Why Would a Bussiness Rank Better Outside Its Own Area?

[RobSEO]

Confusing problem for your local SEOs out there - I'm working on a Google Business Profile and according to the local search grid, the business ranks in the top 5 on the exterior areas of the grid, but not even in the top 20 in its exact location. My only thought is that it's because there's another similar business next door and that's filtering it out.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

That would be my first thought as well.

 

[RobSEO]

Is there any benefit to changing the main category so it's not exactly the same as the competition? Would this undo the filtering? Seems crazy to me that you can't be next door to a similar business without that business basically being the only one showing.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Is there any benefit to changing the main category so it's not exactly the same as the competition? Would this undo the filtering?

Yes, but I wouldn't change the primary category if that's the correct main category for the business. We wrote more about the filter here - Is Your Google My Business Listing Getting Filtered? - Sterling Sky Inc

Are all the competitor businesses still open? Can any be removed?

Try to identify who specifically is filtering you and go from there.

 

[RobSEO]

Yes, but I wouldn't change the primary category if that's the correct main category for the business. We wrote more about the filter here - Is Your Google My Business Listing Getting Filtered? - Sterling Sky Inc

Are all the competitor businesses still open? Can any be removed?

Try to identify who specifically is filtering you and go from there.

Thanks @Colan Nielsen - always appreciate the guidance! I know exactly which company is filtering my client - the problem is they are a legitimate company in the same industry and right next door. They have a few more reviews and have been open longer. Other than adding more products and services and ensuring the posts are high quality I'm struggling to see how to get around this filter so my client starts appearing. I just find the filter so odd.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

To get unfiltered, you need to increase your relevance to that particular keyword. This can be done in many ways, including:

• Checking the categories on the listings that rank and seeing if you are missing any relevant ones;
• Consolidating duplicate listings (if you have them);
• Increasing organic ranking of the entire domain for that keyword. This can make a huge impact

 

[NexstarNickR]

Hey SeoSaur! I have seen this happen in my industry as well, where you are ranking better further away. This usually happens when 2 things happen: the area in which the business sits is much more competitive than the surrounding areas, and the website is focused on those surrounding areas. It happens a lot in bigger cities, where the companies I work with are actually more interested in getting jobs from the surrounding areas instead of in their backyard (which is usually in a more urban area / warehouse district, and they want to rank in more suburban areas with lots of single family homes).

Totally agree with Colan as well; SEO the site, try and get as many reviews as you can, and you should start to be able to influence the results. Just make sure that area is the one that is most valuable and it's worth your time to compete there!