Google Places page not showing up in Google and Google+ Local search
-
Hi,
Case Resolved
Enam
-
Hi MIriam,
Thank you for your excellent reference and great info!
According to your link at http://searchengineland.com/be-wary-of-call-tracking-numbers-in-local-search-26895, we suspect that our call tracking may not be done correctly because it uses a new anchor number instead of our business number on our website.
I have also created a new Google+ Local page following Mark's suggestion, and will see how it goes.
Really appreciate the helpful feedbacks from SEOmoz, we just joined the community a few days ago and it seems very useful!
Enam
-
Hi Enam,
You've received some great and thoughtful responses on this. I'll add just a bit more.
- Call tracking numbers are taboo in the local sphere. Do not use them. See:
http://searchengineland.com/be-wary-of-call-tracking-numbers-in-local-search-26895
www.davidmihm.com/blog/smbiz/more-call-tracking-local-search/
Whether this is causing your problem or not, it may very well be causing other problems or will cause them in future. I recommend you not use call tracking.
- The auto industry is being especially scrutinized by Google right now due to the overwhelming amount of spam. In fact, according to Mike Blumenthal, Google authorized him to state that most car dealership reviews are spam:
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/07/30/google-local-and-review-issues/
Now, whether the presence of spam reviews in the auto industry is also leading to penalties of listings, I have not heard, but I have certainly heard, in the past, of listings being docked for having spammy reviews.
-
Missing pages and weak rankings are often the result of duplicate listings. In the past, it was very easy to figure this out, because a phone number lookup in Google Maps would show you duplicates. However, a couple of weeks ago, it was noticed that this type of search was no long revealing duplicates, so you cannot, at the moment, discover hidden duplicates that could be affecting the whole profile. This is really a pain and I hope Google will fix it. They have been made aware of the problem.
-
You've asked a great question here about your scenario, and people have given good thought to this, but if you want a response from the horse's mouth, I would recommend that you post this same question in the Google and your Business Forum. Why? Because there is always a chance that what you are experiencing is a bug, in which case, only Google can remedy it.
-
Hi, Thank you so much for all your feedbacks! SEOSHARK, I still have no solid evidence that the phone tracking codes are causing us the issue....may I ask, when you have phone tracking codes on your website, do they give you an anchor phone number and show dynamic phone numbers on your websites from time to time whenever the website is refreshed? And you have a different phone number on your Google Place? Rob Rance, many thanks for your points, what is a 'NAP'? Mark Apsey, thank you so much for your suggestion, I can certainly try that approach. But given the current stage, we're quite confuse of which URL to use in creating another Google+ local listing. Can you tell us the link that you use to create another Google+ local listing? Also, when you're asked by Google if it is a duplicate listing, do you have to answer 'Yes' in order to continue to re-claiming the original listing? When you said 'the original listing', did you mean the original Google+ Page that you created? Or your Google Places? Enam
-
Enam-
This is happening with alot of businesses throughout the US. Here is what we have been doing to solve the problem....
We are creating another Google+ local listing. We start the process from scratch and ask for the verification code to be sent. We have found on several occasions that with the new listing process, we are able to quickly get the listing up and working correctly. We then go in and eliminate the original listing and page. There have been times where Google asks us during the process, if it is a duplicate listing and then at that point we work through the process of re-claiming the original listing and making SEO adjustments to content. This has been effective.
I would also agree with Rob in that fact that a local phone number will help your cause.
Good luck. Hope this helps..
Mark
-
I have read in forums and elsewhere that car dealers are getting pinged by Google in the same way they dealt with Locksmiths. This is due to the abuse of reviews by spiffing sales people to get reviews.
Of course SEOSHARK is right its crazy right now until they get the plus dashboard in place etc. Google always phases things in step by step and then it becomes clear what they are doing.
I would also be concerned about messing with phone numbers - a consistent NAP is critical across all listings and lack of a local number is usually a negative
-
Dear Enam,
There are MANY issues going " CRAZY" with the +/Places Migration. I read in a forum last night that is a couple months old where the Google gate keeper said to NOT make adjustments.....
However have found a way today that I think may solve the problem, however, understand that most of what you are going through is GOOGLES GLITCH.... NOT YOUR SITE..
As far as the code you added to your website, I suggest otherwise.....
I have tracking numbers on more than 300 websites, and is MUCH MUCH cleaner that several lines of code for Google to have to crawl through looking for information about YOUR Site....
Feel free to give me a call or write, glad to help
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
-
Good Example of Local Pages With Multiple Services
Can I get a site that is well optimized and has a good landing page for a business that serves multiple regions with multiple services. For example they may have construction and mold removal services and serve Indianapolis, Columbus Ohio, Louisville Ky.
