My #1 (A) ranking client in Maps is now #38 after update?
-
We have a client with 4 locations and all of them do pretty well in Google Maps. Since the latest update, we dropped from #1 (A) all the way down to #38 in Maps. We're still #1 for our keyword in Organic but our Maps got crushed. We use Yext for the citations but we also do some a lot manual ones too. We have 3 reviews on that location but not sure why the big drop. I'm not even sure where to being to get it back.
From our research:
-
We noticed our categories were a little out of order. Our primary was "legal services" instead of "personal injury attorney" (we've now updated that.)
-
I've noticed that all the listings ahead of us, minus a few of them, have their homepage as their link. We've always used a local landing page that has hand written directions on how to find us, our hours and who people will meet when they come in. Things relevant to that location.
-
Our domain authority is a 40. Our homepage Page Authority is 49 and our landing page for that location is a 22.
What else should we check to see what's happened? Should I move the Google+ page to the homepage instead of the sub-page (as well as the citations we have)?
Thanks for your help!
-
-
Great to hear you've recovered. Did you ever have a subsequent conversation to learn why this happened? Do you think it might have been an error?
-
I called Google (technically they called me https://support.google.com/business/) and we worked it out. They didn't know why and "couldnt' guarantee any fixes" but it is now again Letter A in the 7 pack. Within two weeks of the conversation the listing came back.
-
Hey VZpro,
Your description of your client's location sounds quite similar to the client featured in this Mike Blumenthal post. Check it out!
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/08/03/pigeon-an-anecdotal-impact-report/
-
I'd prefer not to. Thanks for your time and thoughts on this. I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing. I'll update this Q&A with results in about a week or so.
-
I misunderstood what you said about having 3 reviews. I thought that was all you had and they were all from Yelp.
I'm stumped too, based on your information. Hopefully it's a temporary thing and you'll soon recover. Do you want to share the name of the firm and the terms you're trying to rank for so I can take one last look?
-
Thank you Donna,
We do have a map embedded already on the page, we have schema markup on the page (both local business and attorney) and we have reviews on tons of sites but only 3 in Google itself. We have reviews in yellowpages, yelp, some law directories, etc. I'm not really sure how else I would "diversify my reviews". None of them are staff or fake so how would you recommend I diversify them?
Their main location is in a smaller suburb of a much larger city. There is 1 other law firm that is in this town and it's huge. (they do like $150 Million/year in settlements and have a large marketing firm doing their advertising, marketing and seo. There are a few other small firms but we are both centrally located to the city. Yes, they are a little closer to the centroid but if they were #1 in Maps and we were in the top 3 I would be good with that. My client only spends $300k per year on advertising and they spend over $3 Million. I can't fathom the drop to #38 in a city with maybe 10 or so competitors who most don't even have a "verified" map location.
-
I'd keep my eye on it for a while longer vzPro. Maybe it's a temporary thing, and your rankings will recover.
I do have a couple of suggestions though, based on what you've said above. The suggestions probably won't help you recover from such a drastic change, but could help sustain your rankings after recovery.
- I'd try to diversify my reviews if I were you. Too many coming from a single source might look forced or unduly influenced to Google.
- I'd embed a Google map on your landing page.
It's good you fixed your categories, and I agree that using a local landing page for your listing is appropriate.
Are your competitors significantly closer to the city or town center than your client? It looks like the Google local algorithm update released a week and a half ago might be giving that more weight than it did in the past (although I find that hard to imagine, and it's probably too soon to tell).
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google Maps Remove from maps option - Does that mark as permanently closed?
We have a client that has an old G maps listing that keeps popping up. The newer listing (less than 2 years) has over 150 legit 5-star reviews, but the older, crappy listing (about 4-5 years old) with 5 reviews keeps coming up in maps. I noticed that Google has new options available, and you can now request that the listing be removed from maps. In the past, this type of option did not "remove" the listing, but rather marked it as "permanently closed." We want to completely remove it from maps altogether but cannot allow the time to reverify and activate if it marks it as permanently closed. Both have the exact same address and different business names. Both are located in our Google manager account. What is the fastest and most efficient way of getting this removed without risking the "permanently closed" showing up and having to re-verify/reclaim? Calling GMB directly?
Local Listings | | David-Kley0 -
Google “My Business” Map Listing
We are Heritage Printing & Graphics, serving 2 areas (DC & Charlotte, NC) with Commercial Printing (books, magazines, catalogs) and Event Signage (banners, backdrops, custom displays) Our current location in NC is 2739 Interstate St. and we will soon also occupy 2731 Interstate St. (next door) which we would like to promote as Heritage Custom Signs & Displays. Do you think this is a good idea as far as Google “My Business” map listing? Thx, Kevin Smith
Local Listings | | KevnJr
Marketing Manager
Heritage Printing0 -
Top Local Organic Rankings, But Nowhere to be found on Google Snack Pack
I've been working with a local gym for a while now. We successfully got the gym to beat out all its competitor and now it consistently ranks in the 3rd or 4th result for all major local industry keywords. For example "gym in [city]". The only thing above us is Yelp and other directory sites. The problem I am running into is we do well organically, but when it comes to Google Snack Pack we aren't in the top three or even 10. You have to go deep into the next pages of the map to find our business. I did find that we use to be categorized as health club in Google My Business, but I changed that three months ago. Some more additional info, the site when I got the account moved to a different url. So many directories and sites that linked to us in the past link to the old url. The old url is 301 redirected to our current url. I haven't found much info about this topic and am looking for any experience or insight?
Local Listings | | JasonKhoo0 -
Our satellite office isn't showing up on Google maps. How can we add it?
We are trying to include maps to our locations on our "Contact" page, and in taking these maps from Google, we came upon the following issue: We have Google+ listings for several of our satellite offices, which are set up through Carr Workplaces. When we look on maps, we can only find the Carr Workplace listing, rather than the listing for our business at that location. Obviously, we don't want to display the map that way on our own page; we want the map to show our business name. I realize that Google only wants fully-staffed businesses to be displayed on maps, and so whether or not we belong there is up for debate within our company. That said, we'd like to know how to make the maps listing work regardless. Thanks!
Local Listings | | ScottImageWorks0 -
How does the new local pack change rankings?
So I just saw this afternoon that google has changed how the local pack displays listings, only 3 listings now show. Also Google continues to distance itself from Google+. Now it seems getting in the top 3 of the local pack is going to be even more competitive. What should the strategy be now for competing in the local pack? Has it changed? Or just stick to tried and true local optimizations?
Local Listings | | websitemusclemarketing0 -
Google Maps: Submitted Feedback Changed Results
I came across something interesting today. So there is a business in one of my clients areas that had submitted and was being listed on google maps for some spammy locations. I went in and submitted feedback informing google of bad listings. Within 30 minutes or so my results for the same key phrase was different. I decided to see why. I went to other browsers on my computer and searched that key phrase and the results went back to how I originally saw them before the feedback submission. I then erased my browsers cache and after this the results now showed the original results. Does anybody know what cookies and such get placed in a browser that affect listing results? Sincerely, Garret
Local Listings | | eWebify0 -
Will local optimization effect international ranking?
Lets say a company serves Canada and US customers regularly, but they are based in Canada. They currently have no local optimization or confirmation of their location on their website. If I were to begin local optimization (google my business, local content, link building, schema etc), would Google recognize this website as a Canadian business and remove rankings in the US that it is currently appearing in now without any locational information?
Local Listings | | aaronleven0