Frequently Asked Questions
This is a citation consistency issue—Google trusts businesses more in areas where their name, address, and phone (NAP) appear consistently across directories. Most DIY tools miss this.
How I fix it: My Neighborhood Dominance Audit maps gaps in your citations and builds hyperlocal backlinks (like Chamber of Commerce profiles) to boost visibility where it matters most.
It can—Google often treats small moves like new businesses, forcing you to rebuild trust. But, when I helped Bayside Dental relocate last year, we preserved their rankings by pre-updating 27+ citation sources before submitting the GBP change.
My relocation protocol: A 48-hour "NAP blitz" + press release to local news sites (like Patch.com) to signal legitimacy to Google.
Yes—if you exploit their weaknesses. For example, 83% of "3-Pack" businesses ignore Google Posts. When I helped Austin Roofing Co. overtake their competitor, we ran a 90-day Posts campaign (highlighting emergency services) that stole 12% of their traffic.
My edge: I track competitors’ review response times, GBP update frequency, and even their Q&A gaps—then build campaigns to outmaneuver them.
Data aggregators (like Acxiom) feed outdated info to Google—and most SEOs don’t know how to purge it. Last month, I cleared a 5-year-old alias for Heritage Law Group in 72 hours using a suppression list strategy.
Included in my GBP Cleanup Service: Forced removals from 9 hidden aggregators + press release to reinforce the change.
Most agencies create thin "location pages" that get penalized. I use event-based SEO: Host a free workshop (e.g., "First-Time Homebuyer Seminar in [City]"), document it with geo-tagged content, then build city-specific backlinks from sponsors.
Case study: How I grew FreshRoast Coffee’s footprint to 3 cities without keyword stuffing.
They’re likely using keyword-optimized reviews (e.g., "Best divorce attorney in Tampa for high-net-worth cases"). My Review Funnel System trains staff to politely guide clients toward leaving these "SEO-rich" reviews.
Proprietary tactic: I embed review prompts in post-service emails with suggested phrases—clients just click to customize.
You’re losing "local intent" searches to competitors with stronger on-page signals. My Local Conversion Pages solve this by embedding GBP widgets, schema markup, and neighborhood-specific testimonials.
Example: Adding a "Service Area" calculator (e.g., "We serve within 12 miles of [City]") increased Urban HVAC’s unbranded traffic by 34%.
Google rarely allows this—but I’ve had success with a review transplant strategy. For Peak Fitness, we turned misplaced reviews into case studies: "See why [Customer] originally posted this 5-star review about us on [Competitor]’s profile."
Ethical hack: This builds social proof while subtly exposing competitors’ mistakes.
Service-area businesses (SABs) need hyperlocal backlinks to compete. I secure links from:
- Local event sponsorships ("Official Electrician of [City] Marathon")
- Neighborhood Facebook groups (with "expert contributor" status)
- .gov partnerships (e.g., "Certified storm damage assessor for [County]")
Included in my SAB Ranking System: A done-for-you sponsorship pitch template to land these links.
You lack topical authority. My Local Content Cluster Strategy fixes this by creating:
- "[Service] cost in [City]" guides (with real pricing data)
- Comparison pages ("How we differ from other [City] [Service] companies")
- Expert roundups (interviewing local influencers about your niche)
Result for client: 6 months after implementation, their unbranded traffic grew 217%.