Local SEO Issue: Google Places Listing on Page 8

[jasarrow]

Hello,

I'm having an issue with a client's Google Places listing. It's showing on page 8 for one of the main keyword terms but their main site is on page 1. Having looked into competitors' places listings ranking above, I've ruled out the following;

• lack of citations
• inconsistent citations
• incomplete profile
• incorrect category listing
• details not matching places landing page
• incorrect location
• and any form of keyword stuffing

Other places listings ranking above have fewer citations, incomplete profiles, details inconsistent with their main site, one is no longer trading as a business and one has no website! In the past, our client had had two listings simultaneously but we addressed this waaaay back. Is it possible we could still be getting punished? I'm at a bit of a loss otherwise.

Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated.

Thankyou!

[Nobody1560986989723]

This is a tough one, particularly as Google Places is one of big G's most inconsistent products. The additions I would have would be

• Are other websites listing the business in precisely the same location/address?
• Have you used microformats on the address on-site?
• Have you submitted a geositemap.xml file?
• Has the business got ratings and reviews from their customers/clients?

If I think of anything else I'll edit this post

[jasarrow]

Thanks Martin! You've raised a couple of things I hadn't thought of. I'll have a look into those. In the meantime, if anything else comes to mind, I'm all ears.

Cheers

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Jasarrow,

Agree, this is a tough one. You mention that there was a duplicate listing way back when. Are you sure there was only one. Go to Google Maps and do a search for the business name, any variants on the business name that ever existed, a search for any addresses associated with the business in the past 10 years and any phone numbers associated with the business in the past 10 years. See if anything odd turns up, such as duplicates of which you weren't previously aware.

Martin has given you some very good suggestions, too!

Let us know how it goes.

Miriam