Client disappeared in 3-pack & organic after GMB category priority change

[Steph H]

Hello,

I have a client, an eye care practice in Fort Myers, FL. She opened in early December 2018, and her site johnson-eyecare.com went live at about the same time. I helped her get her GMB verified, etc. Originally had her GMB categories as: 1) Optometrist 2) Eye care center 3) Optician.

A few weeks after her site went live, she was coming up for "Optometrist" in the 3-pack in her zipcode base on the brightlocal local search tool, but I wanted her to be competing more for "eye doctor", "eye doctor near me", etc. so I switched the GMB category order to 1) Eye care center 2) Optometrist 3) Optician.

After doing that about 1.5 months ago, she disappeared in searches. I resubmitted her site through search console, everything seems ok on the website end. Really not sure what could have happened. I don't see how doing that could have just made her disappear completely? There has to be something else going on, but I can't see what it is.

Hoping to get some insight from the experts!

Steph H

 

[Susan]

HI Steph H. What's the name of the business? I'm happy to look at her listing and see if i see anything. I'm not seeing any results for that domain currently.

Have you completed a local SEO audit? or a technical site audit?

 

[Steph H]

Hi Susan,

The name of the business is Johnson Eyecare and she's in Fort Myers, FL. Site is johnson-eyecare.com

Technical audit looks good and her local seo should be ok, as she's continually getting more and more reviews. She's a little light on citations, etc., but nothing devastating that I can see.

When I initially did a brightlocal local search View Google Search Results from any Location in any Country in her zipcode for Optometrist she was coming up.

But now she seems to have just dropped off the map in terms of serps.

I just got off phone w/ GMB support and he said things look ok, but I'm just not sure.

if you pull up her address in google maps and do a nearby search for eye doctor, she doesn't even come up very high.

It's very strange.

Steph H.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

@Steph H Have you considered changing the categories back to how they were before?

 

[Yan Gilbert]

Just sharing a bunch of screenshots simulated from the location address to help with the discussion.

Looks like it is coming up for eye doctor, but Local Falcon is not showing a strong presence as the drop off is very quick. I have it set to 100m grid.

Here is Optometrist.

Coming up #5 exact location, but nowhere to be found if you move only a two blocks away. Can't get it to show up on Local Falcon for this keyword as the coverage area is extremely small.

Also to add, I checked out the website, and the only mention of 'Optometrist' is in the Title tag, with the closest variation in the content being 'optometric'.

 

[Steph H]

Thank you so much for the input! and all of the screenshots and tools. I did talk w/ GMB support and he mentioned things looked great from their end. Nor

@Steph H Have you considered changing the categories back to how they were before?

no. scared to muck anything else up. but might end up doing it in a few weeks...

 

[Steph H]

Just sharing a bunch of screenshots simulated from the location address to help with the discussion.

Looks like it is coming up for eye doctor, but Local Falcon is not showing a strong presence as the drop off is very quick. I have it set to 100m grid.

Here is Optometrist.

Coming up #5 exact location, but nowhere to be found if you move only a two blocks away. Can't get it to show up on Local Falcon for this keyword as the coverage area is extremely small.

Also to add, I checked out the website, and the only mention of 'Optometrist' is in the Title tag, with the closest variation in the content being 'optometric'.

thank you for all of this, Yan. i did talk w/ gmb support as well and he said that it could also be a time thing since she opened in Dec. he couldn't see any conflicts, or anything, just suggested uploading more photos to gmb w/ keywords for eye doctor, etc.

I'm Really hoping that she'll start rising in the next few weeks. but yes, will also add some more keywords to the content itself.

Thank you again!!

Steph

 

[Susan]

HI Steph, i'm not seeing anything that stands out either. I would agree with Colan's advice and change your categories back for a period. Best of luck!

 

[Steph H]

I might have to give that a shot. Thank you for your help, Susan!

 

[Steph H]

Ok, so switched the priority back to 1) Optometrist then 2) Eye Care Center a few days ago and she's ranking again in top 3 for her zipcode for "optometrist" ! and even for "eye doctor" she's moving up. unbelievable how something like that could make a business virtually disappear!

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Occam's razor

Ok, so switched the priority back to 1) Optometrist then 2) Eye Care Center a few days ago and she's ranking again in top 3 for her zipcode for "optometrist" ! and even for "eye doctor" she's moving up. unbelievable how something like that could make a business virtually disappear!