Custom Attributes in Google Places

[PerchDigital]

Hi Guys

I'm looking for some clarity of what I can and can't add to the custom attribute fields in a Google Places listing. From my understanding, you can add additional information about your services, but not what those services are.

The issue I'm trying to resolve is that a client of mine offers far more than the 5 services/ category options Places allow. They are a home services company, covering all sorts from plumbing, painting and decorating, through to extensions etc. They have about 25 different services.

At the moment I'm restricted to just getting rankings for 5 services (correlated to the categories in Places), when I'd like to rank locally for them all.

As Google is showing local results for most search queries related to their services whether those searches are geographically modified or not, I'm in a position where even if I am ranking top 5 organically for the terms, I'm still on bottom of page 1, or top of page 2.

Would it be wise to add these additional services to the custom attributes section of the Places listing, or would this set off the potential for a listing suspension?

Any ideas how to combat this problem would be very welcome.

[AlanMosley]

I would say not, they gave you only 5 categories, any more would be trying to manipulate results.

I also doubt it will work, i believe those extra fields are display only

[SimonCullum]

I agree with Alan.  Best to play it safe on this one and may not work anyway.

[PerchDigital]

thanks for the feedback guys. Any suggestions about how I may be able to overcome the issue though?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Gareth,

I've been asked to pop by this discussion. You've asked a great question, Others have contributed sound advice here. Your client is encountering some of the limitations of Google Places. Yes, you are restricted to 5 main categories, and in a sense, this system favors businesses with a narrower focus over those with a much broader one (like your client). The method that you have undertaken of focusing the Place Page on the business' 5 most important categories is correct, and then using organic SEO to pursue what else you can. But, because of the heavy slant towards local results in the SERPs, those things for which your client is not getting a mapped result will be at the bottom of the page or even further down than that. There isn't really a way to get around this that I know of, and I don't see Google changing this layout for some time to come.

Regarding the additional details field, it's my own practice with my clients to keep this pretty brief. I do believe that a stuffed additional details section could send a danger signal to Google, but what the threshold is, nobody knows. In any case, I do not believe these details carry a huge deal of weight as compared to, say, the contents of the website, particularly in competitive verticals. Now, if the business was the only one of its kind in a rural area about which Google had a paucity of information - then, yes, I wouldn't be surprised to see those additional details gaining a little traction. But in a competitive vertical in a suburban or metropolitan area, I would not expect anything you put in there to enable the client to outrank a competitor who has chosen one of the phrases as one if his top 5 specialties.

This is one of those areas in which it is critical to correctly the set the client's expectations. If they offer 25 different services, they should not expect to be #1 for all of them unless they are the only game in town. Google's results are more democratic than this, so the client is forced by the system to zone in on what their most popular services are with their Place Page, and do the best they can with organic for the rest. Don't forget, traffic comes from video marketing, social media and other forms of marketing, too! If the client wants to highlight other services, a creative approach to finding ways to promote them beyond Places deserves some thought.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Miriam

[PerchDigital]

Hi Miriam

Thanks for your thoughts,  its much appreciated.

Unfortunately Places does limit me in this instance, so you're right that other avenues of traffic generation would be a good route to head down.

All the best