More threads by Digitaldar

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I am aiming to have a client be top of Google Maps for each service they offer.
They are in a suburb of a main city and would target individuals in that suburb, so that makes it slightly less competitive although there are a gazillion similar service providers around them :)
I have explained it to them as "you need to aim to be better than all competitors in all columns of this report" (I am using BrightLocal as a tool to guide us).

  • Client will reach ideal photo count within a week or two
  • Client is slowly getting more reviews; we talked about baking it into the overall process of doing business so this should help in the long run. Client is responding to reviews
  • I identified a couple of relevant local sites with dofollow links and had the client reach out to be interviewed/listed by these sites; we talked about constantly looking for linking opportunities - vendors, service providers, colleagues, partners, etc. I will reiterate this on monthly calls so that it is always in the back of their mind --> goal here is to always be improving domain authority, which we cannot do overnight
  • I have been working on citations - my original guide was to use BrightLocal key citations as a guide but I think I will now branch out and use the BrightLocal and Whitespark guides for Canadian citations. I did also engage Loganix to build several citations (and get them indexed).
  • In addition to maps, we are working on content to help rank in the non map section of Google as well
  • I added a question to GBP
It's been about 5-6 weeks since we started and so far I saw (for the first service) us go from greater than position 20 to position 1 to position 16. The other services haven't budged yet

Would your next steps (as the consultant) be:
  • patience
  • citations
  • seed questions on GBP
  • Add schema to the site
  • Add FAQ to service pages
  • ?
My service does not involve link building although I did do a link intersect and identified two local sites; I will continue to provide guidance on this front.
Client is handling photos and reviews. Oh and I adjust GBP categories as I work on each service. Client is adding Google Posts (getting several impressions; few clicks but that is ok), I've had them add services to GBP and Facebook... just in case :)

I like rules and sometimes SEO is a bit more of an art than a science :)
 
I'd focus hard on onsite optimization - it moves the needle better than anything else. Check for topics related to their core services and publish content about those things.
 
Piggybacking on Joy's suggestion above, I would incorporate a strong content strategy into your SEO plans. Helpful, relevant content -take a look at competitors' sites or similar brands in other locations and see what they've got for onsite content, and make sure you're not missing anything.

I know I'm biased, but I also highly recommend grabbing the recordings from the most recent LocalU event when they're available next week -there were some incredibly valuable sessions that focus on both GBP and content planning and strategy!

 
Photos and reviews on the GBP won’t move the needle at all. As Joy and Erin said, focus on the on-site optimization. Too many “gurus” preach GBP optimization, but they miss the market when the neglect looking at the website.
 
Photos and reviews on the GBP won’t move the needle at all. As Joy and Erin said, focus on the on-site optimization. Too many “gurus” preach GBP optimization, but they miss the market when the neglect looking at the website.

What's your thoughts on the 'gurus' saying add GBP posts 3-5 times a week?

Looks a little excessive to me.
 
Given how few clicks most posts get, and that they don't appear to impact ranking, I would say that time is better spent elsewhere.

Thank you. I just had a look over mine and there's reasonable amount of views but pointless for clicks. Hopefully good info also for the OP.
 

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