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Category: Local Listings

Examine the impact of maintaining consistent and accurate local listings on your local SEO strategy.


  • Hi there. Since there is no specific subcategory, which would satisfiy both, use this one https://schema.org/MedicalOrganization

    | DmitriiK
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  • You most likely won't see any new links from Yext because they use a URL redirect on all sites they control. Check the live listings an confirm. If you're using Yext for link building/gaining do-follow links on directories... It's probably best to consider alternative options. Most of the links to your website from those directories will actually pass through a redirect set up by Yext, then land you at the final destination (your website). One benefit of that redirect is so they can track click data in your Yext dashboard. I could be wrong, but you should check and see if you're seeing any new links from a Yext subdomain. I haven't used Yext in a while, but I remember seeing a redirect for past clients (when I was working in an agency. That might be worth checking out. Either way, you should have reporting in your Yext dashboard on all the listings that are live. Once again I'll stress that you should not be using Yext simply for building links.

    | Eric_Rohrback
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  • Great article on your wiredseo.com site Clint! That about saved my life.

    | brianloebig
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  • I guess I pretty much understand that. But my partner always wants a second opinion. So I like asking for advice to show her that I'm not the only one who thinks this way. @MattAntoinio thank you.

    | LittleDog
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  • Hi Jubaer! The first thing to do here is to establish what connection your business has to these other target states where you lack a physical location. A web design company isn't like an SAB (a plumber, electrician, etc.) that will typically travel to various cities to serve clients. So, your connection is likely to be different to this, and for your industry, is typically going to be the fact that you have clients in these states. So, one suggestion would be that you create a page for each target state (it sounds like you're going after states instead of cities, right?) and then showcase your clients in that state on its designated page on the website. Add really good testimonials from the clients in those cities, accompanying their business showcase and brainstorm other content you might add to these pages to make them interesting and helpful. Understand that you will, of course, be going after organic rankings rather than local ones, and that if you fail to get the organic results you're hoping for (competition is likely to be very stiff) you may need to rely in part or in full on PPC instead of organic.

    | MiriamEllis
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  • Hey There! This is the strategy I would recommend: You have 2 locations. Put them in the masthead of the website to make that first glance impression that you've got 2 locations. Build a landing page for each of the 2 locations and make the content on them unique and awesome, with the complete NAP in Schema at the top for just the correct location. I do not advise putting both locations on the 2 landings pages. Don't put NAP on the landing pages for the non-physical locations, and be sure there is a genuine reason for the existence of these pages. Normally, location-less landing pages are built for service area businesses, not brick-and-mortar concerns. For example, it makes good horse sense for a plumber to explain that he services cities A, B, C and D, but for a dentist, saying that his customers may come to him from cities A,B,C and D is not really natural or helpful. Unless there is some genuine connection between the business and these surrounding cities, it would likely be better to focus on different types of content development that will make the site stronger rather than watering the site down with content that's a stretch in terms of usefulness. Please feel free to share further details about this, but normally, city landing pages of the type you are describing are best for SABs, not B&Ms, unless there is a strong connection between the business and some other city in which they are not located. Put both locations, in Schema, in the footer and on the Contact page. Combined with the NAP in the masthead, this should address the need to be sure customers know you've got 2 locations. Definitely do link all citations (including the GMB listing) to the right landing page for each of the 2 locations. Be consistent. Hope this helps!

    | MiriamEllis
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  • Hi Jonas, If re-branding is not an option, then it sounds like you will continue to experience NAP inconsistency, of the type you've noticed and explained. Without settling on a single brand for all references across the web, inconsistency sounds unavoidable.

    | MiriamEllis
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  • Thanks for the tips. I have reported the images and we will see what happens! Ken

    | CandymanKen
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  • Hi Josh, Thanks so much for this link! Finally I was able to talk to someone who guided me what to do

    | Rachel_J
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  • I think I'm a little confused here as to what you mean by "product" in the context of real estate. Are you referring to different types of listings (e.g. office lease, retail lease etc?) If I were designing a real estate website, the structure would be as follows: website.com/listing-type/state/area/suburb You mentioned the site isn't in English so just to clarify above, the last two will be depend on regional user preferences. For example, here in Brisbane (Aus) it would be expected that I can search for properties in the "Greater Brisbane" area, meaning Brisbane City and surround suburbs. Within that region there are a bunch more suburbs More specifically: website.com/office-lease/qld/greater-brisbane/west-end The reason I'd be doing this is that not only is it an easy logic to follow but it really caters toward a user's intent. If I'm looking for an office space to lease, there's no point in presenting me with all types of listings from an area because all I want to see are office leases. Having those lease types further up your hierarchy is going to give them a little more preferences in terms of SERP position as well. From what I understand, these are the sub-category pages you're looking to rank? As a working example of this as well, I just had a look at realestate.com.au's URL structure and it's the same as my suggestions above. Their site is very flat because it's almost entirely search-driven but the URL still lets us see their site architecture http://www.realestate.com.au/property-townhouse-qld-spring+hill-416944062

    | ChrisAshton
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  • Hi Adam! When you say the site is in Canada, do you mean it's _hosted _in Canada? Or that it's somehow communicating that the locations are in Canada?

