Testament to the Power of Google+ Business Page?

[standenman]

I spend way more time at this local SEO stuff than I should: my wife jokes that if I spent that time on my law practice I would be making way more money! I obsess over my ranking on a set of six search terms, and I am often struck by the random appearance of non-local attorneys. Linda, one of your posts about the push and pull between the regular organic and the local Google algorithms helped me understand this strangeness a bit.

Out of nowhere on a SERP for one key search term comes a Utah attorney's Google+ Business Page, not his website, sitting right under me. Now I am thrilled to be no 1, and I am not seeking to "vanquish" this guy, but rather understand what got him there. While he says he is "nationwide" the whole thrust of his Google+ page in Utah.

I am suspecting that this has something to do with a good Google+ page. And if so, what could I learn from his success. Any input would be welcome.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Stan,

Hmmm, I'm not seeing that listing at all. Set my location for Dallas and he's not on page one. Then leaving location set to Dallas even searched "social security disability lawyer utah" which are the keywords in his title tag and he still did not come up for me.

So I wonder if that's more of a personalized result for you if you'd been checking out his page previously or something?

Yep I think that's it because no matter how I search I'm not seeing that page. ONLY when I searched in G+ for that post title.

So I bet you read his post OR followed him and so Google put that in your search results. So no one else including potential clients in your area sees it, only you.

Do me a favor and check your search settings (gear icon) and see if private search is turned on or off?
If on, turn off and search again and let me know if he's gone.

 

[standenman]

OK, yes, Utah lawyer and his Google+ account are gone now that I turned off private search (did not know I had that set). Oddly, though, I have never visited this guys site in the past. Thanks for our answer, Linda.

Stan Denman

 

[Dustybones]

@standenman : A little off topic, but noticed you scanned your screen shot. Here are some Screen Shot tools that make that process easier. I personally use SnagIt. I'm addicted to screen shots. Not sure why, but having these tools help. Google can be fussy sometimes and it helps to keep track of what SERPS look like as they change.