How do you deal with Google knowledge graph showing competitor for a generic query?
-
Search for keywords like criminal defense lawyer detroit or criminal defense lawyer detroit mi and Google knowledge graph is highlighting one competitor. No maps results are shown. How have others dealt with this situation? I know others have noticed this too: http://www.webpronews.com/sometimes-googles-knowledge-graph-highlights-brands-for-generic-queries-2013-10
-
Hi Adam
Sorry for the confusion - what I was getting at is the reason your competitor may be appearing for a generic keyword is because (if they are local to you) they have shown Google that they are associated with a certain keyword and are located by the searcher. For instance, when I search a generic term like "coffee" in my search, I get 5 businesses that pop up around me, or within a close proximity of me, in Chicago.
Same when I search "mechanic", "wine", and "ice skating". Depending on what you are searching, I was saying that local search optimization can have a heavy hand in what appears in the SERPs for your search.
Now, beyond that, Google also takes into consideration branding. Even then, elements of what I was speaking of above still stand.
Here are a couple of references:
Brands, Google Plus and the Knowledge Graph: A Love Triangle (Moz)
Understanding the Knowledge Graph and Optimizing it for Your Brand (Kahena)What I am getting at here, is your competitor may be a big enough brand that Google is associating them with that broad/generic search you are talking about.
If I am not answering your question, again, I apologize and will step back - but I just think these elements above are worthy of your time and research, and will assist you in your chances of appearing as well. Take a look at your competitor though to see if they are taking the same steps - I am willing to bet they are!
Hope this helps a bit more - good luck!
-
Thanks, but your answer gives basic local SEO tactics, and doesn't answer my question. My question is what to do when a competitor is shown in the Knowledge Graph for a generic search (they should only be showing in the knowledge graph if they are searched for by name). For some reason Google is confusing the generic keyword with this company's name, it seems.
-
Hi Adam
I would take a look at the following:
Google My Business - You may already be on this and have your client's business set up on this, but in case you don't, this a great place to start. Google uses the information from your profile and location to help your business rank for local searches that pertain to your industry. Here are some great tips from Google My Business and Search Engine Watch to help you get started, or to check your current situation. I would also make sure your categories are correct.
Moz Local + Whitespark - These are citation services that assist your business and it's locations get listed correctly. Moz offers managed citations - meaning if you change your business address or information, you can quickly change this in your listings. Whitespark doesn't offer managed listings, but they do focus on niche and industry driven listings. I would evaluate both and see which one works best for you.
Schema.org - Schema.org is a markup language for search engine crawlers to help them better find and understand important information on a website. You can mark almost anything on your website up from company name, address, telephone number, and logo, to images, videos, keywords, titles, biographies, job titles, and more. It's pretty indepth and will take some work, but the payoffs are pretty spectacular.Ultimate Local SEO Audit - Local search is a never ending task. That being said, you should routinely be checking your information on the web to ensure that it's correct and up to date as search engines use this information in their listings, such as Knowledge Graph. This resource from Moz will be an extremely handy and valuable tool going forward.
Beyond that Adam, I would say check your competitor's listings, social engagement, content, and even their traditional PR tactics. I would also check both your backlink profiles in Majestic to see if they have listings or partnerships/accreditation/certifications/endorsements you don't, and start applying those opportunities in your digital and traditional marketing efforts.
There's a lot here, so if you have any more questions, let me know. Hope this helps! Good luck!
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
-
Philosophical: Does Google know when a photo isn't what your meta data says it is? And could you be downgraded for that?
Not something I've ever heard discussed before, probably still a bit too esoteric for present day, but I've always been one to be guided by where I see Google headed rather than trying to game the system as it exists now. So think about it: Most stock and public domain photos are used repeatedly throughout the internet. Google's reverse image search proves that Google can recognize when the same photo is used across dozens of sites. Many of those photos will have alt and/or title text that Google also has crawled. If not it has the content of the page on which the photo exists to consider for context. So if Google has a TON of clues about what a photo is likely to be about, and can in theory aggregate those clues about a single photo from the dozens of sites using it, how might Google treat a site that mislabels it, old school "one of these things is not like the others" style? Would a single site hosting that photo be bolstered by the additional context that the known repeated photo brings in, essentially from other sites? If 10 sites about widgets are using the same widget photo, but the 11th uses an entirely new, never before published photo, would the 11th site then be rated better for bringing something new to the table? (I think this would be almost certainly true, drives home the importance of creating your own graphics content.) Anyway, like I said, all theoretical and philosophical and probably not currently in play, especially since an image can be used in so many different contexts, but it's New Years and things are slow and my brain is running, so I'm curious what other folks might think about that as the future of image optimization.