    | MattRoney
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  • Good topic, and I believe what John is describing is a franchise in which there is a national website for the brand, but that individual locations of that franchise are owned by individual owners. Is that right, John? If so, the problem with franchises is that they frequently don't give location owners much or any control over what is on their landing page of the corporate site, so in some cases, the franchise owner might want his own website so that he can work toward building the brand locally more than the franchise is going to do on his behalf. Is this the right decision? It really depends. Honestly, if it's something like a pizza franchise where menus, sales and everything else is the same across the board, I don't see a compelling reason to operate a unique local website. But, if there is a high degree of differentiation between what's being sold or done at different locations, and the business owner doesn't have any control over what appears on the corporate site, then there could be a case for the separate site. How is it with the hardware store? Is everything the same in its Chicago location as in its Denver location, or is something really different happening at the two locations .... different products, different specials, different classes, something else? That's what needs to be determined.

    | MiriamEllis
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  • If you read above you will see that it has been removed. This is what many are using instead: http://isearchfrom.com/

    | RobertFisher
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  • Hi Miriam, Thanks for all your help! You gave awesome and clear advice. Good luck to you, Rachel

    | Rachel_J
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  • Agreed with Miriam and Ira. In order to obtain multiple GMB listings (since the clinic you want to sell the STD tests to will already have its own) for the same location/practice/clinic, you would need to have separate business brands operating within the same office. Google's My Business guidelines state: “If your business location combines two or more brands, do not combine the brand names into a single page. Instead, pick one brand’s name for the page. If the brands operate independently, you may use a separate page for each brand at this location****.” In other words, the only way you can obtain multiple GMB pages is if you have two totally different brands working under one roof (and even then you risk Google conflating the listings). Or, of course, if you have multiple practitioners at one location. Best practice for multiple brands in the same practice location:  assure each brand has its own verified suite number from the post office (if possible); each of the two brands within the practice should have their own website; each brand should have its own business category (preferably); and each brand would need to have its own business name and phone number of course. Andrew: I actually wrote a behemoth or an article that was inspired by the Search Engine Land article you referenced in your original comment: http://www.incrediblemarketing.com/google-my-business-for-doctors Hope this helped.

    | IncredibleSEO
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  • Hi There, This past summer, Yahoo did spin off their small business division into Aabaco. Here's an article on this: https://www.aabacosmallbusiness.com/learnmore Yahoo's own links to creating a listing seem to all point here https://www.aabacosmallbusiness.com/local-listings but there just hasn't been much of an outcry over this because I think not many Local SEOs are promoting Yahoo as a must-list platform to their clients anymore. Max Minzer's awesome list says this about Yahoo (http://www.reengageconsulting.com/be-where-your-customers-are-with-local-business-listings/#yahoo Listing Support: Some support is available but don’t rely on it! General support and information provided. (408) 916-2149 – support if you create an incident number. @YSmallBizCare – Aabaco Small Biz Support Twitter account. Your best bet for free listing support. Customer Support – not much help here unless you’re a paying customer. Help for Aabaco Local Basic (free) – general information as well. So, you might want to check those options out. Interesting to note he thinks the Twitter account is the best bet for support! Yahoo used to be one the most prominent directories for local businesses, but these days, many Local SEOs agree that it may not be worth fussing with anymore.

    | MiriamEllis
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  • Hey Nico, Hate to say it, but this sounds like a serious mess. If there are multiple websites sharing partial or complete NAP and phone numbers being held hostage by third parties, I think: You need a formal audit from a heavy-hitting Local SEO agency to find all of the problems. Even with that, unless you have the authority and green light to launch a massive cleanup, involving all doctors and the practice, your hands may be tied here. This is one of those really difficult situations one sometimes wades into without realizing the depth of the pool. What you are describing sounds like a very large project, but a good agency can tackle large projects methodically, one step at a time. What is the real concern here is the mention of legal problems and phone numbers being held hostage. There's not going to be a simple solution for this, and it may be that the company needs to work out its internal matters before any SEO team can help them

    | MiriamEllis
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  • So glad it helped, Steven!

    | MiriamEllis
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