Local listing ranking

[Jeff Feinman]

Hi everyone-

This is my first post here. Thanks so much to Linda and everyone else for sharing their knowledge.

I understand that there is no trick to optimizing indexing but there might be a "simple" answer to this specific question.

I just would like my local listing to display when my name + city ("jeff feinman weston") are searched. Another local doc who does not have much of an online presence or authority, has his listing come right up when his name + town are searched ("leon luck westport"). Mine does not.

I thought perhaps that this was related to some setting in adwords (which we both use) but the Google reps deny any association between organic search results and adwords...

Is there perhaps some difference between his and other listings?

Thanks for your help.

Jeff

 

[Linda Buquet]

Re: local listing ranking

Hey Jeff, welcome and thanks for posting!

It would be super helpful if you could give us links to the G+ Local listings and the search results pages.

This will minimize me wasting time and hurting my bad carpal searching around and guessing. Sometimes Drs have dupes and I might be looking at the wrong listing. Plus I could assume you are talking organic and you are talking knowledge graph or maps or something. There are just so many possibilities, so it would help if you could show us specifics and give us the direct links.

Thanks, Linda

 

[Linda Buquet]

Nevermind, I had a sec and did some digging.

When you search for something, Google tries to return the best match
IF she's pretty sure she knows what you were searching for.

https://www.google.com/search?q=leon+luck+westport&ie=UTF-8
https://plus.google.com/+LeonELuckMDWestport/about?hl=en
Since his name and city is on his Place page she's pretty sure it's a match.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jeff+feinman+weston
https://plus.google.com/116692915978582253416/about?gl=us&hl=en
Your practice name is on your Place page, not your Dr name.

But the other thing is there are lots of jeff feinman's out there.
And there are also lots of westons. Check this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=weston&oq=weston
Even when you search for city, she's not quite sure what you are looking for.

If I add state to the search, your site comes up:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jeff+feinman+weston+ct&oq=jeff+feinman+weston+ct

But not your local listing and the right knowledge graph, because that is all generated by a match with the Place page and the name there is not Jeff Feinman so it's not a match.

Does that help explain it?

I got buried so still need to reply to your email and that may give you some help with this issue because there may be ways to strengthen the signal to make the connection you are looking for. Not sure, but I think they may have ideas for you. Will reply with that referral tonight.

 

[Jeff Feinman]

Does that help explain it? .

It absolutely does (no one else was able to explain this)!

I really appreciate your reply and now need to figure out how to add my name to my Local Page. I (incorrectly) figured that linking it to my G+ profile was enough. I guess not.

Thanks again. I look forward to receiving your email referral.

Jeff

 

[Jeff Feinman]

Sorry to bother you again Linda. Before I make any change (since wrong ones can be difficult to correct) tho, I wonder what is the proper place to do so (just add my name in the single field provided after the business name on https://www.google.com/local/business/edit/l/06059115952459244530

Thanks again.

Jeff

 

[Linda Buquet]

Oh no, no, no.

Sorry, never occurred to me you'd just want to run out and change the page.

Changing name can cause you to lose reviews and ranking. It cannot be done lightly and research needs to be done to see if it even makes sense in this case.

Here is the deal. Most Drs want the practice name to rank. VERY few are going to search for you by name. They can only search for your name if they know who you are.

For most Drs. the more important issue is to rank well and show up in search when potential new patients, who don't know you, are searching for a new vet and they are search for related KWs.

If you didn't know you at all and you were a typical pt., searching for a new vet, who would you pick? John Smith, Walter Ingram or HomeVet? I mean not that they are going to pick just based on name, just trying to illustrate a point about why you might want to keep practice name.

If you change to your Dr name and if then you don't rank, new pts won't have the potential to even find you.

But the company I'm going to refer you to will research everything related to this and educate you about your options. But I would DEF wait for them and don't make any changes. Google is super picky and super buggy, plus we are in the middle of some updates which can make things more problematic. So best to wait and have someone guide you or do it for you.

But the last point is one I made up top. They can maybe do or recommend to you some things that would strengthen the connection with your name. Things that don't involve a name change which is something I would never recommend as a 1st course of action.

On Google your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) is your primary identifier. It's like your social, and should never change, unless you move and are forced to or get sued for your name and are forced to change it. We have a little joke in the business... When someone ask the best way to handle a move across town with Google - we say, best option is don't move. Same with name changes, it's a big deal.

Having said all that you ARE entitled to have a separate Dr listing in your own name. HOWEVER usually it's a bad strategy because it competes with the practice listing and knocks it out of search.

So anyway, just hang tight and I'll get you a consult so you can understand the trade-offs, think it through, and make an informed decision.

 

[Jeff Feinman]

Phew! Good thing I didn't do anything.

Thanks again.

Jeff

 

[Chris McCreery]

I had a related question about individual listings. The only reason my client has listings is because they have individual lawyer listings in YP. Would it be wise to remove those listings from YP since they use the exact local number and address as the main firm NAP?
Thanks


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