Benefits of a verified listing vs. unverified
-
Is there any additional benefit to claiming a business listing other than locking it from being edited? It would seem to me that as long as the business information is consistent and crawlable, the SEO value would be the same right?
-
Good to hear and happy to help!
-
Thanks for the detailed response Linda! Big fan of your search forum too by the way haha.
-
Okay I understand, thanks again Miriam!
-
"Is there any additional benefit to claiming a business listing other than locking it from being edited?"
Claiming does not lock it from being edited. Still can be by either Google or users.
As far as SEO and ranking - no benefit really. I see unclaimed listings in the A spot all the time.
Except for 2 important things.
-
Categories are one of the most important local ranking signals. If you don't claim, all you get is whatever standard category Google gives you, no additional ones.
-
As far as conversions, click-though and stick rate - claiming can make a HUGE difference. (Adding great images, a compelling description, hours, etc.)
Click-though and stick rate are both important ranking factors.
The data/image from the page shows up in the Knowledge panel, so a surfer comparing listings in Google search could be swayed more by a nice KP, especially if there are the additional elements added of having a G+ Post and image show up. That's just extra free ad space you aren't using if you don't claim and post to G+.
So all the above could help get either more calls or clicks and again click-through is now one of the strongest ranking factors. So I would assume click-through from SERPs to G+ would also count.
-
-
Hi GSO!
Nice of you to say about my articles. I'm grateful:)
Yep - the remarks of Darren/Calen/Greg are pretty much along the lines of what I am saying about unverified businesses ranking. While I'm not aware of any actual dedicated study that has been done of this, I think all of us have seen those unverified businesses ranking well, but to me it always seems kind of without rhyme or reason why they are. To be honest, I sometimes suspect that it may be owing to some sort of 'laziness', for lack of a better word, on Google's part and that those unverified businesses are in danger of being knocked down by new competitors who are more on the ball. So, while I wish there was a comparison study I can point to, I'm afraid I'm left with gut feelings like the smart guys you've quoted. I do believe it's important to claim your listing, for a variety of reasons, but I can point to instances in which my gut feeling doesn't prove out! Kind of weird, huh?
-
Thanks a lot for the response Miriam! I have seen the local ranking survey before and read through the commentary at the bottom and the experts seem to differ on the verification importance. For example Darren Shaw says- "I don't believe that owner verification of the Local Plus page is a ranking factor. I think it just gives the business owner the ability to improve the listing - primarily through categories. When you see a lot of owner verified listings ranking well, think of that as correlation, not causation." But Calen Donegan says "The difference between bulk and individual owner verification, in our findings, is negligible. The important aspect is that listings are verified regardless of the way this is accomplished."
Anything you've run across that promotes verification over not?
I really like this answer the best though- Greg Gifford "Claiming your Plus Local page isn't a ranking factor – I think it's more of a reflection that business owners who have claimed their page will have more info on the page (and more accurate info). The ranking boost is a result of the content, not the claiming."
Big fan of your articles by the way!
Thanks again! -
Hi GSO,
Good question! Local Search Rankings Factors 2013 cited having an 'Individually Owner-verified Local Plus Page' as the 8th most important ranking factor (see: http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors) so this is having the importance of this being real on pretty high authority
That being said, this question does come up from time to time because in less competitive verticals (and sometimes even in competitive ones!) one does see unverified Google+ Local pages ranking well. Who can really say why this is but Google, right, but basic rule of thumb in the Local SEO world is that you should claim all listings pertaining to your business.
-
The biggest reason is because an unverified business can be modified, or even closed down, by anyone online.
Be being verified you get to:
- Upload pictures
- Upload videos
- Make coupons
- See stats about your Google Places listing
- Post events or specials to your page
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
-
How many direcdtory listings come with local and or pro? My client want to be listed in many.
How many directory listings come with local and or pro? My client wants to be listed in many.
Local Listings | | bookerads0 -
GMB 1 listing for store , multiple additional listings for outside sales reps
I am working with a business that has setup their google my business as: 1 main GMB for store location with its physical address and unique phone - ie business name "ABC Lumber" 1 GMB account for the business name followed by the city name ie. "ABC Lumber Santa Monica" with an address in Santa Monica and different phone than the store location GMB Account but points to same website. Another GMB account for called. "ABC Lumber Redondo Beach" with an address and same phone as the Santa Monica GMB account but points to same website. So basically there is a main account which is the store, and then the sales reps want to create multiple GMB accounts of their own that are service area only accounts. Do you see a problem with this?
Local Listings | | lkbackus0 -
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 -
Local Listing Submissions: Best Bang for Your Buck
I have a client that has ~30 office locations. Normally, if a business has 1-2 locations then I just submit through Moz Local. However, the marketing director won't approve a $1000+ annual local submissions package. My question: What strategy or service do you recommend that would allow me to submit these 30 locations to the best directories that I can without spending an excessive amount of budget and time? More specifically, if you had around 4 hours and ~$300 to spend on submitting 30 locations, how would you do it?
Local Listings | | capsquare0 -
Local Search Verified Location Ideas
Hi, I have a client who has offices that are physically located in one town, but offers its services to a much wider area, like a hundred mile radius. You can see where this is going. In local organic search, they need to establish a verified business location in other towns. My understanding is that virtual offices, even though you can receive mail there and can have offices there, are not an acceptable solution to this problem. Maybe I'm wrong about that though. Any ideas, short of opening up permanent full-time offices in other cities for getting around this? With all due respect, if your answer is only an opinion on the importance of playing by the rules and background on the rationale behind Google's Guidelines, etc, please don't bother posting. I'm looking for actual possible alternatives. Thanks!
Local Listings | | 945010 -
Having two GMB listings at same address
We currently have two verified GMB listings at the same address - I "inherited" these when I joined the company, and was considering merging them, as I am aware it is generally not recommended to have more than one listing per company per location. However, the two listings highlight two different sectors of our company so I decided to keep both and optimised them as best as possible by completing the information, adding pictures etc. One of the listings uses our legal company name, one uses our name that we trade under as an e-commerce business. The listing with our legal company name links to our corporate website and focuses on installations we do, while the listing with our e-commerce business name links to our ecommerce website and focuses on products we sell through there so they differ a bit from each other. Both serve the entire country, so they are not targeted specifically toward local searches. The following differ: Business name, sector, website
Local Listings | | ViviCa1
The following are the same: Address, phone number, opening hours So far we haven't had any issues, both are verified and show up in Google, but recently, we have had the following notification pop up: Fix locations with duplicate addresses__Use shop codes to differentiate locations that have the same address. Click each location and give it a unique address or shop code, or remove it. I'd appreciate some advice as to what would be best in this situation. Should I just add shop codes to differentiate the two listings in order to be able to keep them both? If so, what purpose do these shop codes have, how should I format these and will these be publicly visible within our listings? If you would suggest merging them, how could I ensure that it shows up whether people search for our e-commerce business name or for our legal business name as these are different? Thanks in advance!0 -
Why does it take so long for citations to get listed?
I understand that several citation places take over a month to get listed, but I just don't understand why. Granted, there's nothing I can do about it, but I'm just curious what the hold up is based on. Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Are citations the way to go even if there is no Google Places listing
If there are no Google Places / Local listing for a keyword search term, for example... "web design vancouver", do building citations still help in enabling websites to move up the organic rankings?
Local Listings | | Gavo0