Are Category Names Allowed for Local Results?
-
I was under the impression naming your business something like "Miami Plumber Joe Smith" was a violation of google's guidelines...but I see these pop up all the time. Unlike backlinks from thin content sites or whatever, this seems like a pretty easy fix for google to change if they wanted to.
Am I missing something or has google just not dropped the hammer yet?
- Ruben
P.S. All those businesses I've seen, have no reviews and poor citation scores. i can only assume, they rank in the maps because of the keyword in the name.
-
Thanks for the extra insight, Linda. Much obliged!
-
Hi Ruben,
Keyword stuffed names are a major violation but one that Google often does not penalize.
Check out "Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney". 2 fake names occupy the C and D spots.
Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer (Site used is AVVO.com)
Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney (Site used is Lawyer.com)Both listings are really for Brenner Law. Same location and phone #.
Tons of us have blogged about it and reported to Google numerous times. Even reported to Matt Cutts a few times. The listings violate the guidelines PLUS 2 should not be showing in the pack like that for the same business anyway.
This is due to the bad Pigeon algo that was released 7/24. Pigeon is rewarding lots of spam. However KW stuffed names have been a problem for a long time. Just worse since Pigeon.
-
Hi Ruben,
Yes, a business named Bob's Stuff that titles itself Tampa Florida Boats, Sails & Marina Equipment on their Google+ Local page is definitely spamming Google. Such a title would not be covered by Google's descriptor feature by any stretch of the imagination. What you are referencing, I am as certain I can be that Google would consider spam.
-
Thanks, Miriam, I had read something about that. However, in my example, it's beyond just the one word descriptor.
The exact example is "Tampa Personal Injury Attorney" google plus page, and the business is "Capaz Law Firm." I feel like that is beyond what google's descriptors should allow, but I'll do a little more research...perhaps I missed something.
Best,
Ruben
-
None of these people legitimately named themselves that. The google plus page didn't match the business name...at all. But, still, it's good of you to point out, just to make sure.
-
Hi Ruben,
For many years, it was Google's firm policy that only your legal/dba business name was allowable. So, if you were Green Tree Floral, then that was what you needed to put in the business name field. You could not put Green Tree Floral Miami in the title or you risked being penalized/taken down.
In recent times, however, Google has made a rather remarkable policy change that, frankly, I still don't really trust. They are allowing the use of business name descriptors in some cases. Check out the last bullet point under the Business Name section in the guidelines:
https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en
You'll see what's allowed and what isn't.
*But, as I've said, I feel slightly unsure of this descriptor offer as it represents a complete 180 for Google. Kinda weird:)
-
I think you may be referring to something very specific. There shouldn't be a problem is someone legitimately names their business something local.
Make sure to be consistent with the NAP (Name Address Phone number) and the local results should reflect accurately.
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
-
Local Pack Ads v. Organic Business Listings
Hey everyone, So I'm noticing lately that Google is showing ads via AdWords for my locations in the local pack. I am fine with that, but unfortunately it is now driving me a little bit insane wondering how much Google really cares about NAP, distance from centroid and or user, links to domain, completed business profile and so on. They will pull an ad into the top of the local pack for my location, yet, my actual organic business listing in some cases will not even show up until I hit the second page of business results. I get that it's Adwords, it's pay-to-play, but from most accounts, the differences in ranking for traditional listings results compared to business results on both desktop and mobile are pretty different. For example, by doing my traditional SEO best practices, I can rank high in traditional listing results even when my business does not show in the local listings. I have done this time and time again. I am able to accept that since we have 100 locations in the US and our lists were an absolute mess before I got here, that some of our NAP across multiple directories and listing sites are not exactly up to snuff which I have been working on. So I guess the thing is, if my location in Google's eyes is not good enough to be shown organically for the user even at the bottom of page of one of business results, why is it good enough to show an ad for my business location for that query as the absolute first result? Again, I know its Ad Words which basically allows you to cut in line like that special pass you can buy at a roller coaster park, but still. Isn't their goal to provide the best possible experience for their user? If they feel something is worth holding back my organic listing from the user, why is it fine with them to show the user that same location with the top possible local pack spot in an ad? I guess this is more of a rant than anything but I wanted to know if anyone else is dealing with this or anyone has any info they have found that could help shed light on this? It kind of just kicked everything I thought about trust, authority, links in order to rank in the local pack organically out the window. Thanks! -Ben
Local Listings | | Davey_Tree0 -
Yahoo Local Business Listings Hijacked
We are a solar company with three locations. When claiming our business listings on Yahoo (Yext), we noticed that one of them had already been claimed. The name of our company and our phone number were changed to a lead generation company. Upon further inspection, this company has hijacked hundreds of listings throughout the state and the country. To see the extent of it, go here:
Local Listings | | SS.Digital