Image & Video Optimization | | BradsDeals1 -
Any special way to rank a youtube vid in google page 1 for a kw?
I've failed to rank a youtube video before , I don't know why.. but do you guys have something that can help me to rank a youtube video to google page one? backlinks? If yes, then what type of backlinks? Just like backlinking articles and websites? thx for the input guys
Image & Video Optimization | | martino8880 -
Our site is showing up #1 for most terms with a blended local listing, but no longer in the organic listings
...after some SEO updates were made. While I am ecstatic about a #1 local listing, I am concerned that we aren't getting that second organic listing on even the top 50 results! Besides improving the content and SEO on the inner pages with the hopes to get them to rank, does anyone have any suggestions for what we are doing wrong? We (dm-remodel.com) are ranking well for things like "ann arbor kitchen remodeling" and "ann arbor bathroom remodeling" Thank you very much for any help!!
Image & Video Optimization | | MeganCough0 -
Google Places email question
Hi Mozzers- I just watched the recent Webinar on Google Places optimization. Unfortunately I missed the live broadcast. I have a couple of questions: It was advised to use an email at the domain for claiming the listing. What about a Gmail address with the company's name in the address? I try to use an email at the domain, but sometimes I'm not able to get one setup. One of my clients provides a service where clients don't necessarily have to come to their location. I used the radius option within maps but they are still not coming up in other locations. I should note that they have very good visibility in the metro area where there is more competition. Some of their competition is showing up for lots of locations and they have offices in one location. Tips? Thanks in advance! LHC
Image & Video Optimization | | lhc670 -
Google Places - second listing, same name
We will open a new office at a new location and I would like to add it to our Google places. How do I do this? Per Google guidelines: "Do not create more than one listing for each business location, either in a single account or multiple accounts." - Website & Phone: Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, and provide one website that represents your individual business location_._ Do I have to another contact page on my website for that location too? I will end up having to business listing with the same name but different locations. I want people to know that we have 2 separate offices because they serve different clients. I want to show up in Google places for the second location as well. Any thoughts?
Image & Video Optimization | | echo10 -
Google Places weblink advice
In your Google Places listing on the website link option should this point to a specific location based page for your business? For example my company have several locations in different towns and cities, at present they all point back to the homepage, but should they point back to a specific location based page on the website as I am sure Google looks at the website link for location based text and it its pointing at the homepage which has generic title and h1 tags etc and does not cover location based text then the Google Places listing ranks lower as it displays the meta title in the places result? This is the only thing I can think of because the listings that appears top 2 have no additional info, no photos, no reviews etc while my listing has a description, images, video etc and the centroid location is nearer to the centre of the city than many of the others so I am at a loss again to work out why Google is ranking this so poorly in Local Search?
Image & Video Optimization | | idv0 -
Google Places Account Suspended
Hi- I was recently forced to migrate my Google account. After going through the process my Google Places profiles associated with this email was suspended. I've read the quality guidelines and I'm pretty certain that my account was suspended because: --
Image & Video Optimization | | lhc67
Account Email Address: Use a shared business email account, if multiple users will be updating your business listing. If possible, use an email account under your business domain. For example, if your business website is www.google.com, a matching email address would be [email protected]. There seems to be no way to change the email address associated with a Places account. I've pretty much resolved to obtaining emails at the business domain and setting the profiles up again from scratch. Before I do this does anyone have any other ideas? I've posted the question at Google webmaster forums and have only found other similar unanswered questions. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you! LHC0 -
Google Places Name Change - Duplicate Listings.
Need input on a Google Places change to avoid duplicate listing/phone number issue for a name change. Here is a summary: Company A has a Places listing and ranks week for key local terms. Company A has become a franchise and has a completely new name but same address. A New Franchise listing was created. It has same location but a different telephone (tracking) number. Both listings generally appear in Google Places but Company A (older listing) come up first. For branding purposes I would ideally like to eliminate (or edit) Company A listing and optimize new Franchise listing. We will need to eliminate the tracking phone number and add the old “Company A” phone number to the new Franchise listing. What is the best procedure to delete the Company A listing? I have access to both listings. Do I: -Strip Company A listing of most info…wait and then delete? Do I delete from my account or delete in total? -Just change the name of the “old” Company name to the new franchise name and delete the new franchise listing? An if so, in what order? -or do I just delete the old listing right away and edit the new franchise listing right away? -When do I add the old (and real phone number) to the new franchise listing? This same scenario has played out in other locations with disastrous results. Appears that Google looks at them as duplicate listings if the old Company name is still active and demotes both listings. Trying to avoid that problem that has been created by other companies. -Would adding Google Boost to the surviving listing help? Any input appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | AgileInt0