Google Local Reasons: Everything You Need to Know

Reasons are snippets of text that Google displays in the local package to help users “justify” why your business shows up for their search.

There are a number of types of reasons. The type you see highlighted in the local package varies based on a user’s search.

This guide will help you understand Google’s reasons.

Why do Google justifications matter?

Although they may not cause rankings, recent research from Moz shows that 57% of local packages have justifications.

Some listings even show several reasons when expanding a listing.

Types of Google justifications

Website mentions

Retrieved directly from content on your site, this type of reasoning will often show a user the page on your site where the content is taken from. It can contain a meta description and image.

Tip: Use these reasons to see what content on your site influenced the ranking for that search phrase, and use it when working on strategy for other pages.

Review

Reasons for reviews come from information in Google reviews for a business.

Reasons for reviews may be affected if reviewers use preferred keywords in their reviews.

Tip: Rationale is not always positive. Active administration of Google reviews can help brands avoid embarrassing results.

In stock

If a company has activated the See what’s in store, or SWIS, feature for the listing, justifications in stock can be displayed.

Tip: This is a third-party feature. There are a few platforms that can help you get this feature enabled, such as dbaPlatform.

Sold Here

Sold here reasons show a shopper that the product they are looking for is available for sale where you are.

They are identified by a tick in front of the grounds. These reasons can not be influenced.

Provides

As “sold here”, these service-based justifications use a check mark in front of the justification. They retrieve from a brand’s services on the Google enterprise page.

Tip: Be careful how you word your GBP services to avoid embarrassing results. For example, a plastic surgeon who offers a broken nose does not seem very accommodating.

Post

These reasons include keywords from your Google posts and have an exclamation point icon in front of the reason.

Post reasons are updated as new Google posts are published by your brand, but not only look for exact matches, they also pull related keywords. They may override other reasons and may be affected by the brand’s Google posts.

Tip: If you are trying to optimize for post reasons, stick to one main topic instead of listing a variety of products or services.

Justifications: What you need to know

Justifications update quickly

We have seen the results updated almost in real time. Joy Hawkins has discovered justifications in search results based on an edit she had made barely minutes earlier.

This is great for correcting proposed changes, attributes that may block justifications, or for changing information in your Google Company profile.

If something does not work, review the justification types above and see if there is anything you can update to help trigger a new justification for a particular local result.

Justifications do not affect rankings

While site elements mentioned in the justifications may have a correlation to ranking, the justifications do not have in themselves.

If you see a result with a rationale, that result was already ranked, and now Google is adding more information to support the search result they have chosen to provide.

While many believe that Google posts affect local rankings, testing has found that Google posts do not affect rankings.

Reasons are not a substitute or a patch for a bad website or Google company profile.

Make sure you provide relevant content for your business and your local area, strong on-site SEO and follow other local best practices for SEO.

Website justifications may be a possible exception to this rule.

When users see a justification for “their site”, it’s probably an indication that Google finds that this content is recognized and relevant to the search, and is likely to be relevant to the business ranking for that search.

Some justifications can be affected by user-generated content

Of course, review justifications show content or information provided by users. However, Sold Here reasons do the same.

Google gets information about available inventory from Do you know this place? push alerts from Google Maps by asking users to answer questions about a local business after a recent visit.

So far, we have not discovered a way to find out what questions Google will ask a user, only that Google sends the questions after they have found out that a user has recently physically visited the business site.

Devices can cause variations in justifications displayed

Different devices and screen types will show different reasons.

A desktop result can display a reason when the mobile does not, or a mobile can display a review when the desktop displays menu options.

Why doesn’t your brand show justifications in local search?

Be careful when setting up your company profile.

Both “web services” and “online deal” attributes in a brand’s Google business profile will block justifications from appearing in the local package.

Usually, justifications will start appearing within about 48 hours of the attributes being removed.

Reasons are a great way for brands to help share valuable information in search results.

Map package property is valuable. Take advantage of the potential of Google Reasons.

Maximizing the effort can pay off big.

The opinions in this article are the opinions of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Employee authors are listed here.

Erin Jones has worked in digital marketing and SEO since 2005. She specializes in local SEO, social media and brand reputation. She works at Sterling Sky and is also a faculty member at Local University. Erin is passionate about community and loves helping brands connect with their ideal audience both online and in person.

What are Google justifications?

Reasons are small excerpts that Google shows in the local package to help “justify” why the business is there and shows up for that search. There are several types of reasons. The type you see highlighted in the local package varies based on what you are looking for.

What are the 4 types of SEO? Here are four main types of SEO that you can get started with.

