Google Site Killer

[SecureHealth1]

I'm completely lost lol...

 

[tlmarketing]

Quick plug, you guys should be posting on InsuranceLibrary.com that will help with the backlink profile and can also get you that Google Authorship you are looking for.

Answering questions on InsuranceLibrary.com and creating links back to your own site doesn't cause problems with Google or other search engines?

 

[CatalystLocal]

I have been researching SEO firms & experiences with SEO firms here for the past couple of months. It seems that if you are going to augment an existing site it is best to find someone who has a gameplan to expand and build on what you have already done.

Most SEO horror stories seem to start with "well... they changed a bunch of stuff I had already done... and my traffic went to hell...."

And I'd add to that, with the fact that you need to find someone really good with LOCAL SEO. Most SEO companies specialize in organic and are bamboozled by Local and Google Places AKA Google+ Local.

So regular SEOs often do things that hurt more than help, because they can't keep up with the ever changing Google Places guidelines and algo.

Additionally often regular SEOs mainly focus on link building which these days is really risky and not usually even needed for local.

Back when I specialize in Dentists I usually tool dentist websites on average from #16 to #2, some #1 some #3, so 2 is average. And that was ONLY fixing their Place page problems then doing good on-site SEO with Local Hooks. That was NO citation building and NO link building.

Speaking of the local algo. it recently changed again, so if you used to rank and suddenly don't it could have been due to that.

The other big issue is that if you have any problems on your Place page it can sometimes cause a ranking penalty. Often it's something you didn't even notice and you've gotten away with it for years. But then just like with speeding, sometimes you eventually get caught.

I don't have time to read through the whole thread and I think a couple folks are complaining of ranking drops. If anyone wants to post a link to your Place page I'm happy to take a peek and see if I notice anything obvious that could be causing a problem. (But I'm swamped so it could be Monday before I have a chance to post the findings of my research, but I will reply.)

Linda Buquet

 

[somarco]

on-site SEO with Local Hooks

Please explain. What do you mean by "local hooks"?

My G local page

I have a G+ page but it is my personal page. Should I also have a G+ page for my business?

 

[CatalystLocal]

Please explain. What do you mean by "local hooks"?

Hi somarco.

Opps sorry about that. Local Hooks is a Linda'ism. A new industry phrase I invented that everyone in the Local Search world uses now.

Local Hooks are hard to explain. I teach 8 of them and it's really complicated. But in a nutshell Local Hooks are different ways to feed Google location data in different ways that she loves.

The best and easiest example I can give is to use local business schema on every page of your site, with NAP (name, address, phone) exactly matching the NAP on your Place page.

This give Google a really strong signal that A) You are really located where your Place page says you are since everything matches up. B) Schema is the new standard Google, Bing and Yahoo all agreed to. So if the 3 giants all agree, it's a pretty big deal! 3) Having NAP match on every page of site, especially if in Schema helps Google tie your Place page and site together to rank in the 'blended algo.'

I have a G+ page but it is my personal page. Should I also have a G+ page for my business?

(Note to mods I was warned I can't post a link yet. Just wanted you to know I was not trying to, it was the link from his post quoted above, so I stripped the link out of his quote.)

Sorry but that link does not work for us so I can't see it. That's an edit link only you can see.

I'd like to see it before I comment too much because folks get confused about what type of page they have.

But to answer your comment. NO DO NOT set up a G+ business page right now if you don't have one yet.

Google is in the process of upgrading ALL Place pages to Google+ Business pages and they've been telling us for awhile to inform everyone NOT to try to merge themselves as it can cause a duplicate and other problems that can affect ranking.

So fine to keep your personal profile and then just wait for the upgrade. BUT you might already be upgraded and don't realize it.

So the link I wanted was to your Place page. The direct link you'd find on maps, not the internal link from your dash. Only you can see that one.

Linda Buquet

 

[somarco]

Thanks Linda. I can't figure out how to see my G places listing as the public would see it.

This is a Google search result Maybe it's in there somewhere.

Google maps

And the G+ page again.

 

[CatalystLocal]

This has been discussed many, many times but wondering if any of you are getting many Google searches? I used to rank high on pg 1 for several terms but now I am down to page 5 and lower.

OTOH, Bing is nice to me but not enough traffic to make it fun.

I do well on Bing for pages that have a Georgia modifier but zippo on Google. Is Google dead for small businesses? Should I stop swimming upstream and focus more on Bing?

Thanks Linda. I can't figure out how to see my G places listing as the public would see it.

This is a Google [link stripped] Maybe it's in there somewhere.


And the G+ page [link stripped] again.

That G+ Link, well all those links show your Google Place page. It's already merged with Google+. So it is upgraded and has all the features on one page.

But oh dear Bob, no wonder you don't rank. You have multiple violations and they are things that will almost always knock you out of the rankings too.

They can be fixed though. so... "Should I stop swimming upstream and focus more on Bing?"

No, don't give up on Google. You just don't have Google Local set up right.

So sorry but I'm out of time right now. It will take too much time to document everything and explain. But I promise to come back by Monday night at the latest and let you know what the issues are.

Just be careful, don't touch your Place page or do anything in the G+ management dashboard right now because there is a slight chance you could get suspended.

Mods - dang sorry, every time I quote someone I get warned I can't link drop. I wasn't it was their link in the quote, I didn't try to add one.

Linda

 

[somarco]

Thank you Linda. You are very kind. I notice you have training courses for SEO's but do you have something similar for "street" folks like me?

 

[CatalystLocal]

Unfortunately all my training is very advanced and would only make sense for a full-time SEO. I keep thinking I need to do one for business owners but am just buried and don't know if I ever will.

BUT here's an option. When I had more time in the past I would do a one-on-one training consulting type of deal for business owners. Where I would only zero in on their specific issues. Eval all the probs. Explain how to fix. Educate them about how the algo works and all the things they need to watch/be careful about to keep them out of trouble with the big G. So combo training/consulting, 1but only the info that pertained to them, not every crazy problem in the book like consultants need to know. I'm too busy helping Google and everyone at my Local Search Forum to offer that service any more.

But you are in luck because a company I have partnered with is handling that service for me now and guess what? Their specialty is insurance agents. And agents have some unique issues with Google that they know even more about than I do. They can explain how to fix the issues I'm going to tell you about too cuz I won't have time to write a book to explain it all. (Plus I have carpal problems and can't type much.) But they can explain in more detail verbally or in many cases will do a screen share and show you exactly what to do.

Sorry in a rush and carpal hurting, did that kinda make sense?

Linda

 

[somarco]

Thx again. Do you have a site for this partner? You can spell it out wefixthings dot com. I am sure others would be interested as well.

Do you have an opinion on the Yoast Local SEO plugin?