Welcome to the Q&A Forum

I'm sorry but I don't know if I can/should link out here.

Let me see if Miriam or a Mozzer says it's OK to.

As far as we all know Pigeon is still only living in the US, plus the timing does not match. Pigeon hit July 24th. Plus we normally refer to Pigeon in relationship to the local page (Google Places). And if anything Pigeon seems to have given directories even more of a boost.

But there was a different update that affected local that reportedly started on exactly 8/25. Carter from SerpWoo just did a really long complicated post full of about 20 screenshots at my forum last night, showing and explaining it.

So due to timing, I think it maybe could be this other algo that's affecting you, since it hit the same day, but of course that's just a guess. And no one else is talking about this update and I don't really understand everything he said to be honest because his tool is really complicated and difficult for me to understand fully. (Or I should say I have not made the time to figure it out yet.)

Good luck Pete!

Good to hear and happy to help!

"Is there any additional benefit to claiming a business listing other than locking it from being edited?"

Claiming does not lock it from being edited. Still can be by either Google or users.

As far as SEO and ranking - no benefit really. I see unclaimed listings in the A spot all the time.

Except for 2 important things.

1. Categories are one of the most important local ranking signals. If you don't claim, all you get is whatever standard category Google gives you, no additional ones.

2. As far as conversions, click-though and stick rate - claiming can make a HUGE difference. (Adding great images, a compelling description, hours, etc.)

Click-though and stick rate are both important ranking factors.

The data/image from the page shows up in the Knowledge panel, so a surfer comparing listings in Google search could be swayed more by a nice KP, especially if there are the additional elements added of having a G+ Post and image show up. That's just extra free ad space you aren't using if you don't claim and post to G+.

So all the above could help get either more calls or clicks and again click-through is now one of the strongest ranking factors. So I would assume click-through from SERPs to G+ would also count.

Great points Miriam!

Peter, the other thing I've seen happen with microsites - using Miriam's example...

If Google finds the compost microsite, then sometimes she'll change the link on your G+ L page to the compost site. Now all you rank for is compost and you lose rankings for all the other KWs that were on the main site.

I've had consultants contact support about that problem and support says: There is nothing we can do if the algo finds another one of your sites. The only way to be sure the algo links to the correct site is to only have one site.

I think this should have been posted in one of the local categories. I just happened to catch it.

Hard to help on a case like this without seeing the listings.  Can you tell me what kind of company each of them is? And how many are there? What industry is the money site?

But it's true, only one listing per business per location BUT if all the same owner and related categories they won't fly. And just making up different suites won't work either, especially if they are onto you and already deleted listings.

"But now I cannot have a local account because I do not have 10 businesses listed, but I cannot have 10 businesses because they all have the same address (now different suite #'s)."

I think there is confusion. Most businesses only have one listing and they have a G+ Local page. You only need 10 to use the bulk feed, that's a different matter.

Whether you have 2 or 3 or 5 my guess is they aren't going to fly, but if you answer the Qs above it would help me zero in a little.

Incredibly smart answer Miriam. I'm going to steal this line: "In general, inclusion of more than one result in a single pack for the same brand is the result of tremendous dominance or lack of competition."

Miriam covered it all, I'll just say that things are somewhat different post-Pigeon. In the past it was very difficult to get more than one listing in the pack. But now with Pigeon I've seen packs where ALL 7 were for the same business. Example: one medical practice and 6 Drs at the same practice. That never used to happen before. And it's not really fair if there are 30 other businesses in that city that one locks everyone else out.

But Pigeon has not settled in yet and it appears they are still testing and training it. So I would not count on that continuing and I've only seen it happen in some smaller less competitive markets.

So all you can really do is follow Miriam's advice and continue working on all the best practice stuff you can. Consumers searching via phone that are located closer to location B will more likely see that one.

I was just coming to say something like the 1st part of what Chris said. Google local listings are for physical locations, does not matter how many sites you have.

Since you mentioned ecomm wanted to say that online only businesses do not qualify for a Google Local listing - it's not allowed. But if any of the locations do business face to face with customers locally, then they can have a local page. And yes if all the same company, it's fine to have all listings in the same account.

Hi Ruben,

Keyword stuffed names are a major violation but one that Google often does not penalize.

Check out "Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney". 2 fake names occupy the C and D spots.

Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer (Site used is AVVO.com)
Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney (Site used is Lawyer.com)

Both listings are really for Brenner Law. Same location and phone #.

Tons of us have blogged about it and reported to Google numerous times. Even reported to Matt Cutts a few times. The listings violate the guidelines PLUS 2 should not be showing in the pack like that for the same business anyway.

