Why no 7 pack/places listings for local search?

9 replies
  • SEO
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Sometimes if I do a search for a local company there are no local listings that show up, even though I know of local businesses that have claimed and optimized their places for that search term. So my question is why does Google show the 7 pack sometimes and sometimes start with organic?

Is there a certain number of places claims they need to have in that category before they start listing the places first? For example maybe there is only one makeup artist that has a claimed places account so instead of showing places they start with organic?
#listings #local #pack or places #search
  • Profile picture of the author Letsurf
    My isp location is in the city I'm searching in. I've seen it a lot though even with different cities. For example if I type Makeup artist + city name it might show organic results. But if I type Plumber + city name for the same city it will show the places listings. I'm searching different terms in my own city.
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  • Profile picture of the author cheapstuff
    There is no real exact science to the 7 pack or local listings showing on in the search results. I would like to think its a minimum amount of businesses must be listed in that city, say 3, but this is not the case. It really changes from case to case and even can change from week to week for a keyword.

    I would consider a search that is local like makeup artist + city name but only shows nationwide results faster and easier to rank for than a result which shows a local search result box for that city.
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    • Profile picture of the author Letsurf
      Originally Posted by cheapstuff View Post

      There is no real exact science to the 7 pack or local listings showing on in the search results. I would like to think its a minimum amount of businesses must be listed in that city, say 3, but this is not the case. It really changes from case to case and even can change from week to week for a keyword.

      I would consider a search that is local like makeup artist + city name but only shows nationwide results faster and easier to rank for than a result which shows a local search result box for that city.
      So in that case would you:

      1. Recommend Organic SEO
      2. Recommend Local SEO (places, local listings, citations...)
      3. Recommend a combo of both.

      If only organic listings are showing up for a local search the first thought would be to do seo on the site, not local seo. But then again if gogle starts listing a 7 pack for the keyword the client would have no citations, no local listing setup. What are your thoughts?
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  • Profile picture of the author cheapstuff
    No matter what I would do local SEO in Google Places if you have a location. Its a good source of backlinks from pages containing the city name and keywords. Also you can get city searches that have a local map if there are any.

    Usually for keywords with city names, unless its Los Angeles, New York or some other major city, you can create a couple of articles on web 2.0 sites about your keyword and create a link to your website which includes the keyword and city name. Then it just pops up.

    Sites like HubPages, Squidoo and stuff can be a good source of SEO juice.
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    • Profile picture of the author Letsurf
      Originally Posted by cheapstuff View Post

      No matter what I would do local SEO in Google Places if you have a location. Its a good source of backlinks from pages containing the city name and keywords. Also you can get city searches that have a local map if there are any.

      Usually for keywords with city names, unless its Los Angeles, New York or some other major city, you can create a couple of articles on web 2.0 sites about your keyword and create a link to your website which includes the keyword and city name. Then it just pops up.

      Sites like HubPages, Squidoo and stuff can be a good source of SEO juice.
      thanks for the tip =) Do you write a unique article for each of these or spin one and submit a spun version? I'm considering which of these options to use with all the google madness lately...
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  • Profile picture of the author cheapstuff
    I do unique articles on HubPages and post articles from my blog on Squidoo sometimes but unique is best. The key is to get the content into the featured area of a category page. With unique articles they will rank in Google better and that will make them worth more in my opinion.
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    • Letsurf, sorry I missed your PM asking me to weigh in on this.

      I think lack of local listings is probably based more on search volume than # of Place pages. So in smaller towns for instance a lower volume keyword like City Sedation Dentistry may not pull a pack.

      Tip if you want to see packs for a keyword change search phrase to Keyword in City or near City and they sometimes show then.

      But especially now with Venice, work on good solid SEO, with strong focus on Local SEO and what I call local hooks, then move up organically.

      The local results come and go sometimes, so by moving up organically if G starts showing local again you'll also be moving up in the blended local algo.
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      • Profile picture of the author Letsurf
        Originally Posted by Catalyst eMarketing View Post

        Letsurf, sorry I missed your PM asking me to weigh in on this.

        I think lack of local listings is probably based more on search volume than # of Place pages. So in smaller towns for instance a lower volume keyword like City Sedation Dentistry may not pull a pack.

        Tip if you want to see packs for a keyword change search phrase to Keyword in City or near City and they sometimes show then.

        But especially now with Venice, work on good solid SEO, with strong focus on Local SEO and what I call local hooks, then move up organically.

        The local results come and go sometimes, so by moving up organically if G starts showing local again you'll also be moving up in the blended local algo.
        Thanks for the tips. So instead of doing just places optimization or just organic seo exclusively you'd do a combo of local/organic right?
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