Google Local Killing Business

[malone]

I've got (I presume) an unusual problem. I had (and for many search terms still have) good SERP results for my key terms but some of my most important ones are now displaying my businesses in the Local section and not on the natural listings.

Does anyone know what would cause a website to be stronger listed on Local than on the page itself? I'd much rather be 3rd ranked on the page than appearing 3rd where the first 2 are normal listings but the 3rd and 4th are Local listings then the 5th back to normal... in fact I'd rather be 5th than 3rd or 4th!

Any ideas how to change this? Does this mean I'm ranked as 3rd and if I move up to 2nd the problem will be solved? I just feel like there's a lack of detail in the local listing, there's a lack of impact because people may think you are a small company that only serves a small area and I also tend to scan over them myself as if they were PPC listings.

Thanks for your ideas in advance.

[vingler]

There are ways to work within the system - or around it. That said, I do think that google must be stopped.

[joshz]

You could do better SEO and more organic link building.

[malone]

You could do better SEO and more organic link building.

That's not helpful at all.

As I said, a lot of our key phrases we ranked well for (#1). What's happened is we've made a different website for our other company in the same industry but which serves more of a mass market. This is now ranking #1 within our country/city searches for our products ("rugs Scotland" "Rugs Glasgow" "Rugs Edinburgh" etc.). There has been a lot more effort gone in to the original website in terms of link building/articles etc.

The original website dropped down to say 3rd or 4th (which in some cases is a Google Local result. But is doing much better for the more specific market it is in "Persian rugs" as a generic UK-wide search (where it is moving in and out of the first page). In a sense Google is maybe doing a good job, recognising it is a specialised website for a niche product, but that doesn't help me.

What I'm asking is if we improve will it move us to 2nd and problem solved (we show as a normal listing), or is the fact that we've got detailed local listings that Google obviously likes hurting us/would we be better off without them?

[CatalysteMarketing]

The problem is that for local searches Google is going to merge your organic listing with local which is a GREATLY diminished listing these days.

I wrote a big article about this not too long ago titled "Incredible Shrinking Local SERPS & Traffic Drops".

The 'blended' Local SERP display USED to be ADDITIVE. You'd get the benefit of a full paragraph keyword-rich organic listing PLUS all the local goodies added on top, which made a bigger listing that stood out.

Now the red map marker has turned to gray, the gold stars are gone, the title tag and description are gone. It's a stripped down tiny bare listing without any keywords or context. Just name, address, phone.

Many businesses I work with would now prefer AND find they get higher click-through with a top organic listing than with a local listing. More businesses are asking “How can I get rid of that local listing so I can just show up in organic again and get my clicks back.” So I advocate/teach getting the best of both worlds.

Like one of my Dentists has a double. He's #1 organic so has the big paragraph with title tag and description AND A in the blended local listings, so has the local benefit of the map marker and reviews.

"is the fact that we've got detailed local listings that Google obviously likes hurting us/would we be better off without them?"

Google won't let you delete your local listing. I mean you can delete it in your dashboard or suspend it, but they won't remove it from search even if you want them to any more.

So best thing you can do is link your G+ local listing to an internal page of your site. Normally it's your home page that ranks highest. So if you link your G page to an internal page, often that will break your home page free to rank in organic again.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

[malone]

So best thing you can do is link your G+ local listing to an internal page of your site. Normally it's your home page that ranks highest. So if you link your G page to an internal page, often that will break your home page free to rank in organic again.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Thanks! Changed the link to our Contact page - hopefully that breaks back to organic otherwise I don't know what we'll do as it's had a massive impact on that side of the business (although number of visitors to the website has not decreased).

[Rashima]

You could do better SEO and more organic link building.

Organic link building is required to get success in the field of SEO

[Rashima]

Organic link building is required in the field of SEO.....

[malone]

Organic link building is required in the field of SEO.....

... what's your point? Why waste time on boards when you come out and state the obvious like that?!? AHHHH!

[Contra]

So best thing you can do is link your G+ local listing to an internal page of your site. Normally it's your home page that ranks highest. So if you link your G page to an internal page, often that will break your home page free to rank in organic again.

When you say "your G+ local listing" you mean just the Google+ page that ones makes for their business?

I ask because there is discussion here about "Google Local" yet the only Google Local I can find is the Google+ page I made for my company.

I must admit, I am a bit confused between Google Places, Google Local, and Google+.

[abhisheknoida]

i agree google local listing has limited coverage and changes with the change in location. One needs to work on organic listing for better results.