- Joined
- Aug 23, 2012
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I posted this in the Google Local Search Group's hot seat but haven't found solution yet.
So I thought I'd try here to see if any of you pros have any ideas. Here's what I posted there with an update:
This client is a megaformer fitness studio in Saratoga, CA. Their listing disappeared from the 3-pack for the query: ""Saratoga megaformer."" They are IN Saratoga and megaformer classes is what they do. No one is more relevant than they are, but Google has chosen to hide them. There are only 3 showing for that query and 2 for ""megaformer Saratoga."" Neither of those results have a link to see more.
If you search on "megaformer classes saratoga," or just "megaformer classes" if you are in Saratoga, Google shows 3 in the pack and now they are #1. It used to be if you clicked through for more, they were nowhere to be seen. There were only 5 showing at the time, and one was an hour away. But CORevolution is the only one in Saratoga and it was not there. So we've made some progress for the search with the word classes added in the query.
BUT where I sit now in San Jose which is about 10 miles away if I search for "megaformer classes," they are nowhere to be found in local but #3 in organic under two listings for Yelp. So their organic SEO is fantastic. In local if you click through for more, they don't show AT ALL, but studios with megaformer classes 45 miles away do!
They are great organically for those keywords and others. For "megaformer Saratoga" they are in position 1 and 2 with their yelp and facebook pages under that. So they own that page.
They had pilates as a category in GMB, but then changed it to ""gym"" in an attempt to get the listing to reset and show for megaformer. That didn't work. And it should have nothing to do with it anyway.
So they came to me for help, and I find it perplexing.
At a glance I can't see the problem. No duplicates exist that I could find. Their G+ page is not breaking any rules. I'm not doing the citation building as they insist on doing it themselves and I've already advised them to be consistent as I see different titles like "CORevolution" and "CORevolution Fitness." They also assigned the "gym equipment" category to their profile in YP and that could be part of the problem. Here's why.
And this brings me to what I think could be part or all of the problem. Corevolution is also the trade name of another company's piece of gym equipment. It bears the registered trademark on that website. This local fitness studio called COREvolution, however, tells me they have applied for the trademark because it's up for grabs.
Regardless, I'm wondering if Google is stumbling over the brand name especially because the megaformer really is a piece of gym equipment. So if Google thinks Corevolution is the equipment and not the local business, then it could make sense that it's not showing it in local if you just search for "megaformer." Having that category in YP could lend weight to Google's interpretation, if that's what it's doing.
But remember, if you don't type in "saratoga" in the query in San Jose 10 miles away, they don't show for "megaformer classes" either.
I told the client they should probably be putting more attention on getting the pilates queries since the megaformer is a knockoff of Pilates and hardly anyone knows what a megaformer is, nor do only a few search for it, anyway. And lots and lots are looking for Pilates. But they really want to show for the "megaformer Saratoga" query especially when they're competitors do. And in the future as the public becomes aware, that query could get popular.
So I'd like to solve it if not for anything else I can't stand to have anything get the better of me!
So what does Google or you see that I can't? Am I blind?
So I thought I'd try here to see if any of you pros have any ideas. Here's what I posted there with an update:
This client is a megaformer fitness studio in Saratoga, CA. Their listing disappeared from the 3-pack for the query: ""Saratoga megaformer."" They are IN Saratoga and megaformer classes is what they do. No one is more relevant than they are, but Google has chosen to hide them. There are only 3 showing for that query and 2 for ""megaformer Saratoga."" Neither of those results have a link to see more.
If you search on "megaformer classes saratoga," or just "megaformer classes" if you are in Saratoga, Google shows 3 in the pack and now they are #1. It used to be if you clicked through for more, they were nowhere to be seen. There were only 5 showing at the time, and one was an hour away. But CORevolution is the only one in Saratoga and it was not there. So we've made some progress for the search with the word classes added in the query.
BUT where I sit now in San Jose which is about 10 miles away if I search for "megaformer classes," they are nowhere to be found in local but #3 in organic under two listings for Yelp. So their organic SEO is fantastic. In local if you click through for more, they don't show AT ALL, but studios with megaformer classes 45 miles away do!
They are great organically for those keywords and others. For "megaformer Saratoga" they are in position 1 and 2 with their yelp and facebook pages under that. So they own that page.
They had pilates as a category in GMB, but then changed it to ""gym"" in an attempt to get the listing to reset and show for megaformer. That didn't work. And it should have nothing to do with it anyway.
So they came to me for help, and I find it perplexing.
At a glance I can't see the problem. No duplicates exist that I could find. Their G+ page is not breaking any rules. I'm not doing the citation building as they insist on doing it themselves and I've already advised them to be consistent as I see different titles like "CORevolution" and "CORevolution Fitness." They also assigned the "gym equipment" category to their profile in YP and that could be part of the problem. Here's why.
And this brings me to what I think could be part or all of the problem. Corevolution is also the trade name of another company's piece of gym equipment. It bears the registered trademark on that website. This local fitness studio called COREvolution, however, tells me they have applied for the trademark because it's up for grabs.
Regardless, I'm wondering if Google is stumbling over the brand name especially because the megaformer really is a piece of gym equipment. So if Google thinks Corevolution is the equipment and not the local business, then it could make sense that it's not showing it in local if you just search for "megaformer." Having that category in YP could lend weight to Google's interpretation, if that's what it's doing.
But remember, if you don't type in "saratoga" in the query in San Jose 10 miles away, they don't show for "megaformer classes" either.
I told the client they should probably be putting more attention on getting the pilates queries since the megaformer is a knockoff of Pilates and hardly anyone knows what a megaformer is, nor do only a few search for it, anyway. And lots and lots are looking for Pilates. But they really want to show for the "megaformer Saratoga" query especially when they're competitors do. And in the future as the public becomes aware, that query could get popular.
So I'd like to solve it if not for anything else I can't stand to have anything get the better of me!
So what does Google or you see that I can't? Am I blind?
