Why I'm I ranking so low on Google Maps

[billyguyette]

About 3 months I started a website (www.guyetteroofing.com) for my roofing business in Montgomery, Alabama. The site is still a work in progress, however, because the competition doesn't really market via internet it was fairly easy to rank on Google Maps. Within 1 month the business was letter "A" in Google Maps. About 3 three weeks ago my ranking was dropped considerably, not showing up at all in letters A through G. The business is still indexed in Google Maps, but only represented by a small red dot.

My website is still ranking pretty high for "roofers in Montgomery", but my position on Google Maps has all but disappeared. I have no idea what I've done to be rank so low on Google Maps but still have a solid position on regular Google Search. I've checked my citations and my NAPs, there are a few inconsistencies but nothing major.  How can I rank so far below my competition if I have twice as many citations, an actual website, and a Google Plus page?

[MiriamEllis]

It's my pleasure, Billy, and kudos to you for working so hard to grow your business!

[billyguyette]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response. I'll systematically go through the points in your message and the links provided, I just need to devote a couple of days to doing it. It would have taking me a lot hours to gather all this information, I really appreciate it.

Billy

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Billy,

Ranking drops in Google's local packs usually boil down to one of these 3 causes:

1. Internal changes to Google's algo or filters that cause results to be re-ordered

2. Being surpassed by more active or powerful competitors so that you previous authority is no longer strong enough in comparison to the authority of your competitors

3. Negative outcomes of issues like duplicate listings, merges or spammy activity on the part of the business owner suddenly coming into play

I'm stating these three things quite broadly, and while I don't know if there have been any recent changes to Google's algo or filters in your industry/geography, it does sound like you are already aware of the fact that you are lacking in authority (point 2, above). Things like citation inconsistency can definitely drain away your authority and this can become even more apparent as your competitors get their businesses into better shape and begin to surpass you because they are stronger/cleaner/more active. It also sounds like you are aware of some negative issues (point 3, above) like reviewing your own business, which Google would consider to be spammy. Obviously, you shouldn't do things like that, and it's good that you removed the review:)

Likely, your ranking drop is the result of a combination of several different factors. Hopefully, going step by step through the article I linked to in my earlier reply will help you troubleshoot a number of possible issues. Ideally, what you want to shoot for looks like this:

1. I'm running the fastest loading, most user-friendly site with the best possible content in my industry/geography.

2. My site is well optimized for Local, but is not over-optimized. All of by basics (like title tags, headers, etc.) make sense to human visitors and gently highlight my core terms without going overboard.

3. My citations are consistent and clean around the web.

4. My Google+ Local page is perfectly optimized and obeys all guidelines. I've chosen the right categories.

5. I am not violating any of Google's guidelines by any of my marketing or SEO practices.

6. I have checked for possible duplicate and merged Google listings and have none of them.

7. I am earning real Google-based reviews at a slow, steady rate, rather than in big, quick chunks. My reviews are in alignment with Google's policies. I have more reviews than my competitors do  - but I don't have a TON more. My review profile looks and is natural.

8. I'm earning diverse, genuine reviews on other important review sites.

9. I'm socially active in the right places, engaging with my customers where it matter to them most.

10. I'm earning links naturally, based on merit.

There's more to it than this, of course, but this would be a 10-step rundown of what I'd consider to be a local business doing the right things to earn the kind of authority over time that leads to high visibility in the local packs.

Hope this is helpful!

[billyguyette]

Thanks for the responses. I'm taking my time reading through the links you guys have posted, it's very informative, and very new to me. I know there is still a lot for me to do, especially in regard to my NAP inconsistencies. But if those inconsistencies have always been there, how did I ever rank so well?  Our roofing business recently changed locations, from one warehouse in Montgomery to another warehouse/office. It wasn't until we moved that I started placing citations in the different directories, we shot up in the rankings quick, number 1 in a matter of weeks(roofers in Montgomery, Alabama aren't exactly SEO gurus). Then, out of the blue, dropped. I've been retracing my online steps, but nothing stands out, apart from the inconsistencies that have always been there. Right before we were dropped I reviewed my Google Business page using my personal Google Plus page. Could this be the culprit? I've since deleted the review. Do you think Google could be penalizing for that?

[MiriamEllis]

Great discussion going on here! Just thought I'd add a link to this Moz blog article, dealing specifically with troubleshooting Local ranking failures: http://moz.com/blog/troubleshooting-local-ranking-failures

That article should walk you through a lot of things you should check off, Billy. Hope it helps!

[mrodriguez1440]

Hi,

You've had some great responses above. I did a quick search of your business name + address. I quickly found some inconsistencies that you want to fix asap.

For example, your YELP listing has the wrong zip code: http://www.yelp.com/biz/guyettes-contracting-montgomery (little things like that, especially from a trusted source, can really hurt you.)

Take a moment and review your listing using: https://moz.com/local/search. This is a great tool to discover any problems with your online listings.

