Just because you’re a local service business doesn’t mean that you have less competition than a business with national reach. In fact, local businesses providing medical, legal, and financial services face an intense amount of competition for new customers. This is one reason why positioning your local business well in online search is crucial.
Having a listing at the top of search engine results pages helps drive traffic to your website. Google’s search engine also includes the Map Pack (the first three listings above organic search results with directions and information pulled from Google My Business). This is prime real estate in the digital world for local businesses as potential customers are far more likely to click on the results at the top of the page. Not only do consumers trust local map results, they generate as much as a third of the clicks to websites from search engine result pages.
So, imagine if your online visibility suddenly evaporated.
That’s exactly what happened when Google updated its algorithm.
Local Google Listings Playing Dead
Google updates its search engine algorithm regularly in order to provide the most relevant results to its users. In 2016, Google issued what came to be known as the Possum update. This tweak to the algorithm aimed to make Map Pack results more diverse by filtering out some Google My Business listings.
Google did this to prevent a company with several Google My Business listings from dominating the Map Pack. It did this by filtering out multiple businesses that operate out from the same address. Doing this reduced the likelihood that users would see Map Pack listings for the same business within close proximity to the user. This could happen because some local businesses maintain multiple Google My Business listings.
Google’s plan was to make things better for its users but this algorithm update had some unintended consequences. Whereas some local businesses had Map Pack visibility, other listings disappeared. Just like a Possum, the listings were playing dead.
Collateral Damage from Google Algorithm Changes
Possum had an unintentional negative impact on local service businesses that have the same address. For example, doctors who work in a medical building and lawyers who work in the same office building. These doctors may be affiliated with different medical groups but are located at the same address and as a result, might be filtered out of Map Pack results. Similarly, if two law firms competing for the same clients were in the same location, one of them could be bumped out of the Map Pack. Possum had the same effect on insurance agents, franchise operators, and financial advisors. Even businesses with multiple addresses within the same proximity to the user saw their Map Pack listings disappear.
Fortunately, Google got wind of the problem and made an update to the update (nicknamed Hawk because hawks eat possums). This reduced the chances that a company with a competitor operating nearby would be filtered out of the Map Pack. However, a local business could still be filtered out of the results if they share an address with another company in the same industry.
How Local Service Businesses Can Stay Ahead of Google Algorithm Changes
As with all marketing efforts, local service businesses must be proactive in reaching customers online and on their mobile phones. Here are three tips for staying ahead of Google’s ever-changing algorithm:
- Maintain a local presence through digital marketing. This includes keeping your Google My Business listing current and encouraging people to interact with you via posts and reviews.
- Create content with a local flavor. Speak to topics and answer questions that address issues affecting your local community.
- Grow your local online profile. Offer content to high-quality sites that focus on local issues and request a backlink from their site to your site. This will position you as an authority with potential customers and Google’s search engine.
Taking these steps will help distinguish your local service business and brand from competitors in your industry and other companies operating in the same areas as yours.