Using Hashtag for Google My Business
-
I was told by a Google My Business representative to include #{keywords} in my description. I was told this would boost my rankings. Has anyone else heard of this?
-
Hey John,
Hmm, what a strange answer this is:
Answer In regards to the hashtags, you can either use them or if you prefer only the related keywords to be used, that works as well. Also, you can follow the tips I have shared in my previous email.
I am totally in the dark about why Google would even mention this. Maybe I've missed something
-
So below is a recent email chain with Google I thought I would share.
Question Good morning! I have spoken with a Google representative that informed me that I should used hashtags in my GMB descriptions, and that these hashtags will help push my business result up in the results. She said the hashtags could include key search terms or the category I want to be known as. For example, #keyword and #keywords. I'd like to confirm that this information is accurate before I implement it in my listings.
Answer My name is Sophia, following up on your query for adding related keywords in the business description.
Yes, this is a good idea and you can also add the city name with the most searched terms and this also plays important role in pushing up the ranking of a business page. However, we cannot promise that it will get effective overnight as the search results are something which is automatically pulled up by algorithm. Additionally, here are some tips which will definitely help in getting better ranking of your business on Google search :
- Enter complete data: Make sure you’ve entered all of your business information in Google My Business and keep it up-to-date. For example, your physical address, phone number and category. Learn how to edit your business information
- Manage and respond to reviews: Responding to reviews shows that you value your customers and the feedback they leave about your business. High quality, positive reviews from your customers will also help improve your ranking. Learn more about responding to reviews
- Add photos: Accurate and appealing pictures can show potential customers that your business offers what they’re searching for.Learn how to add local business photos
Prefer to watch a video? We have one for you here. And don’t forget to get insights for your business’ online presence via your Google My Business Account (more details).
I hope that you will find this information helpful. In case you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help you grow your business!
Question To confirm, we should just use the keywords in the description without the pound symbol (hashtag)?
Answer In regards to the hashtags, you can either use them or if you prefer only the related keywords to be used, that works as well. Also, you can follow the tips I have shared in my previous email.
-
Yeah, sounds like an untrained rep to me. That does happen. Unless - bwahhahaaa - Google just gave away the secret sauce! But ... I kinda don't think so.
Glad you asked about it though!
-
We called in to Google and asked a few questions. This is when they provided this "suggestion." I think at this point it was an untrained rep that didn't know what they were saying. If there were any legitimacy to this, I think others would have some insight to it.
-
Hi John,
Are you 100% positive you were talking to a Google rep? Did you phone them or did someone phone you? While there was the 2013 G dashboard update that permitted use of rich text in the description (with the warning that it could take longer to get approved) I do not recall ever seeing mention of the use of # in descriptions. I'm very curious about someone telling you this, and feel a little nervous that you may either have been speaking to an untrained Google rep or, possibly, a scammer misrepresenting themselves as a Google rep. Seems a bit odd.
As Eric mentions, Google has treated the description very strangely in recent years. It doesn't show in most place.
Can you shed any more light on the origin of the conversation you had?
-
They meant the description. However we have since had a conversation with a different representative they didn't agree. Sounds like Google is doing some stellar training for their representatives.
-
There aren't any rules how the description should be formatted in Google's Guidelines - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en - however it's worth noting that the description you list in your dashboard may not show up for customers searching for your service/company. Google made the shift a little while back to show a limited amount of information (NAP, website, hours of operation, reviews) which doesn't normally include the description. I haven't seen anything to suggest adding more keywords in the description will boost ranking, especially since it's a hidden element for that page.
Local SEO Guide did a great study on Local SEO ranking factors - http://www.localseoguide.com/guides/2016-local-seo-ranking-factors/
Read through that to get an idea what to test & try to get your page ranking better.
-
That would look pretty spammy to someone viewing the business page. Are you sure they did not mean on your google my business brand page?
Best!
Matthew
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
-
What do I need to do for SEO when moving a business out of state?
