Comments on: Get All Your Questions about Local SEO Answered!

By: George Freitag

George Freitag — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:18:25 +0000

Thanks for your question, Jason!

To answer: absolutely. Google looks at both the website and the local listing when ranking its local results. This is why it’s important to optimize both; something we’ll actually be getting into during our Local Series here over the next couple weeks.

By: George Freitag

George Freitag — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:16:14 +0000

Hi Emily. That really depends on your business. The old phonebook’s websites, BBB and even some local directories can often be worth looking into. It really depends on the niche directories available to your business.

By: Shaun

Shaun — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:11:54 +0000

I agree that it is a good idea to try to generate as many G+ local reviews for a business as you can but it’s worth noting that for some industries (thinking travel or restaurants) there are some pretty powerful 3rd party sites that are well worth your time when it comes to reviews.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 06:42:36 +0000

Is there a connection between Google Plus Local rankings and Organic rankings?

By: George Freitag

George Freitag — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 23:57:43 +0000

Hi Jeff! In a perfect world, all the reviews would be counted. Unfortunately, Google places a such a high preference on its own reviews, that your clients will want to direct as many reviews as possible directly to the Google+ Local page. Like I told Robert earlier, Google will still link to the other reviews at the bottom of the local page, but it just won’t be displayed as prominently.

Bing, on the other hand, has many different partnerships and will display reviews from Yelp, Citysearch and other popular directory sites directly in its business listings.

By: George Freitag

George Freitag — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 23:54:40 +0000

Hi Kim. This is where you’ll want to spend the time to make sure all of your directory listings are displaying their contact information in the exact same format. In some cases, you may even want to go so far as to help your competitor update their directory listings as well.

If you continue to encounter problems, you can try visiting Google Map Maker and editing your listing directly or report a problem directly to Google.

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:38:33 +0000

Is it worth it to pay for a link on a directory site?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:36:10 +0000

We work with a lot of clients trying to direct their customers to one directory over another to write their reviews. Is this worth the effort? is one directory, like Yelp or G+ local, better or worse for leaving reviews?

By: Kim Wetter

Kim Wetter — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:31:16 +0000

Hey George! What is the best way to combat similar businesses that share the same exact address?

By: George Freitag

George Freitag — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 21:41:58 +0000

Hey Robert! Well you hit the most important directories! I’d also include Bing and Yelp. But then it sort of depends on what type of business you’re in. For most businesses, Citysearch, Hotfrog, and the phone directory sites are appropriate too. But after that, you’ll really want to focus on niche directories like Urban Spoon for restaurants or Healthgrades for medical practitioners.

As for reviews, they are definitely important. For Google, they really are pushing for customers to use Google+ so a review there is ideal. They also do link to most other review sites below the Google reviews on the +Local listing so reviews on other sites do sort of get seen. I’d also recommend Yelp since, apart from having their own loyal users, they are also currently a content provider for Bing’s local listings.