Google places

[enchant]

I'm sorry if this has been covered in other posts, but it seems that the forum search utility is pretty broken. I searched for "places" in the titles, and the most recent post reported was nearly five years old.

I'm trying to figure out how to improve results in Google Places. I've got a painter's website that does very well in the organic listings, but doesn't show up at all in Places.

I start to get a little confused by all the various iterations of results returned by Google. There's the traditional organic listings, the listings that have the "Places" header over them, and another similar set that also have a map next to them but no "Places" header. What's the correct term for these?

At any rate, if I search for painters marshfield ma, his site (Master Painting Company) comes up first - it has for over a year. painters in marshfield ma also returns him first with a map next to the list. painters near marshfield ma brings up the Places list, and the site is nowhere to be found.

I have this website active in my Google Places account.

What am I missing? Thanks in advance for any help.

[jsteele823]

Hi enchant - I've moved your thread to the "Local Search Techniques" forum here. You'll find all the information you were searching for in here.

The search function is google-based, so it's whatever Google thinks is most relevant to the search from this site alone....

But, what all have you done to optimize that places listing so far?

[enchant]

The search function is google-based, so it's whatever Google thinks is most relevant to the search from this site alone....

But, what all have you done to optimize that places listing so far?

Well, I'm not sure what you mean. He's a painter located in Marshfield, MA. "painter", "painting", "marshfield", "ma", and "Massachusetts" are mentioned multiple times (but not spammed) within the home page, keywords, title tag and meta description. The site has shown up in the #1 spot (organic listings) for well over a year now (probably over two at this point). I'm not insisting that I get the #1 spot in the Places listing, but I'd expect that it should at least be on in the list somewhere. Five of the companies listed don't even have websites. Only their Google maps entry is listed. I wouldn't think it would take a high level seo engineer to tweak a website to beat companies that don't even have websites.

[distinctseo]

Ensure that the business address in the city is mentioned on the website. Include the phone number.

In local business rankings the frequency of those two items is a contributing factor to helping you rank in the local search results. (Frequency on the web, not just on your website.)

[Nyagoslav]

@Enchant, the problem is that the keyword "painters near marshfield ma" brings the so-called 7-pack Google Places results, and the other two keywords you mentioned bring the so-called O-pack Google Places results. What is the difference?

In the O-pack, Google puts great value on the website local SEO, which you have obviously done better than all the competitors.

However, in the 7-pack, Google doesn't put as big value on the website local SEO, as on the Google Places page optimization itself. What this means is that you need your Google Places page optimized. And actually, the listing of your client appears - on page 2, position J (at the bottom).

<spam>

[Nyagoslav]

I'm sorry, I'm new to this forum and I'm not sure what this means:

Disagrees: if you're offering free consultation then offer your advice here.

I can see this in my profile, regarding my comment on this thread. Furthermore, why did "jsteele823" edit my comment and added: "<spam>"

Are you trying to tell me that my comment was not valuable or spammy?

If so, I'd be glad to hear which part of it you were referring to. And please, explain me what the disagreement means.

[Lb1878]

Typically <spam> usually indicates a shameless self promotion or a tacky link to your website. This is against the forum's TOS.

There is a reputation system in place on this site. If people agree with your comment, they can reward you with points to improve your rep. If they dont agree, they can give you negative rep thus, you lose points. There is space to add additional comments if people agree/disagree with a certain part of your response. Not sure what the user who disagreed meant but maybe they thought you were trying to lead users to your site for the answer instead of giving it here. Again, not sure if that was why you received negative rep, just speculating.

Dont get too intimidated by rep nevermind negative rep. Keep posting and helping out and your positive rep will far outweigh your negative rep. Only link when there is a good reason to link and try not pointing that link to your site. This way, people wont think you have specific reason to post here [promoting your own site ]

[Nyagoslav]

Thank you, Lb1878. I was not aware of these rules and didn't know everything is so strict here. I've written an article on that particular topic and due to the hundreds of people who have read it, it's one of the best available for free out there. However, if the rules are like that, I will obey.

I think distinctseo gave the negative rep. What he says is generally true:

"Ensure that the business address in the city is mentioned on the website. Include the phone number."

But in this particular case, this answer is not bringing value, as it is not the exact solution of the problem.

Can I somehow weigh his answer as well? (sorry about this off-topic).

[enchant]

Problem solved.

Took me a while, but I finally found the problem. Either that, or Google just decided to stop screwing with me.

In the town of Marshfield, the primary zip code is 02050. However, there are several "villages" around town, each with its own teeny-tiny post office and zip code. They're handy to have around if you want someplace close to mail a package. You can have your mail delivered to that local post office, but you'll have to go there and pick it up. If you want mail delivered to the mailbox in front of your house, your zip code is 02050.

My painter customer received his mail at one of these village post offices and his zip code was not 02050. I think this was the problem. As far as Google's concerned, if it ain't 02050, it ain't Marshfield. I changed all references in his website and in Google Places to 02050, which is not accurate, but about 3 weeks later, his Google Local listing just popped in at #1 with a bullet.

[Hugo123007]

Google is a Places which helps us to discover nearby places you'll love. Quickly search for Restaurants, Cafes, Bars and other places, while on the go.