Tag: local optimization

google_my_business

Why Your Google My Business Page Might Be Suspended

Posted on | by devops
Expert Tips For Google My Business Pages

Having a Google My Business (GMB) page is a must for local SEO, local optimization, and to help you rank locally on Google. These free profiles are now ubiquitous. All your competitors have them, and the most relevant profiles display at the top of Google search results when Google users are searching for your type of business in their specific area.

Because Google My Business is so important to local SEO and helping your rank locally on Google, it makes getting your GMB suspended all the more frustrating because GMB suspensions instantly decrease your business’s online visibility.

If you try to log onto Google My Business and see that your profile is suspended, you are likely wondering, “Why is my GMB suspended?” The first step to answering this question, and to getting your GMB reinstated, is to find out if you have a soft suspension or a hard suspension.

Why Is My GMB Suspended with a Soft Suspension?

While no business owner wants their Google My Business page suspended, if it’s going to happen, you want it to be a soft suspension. This is because with soft suspensions:

  • You still show up on Google search results, so you can still rank locally on Google.
  • Mobile searchers can still call your business by tapping your phone number.
  • You won’t suffer from the visibility issues associated with hard suspensions.

The most likely reasons for soft suspensions are quality issues. Examples of quality issues may be an incorrect address (which can happen if you abbreviate your street name type from “Road” to “Rd.” or use “Ste” instead of “Suite” to note your suite number), or if you have accidentally created duplicate pages for the same address.
Soft suspensions are generally easy to correct.

Why Is My GMB Suspended with a Hard Suspension?

When it comes to having your business rank locally on Google, hard GMB suspensions are much more serious. That’s because, with a hard suspension, your Google My Business page won’t display at all. And while you can rectify issues that caused hard suspensions and get your page reinstated by appealing to Google, after a hard suspension you’ll lose all photos and ratings that your customers have previously posted.

There are several reasons why you may receive a hard suspension. These include:

  • Having Account Issues

When you have a Google My Business page, you get to assign users who can access and edit your page. At a very minimum, your users should include you or your internal marketing person, and your digital marketing agency.

Sometimes, however, certain users can cause your page to be flagged and receive a hard suspension. This is especially true if a user who has permission to modify your page has a recent activity that Google considers spammy.

If you recently added a user to your page and your account was quickly hard suspended, immediately remove that user and file an appeal to Google. If you’re the only user on your page, go to https://www.localguidesconnect.com/.

If you see that your account is no longer a part of the “Local Guides” program on Google, then your account is the reason for the hard suspension.

  • Using a Rented Mailbox as Your Business Address

If your Google My Business page is going to list a business address, it has to be an actual address of a business.

Rented mailboxes, such as post office boxes, FedEx mailboxes, and UPS boxes aren’t eligible addresses for Google My Business. If you attempt to list one of these types of rented mailboxes as your business address, you can expect a hard suspension

  • Listing Service Areas if You Have a Physical Address or Vice Versa

Google recognizes that some businesses have physical addresses, while others don’t but instead are service area businesses. Google wants to help both types of businesses rank locally on Google. That’s why you have the option to either display your physical address or your service area. Listing both, however, looks spammy to Google and is a surefire way to get a hard suspension.

  • Google Algorithm Updates That Don’t Work in Your Favor

Unfortunately, sometimes Google algorithm changes affect your ability to rank locally on Google and cause hard suspensions. In this case, you need to contact your digital marketing agency, make sure your Google My Business page meets all appropriate criteria, and submit an appeal to Google.

How to Appeal a Soft or Hard GMB Suspension

Whether you’ve received a soft or hard Google My Business suspension, you can appeal the decision in attempts to improve local optimization and rank locally on Google once again. To do so, first, rectify any issue that you’ve identified that may be causing the issue. If you work with a digital marketing agency, reach out to them for help with this. Digital marketing agencies frequently manage Google My Business pages for their clients and are well-versed in how to fix issues that result in suspensions.

Once your profile is updated and accurate, go to the “learn more” button that appears in the red suspension box on your profile to submit your appeal.

Rank Locally on Google By Getting Our Professional Help with Your Google My Business Page

As a leading digital marketing agency that specializes in local SEO and local optimization, we help several of our customers rank locally on Google by managing and optimizing their Google My Business pages. Many of our clients turn to us for GMB help because they don’t have the internal resources to manage digital marketing, they’ve tried optimizing their Google My Business pages on their own but still don’t rank locally on Google, or they simply want to be working with the best of the best in order to have the highest Google rankings possible.

We can help you with your Google My Business page all year long and are ready to go into crisis mode if you receive a soft or hard suspension. To learn more about how we help you rank locally on Google and manage your local SEO efforts, reach out to us today. You can call us at (214) 295-5845 or fill out our online contact form.

Not big on reading? That’s okay. Watch “Why Your Google My Business Page Might Be Suspended” instead.

