Google Places - Create new or update old?

by affirmwealth

Posted: 13 years ago 13 replies

OFFLINE MARKETING

I have a client that needs help getting clients...which is why he hired me.

I want to work on optimizing his Google Places listing.

However...he already has at least one, if not two Google Places listings. He said he tried to delete them both because he says Google was charging him for a Places ad and he couldn't get them to stop...I don't understand all about that...I always thought Places was free...but that's another story.

The one I was able to find on Google had his name in the title after the name of the business.

He expressed that he doesn't know why it is like that, but he doesn't want his name in the title.

Secondly, he works from home so he doesn't want his personal home address to be shown on the listing.

How should I approach this? Should I bother optimizing his current listing, or should I just scrap it and create a new one?

If I work on his current listing, what changes should I make?

Thanks in advance...

#create #google #places #update

vndnbrgj 13 years ago

Okay....

Google does have ads that can incorporate with the listing. Yes, the listing is free, but they have sponsored ads that can cost money. Like a tag... It looks like a fat, yellow arrow on the listing...

Whether you should edit the existing or create a new...
This is a hard response due to the fact we can't see the listings themselves..
I would edit the one of the existing ones. Probably the one he has the ad on. Google most likely won't delete that places listing, if he is spending money to help it stand out. However, I would delete the other listing.

As far as what you should edit... I have no idea.... Once again, without seeing the listing, I don't know what was done right and what was done wrong. But, from what you said...
You can hide his address on the places listing, so that wouldn't be a problem. It just has to be a service business, obviously. And take his name out of the title, so it only shows the business name.
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- affirmwealth 13 years ago
  
  Thanks...
  
  He is a service-based business...he works on location, not at his house. He doesn't really have a need for a separate office.
  
  I was asking about updating an existing listing because I thought I had heard/read from various sources that if you update a Google Places listing, the three things you shouldn't change are the business name, the business address, and the phone number.
  
  Is that still true?
  
  Thanks
  
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sconlinemarketing

13 years ago

I would recommend always editing a current listing. It has a better chance of ranking faster after optimizing it.

You can change the name, address, and phone. I have done these changes and have had great success. I would recommend claiming the listing first, and then make your changes.

Never have more than 1 listing with the same address and phone number. Claim them both and edit the one with more reviews and citations and deactivate the other one.

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affirmwealth 13 years ago

Thanks...

I just started reading the Google Places Help Forum...

Now I'm more confused than ever!

Geez...
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- Catalyst eMarketing 13 years ago
  
  OK here are IMPORTANT points to be aware of.
  
  1) Don't create a new listing! Use the existing one that has the most trust points. (Reviews and citations).
  
  2) The strongest existing listing already has built up trust with Google and I suspect that age of Place page could play a small part with the algo.
  
  3) There is the option to hide the address, but that will kill the rankings.
  
  4) Be careful about changing the name and be sure it's the right version of the name he's been using all over and has citations for.
  
  5) It was probably Tags he was being charged for. There was a billing problem and there was no way to turn off being charged. BUT Google killed Tags and that is no longer an option, so I would think that killed the charges too.
  
  Hope this helps and best of luck!
  
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  GeoFan 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Catalyst eMarketing
  
  ...
  4) Be careful about changing the name ...
  
  Can you elaborate on what to be careful about when changing the name?
  
  What if there are multiples that need to be cleaned up?
  
  Thanks
  
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ashleyoakes

13 years ago

Is it better to keep one listing with all of your correct information and organic number and delete all others, even if they have correct addresses, or is it better to keep all of the listings that are out there?

Originally Posted by sconlinemarketing

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mikebrooks 13 years ago

I bet it's not Tags they're being charged for. Google is now very actively marketing to companies for paid Google Places listing. These look to replace or be in addition to the PPC you see at the top of the page. It looks like places except the places tab is blue instead of red.
It is simply PPC using the Places listing.

Once you get into their Places listing you can easily turn it off. But you'll need to get logged in. They had to have an account setup to be billed. Just get their login. I bet it goes right to Places.
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kfira

13 years ago

1.Claim both listing
2. Pick the one with the most citation and reviews and that ranked better.
3. Delete the the weaker one .
4. Update the business name to be the name he use for all his mentioning on the internet.
5. If theres inconsistency in the web mentioning in the NAP decide first what u want to have as the name and modify all the citation sources accordingly.
(that might cause temporary lost of rank)
6. Make sure u have no local modifier in the business name.
7. Keep the NAP data consistent in the LBL and all the citation arround the web.
8. Note that if u change name,address or phone # u might get a verification request by phone. So be ready to have the business owner on the line.
9. Optimize the LBL
10. Build more citation and get them indexed
11. Create a reviews program

Thats it....in short
Kfir

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Catalyst eMarketing

13 years ago

Originally Posted by kfira

3. Delete the the weaker one .

6. Make sure u have no local modifier in the business name.

8. Note that if u change name,address or phone # u might get a verification request by phone. So be ready to have the business owner on the line.

Kfir

3. Don't necessarily want to delete - Need to check if it's partially merged 1st. If it is it will delete the main listing too. Also if the 2nd one has lots of trust points, you don't want to delete, you want to merge and perge, so the main listing picks up all the reviews and citations. The way to do this differs based on if the listing is claimed or not.

6. BAD advice and can get him banned. Name needs to be the legal name or DBA he's been using. No city or added keywords. If you add a geo modifier not only can you get him banned but it can cause him to lose existing citations.

8. G changed the way they do verifications and seldom do phone verifies any more. Not unless they have lots of trust in the company, which if the name isn't right and there are scraped dupes, then it's likely G won't use phone. But if you do the name change right you can totally bypass any verification at all.

@ GeoFan "Can you elaborate on what to be careful about when changing the name?"

Like I mentioned it needs to be the legal name but in some cases especially with Doctors, Dentists and Lawyers there are multiple versions of the name out there.

Example a Dentist may have scraped Google dupes for ABC Dental, John L. Smith DDS, Dr. John Smith and ABCDental: Smith John L DDS (backwards from a yellowpages scrape). So you need to research with client which version of name the legal name, which used most often. Then also research on G to see which variation is listed the most, then figure out the best to use. Sometimes I do a hybrid combo to try to nip one of the dupes in the bud and capture more citations and reviews. But it really depends on the situation. Then whatever NAP you use needs to be what's listed on the site and depending on what a mess it is, some work could need to be done to correct existing citations that don't match up.

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vndnbrgj 13 years ago

Yeah, do not put a geo modifier in the name, unless it really is part of the name.

If you company was ABC Plumbing... Put ABC Plumbing in the name. That's it.
Don't put Houston ABC Plumbing or ABC Plumbing Houston in the title. It violates Googles TOS and will get you in trouble.

Read the TOS and follow them. Do not listen to anyone who advises you to violate them.
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mikebrooks 13 years ago

Here's a pic of what I'm talking about above
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SexyMichelle 13 years ago

I am in desperate need in figuring out how to bypass the whole postcard verification method...Is there any way to make a new listings with new information and to recieve a phone verification??

If anyone knows how please let me know i am willing to pay $ !!!

message me..
thanks
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