TL;DR Opening dates on Google Business Profiles help show when a business first opened. Adding or updating opening dates can improve trust and accuracy. Incorrect opening dates might affect search performance. You can set the date in profile info to…
TL;DR Practitioner listings are separate Google Business Profile entries for public-facing professionals. Eligible practitioners include doctors, lawyers, realtors, hairdressers, trainers, and similar roles. Solo practitioners usually combine their name with their practice on one profile. Multi-practitioner businesses can have separate…
In our April LocalU event, I covered Shades Of Grey: Controversial Local SEO Tactics that Drive Results. I covered tactics ranging from keyword stuffing to review snippets in the organic search results. There were several tactics that didn't make the…
TL;DR Managing more than 100 listings can stop review email notifications. Notification limits are tied to total listing count, not account settings. One workaround is splitting listings into groups under 100. Use a dedicated email for notifications. Forward those alerts…
Last October, Joy covered 4 Google My Business Fileds That Impact Ranking on a Whiteboard Friday. The four fields Joy covered were: Business Name Categories Website Reviews Up until recently, those were the only features inside the GMB dashboard that…
TL;DR GMB/GBP Post clicks in Insights won’t match Google Analytics. Track accurately with UTMs: utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmbposts[listingname]&utm_content=date. Keep source/medium as google / organic to avoid fake organic drops. Use the date in utm_content to uniquely ID each post. View results in GA…
It's pretty common to see threads at the Local Search Forum like this one where a business owner is wondering how they can rank higher on Google. The challenge I see most often is that a lot of business owners…
TL;DR Some businesses on Google Business Profile can be set as appointment only. Appointment-only listings hide service area or physical address details. This setup suits businesses without a walk-in location. Correct configuration helps avoid guideline issues. Clear info improves customer…
This is part 1 in a series of posts that will dive into the questions, and answers, from the 2020 Local SEO Blackbelt Quiz. If you haven't taken the quiz, head over there now and give it a shot. Here…
TL;DR Weak Detection: Google lacks automated systems to catch keyword stuffing; enforcement is almost entirely manual and triggered by competitor reports. High Reward, Low Risk: Keyword stuffing provides massive ranking boosts, yet 60% of violators receive only a warning rather…
TL;DR Businesses can't block users from uploading photos to their Google My Business (GMB) listing, except in rare cases. Inappropriate images from a public incident may lead to the option to disable photo uploads. If a user-uploaded image violates Google’s…
I was trying to solve a very odd direct traffic increase for a client a few weeks ago. We were seeing high amounts of direct traffic - with every other engagement metric showing "0"- and “not set”. The one…