Google Business Profile Optimization Queries

[Ryan Steinolfson]

I have a few questions to confirm, and I can't find any recent threads about it.

1.) Can we resume adding service areas to our client's Google Business Profile again? Would it cause a problem or potentially result in an account suspension, as mentioned before?

2.) Is it still useful to include appointment links in the profile?

3.) Is there a way to find the number of clicks and views from specific updates and offers we posted on the client's Google Business Profile account, as we did previously?

 

[JS Girard]

1) the suspension plague has, as far as I'm aware, mostly abated, but there may be regional differences here.

2) Define "useful"

3) the stats were discontinued entirely last month

 

[keyserholiday]

I have a few questions to confirm, and I can't find any recent threads about it.

1.) Can we resume adding service areas to our client's Google Business Profile again? Would it cause a problem or potentially result in an account suspension, as mentioned before?

2.) Is it still useful to include appointment links in the profile?

3.) Is there a way to find the number of clicks and views from specific updates and offers we posted on the client's Google Business Profile account, as we did previously?

Service areas have zero impact on rankings so if they show their address, it's pointless to add them. I see people do this a lot and it's one of my Local SEO pet peeves. Also, make sure that the service area is not over 2 hours from their address.

 

[Ryan Steinolfson]

Thank you for your answers.

How about adding secondary categories to the listing? Would it cause a problem or potentially result in an account suspension?

 

[JS Girard]

Thank you for your answers.

How about adding secondary categories to the listing? Would it cause a problem or potentially result in an account suspension?

As far as categories, you should add every category that is relevant. Period. Category dilution was never a thing, and category confusion (irrelevant categories crashing rankings) was recently shown to not exist anymore. I've never seen category addition to cause suspension except when the profile was already sensitive and going to be hit with a pointless suspension no matter what you did (i.e. multiverification on new profiles, or the suspension plague of last fall).

On the service front, Sterling Sky reported literally YESTERDAY that services seem to impact ranking now. Personally I'd like to have a lot more details (for examples is this only the google-provided services or any services? Does it make a difference which category they're attached to? What changes were made exactly? Like, is the addition of services in general good or does it need to be THAT service?)