Using the power of Artificial Intelligence, we turned this blog into a video for you. Check it out below!

 

google_my_business_page

What Addresses Can You Use on Google My Business Pages?

Posted on | by devops
Expert Tips For Google My Business Pages

Google My Business is a free Google listing  – with no paid upgrades – that Google encourages all businesses to use to its fullest to help them rank locally on Google. The goal of this free listing is to provide Google searchers with the best, most relevant local information when they are searching for businesses in a specific area, especially when they’re on mobile devices and using search terms such as “gas station near me.”

One of the most important aspects of having a Google My Business (GMB) page, aside from helping you rank locally on Google, is to make it easy for Google users to find you. This means that in order to show up in search results, you need to make sure your business address is entered accurately so customers can find you, and you can enhance your local SEO. And of course, this means you must understand address use for GMB.

But what address works for GMB? Continue reading to learn tips from Google itself on how to make sure web searchers can find you and so that you rank locally on Google.

Address Use for GMB When You Have a Physical Storefront

If you serve customers at a physical location, that’s great! You need to make sure that you accurately enter in all the details of your postal address, including your:

  • Street number
  • Street name
  • Street type (like Avenue, Drive, Road, etc.)
  • City name
  • State name
  • Zip Code
  • Suite, unit, or floor number

Entering all this information accurately on your Google My Business page both helps with local optimization and also allows Google to place a map marker on Google Maps at your exact location. This makes it easier for Google searchers, especially those who are on the go and searching on a mobile device, to find you and go to your business.

Examples of What Address Works for GMB

If your address is:
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA, 94043

You want to enter that exactly on your Google My Business page. Even doing something that may seem harmless like abbreviating “Parkway” to “Pkwy” may make it harder for Google to accurately pinpoint your physical location and mark it on Google Maps. And you definitely don’t want to do that!

Address Use for GMB if You Are in a New Development or Rural Location

Sometimes, certain addresses are hard for Google Maps to find.  In these instances, Google Maps won’t accurately pinpoint your location, which could affect your ability for you to rank locally on Google or for customers to use Google Maps on their mobile devices to get directions to your storefront. This is especially true if your business is part of a brand new development that hasn’t yet been added to Google Maps, or if you are in a rural area.

If entering in your address as per the instructions listed above doesn’t accurately pinpoint your location on Google Maps, then you should include directional information like cross streets or nearby landmarks that Google Maps is able to accurately pinpoint. Doing so will help your location appear more clearly on Google Maps.

Address Use for GMB if You Have Multiple Locations

If your business has multiple locations, you should have Google My Business pages for each location to improve local SEO, enhance local optimization, and rank locally on Google for each of your business locations. You can manage your multiple locations by simply signing into your Google My Business Account.

Address Use for GMB if You Don’t Physically Serve Customers at a Location

Some businesses don’t serve customers at physical locations. Examples of these types of businesses include eCommerce sites, grocery delivery service providers, tutors who meet with students at community locations like local libraries, mobile notary publics, and more. This list really goes on and on.

Even if you don’t serve customers at a physical location, Google My Business still wants to list your business so that you can enhance local SEO and rank locally on Google. After all, Google is all about helping web searchers find the relevant information they want.

If you don’t serve customers at a physical location, then when you create your Google My Business page make sure to leave your business address blank and fill out the “Service Areas” field instead. Be thorough, and list all cities, towns, suburbs, etc. that you realistically service in order to best rank locally on Google and improve your local SEO and local optimization.

What Else Should You Include on Your Google My Business Page to Make it Easier for Customers to Find You?

Google My Business pages allow all businesses to add photos to their free profiles. You should definitely take advantage of this feature to, at the very minimum, add photos of the front of your business so that those who are searching for you on the go can easily spot your location from the street.

Make sure to keep these storefront photos current. If you paint your building, add window awnings or other architectural elements that change the appearance of your storefront, you want to update your business location photos so that customers don’t get confused by outdated images.

Get Help Ranking Locally on Google by Optimizing Your Google My Business Page

Because Google My Business pages are free profiles, they’re ubiquitous. Virtually all your competitors have one, and they’re using their best efforts to enhance local SEO and local optimization so they rank locally on Google. This means that having an updated, optimized Google My Business page is extremely important so that your GMB ranks higher than your competitors’ profiles.

As a digital marketing agency that specializes in local SEO, we help several customers every year optimize their Google My Business pages. If you’ve tried everything for local optimization but find you still don’t rank locally on Google, we can help. By using our SEO expertise and specialized SEO tools, we can find the best search terms to include on your Google My Business page to help you rank locally on Google.

For help with GMB, contact us today. You can reach us by calling (214) 295-5845 or filling out our online contact form.

Not big on reading? That’s okay. Watch “What Addresses Can You Use on Google My Business Pages?” instead.

Using the power of Artificial Intelligence, we turned this blog into a video for you. Check it out below!