Good Morning, LocalU Friends!
Last week we were lucky enough to have a wide variety of GMB experts weigh in for our first #gmbchat co-held by LocalU and Sterling Sky, our parent company. We had time in the hour to address 10 great questions crowdsourced from Twitter and some question submissions and we’re excited to share a recap of our discussion here with you!
Q1: With Google’s Recent Clarification on virtual offices & coworking spaces, is there an alternative for a service area business that doesn’t want to operate from home, but cant rent/buy/staff a physical location?
A1:
The consensus was to use the home address and hide it. Services area businesses are at a disadvantage in Local search but if you cannot rent/buy/staff a location, this is your TOS-safe alternative.
#gmbchat A.1 Not really. My question back to you is “why not the home address”?. Technically, you can set it up at one of the business partners’ addresses as well so you potentially have multiple home address options, if the business has multiple owners/partners.
— Colan Nielsen (@ColanNielsen) February 9, 2021
Q2: Why does GMB treat synonyms so differently in search results? i.e. “attorney or lawyer + city” returns a completely different local pack. h/t to @HardyIntl on Twitter for the question.
A2:
Exact matching is pretty strong in the local algo, as well as influence from what’s on the website – if you’re heavily optimized for lawyer vs attorney on-site, that can have an influence on your rankings as well.
A2: In my experience, the local algorithm isn’t nearly as sophisticated as the organic one. It relies way too heavily on exact matching. #gmbchat
— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) February 9, 2021
A2. I think there’s a shade of meaning between a lot of synonyms – which isn’t to say GMB surfaces the right difference.
IMO (have not deeply studied) there is crosstalk between website & data sources that informs the ranking distinction.#GMBChat https://t.co/i4z14clsk8
— Doug R Thomas, Esq. (@ferkungamaboobo) February 9, 2021
Q3: When you report a business for keyword stuffing and Google never does anything about it. What then? h/t to @DonnieStrompf via Twitter for the question
A3:
A3: Make sure to also try reporting them via the redressal form https://t.co/a0QbtYe7Vt. You can include links to evidence like their legal name with the Secretary of State or a link to a Google Drive folder with real-world photo/video evidence.#gmbchat
— Matt Casady (@MattCasady) February 9, 2021
And this question is never fully answered without a little cheek from Brian Barwig 😉
#gmbchat
A3 – Report them again….and then start KW stuffing your own business.Unfortunately, Google doesnt seem to care about KW stuffing these days. Even if G acts on it, the business will probably change the name back without repercussion https://t.co/gD35tZgaZD
— Brian Barwig 🏒 🍺 (@BrianBarwig) February 9, 2021
Q4: What do you do when every review on a GMB account is fake? h/t to @DonnieStrompf via Twitter for the question
A4:
But in all fairness, Brian is a pretty smart guy 👇👇👇
Ping me bc GMB support won’t do much. You can go to the GMB forum and put together a spreadsheet to speed up the process. #GMBChat
— Jason Brown Armchair GMB Expert (@keyserholiday) February 9, 2021
Q5: I understand that Google Posts are important- but I struggle with it because it’s hard to see the results. What should I post about? How often should I post something? How do I track it?
A5:
A.5 It varies by industry. Generally speaking, I like a post that has a strong CTA plus highlights a USP or an amazing customer review. #gmbchat
— Colan Nielsen (@ColanNielsen) February 9, 2021
A5:
Be sure to use UTM tracking URLs in any links you add to a post to measure its impact there.
Use your eyeballs to look at local serps and see if you’re getting posts justifications#gmbchat https://t.co/e4nHoIoK8j— Sterling Sky Inc (@SterlingSkyInc) February 9, 2021
Q6: I have more reviews than the business that ranks above me, Why don’t I rank #1, or at least above THEM?
A6:
A6. Reviews are not the end all be all of Local Search ranking. Focus on what will enhance the consumer experience. Also, examine those listings for spam, and report them for an easy win (if they are spam).
#gmbchat— Ben “Button Clicker” Fisher (@TheSocialDude) February 9, 2021
Q7: Should I embed a Google Map on my website? On every page? Or just certain pages? Are the benefits for UX, Ranking or Both?
A7:
#gmbchat
A7 – I like an embedded GMB map on a page. Throw it on a page that talks about the location – location specific page, contact page, etc.The benefit of having the business reviews, driving directions, and surrounding areas on the map is big, IMO https://t.co/AKESHZ7aFk
— Brian Barwig 🏒 🍺 (@BrianBarwig) February 9, 2021
Q8: How many categories should I have? Is there a “too many?”
A8:
A.8 Use as many as are relevant. See – https://t.co/Q1nBtilfhx #gmbchat
— Colan Nielsen (@ColanNielsen) February 9, 2021
Q9: I keep hearing new photos are important. How often should I post new photos to my GMB? (should I geotag them? 😂😂😂)
A9:
A9. When at all possible, get your customers to post photos. They get asked to leave a review when they do it. 2 birds with one stone!!! #GMBChat
— Jason Brown Armchair GMB Expert (@keyserholiday) February 9, 2021
A9: As often as you have photos that are useful to share. Constant repetitive photos or stock photos are a waste of time. Geo-tagging is also a waste of time. #gmbchat
— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) February 9, 2021
Q10: I have all of my service areas listed correctly in my GMB listing, but I don’t rank in any of them!
A10:
A10 The service area does not impact ranking https://t.co/VxOzWnk9ag #gmbchat
— Colan Nielsen (@ColanNielsen) February 9, 2021
Thanks for joining us this month, tune in for the next GMB Chat on Tuesday, March 9th at 11am Eastern Time!
