How to get Google to choose office location pages and not the homepage. Tips and Suggestions?
-
Hello Mozzers
The issue I have is a client with a number of office locations (six) across the south of England and they want each to rank well for each location + the qualifier solicitors. IE Brighton Solicitors. Work has been undertaken on the office location pages to include the services offered from each location, full postcodes and phone numbers. These location pages are linked to from the footer of the website so have good internal links. The site has a DA of 49 and the office location pages have a PA of 33. Google in its wisdom keeps ranking the home pages for the searches. The result is that the site ranks well in one location (London) but poorly in all the majority of others (2nd,3rd and 4th page). Were it does pick up/choose the location page the rankings are better than the homepage. The other locations are less competitive than London according to the Keyword difficulty tool.
Any tips on to suggest to Google that it should rank the office location pages and not the homepage for each location? Thanks in advance
-
I agree with Miriam, make sure that you have enough citation strength/listing withing for each location, as well as making sure you're listing is linking to your individual location page on your site. This is by far the biggest differentiator in my experience.
-
Hey There,
Ultimately, it's up to Google to determine which page they consider is the authoritative result for a search, but in a multi-location scenario, here's how you can help them make your desired choice:
-
Be sure locations are NOT sharing phone numbers.
-
Be sure you have a unique, high quality landing page for each location. No thin, duplicate pages. Be sure the complete NAP is at the top of each of these pages.
-
Be sure the landing pages are being linked to from a top level menu.
-
Be sure ALL citations (including the GMB page) are linking to the correct website landing page for each location. Be sure none are just linking to the home page or some other wrong page of the site.
-
Be sure adequate citations have been built for each location on trusted platforms and that the NAP is consistent on each one.
-
Be sure there are no duplicate GMB pages for any of the locations, nor duplicate citations with bad/mixed-up data on other pages.
-
Very important, be sure all GMB listings you've created are guideline-compliant. Be aware of any violations and resolve them and also be aware of any past history of spammy behavior on the part of the business.
-
If all of this is already 100% perfect, see if you can make improvements to the internal linking structure and 3rd party links pointing to these landing pages.
Hope this helps!
P.S. This is Miriam posting, but I'm in Mozzer Alliance at the moment.
-
-
Hey highwayfive,
I've work with several multi-location businesses, and for the most part, achieve location pages outranking home page for geo related search queries. Here's a couple questions I'd have for you.
**Content **- How's the content on the location pages? Is it focused on the geo, ie directions, nearby landmarks, etc.
Links - You mentioned having links in the footer going to the location pages, however do you have any main body content links that make sense to link to location pages? For example, on the the service pages, if this service is only offered at one or two locations it would be a natural fit to link to them there. Footer links are great and a good way to get a wave of internal links, but main body editorial links seem to carry much more weight.
Google+/Citations - As Zoe mentioned, Do you have Google+ location pages for each location that link back to the location page (and the location page linking to the Google+ page)? How's the citation health for each location?
Best of luck, Ryan
-
Hi,
Thanks for your reply, that should help too, and opening hours for each business if they're not already there. Do you also have each location set up with its own location page on Google Plus? Having great citations across the rest of the web, with consistency for each location, should help too.
Good luck!
Zoe -
Thanks Zoe,
Each page has the full address and post code and have the primary search terms in the title, H1, meta description and page copy. I could add some alt.images tags to the map and I am trying to get them to produce some unique photos for each page as well.
-
Hi,
Have you added each pages' location to the Meta Title, H1 tag and within the body text of each relevant page?
Also, you could use your internal linking structure to indicate that your location pages are important. For example, ensure each has a prominent link on your homepage, a 'Locations' page and your contact page. You can also have sub-pages for each location, which all link back to the original location page. I see you say you've added postcodes- I'd also add the full addresses of each location.
Does the Solicitor's main name contain a location? This may be why it's confusing the search engines, but the above suggestions should improve this.
I hope this helps!
Zoe
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Unsolved Has anyone noticed the Google quote request response rate never changes?
We respond to almost 100% of our quote requests, yet every quote email that comes in from Google shows a 27% response rate and it never changes. Has anyone else seen this or have any insight into it?
Local Listings | | r1200gsa0 -
Local Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries Disappearing from Google Maps when Plurals used.
This is the second time I have posted this question and never got a satisfactory result. I have an SEO client in Tacoma Wa and when you type (Dispensaries Near Tacoma they are in the Top 3 snack pack and the Google maps shows 20 other similar businesses. However, when you search (Dispensary Near Tacoma) only 3 or 5 recreational marijuana shops show up and my client disappears. Someone earlier suggested it could be because of the categories selection, but that can't affect ALL the other shops and like I said it happens in other cities. for example Dispensary Near Olympia vs Dispensaries Near Olympia. I have the full write up and pictures and diagrams on my blog. Please HELP! This could affect your future clients also. https://isenselogic.com/local-business-disappearing-on-google-maps-when-plurals-used/
Local Listings | | isenselogic0 -
Do I need separate local numbers for two fitness locations?
I'm beginning local search work for a local studio that has two locations in the same city. Do I need to provide two different phone numbers in my NAPs for each studio or can both locations have the same phone number? Thanks! Ann
Local Listings | | amws240 -
Incorrect Google Places Listing Outranks Other
We have 2 Google Places listings (due to 2 Google Accounts). One listing (the one with the wrong address) outranks the correct listing. Am working on updating citations and have updated the website with the correct address. I do note that Google has not picked up that the contact page has changed and has not seen the changes to many of the citations. Do we: Update the incorrect listing with the correct address for the time being to resolve issues with clients. Remove the old (incorrect) listing. Or is there a better way to sort this out am concerned that removing the listing will lose us our Google Places rank.
Local Listings | | GrouchyKids0 -
Why would a website link disappear from a Google Place listing?
Hi, a local non-profit recently re-branded their name from MacDonald Center to Maybelle Center. When they updated their business information their website link disappeared. They've updated from within and dashboard to no avail. We've requested edits/updates via Google Map maker but it says Denied. Here's a URL for the SERP result. Note the button for "website" would normally appear by the button for "directions" https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=maybelle center portland&oq=maybelle center portland&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59j69i61.4316j0j7 Can someone please explain why this is happening and how we can fix it? They are a great community organization who's about to receive some media coverage and we'd really appreciate it if users hearing about the group be able to easily access their new website. They are aware of their duplicate listings but, typical of non-profits, have limited time and funds so are prioritizing to address more urgent issues first. However, I don't believe duplicate listings would cause such an issue but please let me know if I'm wrong here
Local Listings | | Flock.Media0 -
Google My Business: Multiple businesses operating from same address
Hi guys, This seems to be quite common (especially now with "hotdesking" becoming increasingly popular), but I've never had to do local SEO for a business like this before so was just wondering on best practice for a business who shares the same brick-and-mortar location with multiple other businesses. For Google My Business verification, it does seem you just have to get there first. With Google unverifying the first account tied to that address if you attempt to verify another - I don't want to do this, due to the relationship between my client and the verified business in question. Any suggestions?
Local Listings | | Ria_1 -
How long until an address changes after verification on Google My Business?
Started working with a company recently that had a Google My Business with an old address. I went ahead and claimed it and verified it with the postcard, but it still shows the old address if search. How long will that be?
Local Listings | | EcommerceSite0 -
Anyone know what makes a directory get served up?
Hi All, as most know, directories are taking over the SERPS as of late, and my question is: What "tells" Google that it is a directory? What does Google look for that gets these directories showing? I understand the big ones probably have back-room deals with Google, but I am seeing some smaller ones showing. Any ideas?
Local Listings | | BBuck0