Google Places page not showing up in Google and Google+ Local search

[enam937]

Hi,

Case Resolved

Enam

[SEOSHARK]

Dear Enam,

There are MANY issues going " CRAZY" with the +/Places Migration. I read in a forum last night that is a couple months old where the Google gate keeper said to NOT make adjustments.....

However have found a way today that I think may solve the problem, however, understand that most of what you are going through is GOOGLES GLITCH.... NOT YOUR SITE..

As far as the code you added to your website, I suggest otherwise.....

I have tracking numbers on more than 300 websites, and is MUCH MUCH cleaner that several lines of code for Google to have to crawl through looking for information about YOUR Site....

Feel free to give me a call or write, glad to help

tbates@seoapt.com

[rrad]

I have read in forums and elsewhere that car dealers are getting pinged by Google in the same way they dealt with Locksmiths.  This is due to the abuse of reviews by spiffing sales people to get reviews.

Of course SEOSHARK is right its crazy right now until they get the plus dashboard in place etc.  Google always phases things in step by step and then it becomes clear what they are doing.

I would also be concerned about messing with phone numbers - a consistent NAP is critical across all listings and lack of a local number is usually a negative

[Mark_Jay_Apsey_Jr.]

Enam-

This is happening with alot of businesses throughout the US. Here is what we have been doing to solve the problem....

We are creating another Google+ local listing. We start the process from scratch and ask for the verification code to be sent. We have found on several occasions that with the new listing process, we are able to quickly get the listing up and working correctly. We then go in and eliminate the original listing and page. There have been times where Google asks us during the process, if it is a duplicate listing and then at that point we work through the process of re-claiming the original listing and making SEO adjustments to content. This has been effective.

I would also agree with Rob in that fact that a local phone number will help your cause.

Good luck. Hope this helps..

Mark

[enam937]

Hi, Thank you so much for all your feedbacks! SEOSHARK, I still have no solid evidence that the phone tracking codes are causing us the issue....may I ask, when you have phone tracking codes on your website, do they give you an anchor phone number and show dynamic phone numbers on your websites from time to time whenever the website is refreshed? And you have a different phone number on your Google Place? Rob Rance, many thanks for your points, what is a 'NAP'? Mark Apsey, thank you so much for your suggestion, I can certainly try that approach. But given the current stage, we're quite confuse of which URL to use in creating another Google+ local listing. Can you tell us the link that you use to create another Google+ local listing? Also, when you're asked by Google if it is a duplicate listing, do you have to answer 'Yes' in order to continue to re-claiming the original listing? When you said 'the original listing', did you mean the original Google+ Page that you created? Or your Google Places? Enam

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Enam,

You've received some great and thoughtful responses on this. I'll add just a bit more.

1. Call tracking numbers are taboo in the local sphere. Do not use them. See:

http://searchengineland.com/be-wary-of-call-tracking-numbers-in-local-search-26895

www.davidmihm.com/blog/smbiz/more-call-tracking-local-search/

Whether this is causing your problem or not, it may very well be causing other problems or will cause them in future. I recommend you not use call tracking.

2. The auto industry is being especially scrutinized by Google right now due to the overwhelming amount of spam. In fact, according to Mike Blumenthal, Google authorized him to state that most car dealership reviews are spam:

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/07/30/google-local-and-review-issues/

Now, whether the presence of spam reviews in the auto industry is also leading to penalties of listings, I have not heard, but I have certainly heard, in the past, of listings being docked for having spammy reviews.

3. Missing pages and weak rankings are often the result of duplicate listings. In the past, it was very easy to figure this out, because a phone number lookup in Google Maps would show you duplicates. However, a couple of weeks ago, it was noticed that this type of search was no long revealing duplicates, so you cannot, at the moment, discover hidden duplicates that could be affecting the whole profile. This is really a pain and I hope Google will fix it. They have been made aware of the problem.

4. You've asked a great question here about your scenario, and people have given good thought to this, but if you want a response from the horse's mouth, I would recommend that you post this same question in the Google and your Business Forum. Why? Because there is always a chance that what you are experiencing is a bug, in which case, only Google can remedy it.

[enam937]

Hi MIriam,

Thank you for your excellent reference and great info!

According to your link at http://searchengineland.com/be-wary-of-call-tracking-numbers-in-local-search-26895, we suspect that our call tracking may not be done correctly because it uses a new anchor number instead of our business number on our website.

I have also created a new Google+ Local page following Mark's suggestion, and will see how it goes.

Really appreciate the helpful feedbacks from SEOmoz, we just joined the community a few days ago and it seems very useful!

Enam