BBB.org Listings and Local Rankings

[schmeetz]

So I joined the BBB for 1 of 3 stores we have located in difference cities and states.

My local rankings dropped in all cities except the one that's registered with the BBB. Coincidence?

Anyone experienced something similar?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Schmeetz, Thanks for clarifying that we are talking about a drop of your Local Organic rankings and not your Place Page. Obviously, the biggest shakeup happening right now is what's being called Panda 3.2. See: http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-3-2-update-confirmed-109321 Is there any chance you've got thin or duplicate content on your city landing pages?

[schmeetz]

Don't care so much for the BBB, I just liked the strong local backlink.

Google's algo takes into account BBB as a local signal. Maybe an algo change took effect at the same time and that's the link that prevented the drop. It's the only store that did not drop significantly in the rankings. Page one to page 3 type drop. No way to really determine.

Rankings dropped for my sites store locations pages and not my Google places listings.

[MiriamEllis]

Greetings Shmeetz,

I'm the Local SEO Associate here in Q&A. While I don't have the highest opinion of the BBB (see: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2010/10/07/google-better-business-bureau-ratings/) I would be very surprised if your ranking drop had anything to do with your signing up in the one city. I've not heard of anything like this...the BBB really wouldn't have the power to alter Google's algorithm in the manner you are describing. Your questions is definitely interesting, but I'd say what you've observed is a coincidence, and that you'll need to investigate other possibilities for your ranking drop.

Have you made edits to your Google Place Pages recently?

Are you being affected by the new 3-pack rollout/test that is just now being observed?

Have competitors hired Local SEOs who are moving them forward while you are falling backward?

Could you be suffering from a penalty due to a violation or bug?

That's just a start. I'll look forward to contributions from other members to this discussion. Good luck!