39 Locations in 300 miles radius -- How to setup "rel=publisher"?

[manny1020]

Here is my situation.

Will be managing digital marketing for 30 locations within a 300 mile radius.

So far, each location has a landing page as such:

http://www.companyname.com/State/[City or Town]

Along with various other processes, I will be setting up and/or optimizing each location's Google+ Local Business page.

The only thing I am iffy on is how I would handle "rel=publisher".

Would best practice be to link each Google+ Local business page via "rel=publisher" to each of the location Landing Pages? I will also be linking each Landing Page to their respective Google+ Local Business page via a Google+ icon.

Any suggestions on this franchise digital optimization process would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Manny,

"I will be setting up and/or optimizing each location's Google+ Local Business page."

Were you aware that you should not be setting up any +Business pages for clients right now? Did you know that Google is upgrading all Place pages to G+ Business pages so if you set up a pure G+ Business page the process can get messed up?

Only set up Place pages and let Google upgrade you to a full G+ Business page which right now is SUPPOSED to be pretty immediate but who knows, things are bumpy.

Just wanted you to know you should only set up new in Places dash.

OR with that many locations and if not service area businesses, use bulk.

As far as setting up rel=publisher, sorry not my strong suit, will let others answer that one.

 

[manny1020]

Thanks for that insight Linda,

I always get all these pages mixed up, and now that you mention it, I'm not sure I can differentiate the two, and am hoping you can clarify the difference for me.

Using Chik-fil-a as an example.


Would this be a Places Page:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/118354331751684719540/about

And is this a full Google+ Business Page?

https://plus.google.com/u/0/107528586323636165224/about


Most of the locations already have a Place page set up, but are you telling me, that for those locations that don't have a Google page of any kind, that I should only create a Place page, and not mess with creating a Google+ Local Business Page, right?

I will likely be using the bulk method, thanks for that.

So Linda, since each Places page will now be a Google+ Business page, I am wondering, will those Google+ Business pages be the ones which show up on the Local packs?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Yep you got it.

Place pages reviews only no follow button or social. Rank and show in maps and search.

G+ Business pages (not verified/merged) Follow button and social features.
But DO NOT rank and show in maps and search.

Merged or Upgraded Place Pages are Google+ Local Business pages have all of the above. Reviews + Follow button is easiest thing to look for.

Most of the locations already have a Place page set up, but are you telling me, that for those locations that don't have a Google page of any kind, that I should only create a Place page, and not mess with creating a Google+ Local Business Page, right?

I will likely be using the bulk method, thanks for that.

Correct. ESPECIALLY with multi-locations.

Those that manually created G+ Biz pages and manually merged with Place pages even though we said wait don't merge, now are having all kinds of problems. If you have many locations it would just be multiplies.

PLUS Google has always said don't create G+ pages and try to merge if multi-locations.

 

[manny1020]

Wonderful Linda, thanks for the insight!

So my course of action for now will be:

Create Google Places pages for the locations which do not have that set up.

Optimize all Google Places pages with appropriate categories, also adding images and videos.

Wait until all these Google Places pages are converted to a Google+ Local Business Page.

Maintain these Google+ Local Business pages from then on.

Would you say this is correct?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Yep sounds like a good plan!

Hope you know all the different ways to search for dupes before creating a new listing because dupes are causing lots of problems now.

 

[manny1020]

Yep sounds like a good plan!

Hope you know all the different ways to search for dupes before creating a new listing because dupes are causing lots of problems now.

I hope I do too! I usually use https://www.google.com/local/business/add to see if there is already a listing, but if you could point me to additional resources, that would be great!

Yeah, I've just read your posts about these recent problems with dupes, hopefully these are cleared up soon!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Sorry too complicated to type out and have no time and carpal is killing.

All this stuff is covered in my training and I've written a ton of posts here.

Check the duplicate part of the following post which I gave Miriam advice on about duplicate discovery.

Troubleshooting Local Ranking Failures: A Beginner's Guide - Moz