Google Local Example

[somarco]

Stumbled on what appears to be a very good local set up.

Let me google that for you

I notice what seems to be 3 Google local listings with the same address and phone. I thought that was a violation of Google guidelines.

Looks like someone has done a good job of collecting citations as well. Yelp, Manta, Citysearch, Kudzu,etc

Also, if you enter Charles Freedman 30305 at Get Listed you can see the citations using the business name.

How do they do that?

 

[scagnt83]

As a profession (besides tech field) I would say that dentist are some of the most tech savvy business owners out there.

Especially the orthodontists! My kids ortho has a full time social media "director" who constantly blasts out emails. And if you look at their twitter/fb/g+/G+local/etc she is posting everyday.

I asked him how much she makes and he pays her hourly, $16/h.... and she puts in around 35h/week. (she helps with the website too)

 

[somarco]

I understand there are SEO consultants that specialize in and cater to dentists. In some of my research I found a book on Google Local for dentists.

I normally don't pay much attention to the layout of Google search results, but thanks to Linda Buquet and her willingness to share some of her knowledge I have spent more time trying to learn about local. Would love to know how they got 3 listings on a G L page. Linda said that was verboten.

Google Places Optimization Blog

https://support.google.com/places/answer/2449544?hl=en

 

[CatalystLocal]

Hi Bob,

I just answered you over at the Local Search Forum but wanted to copy the answer here for those that are curious but won't see it over there.

You said he has 3 GL listings.

He actually has 5 listings: http://goo.gl/maps/ocKE0

And I know I told you, you can only have 1.

The rule is one listing PER business PER location. But there is an exception for Drs. Dentists, and Attorney, explained below.

So in that particular case there are multiple issues.

1) Drs, Dentist's, Attys are allowed one listing for the practice AND one for each Dr or Atty.

The reason is twofold. A) Google scrapes listings from everywhere and many directories list the indiv practitioner so Google herself creates the Dr listings in most cases. B) Patients at a large practice may want to review their specific Dr, not the big general medical office, so Google wants all the listings. C) Google is greedy and wants more reviews so wants those extra practitioner listings.

2) The way his Dr listings are named is wrong. But many of those are UNclaimed, so the Dr can't be held liable if they are not claimed in his account and are wrong. Google likely scraped and created most of those listings and the practice probably had nothing to do with it.

3) Dupes like he has will always kill your ranking. Even if they were set up right Dr dupes will hurt the main practice listing's ranking. So having extra listings is not helping him, but hurting him.

Does that help?

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Edited to add:

Oh, sorry should have added the specific guideline:

Do not create more than one listing for each business location, either in a single account or multiple accounts.​

• Individual practitioners may be listed individually as long as those practitioners are public-facing within their parent organization. Common examples of such practitioners are doctors, dentists, lawyers, and real estate agents. The practitioner should be directly contactable at the verified location during stated hours. A practitioner should not have multiple listings to cover all of his or her specializations.
  

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Sorry meant to say too, thanks for the recognition and links Bob.

I'm glad my posts were helpful and stirred up your local curiosity!

 

[somarco]

Yes, your links and posts are helpful. At least the part I can wrap my head around.

thx!!