On-Page SEO. On-page SEO, also sometimes referred to as on-site SEO, is the process of optimizing the content of your website. …
Off-Page SEO. Off-page SEO is pretty much everything that does not happen on your site. …
Technical SEO. …
Local SEO.

What is SEO assessment?

Search engine optimization (SEO) analysis is the practice of revising a website to identify opportunities to improve search engine rankings. A related goal is not only to improve search engine ranking (SERP) rankings, but also to increase actual organic referral traffic from those search results.

What does SEO mean in education?

What does SEO really mean for schools? Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of doing the right things on (and off) the school website so that the search engines decide that you are best suited for what a person is searching for.

What is SEO and how it works?

Well, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”, which is the process of getting traffic from free, organic, editorial or natural search results in search engines. It aims to improve the site’s position on the search results pages. Remember that the higher the site is listed, the more people will see it.

What are the two techniques of SEO?

SEO techniques are classified into two broad categories: White Hat SEO – Techniques that search engines recommend as part of a good design. Black Hat SEO – Techniques that search engines do not approve of and try to minimize the effect of.

Is leaving a fake review illegal?

Paid and false certificates are illegal and can carry severe penalties. But some business owners still ask, will I be caught? Most likely, yes. The FTC’s blog is filled with hundreds of lawsuits they have filed against small and large businesses.

Is it illegal to leave false bad reviews? Yes. Pursuant to Section 45 of US Code 45, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the power to stop and punish parties who “use unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or influence trade.” This makes it a crime to break official rules that are imposed. by the FTC. And the FTC bans the use of false certificates.

Can you go to jail for fake reviews?

In September 2018, an Italian judge sentenced a man to nine months in prison and almost 10,000 dollars in fines. So what was his crime? Publishes thousands of fake reviews for payment on Trip Advisor on behalf of its hotel customers.

Can you get in trouble for posting fake reviews on Google?

The answer is that yes, posting fake reviews is illegal. The FTC goes after companies for that.

Can I report fake reviews?

You can often report reviews by flagging them directly. On Google, for example, there is a small flag icon that appears when you place the cursor on the ad. Clicking on it opens a fracture page and asks you to check what type of fracture it is.

What are local search ads?

Local search ads are a way for businesses to stand out and stand out in the local results section of a Google search. When a user searches for a specific service near their location, they may see ads showing your location, phone number, business hours, and reviews.

What is a local service ad? Local services ads (also known as Google Local Services ads) are pay-per-lead ads that appear at the top of search results, above organic results and traditional Google Ads. To be included, a company must first pass a screening process involving background checks, license checks and insurance checks.

What is local listing in Google?

To provide users with the most complete and up-to-date information about places, Google displays local listings (including business listings) on Google Search and Google Maps, as well as third-party websites and applications via APIs such as those on the Google Maps platform.

What is a local listing?

A local listing (or local reference) is an online mention of the name, address, telephone number or website of a local business. These entries can appear in local directories, on websites or blogs, on social media or in apps.

What is Google free local listings?

These free local listings let customers know that the product they are looking for is available at your nearby retailer. Your free local listing may include opening hours, directions, phone number, product price, product availability, and approximate distance from the customer.

What is Google local business listings?

With a business profile on Google, you can manage how your local business is displayed across Google products, such as Maps and Search. If you run a business that serves customers in a specific location, or you serve customers within a specified service area, your business profile can help people find you.

What are local ads Google Ads?

Local services ads help you connect with people searching Google for the services you offer. Your ads will appear to customers in your area, and you only pay if a customer contacts you directly through the ad.

What is the difference between Google Ads and Google Local services ads?

Google Ads is known as pay-per-click advertising (PPC), which means you pay every time someone clicks on your ad – even if they do not contact you at all. With Local Service Ads (LSA), you pay with lead instead of clicks, which means you are only charged when a potential customer contacts you through the ad.

What is Google local listing?

Google Local Listings can be defined as the business listings in the map that you usually see at the top or in the middle of Google’s first page results. These listings tend to appear when you search for a keyword accompanied by a specific city, e.g. Toronto Lawyers.

What do Google local ads look like?

Local search ads are marked with a small green “Google Guaranteed” tag to inform users that these are businesses they can trust. Local search ads are also placed directly above text ads, so they are the first thing users see when searching for a local business or service.

How do I find local ads?

When users search for nearby businesses on Google.com and click “More places” in the local results, the company’s location may appear at the top of those local results. Similarly, ads showing the location of your business may also appear when users do similar searches on Google Maps on computers.

How do I find search ads?

How do I access Google local services?

Requirements for going live with pre-tagged ads With pre-tagged ads, the provider’s local services listing will appear in consumer search results, but will be placed below all vendors that have completed all the introductory requirements and achieved the Google brand.