Thursday, April 30Digital Marketing Journals

Google Business Profiles

How to Remove Fake Reviews from Google
8Nov By WhitesparkNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services

How to Remove Fake Reviews from Google

Businesses struggle to deal with the effects fake Google reviews have on their Google Business Profile (GBP) search engine rankings. Sadly, receiving phony reviews on your GBP is not a rare occurrence. But it is easier than ever to report and hopefully have them removed using the review management page accessible through your GBP. That is true whether they’re unwarranted bad reviews on your own profile or fake glowing reviews acquired by competitors. Google continually works to improve their algorithmic ability to detect fake reviews. In January, 2023, they shared details with the FTC on how they fight against fake reviews. However, their system still struggles to identify and detect inappropriate content without negatively affecting your real reviews. Key Takeaways Understand Google’s Re...
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How to Get More Google Reviews to Improve Your Local SEO
1Jun By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

How to Get More Google Reviews to Improve Your Local SEO

Let’s play a game! Which of the following statements is FALSE? A. Keywords in reviews impact rankings.B. Keywords in review responses impact rankings.C. It doesn’t matter if you get 20 reviews all at once, or over a longer period of time. The ranking impact will be the same.D. Both B and C.E. Both A and B. And the correct answer is… D! (for Darren, duh) If you got it right, congratulations! You have not been bamboozled by all the false information out there. If you didn’t pick the right answer, don’t stress. I’m here to help you learn. Whether you’d like to brush up on your reviews knowledge or learn how to craft a successful review strategy, this week’s episode is for you. We cover everything you need to know about reviews: from common myths, to review-related ranking and conversion facto...
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Website Conversion Rate Optimization with Aaron Weiche
8May By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Website Conversion Rate Optimization with Aaron Weiche

Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional questions you may have.
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How to Get Instant Verification for Your Google Business Profile
12Apr By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

How to Get Instant Verification for Your Google Business Profile

Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional questions you may have.
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Doing Google Posts the Right Way
3Apr By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Doing Google Posts the Right Way

Welcome to Episode 12 of Get Ranked on Google Maps, where Anne and I work together to boost her to the top of Google’s results and get more clients for her business. We’ve already covered the Q&A section of her Google Business Profile. Now it’s time to turn to her Google Posts. In this episode, Anne and I discuss all the ways to use Google Posts to stand out from the competition and get more leads from her Google Business Profile. I also share some little-known tips on creating next-level Google Posts that are guaranteed to “stop the scroll”, such as: Did you know that you could add videos to your Google Posts, and they autoplay as you scroll through them? Utilizing video content in your Posts can make them more eye-catching and engaging, increasing the likelihood that viewers will tur...
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Beautiful Local Business Website Redesign Example
26Mar By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Beautiful Local Business Website Redesign Example

Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional questions you may have.
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How to Optimize the Q&A Section of Your Google Business Profile
19Mar By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

How to Optimize the Q&A Section of Your Google Business Profile

Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional questions you may have.
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How to Fix Your Website for Better Rankings and Conversions
6Mar By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

How to Fix Your Website for Better Rankings and Conversions

Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional questions you may have.
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The Perfect Google Business Profile Website Alternative
15Feb By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo services

The Perfect Google Business Profile Website Alternative

Earlier this year, Google made the decision to delete all Google Business Profile websites on March 1st. This will leave more than 20 MILLION small businesses around the world without a website. While these simple one-page websites were nowhere near brilliant, many small businesses depended on them. Now, they have been given 3 months to create a brand new website on another platform. But many of these businesses have a limited budget and/or insufficient tech knowledge, which will leave them with no website at all. This is why our team has created a tool that can keep those websites alive. How businesses can rescue their GBP websites Let me introduce you to the new GBP Website feature in our Local Platform! Your site, just the way it was (but a bit better)  We’ve built our website feature t...
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Can You Hide Your GBP/GMB Address Without Losing Your Local Rankings?
11Jan By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo services

Can You Hide Your GBP/GMB Address Without Losing Your Local Rankings?

How can a service area business (SAB) move their address and not lose their rankings? Well, it’s tricky. I just tested this in a new case study, and I thought I had come up with a brilliant solution, but it didn’t quite work out as well as I had hoped. But fear not. I think there is a solution, and I’m going to break it down in this video. Some Context I posted a tweet about how service areas don’t have any impact on rankings. And Trey Copeland, a service area business owner, replied with the following: This is a great example demonstrating that service areas have no impact on ranking. And it also demonstrates a common problem with Google Business Profiles: Where when a service area business moves their location, it’s very difficult to shift their rankings from the ...
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[SOLVED!] Google Business Profile Video Verification
21Dec By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

[SOLVED!] Google Business Profile Video Verification

Google Business Profile video verification has been the bane of business owners’ existence. Unclear directions, failed upload attempts, bugs, and lack of assistance from Google are among the many pain points people have when trying to video-verify their business profiles. Well, Whitespark just went through it, too. The good news is, I got to go through this painful process myself, and, after much suffering, I successfully re-verified our Google Business Profile! And now I get to share all the tips and tricks I learned along the way with all of you. In this video, I will teach you all the requirements for GBP verification, I will outline the steps you need to take for a successful video verification, and I will take you behind the scenes of verifying Whitespark’s Profile (Spoiler alert: You...
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Opening An Office at Another Business’ Location
12Dec By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Opening An Office at Another Business’ Location

Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional questions you may have.
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Moving your business? Consider Proximity for Local SEO.
4Dec By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Moving your business? Consider Proximity for Local SEO.

Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional questions you may have.
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Moving your business? Consider Proximity for Local SEO.
29Nov By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Moving your business? Consider Proximity for Local SEO.

Does Proximity to a City Affect Local SEO Rankings?When targeting multiple cities in SEO, proximity to a city can indeed affect local rankings. Search engines consider the physical distance between a business and the user's location when determining relevance. Being closer to a city can impact local SEO rankings positively, as it signals greater accessibility and relevance to nearby users in that area.Multi-location Pricing Request Our platform is designed to help multi-location businesses manage their reputation, whether you have 2 or 1,000 locations we can facilitate each business, and set-up your account with a plan that best suits each location’s needs. Fill out the form below to get a quote for your multi-location business. We will email you back directly and answer any additional que...
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Wipe Your Cheating Competitors Off The Map With This Strategy
26Aug By Sam KnightNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, Reviews, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Wipe Your Cheating Competitors Off The Map With This Strategy

This might be due to Mike Blumenthal’s theory at Near Media: that Google’s Spam detection AI was trained on a limited set of confirmed spam. If reviewers or Business Profiles have patterns similar to those in this limited data set, their reviews are automatically filtered. This could explain why evolving spam methods, such as AI reviews, can’t be caught, while real reviews and genuine businesses take the brunt. Leaving aside the “Why” – what can you do about it? You may feel powerless against that cheating competitor (or competitors). Maybe you’ve even flagged their profile or reached out to GBP support to no avail.  Good news: You can fight back. You might just need to get your hands dirty. Google won’t do the work for you, so you’ll need to build a case.  I know it can be frustrating or...
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Does Setting Your Google Business Profile as “Temporarily Closed” Impact Local SEO Rankings?
16Aug By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO

Does Setting Your Google Business Profile as “Temporarily Closed” Impact Local SEO Rankings?

Back in 2020, Google claimed that setting your Google Business Profile as “Temporarily Closed” did NOT impact your rankings.  Well, what if I told you that this is not the case anymore and that marking your business as “Temporarily Closed” CAN absolutely negatively impact your rankings?  Here’s what I found out. Google’s Stance on the Subject In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many businesses had to shut their doors and mark their Google Business Profiles as “Temporarily Closed”. Around that time, Google’s Danny Sullivan was asked on Twitter if this would have any impact on those businesses’ Local SEO rankings and visibility.   Danny Sullivan reassured all local business owners that “Temporarily Closed” wouldn’t affect their rankings or visibility. That Tweet was la...
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How to Get Social Media Links on Your Google Business Profile
10May By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Whitespark Weekly

How to Get Social Media Links on Your Google Business Profile

How to Get Social Media Links on Your Google Business Profile - Whitespark Want to know how to get your social media links on your Google Business Profile? Google doesn’t provide a way for you to add or edit these, so you have to help it connect the dots on its own. Here’s how to do it. Add Social Media Links to Your Website The number one place that Google looks to make these connections is your website, so make sure that you have the links prominently placed in either the header or the footer. If you’re linking with icons, make sure you add descriptive text to t...
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Rank All Over Your City With This Strategy (Major Competitive Advantage)
4May By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local Insider, Local SEO, On-page SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Whitespark Weekly

Rank All Over Your City With This Strategy (Major Competitive Advantage)

Rank All Over Your City With This Strategy (Major Competitive Advantage) - Whitespark There’s an incredibly valuable local ranking strategy that can get you ranking in a wide radius in your city for your most valuable keyword. And the best part? Barely anyone knows about it. In this video, I will show you an example of a business that uses this strategy very well, and then I’ll take you through the process of doing the same for your business. The strategy in action I came across this Google Business Profile that’s ranking for a super valuable term for dentists: “in...
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6Apr By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local Insider, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Whitespark Weekly

Easily Boost Local Rankings with Google’s Predefined Services

Easily Boost Local Rankings with Google's Predefined Services A few weeks ago, the SEO world was shooketh by Joy Hawkins’ discovery that adding predefined services to your GBP significantly improves rankings. I had to see for myself, so I set up a test. You won’t believe these results! Video Transcript If you follow local SEO, you’ve probably seen Joy Hawkins’s recent research where they showed that adding predefined services to a GBP seems to have a positive impact on your rankings. I even made a video about it not too long ago. Well, it’s always a good idea to t...
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10Mar By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local Insider, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Whitespark Weekly

Why is Google Rejecting My Google Business Profile Photos?

