Recent Changes To Google Places Catching Businesses Off-Guard With Change In Listings, Rankings
Google’s recent changes with its Places feature has caused a stir among businesses who have seen a change in how they’re now ranked (or not ranked) in Google search results.
Recent Google changes include:
- Google Places (previously called Google Maps) has been moved to new locations within search results. Now, the “map” is shown on the right of Google search results above display ads (called “Adwords”).
- Previous business listings within Google Places have been merged with search results causing an entire restructuring of Google search engine results pages. For example, a business previously listed first in the Google Places section may now find itself listed first in the Google search results. This is causing other businesses to see lower results in Google listings.
- Some businesses that were positioned first in Google Places and listed first in Google organic search results are now seeing both results merged into one result in Google search engine results.
- Many other business listing websites, such as Yellow Pages, City Search, Yelp, etc., may now have been pushed off the first page of search results.
“Google continues to make changes and local businesses need to be aware of how that’s affecting their listings in Google Places, overall Google organic rankings, and traffic to their website,” says Steve Phillips, President of Purple Trout LLC, a Newport, Kentucky search engine optimization consulting firm specializing in local search engine optimization and local listing optimization.
“If your business was ranked No. 1 on a local keyword in Google and you were not listed high in Google Places, you may now find your No. 1 organic ranking has dropped to No. 8 or worse,” says Phillips. “This is another sign that Google is focusing more and more on local search results.”
Now, says Phillips, local businesses need to make sure they are listed correctly and accurately in Google Places, and that their websites are properly optimized for local keywords.
“Businesses shouldn’t rely on Yellow Pages, City Search or Yelp,” says Phillips. “Those listings are probably no longer a part of the Top 10 search results for Google. The way Google has repositioned its Places listings has pushed the other service sites out of the Top 10.
“Businesses need to make sure they are listed in Google Places and then optimize their website for the best locally-targeted keywords to attract local customers to their website,” Phillips added.