Hello! So I have a business that I run out of a single location for the last 3 years. I am unfortunately having to move here in the next few weeks My question is what do I need to do in order to have the best chance at SEO for the new location? When should I make the changes? Does it take a long time for me to stop showing up in the previous location? and is there something I need to do to remove those? Also, is there an app or a website where I can find and update all listings at once or at least a bulk of them? I know that there are some weird sites that have my business info in them that I did not put there. Obviously these would have the wrong address. Some do not have a contact info or a way for me to log into them. What would I do with these sites? Thank you!
Local Listings | | Rmarkjr810 -
Can I use the same interior photos for multiple stores in Google My Business?
Hi, The company I work for has many store locations across the country. Getting good/quality interior pictures has become very difficult for us. We recently good a Virtual Tour from Google for one of the locations, and they took some really good pictures. According to Google, the "Photos should represent the actual business" and "Represent the real-world business location". My question is: since our stores are VERY similar in the interior, can we use the same pictures for them while we get more pictures? Would Google penalize this? Thanks!
Local Listings | | SO-MarceloOtero0 -
What is the best SEO practice for listing multiple locations from the same business online?
Hello! The church I work for is launching its third location and we are needing to figure out what the best SEO practice would be when it comes to to listing all three of our locations online. Currently, we are listing the two locations we have as "Church Name - South Campus" and "Church Name - West Campus." Going forward, would it be better to list our 3 location names as: James River Church - South Campus, James River Church - West Campus, James River Church - North Campus or James River Church South Campus, James River Church West Campus, James River Church North Campus or list all three locations as "James River Church" Thank you for any advice you can give me!
Local Listings | | chris.oursbourn0 -
Google My Business URL Choice
Hi guys, we have a national chain hardware store hardware store as a client. We built them a new website, and now they want us to do local SEO to help them rank better. We are debating for GMB whether to promote our new website URL or use the location page on the national hardware site. Most similar stores seem to promote the location page on the national site, but the client just spent money on having us build them a new website. What gives our client the best chance of ranking better?
Local Listings | | JohnWeb120 -
List of categories for Google Business for the UK
Does anyone have a compete list of the business categories for the UK Google Business listings? I have done a few searches on line and not uncovered anything up to date. Thanks in advance.
Local Listings | | highwayfive0 -
Heads up on new Google Local Guidelines
Good Morning All! I'm starting this thread just as a heads-up to all of the super folks in our community who live and breathe Local that Google has just launched one of the bigger overhauls of their quality guidelines that I've seen in some time. I want to be sure no one in our community misses this. Check out: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en Not only has the title and style of the page undergone a revamp, but don't miss these changes: Google abandons the use of descriptors. Now you see 'em, now you don't. I have to say, I knew from day one that these were not going to last and thought they were a terrible feature for maintaining NAP consistency. Significant tweaks to Google's explanation of choosing categories, including requiring the use of unique categories for different departments. I thought this was interesting because category differentiation has long been a Local SEO tip for reducing the risk of merging. Now, this practice is a guideline. New guidelines for naming practice/practitioner listings ...and a whole lot more! Mike Blumenthal has posted a good little post on the guideline update here: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/12/01/google-rolls-out-major-update-to-google-my-business-guidelines/ If you have a minute, check out the changes today, as you may discover you need to make some edits to your Google+ Local pages to be guideline-compliant.
Local Listings | | MiriamEllis4 -
Google Maps Help
Hello, I'm helping 2 clients with Google Maps Client 1
Local Listings | | ogdcorp
Has 4 Locations, I claimed all 4 but when searching his name only 3 are showing up on the first page.
All 4 show up when clicking on "More results" Client 2
Has 3 Locations, all of them were claimed by another company 1 year ago. But now I cant re-claim them unless the other company releases them but that wont be easy. Any suggestions? Also, when dealing with multiple locations is it better to have 1 email address for all or 1 email for each? Thanks0 -
Google Places and Backlinks
Hi i was wondering is there much benefit in linking to the Google Places listing (e.g tohttps://plus.google.com/10524970xxxxxxxx improve its rankings and local visibility in the search results? I've been building citations, with the correct and consistent NAP but it doesn't seem to be helping the listing improve. I'm thinking to start linking citations like Yelp, True Local, etc to the actual GP listing Regards,
Local Listings | | MBASydney
Mike0