Ranking well for keywords, but not in Google maps
-
If the search "criminal defense attorney" or any number of variants, is performed from a mobile device, like an iPhone, Google maps seems to be inserting many local map listings ahead of the normal search results in the Tallahassee, Florida area. These are great - as they have the Call button and the Directions button. However, for some reason, my clients aren't ranking well here and competitors who are seemingly doing nothing are higher in the list.
I have created the Google+ page for attorney and business page for the firm and completed the profile, uploading pictures etc and verified the address. I have the local address (schema-proper, I believe) on the linking home page and their address is actually closer to downtown/midtown than others. I've even gotten some positive reviews and +1s, at least enough to be competitive in this field. This was about 2 months ago. Any advice?
On a (perhaps) related note, the competition has category descriptions outside of the Google-allowed categories. I can't save settings without fitting neatly into their "Criminal Justice Attorney" category. Help here would also be appreciated.
-
Hi Drew,
I will add to Tom's thoughtful response by recommending that you study the recent Local Search Ranking Factors 2013 (http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors) and look at the different factors that have greatest influence in the mobile environment vs. the desktop environment if the goal is mobile local rankings. Hope this helps!
-
Hi there Drew
You've made the right start by acquiring a Google+ page and some reviews. Google considers these citations when deciding whether or not to rank a site in the local listings.
However, it also considers hundreds of other local citations for this local search. Getting your listing on these sites can go a long way towards improving your local listing visibility. Make sure that each listing uses a consistent address, phone number, company etc. and Google should start to take notice.
Here's a fantastic definitive list of local citations you can go out and acquire. Getting the listing is only half of the job - using consistent information, getting reviews and of course earning high quality links will make your site appear higher and higher in local search as well. Keep driving reviews to places like Google+ and Yelp, earn those links and claim your listings.
Hope this helps!
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
-
Ranking App Store page in Google
Hey - has anyone had any experience in getting their App Store listing page to rank highly in Google for one of their primary keywords? If so, have you been successful and have you any pointers?
Image & Video Optimization | | GrowTraffic0 -
Internal pages targeted for local keywords
Hello, Simple question: how do you target local SEO with internal pages, where the home page may or may not be local?
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Thoughts on Google's New NAP Dispaly on Google+ Local
Hi, Do you think ACTION needs to happen based on Google's new NAP formatting change? They are changing Suite or STE to #. So for example 265 Racine Dr #100 Wilmington, NC 28403 Even if you enter in Suite they change it to pound. I am wondering the thoughts of the community of the following: 1. Do you think Google knows that STE, Suite, and # are all the same 2. Do you feel that we need to change ALL online local business listings and our website to match this change. 3. Here is the letter from Google on the matter FROM GOOGLE: Thanks for informing us about your address appearing differently on your local Google+ page than it does on your dashboard. After looking further, we've determined that 240 Stockton St #300 San Francisco, CA 94108 is an appropriate way for your listing to be displayed. Note that the address on your page might be different from what you've input into your dashboard. Our processes might alter user-input addresses to make them more standardized and easier for users to access. Thanks for understanding. Best, Nathan
Image & Video Optimization | | WebBizIdeas
The Google Team0 -
Ranking Differences for Google+ Local vs. Places Listings
I'm seeing some odd behavior with Google+ Local and Google Places listings for clients. I'm wondering if anyone else is seeing it... Here's the situation: We've recently bought on 4 new clients that all have duplicate listing issues, and, weirdly, all have both places and a Google+ local created listings. For three of those four, the Google+ local listing is outranking the Places account for a brand name search (e.g. Dr. John Doe). Weirdly, in one instance, the Google+ local account that is outranking the Places page is named in a less accurate fashion. e.g searching for "Dr. John Doe" the rankings look like this... A) John Doe Plastic Surgery, P.C. - Dr. John Doe B) Dr. John Doe, MD Anyone else seeing this sort of behavior? How are you creating local listings for clients these days - via the places dashboard, or Google+ Local?
Image & Video Optimization | | BedeFahey0 -
New site, SEO well considered, no traffic :/ What next?
