Forum Moderators: anallawalla & bakedjake
Let me know how many listing can I do using one single phone number in google maps/local?
Is there any penalty on excessive use of same phone number for multiple listing?
Thanks in advance.
-Ankit
Caveat to this is - if you don't have an actual street address for each of your listings, you may end up getting penalized for trying to spam the index.
Ideally, your outlets should already all have listings within Google, and you're now simply trying to update/enhance/standardize them. It's suspicious if you're trying to bulk-add a bunch of businesses all at once with identical phone numbers - that could attract a human review of your submissions. If you are validly opening a bunch of new locations, you need to also be getting your info into many yellow pages data aggregator databases as well, such as Acxiom and InfoUSA. Those feed also into Google Maps, at which point it's a lot more trustworthy looking.
[edited by: bakedjake at 4:30 am (utc) on Sep. 16, 2009]
[edit reason] No specific searches, please and thank you. [/edit]
The problem is that one of my client wants that I should do his listing for all major keywords (as all his competitors are doing and getting ranked) to get maximum traffic. However, as per LBC guidelines only Business name should be used which I tried to explain to the client that it might lead to spam. My problem is we cannot setup multiple number/addresses if I go ahead and do these keyword submissions, so what can be the best way forward.
I really hope Google could see/penalize the competitors using same addresses and phone numbers most of the times along with same URL for keyword listing...
I regards to spamming the local listings on Google, it's not something I would recommend - Google has a track record in areas such as Search and AdSense of banning sites or people for infringing the guidelines, and those bans can be permanent. It may be possible to get some benefit now but your client may live to regret it. There are better ways to get better qualified traffic. Additionally, the rules are changing often so your work may be short lived regardless of any potential penalty.
Though we are mostly on #1 of organic traffic on google but are below these maps listing.
Anyways, will try to explain him again...
I don't have precise numbers but the value of being #1 in organic is much higher versus #1 beside the map (even though it's often above the organic results). We have seen a small reduction in visitors over time as the "10 packs" have spread through local results - it started on only a few defined seaarches and is growing in number all of the time as Google get more confident. I know the vast majority of people are still using the organic results as they have more information than the listings beside the map. It may be that the 10 packs attract 15% of the clicks on pages with them, but you are still looking at 85% or so being on the organic listings - do you want to put all of that traffic in jeopardy? The reason others are spamming local is because they are not #1 in organic - they need to, your client does not need to spam local.
Also, I would find many searches that they get traffic on that do not trigger a map, and show them to your client - it's still the case that the vast majority of searches you will get traffic from won't trigger a 10 pack (unless you are unusual). If your traffic profile is anything like normal for a local business, you'll be attracting traffic on many long tail searches that are unlikely to show a 10 pack for some time/ever.
However, it's possible that users are differentiating better, and they could be clicking directly to business's websites in the organic listings at a greater rate than directories - there are no industry statistical reports which have studied the difference as far as I'm aware.
Still, I'd suggest that there's likely an overall trend of increasing clicks going to the 10pack versus the organic listings, and I'd even venture to say that things could've flipped to the point where 85% of clicks are going to the 10-pack and 15% to the organic listings.
