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It appears as though they are though. You got what you need then? Your question is answered?

The site command doesn't always show you every page that is indexed. You can:

• look to see if it has been cached (like you just did); or
• execute a specific site:domain.com/pagename.html or site:domain.com/section/ command to see if Google returns an indexed result; or
• look at Google Analytics to see if the page is receiving any search-engine-sourced page entries.

It sounds like your pages might, in fact, be indexed.

As to the wrong directory content getting indexed, I'm assuming you've no indexed one of them or assigned canonical tags indicating your strong preference. Both of these are only "suggestions" to Google. It can ignore you and when that happens, the situation like the one you describe happens.

The other thing to bear in mind is how long ago you noindexed or tagged your pages. It can take Google days, weeks, months and sometimes forever to catch up to your requested changes. You have to be patient and cross your fingers.

"if my business is using keywords that do not map to a local business category, then placing location in the title tag will not help me rank for non geo queries."

I always like to repeat the question to make sure I've understood what you're asking.

Your statement is true. Adding location data to your title tag might hinder your rankings for non-geo searches because you'll be wasting valuable pixels on characters the searcher cares nothing about and Google will consider irrelevant.

Agree,

Use your own client's data to support this theory.

• Compare his or her site data to industry average conversion and bounce rates.
• Survey the site's top competitors. Note how many do and don't show prices. Point out that the top ecommerce sites all list prices.
• Suggest a customer survey or A/B testing to understand why people don't convert.
• Look at your client's and competitor reviews and site mentions using Moz's own Fresh Web Explorer. What are prospects and customers saying about your client and competitors's sites? Are prices discussed?

Build a case for what seems like common sense to the rest of us.

If your client is like the one Lee describes (fuel, with fluctuating prices), then you should at least provide something helpful like "We don't list prices because they fluctuate daily. Please refer to X to gauge industry pricing."

If you search for the page directly, can you see if a version of it has been cached?

Erica, Thank you for sticking with this and continuing to share your thoughts. It's very helpful and much appreciated!

**Does it help to include a town name in your title tag when KW planner shows no evidence that anyone is searching for it?  **

I agree with Patrick_G and RangeMarketing that yes it does. The KW planner tool doesn't necessarily give you comprehensive results. Rand Fishkin published a post in February 2012 that showed evidence that Google chooses to hide some of it's keyword information unless you specifically ask for it. If your goal is to rank organically for a keyword + town then yes, you should use your town name in the title tag on your most important pages.

Does Google deliver local results based on location names in title tag if the query didn't mention it?

Google looks for and delivers local (vs organic) results when the search query maps to a local business category for which it has results. If you include a town name in your title tag it will help boost your local search result ranking, but you have to be an indexed local business to begin with and it sounds like you're just talking about organic listings.

Matt-Antonino and Matt-Williamson have narrowed down two options that are highly respectable and well thought of - Bright Local and Whitespark. You should also consider Moz and Yext.

Moz offers a basic citation building service that helps you claim the most important listings – the ones that require manual verification. It gives you quick and easy access to all the local data aggregators (the sites that feed a majority of local directories). It's the most affordable.

Yext is limited in it's reach and least affordable. It will however, get your citations built fastest.

Whitespark and Bright Local can get you the most citations. They're both reasonably priced, accurate, and can speed up or slow down according to your needs.

This previously asked, answered and Moz staff endorsed question on the Moz Q&A forum compares Moz Local vs Whitespark vs Yext. The discussion was prompted by a question about UK citation building services, but I think you'll find it helpful.

I wrote a post a while ago that compares local directory submission services that you might like simply because of the simple chart shared under recommendations. It compares your options at a glance.

This forum has a brief back-and-forth discussing Bright Local vs Whitespark. It's just one thread, so don't give it too much weight in your decision. But, depending on your need, I suggest searching for similar feedback on this subset of services, checking out their websites, and then making a decision.

That makes sense. But I really want to make sure I (and others) understand because of EGOL's earlier referenced comments (June 2011).

"If I kept my category pages out of the search indexes I would be walking away from hundreds of search engine visitors per minute.

Do analytics to see how much traffic is coming into these pages from search, who is linking to them, how much revenue they earn and also consider their future traffic potential.

Its not good to follow generalized advice blindly." and (February 2012) ...

"I have two wordpress blogs and category pages are where most of my search engine traffic enters.  Some bring in thousands per month.  Most of my post pages bring in very little traffic.

If you are not having any problem with duplicate content at present maybe it would be a good idea to allow indexing of the main page, the post pages and the category pages.  They if you do have a duplicate content problem you can remove from the index the pages that bring in the least amount of traffic."

So is the key then, ensuring the category pages contain unique content in addition to whatever else is on the category pages? I would have thought the mere fact that you're creating a unique combination of unique content by the grouping excerpts from identically tagged posts might have been enough. That content would also get updated each time a new post gets published.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this Erica.

