Ranked well in Google Places but not normal search

[thomop]

Hi guys, my website used to rank really well (roofing website) but then droped quite sharply. I have been having good seo completed to the website for a few years and was pr 4. Since it dropped i am pr3.

But other issue is in the search results for my main keywords (after optimising Google Places) i only feature on the top of Google Places section of the search results, not on top of normal search results where i have been for about a year and want to be.

cant sites rank for both top positions in google places and also normal search results?

cant find any info on this so some feedback would be appreciated.

(also in between rankings fall...i got a site virus which i could not get rid off and had to completly re-build site - compliments of a google bann)

cheers.

[CatalysteMarketing]

Well sounds like you may have multiple issues, but I can answer the questions about Google Places below.

But other issue is in the search results for my main keywords (after optimising Google Places) i only feature on the top of Google Places section of the search results, not on top of normal search results where i have been for about a year and want to be.

cant sites rank for both top positions in google places and also normal search results?

There are 2 different algos and layouts in Google Local. The OLD 7 pack layout is what you may be thinking of. When it shows up you can have a separate organic listing AND a Places listing.

However the old algo only shows up for about 20% of keywords these days and TYPICALLY only the lower competition, less popular keywords. (And it varies by KW and city.)

But CORE KWs like roofer, plumber, dentist - usually pull the newer algo which we call "blended".

With the blended algo Google COMBINES your organic and Places listing into a single listing, so you only get one.

That used to be fine because you'd still get the big keyword rich organic paragraph size listing with local data added. But now the local listings are so stripped down, small and barren that I'd almost rather have an organic #1 listing than an A listing in blended.

So the ideal solution is to get a DOUBLE and get the top spot in organic AND a top spot in blended, but that requires optimizing a 2nd inner page in a certain way and using some very specific techniques - it's a little tricky to do.

But in a nutshell that's how it works.

Important in your situation to realize that the blended algo is mainly about organic ranking factors, so recovering from your previous site issues and just working on on-site SEO should help you move up.

[1leads]

about a year ago google merged most map serp's with organic, so no double dips for about a year in high value cpc terms

roofing nice niche, get a high response landing page and just buy the #1 spot on google for roofing and roofers in your market

use a tracking number

if you hit 10%+ you doing ok on response

if you want 50% response on your ppc, look for high response landing pages

those are the guys like me that can bring you in close to 50% response ratios off of ppc money

just look at organic spots now for your trade where are they?

all below first view

most towns have 200 or less impressions a day for roofing

major cities around 1K to 2K impressions

You can hit 5% ctr or 200 a day in a major market

to afford it, you need teams of roofing crews, or being the top 5% in your city

for smaller markets, most roofers can't afford high end sem/ppc work

it's pure economics bro

a sem guru makes more money the more you spend and managing a 10K a month ppc account compared to 1K in a minor market takes the same time, so no one is chasing a minor town roofer that does high end work

so that's your answer

no more double dips as to main page

inside pages maybe

but all organic is out of first view

so a minor company is happy with a minor amount of calls from organic

a larger company wants lots of leads

and the answer is top ppc spots with high response content

so in a couple of days you could have tons of calls buying top ppc spots with high response content

or you can be constantly looking for a FREE RIDE ON GOOGLE when they are always targeting FREE RIDES

you can buy ppc in any market, the key is high response content

so get a slick landing page and just buy it, when you see high conversion ratios you will be why didn't I do this years ago

because years ago organic seo worked before google put it all out of first view

so you are chasing the wrong solution

you want leads in your niche, I know roofing and I'm not looking for a client the reason, we're pretty much fulled up with the top markets, so we don't go after minor markets

a large market roofer is not on this forum, he has 5 to 10 crews to supervise

a small market roofer is

so look at site, look up high response landing pages and throw 100 clicks on ppc with a high response page

you see 50% response you have a great landing page

you see under 10% have the landing page redone

use a tracking number on that page

then every 100 clicks you know what amount of leads came from ppc

think about it, 11 ppc ads are first view

2 map links are first view

you want the top 3 ppc spots left side with a site that gets 50% response

then the under 10 buck clicks get you a lead every 20 bucks of ppc spend

would you pay google 20 bucks an exclusive lead for roofing in your town?

YES YOU WILL

now if you don't have a high response landing page you get 10% response, you pay 100 for the lead

probably still a good value for you

you get 3 to 5 leads, you sell a 5K job, you made a lot

ppc is the solution, now 2 years ago sure organic seo got calls, they rarely do now

[thomop]

^^^^

Thanks for all that info (again )

I have been down the track of ppc a few years ago. It worked geat as a start up prior to ranking well for organic.

Then organic took over and we had plenty of work and dropped ppc. I hate paying Google..period!

Its has only been very recently that the drops have occured.

anyways, i hear what you are saying.

Does anyone else agree with the post above??

cheers

[malone]

I'm having the same issue but with rugs. I have 2 website. One ranked well for rugs in my city and country (top or 2nd) for years. I've since made a new website for different kind of rugs (the initial one specialised in handmade). That now ranks #1 for city as well as country but my original website has moved down to 7th for the country search and 4th for city which is top (A) for the local listings.

I'd much rather it was just fourth in the overall rankings - is there a way to change this?

Am I deemed as 4th and if so does that mean if I could get back to 3rd it would push me back on to the normal listing?

[KernelPanic]

2 years ago sure organic seo got calls, they rarely do now

My firm does both PPC and SEO. We have experts in both departments with 10+ years experience. Your post is complete rubbish, written by a person with a very large chip on their shoulder. We have 100+ clients and in virtually every case, SEO outperforms PPC

This is a fact and it is undeniable

[malone]

Not even read what he says because it just looked like spam but (and I know it might work with some people) I wouldn't go near PPC with a barge-pole. It's such a rip-off these days. Unless you have a really high conversion product it's like throwing money away.

[KernelPanic]

Not even read what he says because it just looked like spam but (and I know it might work with some people) I wouldn't go near PPC with a barge-pole. It's such a rip-off these days. Unless you have a really high conversion product it's like throwing money away.

hmmm, PPC is viable, positive ROI is achievable if you know what you're doing. My point was only SEO outperforms PPC in terms of cost per lead.

[malone]

hmmm, PPC is viable, positive ROI is achievable if you know what you're doing. My point was only SEO outperforms PPC in terms of cost per lead.

As I said, for some people it may well work (probably for very specific keywords?). Just speaking from experience in the rug trade which is very tactile, 99% of our customers see the goods online but will want to view them in real life before buying which makes it difficult to sell large quantities to non-local clients (unless they've seen something and go online to find the cheapest supplier).

[Faheem89]

Really what great post and very informative post and blogging is one of the best way to promoting online business and your points are very interesting points thanks for the sharing me.

[CreativeMain]

This is an excellent post. PPC vs SEO in my opinion SEO trumps. I have been down both roads, and as stated above unless you have a high demand for your product and can easily convert into sales PPC is just not cost efficient for specialized niche businesses that quite frankly do not have the funds to just throw their money away and hope for the best. Do your research, develop a solid website with great SEO and you will drive traffic to your business without the monthly bills of PPC campaigns

[Doodled]

I have been having good seo completed to the website for a few years and was pr 4. Since it dropped i am pr3.

Perhaps you could describe what 'good seo' is to you ... there might be a clue in this.