Getting Local Ranking Restored in Google Maps with Some Google My Business Wizardry
Dentist – GMB Acrobatics
This case took a lot of mental acrobatics to solve. It was not as straightforward as I thought at first.
The Problem:
The merchant is a dentist and had a storefront from which they recently moved. The marketing company permanently closed the listing (we will call this location A) and contacted Google Support to move over about 1,800 reviews to a location that had been around for about two years (We will call this location B).
Importantly, location B was ranking in the top three for a while. Location A, when not closed, was ranking in the top two. Both locations were also on the same street (about five blocks from each other).
After location A was closed and reviews moved to location B, all of the ranking from location B dropped to the bottom of the search results (#15 to be exact).
After troubleshooting a few things like categories and other standard fare techniques, we noticed a few issues with the practitioner profile that matched location A. BUT, the strange thing was that the address for the practitioner profile showed on search with location B’s address and inside of GMB the address shown as location A. In addition, Google was rejecting the name change to the practitioner as it showed on search…something was wrong. This was clearly a classic search/maps confusion case now.
Goal:
Transform location A into a practitioner profile, keep the ranking power, and clear up the data confusion.
The Resolution:
Claim location A into the dashboard – luckily, there was an email verification option.
Step One:
We renamed the original practitioner profile to a property rental company that the merchant owned and was registered at location B.
Step Two:
We changed the category for the practitioner profile to a property management company.
Step Three:
Rename location A to Practice Name – Practitioner.
Step four:
Change the address of location A to location B. No suspension!
The result:
Within minutes, location B was ranking in the top four. Location A (now a practitioner profile) was ranking in the top five, and as a bonus, the property management listing was ranking as well (the business name had the same words as as the practice X City Family Dental Property Management – as an example)
Testimonial: https://goo.gl/maps/ScvNBTLgnjAQ63PW8
“Ben was the savior I was looking for!!
Prior to finding Ben, we moved offices and made some changes to our Google My Business page that seemed like a good idea but then all hell broke loose. Our Google My Business ranking dropped precipitously and I couldn’t figure out why. We had been ranking in the #1 or #2 spots and now we dropped to the bottom of the list and were virtually invisible to our patients. It was very frustrating as we had built nearly 10 years of content and now it was all gone.
Ben came in like a seasoned surgeon and knew exactly what to look for and what to fix. He made a small change here and a small change there, and within 72 hours, Google recognized who we were again. I believe that some of the original changes we made had confused Google, but due to Ben’s extensive knowledge he knew how Google “thinks” and was able to repair the damage.
I would highly recommend him for this type of work!”