https://search.yahoo.com/local/s;_ylt=A0SO8odHUOZZdVUAYwBXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTExOARfcgMyBGdwcmlkA3loNXdiQlJqVE9HMm9MdXlUSklLdEEEbl9zdWdnAzEEb3JpZ2luA3NlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMjIEcXVlcnkDc29sYXIgY29ubmVjdG9yIGlydmluZQR0X3N0bXADMTUwODI4MTk4MA--?fr2=sb-top-search&p=solar+connector+irvine&fr=yfp-t- Or, just search in Yahoo's Local search section for "Solar Connector Irvine" or pretty much any city in California. On every hijacked listing, the company name is changed to "Solar Connector" and the phone number is changed to a unique local number, but all the other information is left the same. Now when people think they are calling our business, they get a shady lead gen company instead. I have submitted a request to Yext and have tried (and failed) to find a support phone number. This is a widespread, blatant fraud, and I would hope they would have interest in fixing it. Solar Connector (fake name) is associated with SolarAmerica.com, which is run by Clean Energy Experts, which was purchased by Sunrun (a publicly traded company). My specific question is, does anyone have any insight on the best method for getting help from Yahoo/Yext? Other than through their "help portal" on the website. I need to speak with a human being.1 -
Strange Ranking Results
Hi Any ideas why doing a search for 'Family Portrait Photographer' from my location on the Isle Of Wight (after deleting cache/history) etc results in a load of results relating to Cardiff Wales (local serps and main listings)? I am close to cities like Southjampton & Portsmouth as well as few other all much neaer than cardiff ! All Best
Local Listings | | Dan-Lawrence
Dan0 -
Google My Business - two locations but same name and phone
Hello, I manage SEO for an orthopaedic practice and I'm wondering what to do about their GMB listings. They have two locations, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't have separate GMB pages for the two locations because of the advice about other GMB questions I've been reading on this forum. I read a helpful response that said you must ensure the following if you want to create separate GMB listings: Unique name Unique address (even if only a suite / office number) Unique phone number Clearly different categories on Google My Business I can only ensure one of those - unique address. The business has the same name, phone number, and categories at both addresses. What should I do about this? I would think it's important to list both addresses so that patients can be guided to the appropriate location, but is there a way to do that with just one GMB listing? Thank you, Susannah
Local Listings | | SusannahK.Noel0 -
Home Page not Ranking on Local Community Sites
I am helping out with a couple of community sites and am seeing the same problem on both. They are small non-commercial local websites. One has 5 or 6 relevant links to the home page, and the title tag and content have been optimised for the name of the group and the location (and in any case the phrase is completely non-competitive). The other one has few links and isn't optimised. Both sites are fairly new. Both sites have the same problem in that when you search for the name of the group, it is not the home page that comes up but another page. My experience is mainly in the more competitive commercial arena, so I thought that these community sites would be simple! Can anyone point me in the right direction as to why this might be? No spammy links on either. These are community sites that are not particularly well maintained, but the phrases I am searching for are non-competitive. I have checked that the home pages are not no-indexed. Any tips much appreciated!
Local Listings | | Wagada0 -
How to handle Local SEO when two businesses merge
Hi, I have a landscaping client who is buying another company and merging the two companies together. I trying to figure what the best way to handle this type of situation is. Here are the specifics. Company A I've been working with him for a number of years, he has a really robust site with good content and with really good rankings. I've done a ton of citations, he's in good shape. His company has decent name recognition. Company B My client is buying Company B. Their site is really poor, no SEO done on site and no directory listing work. The company has great name recognition in the community and gets most clients through word of mouth. My client has decided to take Company B's name because its a more well known company. He is going to merge the companies, because he doesn't want to have 2 companies from a management standpoint. He plans to keep both physical locations open. So here are my questions. Do I keep both sites live for a period of time and put a message notifying people that "Company A is now Company B Name"? OR Do I transfer all the good content from Company A's site to Company B's site and do a 301 redirect of the URL. How should I handle the data aggregators and directory listings? I'm trying to keep all the great natural traffic that Company A gets to its site, start to build traffic around company B's location while following all of Google's policies. I could just start over and in the long-term they'd be fine, but I really love to find a strategy to avoid my client taking a big hit in organic traffic. Thanks in advance Mozzers!
Local Listings | | JohnWeb121 -
Brand term for local showing wrong knowledge graph
It was discovered that when you search our brand and our city "alaska airlines seattle" that the brand knowledge graph shows a building at the University of Washington that is named after us as part of a sponsorship deal. This seems logical that it would do that since the building is branded Alaska Airlines and it is in Seattle. The problem is information listed would confuse customers that call the number posted and instead of our customer service they are getting the University. I admit I am not too familiar with local SEO so any help is greatly appreciated. r6GlDj9 wMZQnRB
Local Listings | | Shawn_Huber0 -
Yext & Moz Local - Avoiding Dupliates
What happens if we are using Yext and Moz Local at the same time? I hear it can create duplicates. However if the NAP is exactly the same on both, why cant the aggregators/citation sources figure this out on their own? I need to develop a clearer understanding before i start submitting a select few of my clients through Yext. I do have the option to opt out of the Factual aggregator on Yext. Instead we would only update the sites that Yext has access to. End of day we are going to continue using Moz.com/local but yext saves us dozens of man hours while trying to clean up citations and fix duplicates (temporarily ofcourse until we contact them ourselves).
Local Listings | | waqid0