This is due to the bad Pigeon algo that was released 7/24. Pigeon is rewarding lots of spam. However KW stuffed names have been a problem for a long time. Just worse since Pigeon.

"As far as Social is concern, I would advise you to go one page for each state and cover all stores that comes under that particular state"

Actually if they create a Google+ Local page for each store - which they should in order to rank in local... then that page will also automatically be a G+ Business page with social features as well. They could opt to not use all the store pages for social and just have a brand Social page - but just letting you know all locations with a G+ L page will also be social pages.

To set up for 200 locations you want to use the bulk datafeed, now called "Google My Business Locations":  https://support.google.com/business/answer/6002002?hl=en

I'm with Miriam on this!

If the listing was set up properly in the Google My Business dashboard then the full address is listed but the address is not shown live because it's a violation for the address to show if they only do business at the client's locations.

However citations should still have full address and NAP should match exactly as it is in the dashboard. Because Google matches citations to the address field even if address is suppressed.

Only exception would be if it's a home address and the client is adamant about having it not listed anywhere. If so, then Phil Rozek has a good post about citation sources that allow submission without a street address.

Actually locations like you mention are not allowed. I'm a Google Top Contributor and we deal with this often at the Google Business forum.

I know attorneys for example that have gotten 10 listings suspended. The entire account, including the main location they actually work out of.

And yes Googlers and mappers sometimes do stop by to check a location in person. (Not very often but it happens.)  They also call and have ways of trying to find out if the location is valid according to their guidelines.

Yes, Miriam is right. Lots of factors in the mix.

But what controls the TOP of the 7 pack, usually the top 3 - 4 (depends on market) is ORGANIC ranking factors. So when you see a listing sitting at A that's unclaimed and has no reviews, may not even have many citations, but it's the strength of the site that put it on top - not Place page ranking factors.

So sorry I was rushing to prep for a webinar. Think I totally misread the question, so please ignore my answer.

Somebody give me a big thumbs down. ;-(

If by local you mean you've merged with G+, then FYI after you merge with G+ you are not supposed to edit anything in the old Places dash any more at all anyway, so there is really no "which is better" strategy. You are limited by which dash you are in and whether you have merged or not (which if you have not do not BTW.)

Plus custom cats are going away soon. Google is upgrading everyone to the new Places dash, which like Google+ does not allow custom cats. THEN they are auto-upgrading everyone to G+ so everyone will have a merged page, which again does not allow custom cats.

So both the old dash and custom cats will be gone soon. Sad...

Hi Bruce, I just replied in another thread and said:

"Many local businesses and SEOs have a Google strategy of divide and conquer.
With Google Local a better strategy is "United We Stand!" (One site.)

Miriam and I went on to give a lot of other advice that relates to your situation. Here is the link to the other discussion:
http://moz.com/community/q/a-branded-local-search-strategy-utilizing-microsites

Great points all Miriam!

Many local businesses and SEOs have a Google strategy of divide and conquer.

With Google Local a better strategy is "United We Stand!"

The other important thing is that we need to be mindful of the S in NAPS (Name, address, phone, site) All need to tie together.

One well optimized site with location pages works better for a wide variety of reasons.

Here is a biggie that many don't realize. Let's say main site is optimized for all the plumbing KWs and Place page is linked to home page of main site.

Then you do a microsite for citywaterheaterrepairs.com. If NAP is on the site and other signals to help it rank locally, that tie it back to the main business, sometimes the algo will REPLACE THE URL on the main Place page with the microsite URL. What happens next? The ranking drops for the money KWs- city plumbers, city plumbing service etc, because the Place page is now linked to a site optimized for waterheaters.

I've had SEOs post in my forum about this problem and even post emails they have gotten from Google support saying they will not fix the URL. Support basically tells them the algo will connect whatever site it thinks is relevant and if you only want the algo to connect to your main site - then you should only have one main site.

So anyway that's just one potential issue that can come up.  Hope that helps and best of luck!

Since you have 70 locations, are you doing bulk? If so, you may have a long time, because I don't think they've announced a new dash for bulk.

Hi Sarah,

Like I said for a long time I recommended adding that info as Google DID say they looked at it. However the new dash is right around corner, then that info will be gone. So if there, leave it. If not I would not bother adding. You could get the new dash next week.

PLUS stuff down there never did directly impact ranking. There are far more important areas you could spend time. Doing really smart local on-site SEO moves the needle the most these days.

Yes there is a new help forum that's been up for a couple years now.  I'm a Google Top Contributor there.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!categories/business But it's mainly a peer support forum and Google will not answer any questions about ranking and seldom comments on other questions.