Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Why won't a business show up in the local pack when all signs point to that it should?
-
Hello! I've been trying to figure out why a business won't show up in the local pack even though their GMB has more reviews, seems to be doing everything right, and just doesn't show. The business is "A Senior Journey", and should be showing up for searches relating to "senior placement services tucson" or "senior placement tucson", but no dice. Been doing a competitor analysis and they are doing better or on par with all of their competitors. The same businesses in Tucson that are competitors show up both times, even Phoenix locations, but not A Senior Journey...any ideas?
Thank you!
-
Does Google really care about the business which is running currently in the background such as Google map and information about that company detail shared on the map?
-
Hi Miriam,
Thank you for looking into this, I appreciate it! To answer some of youre questions:
- The GMB is claimed and verified
- The reason you don't see an address is because the business does not have a brick and mortar, they are service area only and it's not a franchise, just a solo business
- You make a good point about "Tucson" not being super present on the site, I will look into ways of including location more
- As for the 5 star reviews, I believe the owner is following guidelines! She has been in business for 15 years and is a very kind person who works with the elderly, so while I can't be certain perhaps she is postively unusual (though I will keep an eye on it for sure)
- I will take this over to the Google Support Forum, thank you for your help!
-
Good morning!
It's good that you're doing a competitive audit for the business, as I agree, it appears to be being excluded from Google's local finder for searches like "senior placement". I am able to find the listing's Google Business Profile doing a branded organic search and I'm able to find it via a branded search within the finder, but it's not coming up for me for non-branded searches. So, the listing hasn't suffered a hard penalty (removal) but it's not ranking for your stated search phrase.
I can't replicate a full audit here in the forum, but here are some things standing out to me, at a glance:
-
Many of the top ranked competitors have exact matches of "senior placement" and "placement" in their business titles. You don't. If these are legitimately their names, then this is to their advantage. But if any of them have added "senior" "placement" or "senior placement" to their business titles when this is not their name, this would be a violation of Google's guidelines that you could report.
-
Many of the ranking businesses have a street address published on their listing. Your facility doesn't. In fact, there are zero signals of location on your website, other than the 502 prefix of the phone number. I see no address, no mention of Tucson in the text content of the pages, and only a reference to locality in some title tags. Is the business actually based in Tucson? Why does it not publish an address, and why am I not seeing Tucson referenced in the content of the website? It's making me curious about the business model. Is this a single business at a single location, or is it part of a franchise and the website I'm looking at at aseniorjourney.com is just for the Tucson branch of a much larger business? At any rate, there's no address on the Google listing (compared to competitors) and very weak signals of locality coming from the website. I do see that Old Pueblo Placement Services is ranking without an address, so what I've noticed here is not "the answer". Still, it's something to investigate further.
-
The Possum filter does not appear to be at play here, because no matter how many times I zoom in on the map, the business just isn't showing up.
-
How confident are you that the review practices the facility has engaged in are guideline compliant? 33 all-five-star reviews makes me slightly worried. Not saying anything is wrong there, but I always find businesses with perfect 5 star rating to be slightly unusual.
-
Without a street address, I can't run the diagnostics I would like to seek problems with the listing. Have you done this?
-
It looks like the GMB listing hasn't been claimed. Is that right?
That's all I have time for this morning. Something is definitely amiss with the business. I would recommend taking the listing over to Google's Help Forum for further troubleshooting.
-
-
Hi there,
You can add more keywords to your Google My Business Title.
For example you can you change your title to “ A Senior Journey - Senior Placement Services”. This should trigger an algorithm.
Ross
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
-
Trading As Business Name
Some businesses are set us with a company name but trade under another name (or numerous other names). What's the best way to handle this when it comes to Knowledge Graph & Schema.org and what about NAP consistency? Am assuming the only way to handle this is to do something like this: Blue Widgets Ltd trading as Cars UK Or is there a better way?
Local Listings | | GrouchyKids0 -
Seasonal Setting Options for Google My Business
Hi there, Not sure if anyone will have any insight but I have a seasonal business that I am closed for from September to March. I don't want to mark my business as "permanently closed" through Google My Business as I don't want my customers to think I've gone out of business. I've seen a few times through forums that you can change your business to temporarily closed, but I can't find the specifics on how to do this. Any insight, suggestion or resources would be great! Thanks!
Local Listings | | MainstreamMktg1 -
GMB 'Located In' Feature
Hello - can anyone provide some guidance on how to remove a 'Located in' field from a GMB listing? This has appeared in a client's GMB listing - but the other location is separate and so it is not applicable. I have worked out how to add a 'Located in' feature - but not remove it. Appreciate any help.
Local Listings | | P.Myers0 -
Google My Business - two locations but same name and phone
Hello, I manage SEO for an orthopaedic practice and I'm wondering what to do about their GMB listings. They have two locations, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't have separate GMB pages for the two locations because of the advice about other GMB questions I've been reading on this forum. I read a helpful response that said you must ensure the following if you want to create separate GMB listings: Unique name Unique address (even if only a suite / office number) Unique phone number Clearly different categories on Google My Business I can only ensure one of those - unique address. The business has the same name, phone number, and categories at both addresses. What should I do about this? I would think it's important to list both addresses so that patients can be guided to the appropriate location, but is there a way to do that with just one GMB listing? Thank you, Susannah
Local Listings | | SusannahK.Noel0 -
Google Business - Adding location into business name
Hello, I've a client that has many services in different locations and addresses with the same website and phone number. But the thing is they want me to involve location name to business name. Is there a way to add and verify as bulk ?
Local Listings | | omeryamac0 -
"Duplicate" on Google Local - Attorney and Business Listing
For our law firm, we have a Google Local listing for the firm (Riddell Law LLC). Google also created a local listing for one of the attorneys (Riddell) (we didn't create it, but are in the process of verifying it). Both listings are at the same address. Moz Local says these are "duplicates" - is that true? Would Google penalize us for this? I am not sure how to fix it - both the individual attorney and the business are in fact at the same address. If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!!
Local Listings | | bpurdue0 -
Local citations from business directories in other countries
Hi all, I normally work for clients in my home county (The Netherlands) and with local citation building I focus on Dutch websites or well know .com websites in the Netherlands. My rule of thumb kinda was, if it’s not known in the Netherlands it isn’t worth getting mentioned there. Since The Netherlands are pretty small and I think Google ain’t perfect I was wondering if it makes sense to list a Dutch business on any .com business listings that are internationally big, but aren’t well known in the Netherlands. Two reasons that got me thinking this direction: A big well known Dutch company offers a service such as Moz local and did integrate their service with several international business listing websites that I never heard off, since these business directories focus themselves on other parts of the world. Google ain’t perfect and I think they got more budget to identify trustworthy business directories with an international focus or a focus on America then with a focus on The Netherlands. So I’m wondering if it makes any sense to list a Dutch business on let’s say the top 20 international business directories (although these directories don’t have any brand recognition in The Netherlands).
Local Listings | | Bob_van_Biezen0 -
Does embedding Google map help local SEO?
Hi I am curious if adding a embedded Google map to a footer helps for Local seo? Thank you
Local Listings | | Berner1