Image & Video Optimization | | Atomicx0 -
Local Listings
I use getlisted.org as my local listing guideline. For some of the local listings you can "upgrade" the listing for a price instead of doing just the basic free listing. I was wondering do people pay for the listing and is it worth it? Are some of them better than others to get an upgraded listing? Thanks for the help!
Image & Video Optimization | | ClickIt0 -
Local Citation Sites
After searching through many local citation site I find that most only apply to the US. Are there any really good ones in Canada?
Image & Video Optimization | | casper4340 -
Local listing | Virtual office
Hi Miriam (and all Local SEO mozers), I read a couple of your answers where you advice people in different situations not to consider a virtual office when creating their Google Places listing and I would like to know if you would apply the same advice in my case. This is the scenario: I have a client who's in the limousine service in Orlando, he just bought the URL and registered the business with the City using a "virtual office" in Orlando. This virtual office provides him a physical address, local area phone number, 411 listing, a listing for the businesses in that building and an office to have his meetings. This is the part where it gets confusing when I read your answers and I will give you an example. You said here:
Image & Video Optimization | | echo1
_The requirements in order to qualify for a Google Place Page are that you have: __1. A legal business name__2. A local area code phone number__3. A physical street address (not a P.O. box or virtual office) to which customers either come to do business with you or from which your employees depart in order to serve customers at their locations (think chimney sweep, landscaper, etc.)_Number 3 says "A physical street address (not a P.O. box or virtual office) to which customers either come to do business with you".
My client is going to rent one of those virtual offices, which does have a physical address, on as-needed basis. This office actually does exist. Why would Google have anything against it?
One of the reasons why he chose that location is because he is running the business from home and he does not want the clients to see it.
Another reason is the image he wants to create for his company by having a different address where he can hold meetings and such. The phone number will be either a local land-line or a local cell phone number, in any case, it will be a _local area code phone number. _
So this is where we stand: he dispatches the cars from home (he does not have a garage, the cars stay with the drivers 24 hours) but he meets his clients and business partners at the other address. There is nothing fake about it, he does have a legal business name, a local area code number and a real place where customers come to do business with. Which address should I use for his Google Places listing?0 -
Google Places with locations inside of a mall
I got a great question from a franchise owner today regarding Google Places for his business. His businesses are all in malls. With Google Places there is an emphasis on using consistency and full contact details, as we well know. The issue is his locations are in a mall and don't have a physical address to receive mail or verify their address. Is there a way to leverage Google Places in this kind of situation, or do you just use the general mall address?
Image & Video Optimization | | SarahGoliger0 -
Google Local Result - wrong decription
A client's description in their Google Places result is incorrect. It looks as though it may have been cached several months ago with incorrect data. Note: By description I am referring to the text that appears directly under the URL and directly above the "places page" link on a results page, not the local listing "description". Any suggestions as to how this can be fixed? All the information on their local page is correct. The website's meta-description is correct. The organic results listing has the correct description. Any tips would be awesome. Thanks,
Image & Video Optimization | | OptioPublishing
Jason0 -
Google Shopping in SERPS - What % of clicks do they get?
Howdy, Looking for any data we can get on the % of click through the shopping results are getting in Google SERPs. There are tons of variables: how many products & which position the shopping feeds and images are shown in but any hard data would be helpful. The background is that we have a client who ranks #1 in Google for a shopping related term and their organic traffic is down in 2011 for this main keyword which has ranked #1 all year since the shopping feeds are continually showing above or below the 1st Google position vs sporadic or no display in years prior. I.e. They aren't happy the traffic is down & we are looking for some data we can provide them with beyond, "Google shopping is now eating part of your organic traffic for that term". Many thanks in advance!!
Image & Video Optimization | | WebpageFX0 -
Citations have dissapeared from places listing
This site citations have dissapeared from the 'more about this place' and looks to have effected the maps ranking by dropping the listing a few places: http://maps.google.com.au/maps/place?hl=en&ie=UTF8&q=stella+settlements&fb=1&gl=au&hq=stella+settlements&hnear=Perth+WA&cid=9895804169495459418&z=14 The citations that have been removed are: http://www.truelocal.com.au/business/stella-settlements/burswood http://www.hotfrog.com.au/Companies/Stella-Settlements http://www.yellowpages.com.au/wa/burswood/stella-settlements-13951907-listing.html (all of these are listed on other competitors citations currently) (also the places page is using the reviews on Truelocal.com.au listing above which is strange) Do you know why these citations listings have been removed, however these have not been removed on competitors places pages by Google? thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | nickydunin0