Why is Google Rejecting My Google Business Profile Photos? - Whitespark 1. Google has a bug where photos show as rejected, but if you wait 24-48 hours, they actually publish. So, as Mike Blumenthal likes to say, “drink 4 beers and come back on Monday.” It’s likely that the issue will fix itself. 2. If your Profile is less than 2 weeks old or was recently reinstated, you can’t publish images. This is because new GBPs are “sandboxed” for 2 weeks until they have built up some trust.Wait at least 14 days after you have been verified/reinstated before you upload images. 3....
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7Mar By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Whitespark Weekly

Increase Local SEO Rankings With Predefined Services

Increase Local SEO Rankings With Predefined Services - Whitespark Huge local SEO news! Adding predefined services to your Google Business Profile can now significantly impact rankings. Until now, services have NOT been a ranking factor. In fact, the idea that services impacted rankings was the #4 local SEO myth in the latest Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors survey. They were still valuable for other reasons: they drove more conversions and they triggered eye-catching justifications in the search results. But rankings? No. However, new research by Sterling Sky shows that selecting Google’s pr...
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How To Do Google Posts the RIGHT Way
15Feb By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local Insider, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Whitespark Weekly

How To Do Google Posts the RIGHT Way

Video Transcript Most businesses are doing Google Posts all wrong. They look at it as like a social media channel. But let me tell you, it is definitely not a social media channel. Someone scrolling through social media is looking to be entertained, learn something new, or see what’s going on with their friends. In general, the audience on social media doesn’t want to be sold to. Your audience for Google Posts, however, is in a transactional state of mind. They’re actively looking to be sold to. Google Posts should not be about entertaining the reader, they should not be about educating the reader, and they should not be about what happened at your holiday party. Instead, your Google Posts should talk about your services, your products, and your specials and offers. Let me show you some ex...
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Geotagging Photos is a Local SEO Myth
9Feb By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local Insider, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Whitespark Weekly

Geotagging Photos is a Local SEO Myth

Geotagging Photos is a Local SEO Myth - Whitespark It’s infuriating that many local SEOs are still telling people to geotag their Google Business Profile photos, when research has shown time and time again that IT DOES NOT WORK. In this video, I explain why it doesn’t work, bust some myths and present a couple studies that have concluded that geotagging is a waste of time. Video Transcript I’ve been getting into TikTok a little bit lately, and I am ANNOYED. So, I keep seeing all these local SEO people on TikTok shilling this advice, li...
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ChatGPT Sucks at Local SEO
1Feb By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo services

ChatGPT Sucks at Local SEO

#6 Verify your business with Google, as this can also help improve your visibility in search results. Wrong. It won’t have any impact on your rankings directly. This isn’t really a factor in terms of your ranking, but it WILL allow you to edit your listing, which, of course, is super valuable. You want to be able to make changes to your listing, update your categories, add new categories, all that will have a positive impact. But the actual act of verifying versus unvarying is not a signal in itself. You got that one wrong, too, ChatGPT. #7 Optimize your website for local SEO and make sure it has Google My Business structured data markup. Yeah, 100%. You have to optimize your website for local SEO. Make sure that you have lots of content relevant to the products and services that you offer...
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Do Service Areas Impact Rankings for Local SEO in 2023?
25Jan By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Uncategorized, Whitespark Weekly

Do Service Areas Impact Rankings for Local SEO in 2023?

Do Service Areas Impact Rankings for Local SEO in 2023? - Whitespark I recently made a video presenting some new evidence that service areas might impact rankings in local SEO. However, upon further investigation, I realized that I was wrong. In this new video, I go over an update to this case study and discuss a surprising discovery related to the address your business was verified at. Take a look. Video Transcript Hey everybody, I recently published a video where I talked about how service areas seem to be impacting rankings. This wa...
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STOP Ignoring This Free Keyword Research Tool For Local SEO
21Jan By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Tools, Whitespark Weekly

STOP Ignoring This Free Keyword Research Tool For Local SEO

Very few businesses take advantage of the Searches Breakdown feature in the Performance section of their Google Business Profile, which is a shame because this tool is incredibly valuable and FREE. So, I decided to make this video outlining all the reasons why this feature is useful, and the best ways to use it for improving your local SEO. At the end, I share an awesome hack to make everything easier. Video Transcript Hey, there’s a free and awesome keyword research tool for local, but many businesses and SEOs are completely ignoring this. It’s the “Searches breakdown” feature in the Google Business Profile’s performance section. How to find this data So, if you click on the Performance section of your GBP and scroll down, you can see all of these keywords that your Google Bus...
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NEW! Take Your Competitive Analysis to the Next Level
16Dec By Darren ShawNo Comments
googe optimize, Google Business Profiles, google optimization, google seo, Local SEO, pagerank, search engine optimisation, search engine optimising, search engine optimization, SEO, seo company, seo services, Tools, Whitespark Weekly

NEW! Take Your Competitive Analysis to the Next Level

NEW! Take Your Competitive Analysis to the Next Level Say hello to the new competitive analysis features of our Local Rank Tracker! With our updated software, for each competitor you can: See what categories they are using See how many photos they have See their review ratings and number of reviews See their UTM tags And for all the spam-fighters out there, you can: Identify competitors that are keyword-stuffing their business name Identify businesses located at virtual offices And you can see this data for the top 100 ranking businesses for EVERY keywo...
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