Will a Google Places Listing Mess Up National SEO?

[Crabcake Johnny]

Let's take an example of a local candy shop but one that also wants national exposure for online sales.

If that company gets a Google Places listing for their locality, will Google think "hmmm, ok they're a local business so we're not gonna let 'em rank nationally easily."

I've tried to do my own research on this and came up with nodda.

 

[STIBROKER]

If that company gets a Google Places listing for their locality, will Google think "hmmm, ok they're a local business so we're not gonna let 'em rank nationally easily."

I've tried to do my own research on this and came up with nodda.

I have seen something interesting about google pulling local listings...started to get hits for the search term Life Insurance from google...I think wtf.....searched it and there I was #5 page 1......said this has to be a local thing....I would be getting hammered....so on the left side changed my location from Austin to Dallas and did it again and nadda...was not there.....I found this inyeresting.....so if you could help me test this change your location to austin texas and search life insurance and see if I am on page 1........not sure if it is a IP thing or a location thing.....

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Right, for a good analogy let's say got a Google Places listing for "Term Life Insurance" in Austin TX.

If someone in Austin googles that term you should show up on 1st page local listings.

But if I type in "term life insurance" obviously I'm not gonna see your places listing, but will it be harder for you to rank nationally with that term if Google only thinks you're a local shop.

 

[ins4contractors]

My experience would say NO. We started Custom Contractors Insurance in AZ, with a single Google Places listing. Our SEO optimizer had us in the first fold in only 4 weeks for 10 keywords, nationally. I really think it depends on how much your optimizer knows about the Google algorithm. So no, Google Places will not affect your national SEO ranking if it is done right.

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

I have seen something interesting about google pulling local listings...started to get hits for the search term Life Insurance from google...I think wtf.....searched it and there I was #5 page 1......said this has to be a local thing....I would be getting hammered....so on the left side changed my location from Austin to Dallas and did it again and nadda...was not there.....I found this inyeresting.....so if you could help me test this change your location to austin texas and search life insurance and see if I am on page 1........not sure if it is a IP thing or a location thing.....

yeah I show you as number six

 

[STIBROKER]

yeah I show you as number six

hahahaha....sorta like being listed in the austin yellow pages for life insurance.......

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

The answer? Let one of the true SEO people answer this. Otherwise, it's just aimless arrows being shot in the wind.

My aimless arrow? I don't know. Personally, I have never tried to rank local. Good things, however, happen if you do the right thing.

 

[STIBROKER]

the first term I hit was Austin Life Insurance..still there today..Texas terms were soon to follow.....

 

[BenS]

Finally, something I may be able to contribute to this thread... I owned a pool service and repair business here in Phoenix and was able to drive a lot of new business through local search. It is a completely different animal than SEO. I am just now starting to learn SEO, and I've got a lot to learn.

Google places: This is based on your physical address. When you sign up to claim your account, google sends you a verification to your office, or home, wherever you work. Once you get that in the mail, then you set up your profile. I've heard that sometimes they will just make you verify by phone as well.

It is really important to fill out ALL of the options when you set it up. Try to sprinkle some keywords in there, but don't go overboard, they will penalize you. They have actually completely shut off company profiles indefinitely. Just try to do it as naturally as possible.

Remember, you also need to add videos, pictures, etc. Fill out everything, just don't try to rig it by adding tons of keywords. Also make sure that the info in your profile matches the info on your website.

Reviews: This is where it gets a little tricky. You need to get as many reviews as you can. Have friends and family give you google reviews, yelp reviews, citysearch, etc. Google feeds all of these into your "rating".

They won't necesarily give the top spot to the best rating, but if you have a ton of great reviews, plus have your profile optimized, then you should do really well. Of course all of this is tied into your physical address which feeds into the map you see in your search results. So as far as I know, you're only going to be able to rank in the city (or near the city) in which you do business.

All in all it's worth it since you can get that top spot ahead of all of the organic results. However, the only downside is you are opening yourself up to reviews, so in theory a competitor could give you a bad review and tarnish your reputation. I've heard of it happening.

 

[ksigmtsu]

The listings do not affect national seo negatively.

The opposite, they appear to be counted as backlinks.

They're similar in strength to a directory listing from best data I've seen.

I've also seen it happen where I was number 1 or 2 for a statewide keyword, and also ranked near top on google places on the same search listing.