Spam has been prevalent in the local search landscape for a long time. Why? Because everyone is looking for ways to cut corners. Many businesses unfairly employ spammy tactics like keyword stuffing, multiple Google My Business listings, lead generation websites, and falsified reviews to manipulate local search results and get ahead of their competitors. It’s not something that just affects local SEOs, too. The wider world has caught wind of these scammy tactics:
GMB spam isn’t just unfair, it risks damaging the reputation of Google My Business as a trustworthy source of information, as well as the reputations of the legal, health, and home service industries in which it seems to be most prevalent. Google My Business (GMB) name spam is one of the most common spam tactics, mainly because Google still puts way too much significance on keywords appearing in GMB business names as a ranking factor. What is Google My Business name spam?Google My Business name spam is when the business name on a GMB listing doesn’t match the business’s registered name. Sometimes this can be accidental. Maybe the person who set up the GMB listing wasn’t aware that they had to use the registered business name? Maybe they’ve seen other spammy listing names and just think it’s what everyone does and so it’s okay? But it also can be intentional, where the person stuffs different keywords into the GMB listing name on purpose, in order to boost rankings for those keywords. Google’s guidelines on names for GMB listings are clear: “Your name should reflect your business’ real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers. … Including unnecessary information in your business name is not permitted and could result in your listing being suspended.” – Google One of the reasons that name spam is such a problem is that updating the business name in a GMB listing is quick and easy. All you need to do is log in to your GMB listing, go to ‘Info’ in the menu on the left and click the pencil icon next to the business name. Types of Google My Business name spamStuffing synonyms into the business nameThere are lots of ways of saying the same thing. This is what makes rankings so tricky in the first place and why adding synonyms to a business name is a really popular form of name spam. Some people even take it to the extreme, like this example from Josh Loewen:
Inserting a location into the business nameAdding the location of the business to the business name in order to try and outrank competitors is another obvious and popular tactic, just like the business in the fourth position has done in the image below (not the second and third, though—they’re legitimate business names). Using emojis or special characters in the business name to make it stand outSome might argue that using emojis and special characters is simply a great branding exercise. But if, for example, a business added five star emojis to their business name, it’s not harmless branding anymore but making a claim that can influence searchers. This is unfair to the other businesses and that’s why this tactic gets a big thumbs down from the local SEO community and Google. Using subjective adjectives in the business nameIt’s not just the use of emojis that can turn a branding exercise into a claim. Adding words like ‘Best’ and ‘No 1 Rated’ to the business name has the same impact and is another unfair way to influence users. Accidental name spamWe all know accidents can happen and the world of GMB spam is no exception. We’ve seen multi-location franchises using numbers in GMB listing names. This is not them spamming intentionally because using a number isn’t going to benefit rankings or convince users to use them. They’ve done this simply to help them manage the sheer volume of their businesses in one location. What can we do about Google My Business name spam?Unfortunately, Google’s algorithms aren’t always great at spotting spam, and their limited measures to keep business owners and SEOs honest aren’t always effective. This is why Google relies on consumers, business owners, and marketers to try and identify spam and get it removed. In the most recent Local Search Ranking Factors survey, experts declared spam-fighting as the most important activity you can perform to increase rankings. So rather than simply trying to outperform spammers using the same tactics, it’s a good idea to focus your attention on getting spam eradicated. The post Google My Business Name Spam: What to Look for and How to Remove It appeared first on BrightLocal. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/3gFHSZx Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/
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