Well unfortunately you will risk losing some ranking power if you decide to use just name and phone number. That's considered a partial (vs full) citation and is believed to carry less weight in Google's local ranking algorithm. (See well respected Local SEO company Whitespark's definition of the different types of citations.)

So it's a trade off - bulk vs ranking influence. The relative impact will depend largely on your competition. I guess you could always give it a try and measure results. There's no reason you couldn't just change it back if the impact is not to your liking.

Erica, shouldn't the decision to noindex category pages be done on a case-by-case basis? If the blog has few posts, or if posts aren't updated frequently, then the chance of category pages being viewed as thin increases and it would make sense to noindex them.

If, on the other hand:

• category pages have different content from that of the main blog page;
• the main blog and category pages use excerpts;
• tag, archive and author pages are noindexed;
• and frequent updates;

doesn't it then make a case to index category pages? They can be a rich source of long-tail keywords and therefore a good draw for new entrants to the site as explained in this earlier Q&A post.

Absolutely! And as Matt-Antonino says, use the address listed on your site and be consistent as possible in the naming of your business, the address and the phone number. Google uses that data to differentiate one business from another so consistency is important.

Just to be clear Jasonprice, are you asking if you're eligible to compete in local rankings like the 7 pack on Google maps? I ask because a citation is a specific mention of your business by name and address or name and phone number on the Web. You can get as many of those as you want.

If your question is "am I eligible", the answer is "I don't know". Here are Google's recently updated guidelines. (Miriam Ellis shared them a few days ago on Moz Q&A.) Check 'em out. The fact that you have a physical address certainly works in your favor, but that's not the only criterion that will have to be met.

If we still haven't answered your question, let us know and we'll try again.

chrissmithps,

This might also be link or algorithm update related. Have you taken a look at your inbound links and link metrics recently? It appears as though the site has very few. Did it previously have more? Do you have any warnings in Google Webmaster tools?

I agree rbmac. Seems logical.

The rules for Google local listings are fuzzy and the results can be somewhat unpredictable. Seems clear that the two businesses are separate legal entities. It's not clear, at least not to me, whether they'll share a common phone number, website or whether their clients or business categories overlap.

You could go the route of establishing a separate suite for each of the two businesses, but you're still at risk that the data associated with the two listings will get merged. That's not quick or easy to undo.

If I were you, I'd wait a few months until the other business closes shop and then stake a claim to the address on Google local.

This question has been asked in the past. Miriam Ellis usually chimes in and she knows Local SEO inside and out. Here's the answer she gave to how to handle multiple businesses at the same address a few years ago. It's still relevant.

The meta keywords tag has no positive ranking value. Some folks believe they "do no harm" so fill them in just in case. I think if you read thru past Q&As on this topic, you'll find that a majority of the knowledgeable folks in this community believe it's not worth the effort of populating meta keyword tags unless you want to play games with the competition and distract them with meaningless or conflicting keywords.

If your website auto generates keyword tags, just leave them blank.

You're right. If you removed the redirects, there's no need disavow. I assumed that was what you had done to remove the links given you said you sold Site A.

In my personal experience, it can take Google months, up to 8 months, to drop links. Hopefully in your case it won't take that long.

Linkedin sponsored updates can be geo-targeted, but they can also be expensive. It's worth investigating.

Hi PeteC12,

(1) I wouldn't 404 those pages. I'd 301 or canonicalize them.  Canonicalize if you want to keep the location pages live for useability. If you're set on or well down the path to remove redundant location pages, then 301 redirect.

Even though there's no limit to the number of redirects you can create for a site, they can slow it down (because 301's trigger an extra HTTP request and cause latency). Given the size of your site, I'd recommend doing some analysis to figure out which pages actually have incoming links. If there's no evidence of incoming links, then I wouldn't bother 301ing them but rather monitor your analytics closely to put 301s in place only if page-not-found errors start showing up because of personal bookmarks.

For performance reasons, I'd also be careful to eliminate any interim redirects. By that I mean, for example, if Liverpool-Suburb (A) points to Liverpool (B) and Liverpool (B) points to parent-carpet-cleaner (C), skip the middle step and redirect Liverpool-Suburb (A) directly to parent-carpet-cleaner (C).

I'd also make sure my 404 page notes your redesign and explains that some pages have been removed from the site and point visitors to a user-friendly sitemap.

2. Should you keep location pages that rank well but show no evidence of traffic (using keyword planner)? Don't rely on Google Planner. If you have analytics in place, look at actual page traffic to see how many organic entrances you're earning to these pages. Base your decision on that.

3. Should you remove thin pages until you have time to flesh out the content a bit more? Well that problem may have been solved given it's been a few months since you asked the question. If not, and you're worried about penalties, noindex or 302 (temporarily redirect) rather than remove them.

Sorry you had to wait 3 months to get an opinion. So many questions get answered, sometimes yours can get buried. I apologize if I'm too late.