"Rental or for-sale properties, such as vacation homes or vacant apartments, are not eligible to be listed on Google Maps and should not be verified. Instead, verify the listing for your sales or leasing office or offices. If you have a property with an on-site office, you may verify that office location."
So, unless there is an office on the property that can be listed, this type of property cannot be included. How is your competitor getting away with this? I don't know. Perhaps they have an on-site office, or perhaps it's a goof on Google's part. Place Pages/+ Pages that are in violation of the guidelines certainly exist and can be live for an indeterminate amount of time before Google takes notice and penalizes or removes them. If the competitor is violating the guidelines, they are in danger of their whole profile falling under suspicion if/when Google catches on to the fact that they have listed vacant properties. If you feel that the competitor's current advantage is unfair, you do have the option to report the listings, but that's about all you can do.
Hope this helps.
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the definition. I recommend that you utilize Mike Blumenthals Local Business Center Category Tool (http://blumenthals.com/index.php?Google_LBC_Categories) and you will start to see why you are going to have difficulty marketing this business in a traditional local way. The term 'pregnancy care center' is associated with the following synonyms:
Pregnancy Care Center abortion, clinics, ob gyn, obstetrics
So, if the business chooses to market itself through typical local channels (Like Google Places, Yahoo Local, Bing Places for Business, Yelp, etc.) there is a very high chance that your core term, Pregnancy Center, is going to be mistakenly associated with abortion clinics, which is clearly not what your client wants. I'm not sure this is avoidable, however the client chooses to market itself. Even if the website is 100% clear regarding what services are and are not offered at the center, people often fail to read website well and the center may end up fielding calls for services not offered. Of course, this is a risk factor for literally any type of business model. An auto body shop may get calls for muffler repair, even if they don't offer it, right?
If you are the marketer for the project, I believe your task will be to explain the risk/benefits scenario to the client. There is going to be a built-in grey area for the company. Some people may see their business on or offline and think it is an abortion clinic, a right wing organization, a birthing center, etc. I don't see a way around this and it is likely something the center is already dealing with. So, basically, they need to make an informed decision as to the amount of publicity they wish to earn, as this will likely be commensurate with the amount of traffic/phone calls, etc., they are receiving for services they don't offer, while at the same time, bringing them new business from the right types of clients.
Hi Chase,
Linda has given you very good information here. I also recommend that you check out 51 Blocks' competitive analysis tool: http://www.51blocks.com/online-marketing-tools/free-local-analysis/
Though not, per se, a ranking tool, it provides a great deal of free insight into why certain businesses are achieving certain rankings.
Hi Christopher,
Google stated in February of this year that they plan to make duplicate listing management easier in future, showing all versions of a listing in the dashboard and asking if they are all of the same business, but this has yet to materialize unfortunately. It can't happen soon enough, in my opinion!
Right now, one way to deal with this is to go to the duplicate Google+ Local pages in question and click the 'report a problem' link on the right hand side and go through the troubleshooter. You will find a radio button for 'Place is a duplicate of another place'. That would be the one to choose.
I would try that first and give it a few weeks to see if your request for removal works. If not, the second thing I would do is go to the My Listing Has Incorrect Information Troubleshooter:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
Again, select the radio button that refers to duplicates and walk through the wizard. It will ask you if you already tried reporting through the 'Report A Problem' link. This troubleshooter may actually lead you to a phone call, if you are lucky.
Be prepared for this process to take time, Christopher, and keep crossing your fingers that Google will eventually implement easier dashboard management for this incredibly common issue.
Hi Jason,
I'm not familiar with the term 'pregnancy center', but Google has two pre-set categories for 'birth center' and 'midwife' if this describes what your company provides. If so, these are the main terms I would target in your optimization. If this is not your focus, please provide further details. Thanks!
Hi Bob,
I like Chris' answer, and will add to this. The naturalness of an overall review profile is important to think about. Additionally, a big reason I would not recommend getting only Google Places/+ reviews is that this product has been plagued time and again with massive review loss for years. The Google And Your Business Forum is swimming in reports of business owners having lost many or all of their reviews. If this happens and they don't happen to have any reviews any place else, then they are suddenly in a review-less state with absolutely no record of their good service.
So, while Google Places/+ Local is likely to be one of the most important sites to earn reviews on, it is definitely not the only site and a diverse review profile is good insurance against massive review loss. I recommend that businesses let their customers pick their own favorite review sites. You can steer some clients, if you like, but in the end, if a customer only likes to use Angie's List, by all means, thank her for reviewing the company there. Don't ever insist that she only use Google Places/+.
Bob,
Has your question been answered by the thoughtful responses on this thread? If not, could you please provide a bit more detail (like an example) so that we can work to get to the heart of the matter? Thanks!
Hi BobGW,
Provided you are getting them from quality sources, then, no, I would not be concerned about having more citations that competitors. However, if you have far surpassed your competitors in the number of citations you've earned and it isn't achieving a defined goal (like rankings for certain target keywords), then I would recommend that you devote effort to other pieces of the puzzle. So, for example, if it's obvious that a business is lacking reviews, turning your attention there would likely be a wiser use of time/budget than continuing to build citations if you've already outdistanced the competition in that area.
*Nota Bene: Though you didn't ask about this, Bob, I will add - don't get a ton more reviews than any of your competitors. While you want to have more reviews than your direct competitors, you don't want to earn a TON more as this can look spammy.
Hi Edward,
Great question! It's important to understand that, in the Local business arena, business descriptions will automatically be duplicated across numerous platforms because certain data providers feed listing info to many others. If you take a look at David Mihm's Local Search Ecosystem graphic, you will see how some of these relationships work:
https://getlisted.org/static/resources/local-search-data-providers.html
So, because this type of duplication is baked into the system, there is nothing you can do about some amount of duplicate content when you are creating listings for your local business.
That being said, I think it's a good idea to write 2-3 different descriptions when building citations because different platforms allow you to publish descriptions of different lengths. Take advantage of those platform that allow you to offer a fuller write-up of the business, by all means! And that goes for wedding-specific directories as well. If you are allowed to write a unique and detailed description on a prestigious wedding site, I think it will be worth your time to create something new. But you will never avoid duplication in a citation campaign, simply because of the data feeds going from one platform to another. This is not something I would worry about.
Hi OOMDO,
I'm afraid I am not understanding what you are describing, particularly this sentence:
"let's say one of those cities ends up being outside of the state though for another landing page, then it usually ends up on page two."
Typically, city landing pages target one city per page, but this does not sound like what you are describing. Please, provide further details if you can. Thanks!
Hi Gael,
The Google Places Quality Guidelines (see: http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528) are very clear for situations like this one:
You also can't create a Places listing for an ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don't own or have the authority to represent. Please coordinate with your host to have your information displayed on their Place Page within their Description field.
So, unfortunately, the dance teacher is not eligible for creating their own Place Page for these places where they teach classes. They would need to coordinate with the studio owner to be mentioned on the studio's Place Page/website.
Great to see you here, Linda! I hope you'll love your new membership.