Google shows the listing for the wrong location

[Zhivko]

A business with two locations in the same city. First is downtown, second is in a mall.

For more than a year the business had one listing, where the address was for the downtown practice. About 5 months ago, I created a new listing for the second practice, in the mall.

Now, it's been 5 months but Google keeps showing ONLY the original listing, for the downtown location. Even to users who are in the mall. Even to users, who type in "business name + mall name".

I don't know how to compete with my own listing.

• Each google listing links to a location page on the business' website. - checked
• Each location page has a ton of location-specific info (i.e. info about the mall, gallery, etc.) - check
• Collected reviews for the mall listing. - check
• Several people marked themselves to be in the mall practice. - check
• Google approved the "location within another location" and the listing is marked to be in the mall for real. - check
• Add a new post on the mall listing every week. - check

And yet... Google keeps showing only the original listing, for the downtown practice.

Things to try:

• send out an email with a link to "request directions" page for the mall practice. I read somewhere (whitespark?) that this tricks google into thinking that a lot of people search for this place. But my email list is small and the conversion rates are low so I don't expect to see an effect.
• build citations for the second listing. Currently, the business is registered in local directories only with the downtown location. I have good expectations for this.
• build some links to the location pages, because Google doesn't seem to appreciate them much at the moment.

In the meantime, if you have another idea I should try, please share.

 

[johnlavapie_SEO]

Do you have an example? If it is not distance or search term, I wonder if the "mall" listing even shows up at all.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

You're definitely doing the right things. Trying to get a new listing ranking can be a pain.

• build citations for the second listing. Currently, the business is registered in local directories only with the downtown location. I have good expectations for this.
• build some links to the location pages, because Google doesn't seem to appreciate them much at the moment.

These two are going to be your best bet. The new listing needs time to become established, and part of that process is citations and local links. Patience is going to be your friend as well.

 

[Zhivko]

@raellovepie The listing shows if I type in Google the exact name of the listing plus the address like this: "Dental clinic [practice name] str. Example Street, 5, 9000, Varna".

@Cherie Dickey So I just need to think of a good way to explain to my employer that I've done everything right and now we just need to wait for a few years until we see the results. But yeah, I have high hopes for the citations.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

I wouldn't say a few years, haha! But yes, SEO is a game of inches and time. It takes patience to do things correctly and within the guidelines. That's kindof the downside to our job, isn't it? Sometimes we have to have those tough conversations with our clients, and they may or may not understand.

But, you're doing things correctly from what you are saying. And you should see some improvement after you build out a strong citation profile. I would start with Brightlocal or another citation management service to target the major ones quickly, and submit to the aggregators. Make sure there's a Yelp page as well, and earn reviews there and other review sites such as YP (once the listings are created).

 

[Zhivko]

I will have to do it manually, as there is no such (reliable) service for my local market. But, yeah, spending a few hours building citations isn't that bad. I think it would be worth it.