Good luck!

[Travis_Bailey]

You're welcome.

In regard to Schema, you'll probably be ahead of most contractors in the Montgomery area in adoption. It's been around for a few years, all major search engines endorse it's usage. It makes their job easier, so there are some perks.

You can go nuts with Schema markup. Fax, hours of business, logo, reviews and your second cousin's brother... well almost.

Though you will need to edit source code to implement the markup. You can get away with copying and pasting my first example (Though I think this editor trimmed off the word 'Map'.), once you get there with the Weebly WYSIWYG.

This is more of a 'nice to have' in regard to the site's blog; maybe add a little bit of text describing what's happening in the images. Sites get found in ways we never targeted. Mixing up the media a bit helps a lot.

[billyguyette]

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to respond guys. This forum is proving to be a tremendous resource. I'm very new to SEO and every bit of advice helps. @biron29 I've already started synchronizing my address, I didn't realize Google picked up on details that small. @ matt-williamson Thanks for the link, I've started going through the list. I think it will help a lot. @ Travis_Bailey You're right, I do have conflicting names. We've recently put more of an emphases on roofing so I thought a name change was appropriate. I'm slowly changing everything over. Thanks for the advice on Schema markup, I'd never heard of the term before. I'm already researching it, and hopefully I'll figure out how to implement into my site.

Thanks again guys!

[Travis_Bailey]

Dang it, the WYSIWYG stripped out the code. That feature is wonky... so... here goes....

Example: Filled Out

Guyette Roofing and Construction
   
     1849 Upper Wetumpka Rd
     Montgomery,
     AL
     36107
   
   Phone: 334-279-8326
   URL of Map

Example: Blankish

,
     
     
   
   Phone:
   <a href="" itemprop="maps">URL of Map</a>

[Travis_Bailey]

First, in regard to 'After' on http://www.guyetteroofing.com/blog/montgomery-roof-115. That weird little split looks a lot better than the crazy cobbled psuedo-valley they had going on. I've done some roofing in the past, as a home owner and a starving student (Local job boards - between 15 credit hours - it helps if you can do construction). That job was a big improvement. I would imagine the ridge vent will add a bit of life to the job and make summers a little more bearable.

I've worked with quite a few commercial and residential contractors in the DFW area. There was a common theme that I noticed that I like to call 'Contractor's Syndrome'. Usually I would run into 'Name Roofing and Construction', 'Name Construction', 'Name Contracting', 'Name Contractors' and a few other variants. If the business had been around for more than a few years, the NAP cleanup was usually pretty involved.

I think this is the case here. There are a lot of citations for Guyettes Contracting LLC including the BBB listing. All in all, I picked up Guyette's Roofing and Construction, Guyette Roofing and Guyette's Contracting. The last being the most prominent. So it's safe to say there are actually a lot NAP inconsistencies happening.

There are a lot of great local citations for Guyettes Contracting, so if I had to do it myself and run a business - I would probably err towards using that. The site seems to be doing okayish in organic for three months old. So just make sure that you're properly categorized in your local listings.

I noticed that you have another domain, which is owned by Hibu. If it's not doing anything for you, shut it down and ask them to transfer the domain to you. I've seen domain transfer requests go both ways with Hibu, but I wasn't handling the admin stuff at those times.

As an on-site consideration, I would recommend using Schema markup on at least your contact page. I noticed you're using Weebly, so I'm uncertain of your level of skill with site editing. I'll post a couple of snippets after this, one filled out with Guyette's Roofing - and one that's blank-ish. That way you'll have an example, should you go with a different name.

First Example: Filled Out

Just note that Schema markup isn't cruise control for local/organic rankings. It's just a nifty way to spoon feed search engines and possibly get some nice snippets. Hopefully that will help some.

[Matt-Williamson]

As Brian said it is really important to make sure that your business name, address and phone number (NAP) match on your Google My Business Page and your business landing page (website). There are also many other important factors that you can use to optimise your local presence and re-gain that A spot. Have you got your business listed in local relevant directories and do your NAP details match across the board? There are so many factors for optimising your business for Local I would recommend that you have a look at Local Search Ranking Factors 2014 - http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

If you have any specific questions once you have had a look at these ranking factors just reply to this thread or drop another question to the community and you are sure to get some great help.

I find consistency is key and you need to make sure you push forward with optimising all the different factors that will benefit your business locally.

[biron29]

Biggest thing I am seeing is on maps your address is listed like this "1849 Upper Wetumpka Rd, Montgomery, AL 36107"

However on your site it is listed like this "1849 Upper Wetumpka Rd; Montgomery, AL 36107" I have seen before where having a small difference like you have after "Rd" can lower the ranking on maps purely because the address in not exactly the same. Seems dumb but I had it happen to me on a site recently. I would change each of the address listings on your site to match how maps has it listed. Hope that helps.