Google Local Page Not Showing in Search Results

[nexxtep]

Hi! I am having an issue with our business's Google+/Local/Places/whatever-the-heck-you-call-it-these-days page not showing up in search results.

I work for a company called Nexxtep Technology Services. We are located in Valdosta, GA. We have a Google+ page that's filled out nicely and I would love it if it would show up next to the search results when you search "nexxtep technology services" or "nexxtep valdosta" in Google. For some reason, it does not.

I have a feeling what might be a source of the issue...we have developed and hosted websites for clients, and we used to put a link to our site in the footer. Now, I know that's not a good thing to do. We don't do that anymore, and I have since removed those links from existing sites. I removed them almost 6 weeks ago now. Should I give Google a little more time to crawl these sites again?

Any guidance would be tremendously appreciated. Thank you for your help!

[DCochrane]

Do you have a link back to your Google+ listing from your website? Try putting a link in your footer to the page & on your Contact Us page as well. You want to try and marry the listing to your site.

[nexxtep]

Oh, jeez. That is such an obvious solution! Facepalm. I just added the link with all of our other social icons in the header of each page.

Thank you!!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Nexxtep,

There are several things to consider here. You mention:

Google+/Local/Places/whatever-the-heck-you-call-it-these-days page

After visiting your website, I'm trying to ascertain whether your business is actually local or virtual. Do you serve clients face-to-face at your location or theirs? If not, your business is virtual and not appropriate for inclusion in Google's local products.

What also needs to be considered is the fact that Google has not displayed true local results for website design and SEO firms since 2010. You offer IT services, I see, and I don't know whether Google would lump you in with this other group of unsupported industries, but it's something to consider.

In sum, if your business doesn't meet Google's definition of local, then a Google+ Local page is not right for you. You can, however, set up a Google+ Business page, for which you don't need to local (you could be national, like a brand, etc.).

If you'd like to provide further information to clarify your business model or question, please do so.

[nexxtep]

That is a good point, Miriam. It's a bit confusing, because some of the work we do is virtual, and some of it is not. For example, we develop software/websites for other businesses virtually, but we provide on-site IT support to businesses within a 100-mile radius.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Nexxtep,

So it does sound like your business has a real local component. The trick will be to convince Google of that

What keywords are you trying to rank for? I looked up 'it services valdosta, ga' and am not seeing it bring up any true local results at all. So this may be one of those industries for which Google just isn't going to show the pack of local results at all, no matter what you do, meaning that your efforts will need to be largely organic.