Google to Tackle Business Listing Name Weight
Having a business listing with a high visibility have been on SEO’s task lists more and more as the years have gone on. This is due to the fantastic features that Google have provided for the “Snack Pack”, the three businesses ranked in a dedicated local snippet with features such as “Call”, and “directions”. A solid benefit to local businesses competing for new customers and foot fall.
Much like websites there are an array of optimisation techniques to increase the chances of ranking within the “Snack Pack”. This mainly involves fleshing out the Google My Business listing with accurate and relevant information about your businesses; such as services, categories, and descriptions.
However, what SEOs have found is the “weight” Google give to the actual name of the listing is rather overpowering. An example of this can be seen in this tweet below:
Here is another example of what I was trying to show yesterday about the local search algorithm weighting business names too strongly. I actually tried these searches (Uxbridge, ON) when my stove broke and ended up going to Facebook to find a company instead. cc: @dannysullivan pic.twitter.com/x04IH2nHn2
— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) July 17, 2020
What this shows is having the targeted search term included into the business name provides a huge benefit to it’s ranking potential. Which probably leads onto this question… “Why is that an issue?”
Level playing field
It been shown clearly by Google over the years that they want to push (and rank) the most relevant and trustworthy websites. With this tactic of simply including the search term in the name of a listing to overpower the rankings, it diminishes the organic work and at times is showing less trustworthy/positively reviewed results. Fortunately, we know that Google are working to improve this weighting from Danny Sullivan:
Thanks. I know the team really is working to better deal with this type of stuff. I also know that as that’s been heard before. But I do expect improvements should be noticable in the near future.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) July 17, 2020
Preparing for this change
If your listing is looking rather sparse but is ranking highly due to the factor of including your desired search term in the name, it’s time to begin a strategy for improvements, otherwise you risk falling behind in visibility. Take these steps to improve your Google Business listing:
- Select the relevant category for your listing
- Add a detailed description that overviews your business
- Ensure your business name, address, and number is consistent with what is on your website
- Include your list of services
- Gain 5* Google reviews
- Respond to all reviews
By implementing this local seo strategy you should see an improvement to your listings visibility. If you’re concerned that Google’s amends to the weight placed on the listing name is going to negatively effect your visibility, feel free to give us a call to discuss your listing on 01202 677 277.
More posts from our team
Five Star
Reviewed Marketing
"Would definitely recommend to a friend"
"I cannot recommend Dental Design highly enough"
"Really great company to deal with"
"Very professional, efficient & adaptive to new situations"
"I cannot recommend them highly enough"
"Has been invaluable and gone out of her way to help us"
"We love the look of our practice website. Very professional!"
"Dental Design stood out both in their knowledge of the industry and their professionalism"
"The team and package offered at dental design was unrivalled"
"absolutely fantastic and are always on hand to help"
"Dental Design are fantastic to work with"
"always met with a swift and professional response"