Hi There! We've built whatphone.com.au with SEO at the top of the list but things are not going as expected. Yes, there's still a lot of work to do, but I was hoping to get some guidance on what to do next to make sure we keep the right focus. This is what we've done to date: Added lots of unique and relevant content, particularly to our blog (and will continue to do so on a weekly basis) Ensured internal linking is strong Optimised each product page around product name (and relevant internal links pointing to it) Ensured the code is clean (ok, we are not a 100% but in a good place) URL structure, metadata, page titles, file names and alt tags following best practice Named the company and registered our domain around one of main keywords we are currently targeting "what phone" What we're working on: Link building Site speed Social signals Rich media (videos, more images) Not a bad effort right? No love from an organic traffic perspective 😕 Ok, the site / domain is no older than 2 months old, it's a very competitive industry, and no inbound links yet, but come on! Questions: Are there any benefits of engaging external providers to help with link building? I'm talking about outsourcing from elancer or similar.. Or is this playing with fire? Have we missed something obvious here? Any help will be greatly appreciated! PS: we currently have some issues with our pricing tables, but will fixed as soon as possible..
Image & Video Optimization | | whatphone0 -
Multiple Businesses at the Same Address - Avoiding Google Places Trouble
I'm trying to avoid problems with Google Places; this is like "address confusion", but is rather "business confusion". We have a gym at a street address with a suite number, and a number of personal trainers who work out of the gym. Several of them have their own websites and their own Google Places pages. 1 trainer has a Yelp account that lists the gym's street address including the suite number, and a Places page with the gym's street address. 2 trainers have the gym's street address on their personal/individual business websites, 1 with and 1 without the suite number. Is any of this going reduce Google's confidence in the accuracy of which business is really at the street address and suite number? What should we tell/require of our trainers in relation to this, if anything? Is there a chance Google will merge the Places pages? Am I paranoid? (Google Places sometimes does at it wishes, to the dismay of several of my clients.....) I do know that there are often many businesses in a building, each with their own suite numbers, and nothing bad happens. But ours is a case of multiple personal training businesses (including the gym: a small personal training studio) all at the same address And suite number. Thanks for any insight or ideas!
Image & Video Optimization | | TheSEOWiz0 -
Is my Google Places page ok?
Hey everyone, Google Places is incredibly frustrating for me. One day we are listed, the next we are gone. If I am logged in to my Gmail we rank differently altogether. I have a few questions... http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1421&bih=726&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=pet+medical+center+of+las+vegas&fb=1&gl=us&hq=pet+medical+center+of&hnear=0x80beb782a4f57dd1:0x3accd5e6d5b379a3,Las+Vegas,+NV&cid=13431404354265657899&ei=wbQITujpFpSLsALbuenkDQ&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=placepage-link&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ4gkwAA First off, does the page look to be optimized for the best results? Trying to rank for vet las vegas (ideally. Any tips or thoughts? Are there any sites that will track your rankings in Google Places for different listings? Is my places description ok? How often does Google Places update their listings - find new reviews, update their "find our more about this place" section, etc.? Anything else? Thanks for your help! Brant
Image & Video Optimization | | PMC-3120870 -
Does position in local directories effect google detecting citations?
There are a lot of local directories that i have seen google pull citations from. Quite often i see people putting listings in these directories prefixed by several "A"s, so that they will appear on the first page of the list. Just how deep does google crawl through the pages of these lists? will google actually crawl through all the pages? Some of these directories offer paid listings that appear at the top of the directory. We have been considering purchasing some of these paid positions, so that google would be more likely to pickup our citations. In one case i have noticed a directory: shopincities.com do something that spiked my interest. Basically, if you start clicking through the different pages of a category, the site will block you after 3 or 4 pages in. It serves you an error saying that you are not human. In my mind this is to prevent google from fully crawling their whole list, so that the people who pay for the top positions are picked up, and the people who don't pay, even though their profiles are listed there, never get crawled by google. So would you pay for position on these directories? here are some examples: http://www.shopincities.com
Image & Video Optimization | | adriandg
http://www.411.ca
http://www.goldbook.com
http://www.n49.ca
http://torontodirect.com
http://www.yellowpages.com Or would you just throw a whole bunch of A's infront of your business name so you appear on the first page of listings? Or do you belive it doesn't matter how deep you are in the listings, and with enough time google will find it regardless and credit it as a citation?0