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 my business: How "Listing on Maps" are calculated? They are too high for us!
Hi Moz community, Our business listing on Google show some unbelievable statistics. According to their insights, we have 21K "Listing on Maps" and 1K "Listing on Search". This is impossible. Have you ever faced this? How these are calculated? There is no way that our business will be searched 20 times more on maps than usual search. Please clarify. Thanks
Local Listings | | vtmoz1 -
ExpressUpdate.com Down, any other options for updating NAP
It looks like ExpressUpdate.com is down and while I know nobody actually uses Citysearch anymore I was wondering if anyone else had a solution for updating NAP data there.
Local Listings | | r1200gsa0 -
Evidence that high organic rankings impact positioning in the Google local pack?
I'm looking for articles/evidence that if you have a high ranking organic listing that it will improve your chances of being in the local pack. I came across this about a year ago, but I have had trouble finding articles to support this. Does anybody know of any recent articles and/or studies that show a correlation of high organic listings and local pack visibility? Thanks!
Local Listings | | BigChad20 -
Google Map Penalty or Odd Filter? Listing Goes Missing
Hello Moz. We have a law firm client who practices criminal defense law. Historically, he has been ranked for _years _in the map pack and first page of search for a variety of phrases. This is a law firm with twice the number of reviews of the next competitor, solid back links, and open 24 hours a day. Over the past 30 days, he now appears inconsistently in the map packs. Sometimes he is in the C slot and sometimes he does not appear at all. Most of the time he is not listed for specific legal phrases for DUI, DWI and criminal defense. When he is not listed in the A, B, or C slot, then he is actually gone completely. You click on More Places and his listing for the map is just completely gone. You can scroll down from listing 1 through 20+ and not find his firm in the Map listings. You would think he would just be further down on the list at 5 - 10. But it is just missing. However, when you change the filters for either rating or reviews, he suddenly will appear. In fact, he will be near the top of the list, but only on filtering. You can even clear the filter and he stays listed in typically the C slot too. However, if you refresh the page, he is gone again. My question is simple: Do you think there is some type of data issue or penalty in place? Or is this just how the filters work - suddenly showing a list that should appear in the main area. PS: If I am not clear on the above, I can send video evidence of this oddity.
Local Listings | | peteboyd0 -
Google map listing
Hello Moz Frdz, My website Is Ranking Very Well Overall, also in Google Map Listing too, it is also Verified Listing , But The problem is someone has added My website domain TO there Address with 3 different places Because of That My Customers Not getting Proper Direction to my correct place, They R misleading to other 3 Places Listed By someone else, I Have Also Marked That Places As Permanently close, But Google Has Not accepted, How should I Remove That wrong Locations which Used My website ? Please Please any Expert Help? Thnx in advacne
Local Listings | | falguniiepl10 -
1 company, 2 shop locations, 3 Google+ pages - help!
Hello, I work for a furniture retailer and I'm doing an audit of our digital presence and need a hand with our G+ pages. Thanks for reading! We are one company but with two shops, located about 10 miles apart. One shop has been established over 10 years, the other is roughly a year old. The shops are called: 'Our Company' and 'Our Company, Second Location' Each shop has its own website (which is confusing and we'll hopefully shortly revert back to just one) We currently have three Google+ profiles: the first G+ was set up a number of years ago and was set up as a personal page, not a business and it links to both shop's websites. The other two G+ pages appear to have been created when we created a Google Local listing for each shop. My questions are: What is the best tool to handle all this info across the web? Bright Local looks good. Should I junk the original G+ profile? If I do, how will I know I won't remove any important stuff from Google? Should I keep 2 G+ profiles, one for each store or have 1 G+ profile and put both store's details in there. Or should I have 3 G+ profiles: 1 for our company name, and 1 for each of our 2 locations? When I search for 'Our Company', I only ever get our original company to show in the Google Local listing on the right hand side of search results. Our second shop is shown in 'People also search for'. Is this the best I can hope for? Is there any way to control this? Both of the G+ profiles that are linked to our Google Local listings have the original G+ URL. Should I customise this and if so, are there any naming conventions I should follow? What should we do with the (2?) G+ profiles for each shop? Both have currently got no content on them. Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.
Local Listings | | Bee1590 -
How to rank same business page in different locations?
Hello all, First of all thanks for answering my previous queries. Now, I have one more query and I am hoping to get best possible answers from you guys. Query: I have one business which is located in one city only and I have a verified listing there (I am ranking good in that city). However, I want to rank the same business page in couple of other cities as well. What should I do considering that I cannot create a new listing for other cities because I have my office in single location only? Looking forward to answers. Brian
Local Listings | | BrianBotts.0 -
How do I get a photos to display next to my Google Maps results in the SERP?
Why do photos show up next to the map in the Google Maps display on the SERP, while sometimes it doesn't. Am I missing something as far as a setting or place to upload the image or is it something that Google auto-populates?
Local Listings | | Gauge1230