I've picked up a new client that had a guy doing his work that used some shady methods for on-site SEO and on his GMB listing. Here's what was done:
- An official business name had a DBA added that is "The (City) Painters" - which is only in GMB
- The only other place "The (City) Painters" exists is on the website - not on any building/signage
- They also setup an EMD domain thecitypainters.com
I did a lot of local SEO work about 5 years ago. So a little rusty. I was shocked to see that GMB keyword stuffed business names rank so well - Search Engine Land published something recently on this - The real-world impact of keyword stuffing in Google My Business
This company's NAP is a mess as the previous guy didn't care about that - just tried to get his GMB/maps ranking high. But ultimately did the client a disservice. I have a few options to fix this issue:
- 1. Update his citations with the correct business name/NAP for all data providers, directories including GMB - might hurt his local map rankings since other companies in the area seem to have keyword stuffed biz names
- 2. Update major data providers/directories with the DBA name "The (City) Painters" - which won't match official business name but won't raise flag with Google I'm guessing since it's leaving what's in GMB alone
The only upside is the Painting competition in this small city isn't that sophisticated - so even a small hit to his map rankings could be made up by an increase in organic. I can also help him increase his Google Review uptake.
Any advice would greatly be appreciated!
- An official business name had a DBA added that is "The (City) Painters" - which is only in GMB
- The only other place "The (City) Painters" exists is on the website - not on any building/signage
- They also setup an EMD domain thecitypainters.com
I did a lot of local SEO work about 5 years ago. So a little rusty. I was shocked to see that GMB keyword stuffed business names rank so well - Search Engine Land published something recently on this - The real-world impact of keyword stuffing in Google My Business
This company's NAP is a mess as the previous guy didn't care about that - just tried to get his GMB/maps ranking high. But ultimately did the client a disservice. I have a few options to fix this issue:
- 1. Update his citations with the correct business name/NAP for all data providers, directories including GMB - might hurt his local map rankings since other companies in the area seem to have keyword stuffed biz names
- 2. Update major data providers/directories with the DBA name "The (City) Painters" - which won't match official business name but won't raise flag with Google I'm guessing since it's leaving what's in GMB alone
The only upside is the Painting competition in this small city isn't that sophisticated - so even a small hit to his map rankings could be made up by an increase in organic. I can also help him increase his Google Review uptake.
Any advice would greatly be appreciated!
