Not Showing Up in Local Pack - Possible Possum Filter?
-
We have a medical practice client who isn't showing up at all on local category searches for their zip code. Wondering whether it's a Possum algorithm filter, and if so, how we can resolve this. The client is named Wall Street Dermatology, and is located in the same building as two other medical practices in the same dermatologist specialty. They share the same address (65 Broadway, New York, NY), but have different unit numbers. My client is Suite 904. To be clear, these are entirely separate businesses that are not affiliated with each other. They happen to be located in the same building. When running local searches (for example, in US zip code 10004) for the category term "dermatologist", my client is not appearing at all. The two other practices are appearing just fine. In fact, one of the competing practices has not only their practice listed, but one of their doctors individually and even one of the physician assistants. My client, Wall Street Dermatology, isn't showing up. IMO, the GMB profile is robust, with more reviews than competitors, and more content overall. While there's SEO work to be done, the citations and link profile exceeds some of the other practices who are showing up in "dermatologist" (use zip code 10004) searches. Google is showing profiles of dermatologists who haven't even claimed their profiles or have websites.One more thing: For a two-week span, the business was showing up in the 3-pack for "dermatologist" after making upgrades to the GMB profile. This was a first. So they've been there before. However, they made some changes to NAP. 1) added the providers name to the business name: "Business Name: Provider Name". 2) Updated "Suite" to "Ste" in order to match USPS. After that change, the business fell off entirely again.Note: We do appear on searches for the business name. And we do appear for some secondary keywords (for example, "Cosmetic Dermatology"), but not for the main keyword. Is this related to Possum (https://moz.com/learn/seo/google-possum)? Is Google confused that my client is related to the other practices in the same building? Any suggestions?
-
@ClaytonJ nice
-
This could be because you simply need to improve your local SEO even more, because there is often only three businesses that are displayed in the map listing, it could be because you haven't got enough quality business citations?
-
Thanks everyone for responses, although it's not been figured out. To recreate the issue (which still exists), use Bright Locals local search results checker: Choose "dermatologist" in zip code 10006, which is the location of the practice:https://www.brightlocal.com/local-search-results-checker/Then open up the Maps results to see all of the dermatologists listed. My client Wall Street Dermatology isn't appearing at all under "dermatologist" which suggests some kind of suppression that we're trying to get to the bottom of.
-
Would be nice to know what type of medical practice it is. You have companies that pioneer experimental treatments who have a foot in various buildings, then you have actual local surgeries and traditional medical practices. If you are working with medical practitioners of a very new, pioneering treatment - it may have been flagged YMYL (Your Money Your Life) and taken an EAT hit
Just throwing this out there as others seem to have the basics nailed down
-
sponnu0123,
They show up for me. I searched for "dermatologist 10004" as well as "dermatology 10004". Wall Street Dermatology ranks #1 in the local pack for both phrases.
-
There is probably not enough information for me to assist greatly.
I would recommend an audit of all location citations for the client. Check the consistency of NAP. Secondly, I would then be auditing what directories the competitors are listed in. Would analyse the companies that are listed versus yours. I would start there before -spreadsheet up competitors your client.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Local Optimization for Multiple Businesses Issues/Strategy
Hello Everyone, So we have a client with a geo-focused ‘sports’ site but they also have a second site they are using to promote the seasonal camps they run. Local demographics and traffic would be a priority and main source of traffic. We know it would be ideal to have all of it consolidated but in this case a separate site was needed. The camp site would be under a different Name but they do not really have a different physical location from the primary site. Assuming we can’t find a discernable different location we could use; from a local optimization perspective we have two questions: Does that mean that we shouldn’t venture into local listings that need an address and trying to rank for map results and instead shift focus to other local strategies (i.e. geo-relevant content, link acquisition….etc.)? – We don’t want to dilute or devalue the primary site at all but if possible would like to be able to come up for both. Should we avoid listing the address on the camp site as text for similar reasons? We know the same business could be listed for multiple locations but any suggestions on the opposite approach or input would be very appreciated. Please let us know if there is anything we could provide details for that might help. Looking forward to hearing from all of you! Thank you in advance. Best,
Local Listings | | Ben-R0 -
No Appearance in Local pack - group practice favored
Hi, One client has a website, Google My Business etc of his own. He ranks ok to good locally for search terms. However, his entry simply won't show up within the local n-pack (where it objectively should) and also does not appear in the map. It seems to me that instead a group practice with a colleague that has both their names in its name/title. (Moreover, it is in the same spot - they decided to go with different websites and entries of their own, though.) For some reason, this practice is also connected to the ranking website of our client. I suppose (NAP problems and previously used phone tracking numbers aside) that this group practice essentially blocks the real client-entry from appearing. Has anybody made such experiences? (My provisional ToDo would look like: Disconnect the group practice from the client's website; erase/merge it if possible; do proper LocalSEO otherwise.) Regards Nico
Local Listings | | netzkern_AG0 -
Not showing in local for primary keyword
I have a client in the junk removal business and I can't get him to show in local for junk removal +city. Junk removal is not a Google Plus category so we have to choose Garbage Collection Service, which everyone else does as well. I've optimized the site and the local listing pretty well, much better than the competitors, but we're still not showing. It's not that we're asking to rank better, we're just trying to get on the list for the one term that makes all the difference in this business. I feel like there's a junk removal party going on and we're not invited. I've thought about a possible over-optimization penalty, but there's no G warning or message and we use fewer keywords than our competitors and have no spammy links as some of the competition does. Some companies that are no longer in business are visible. I just can't figure out what we might be doing wrong. Any ideas or suggestions I might have missed?
Local Listings | | Dino640 -
How much local traffic should I expect
I handle mostly small business and provide SEO optimization services and content creation. My question is about local search. what is a reasonable amount of local search traffic for small service companies. For instance I handle an electric and hvac company with an estimated population of 100,000 people within a ten mile radius. With approx 20 companies who provide competition. Should I expect 10 hits a day 20, a hundred? How do I quantify results on a local level as to not make expectations too high. The good metrics I have is the amount of prospects who have found my clients through the web and purchased services. That percentage is high. But Is there room to improve if my client received 15 hits a day?
Local Listings | | donsilvernail0 -
Google + / Local for Business. How to SEO ?... Done the basic but no real change.
Hi All, We have set up all of our Google local for business pages which are verified and these link to the relevant branch pages on our website. The branch pages also link back to the relevant google local page. We only appear for one category on the google local pages and we have also done a large number of citations (NAP) across all locations and the text used in each of the google pages is keyword rich and we mention the city in there as well to localise it. We have a few google + likes and we have used hootsuite to publish the same content across some of the google local pages which links back to our website blog , we are not appearing in local search whereas our competitors seem to be appear for all their branches. Is there any fundamental tips or things we need to do to def. get up on the rankings.. Or any good articles worth reading ?.. I've had a look but can't seem to see anything relating a google local business bible.. thanks Pete
Local Listings | | PeteC121 -
Google MyBusiness Profile Pictures not Showing
Can someone tell me why some search profiles in maps don't show the profile image? Meaning the business has pictures in their profiles, including their main profile, its at 100% completion and the audience is not age restricted and the images still don't show? Attached is an example (not my clients but you can see what happens) I appreciate any ideas! Thanks iIpSPaB
Local Listings | | mgordon0 -
Is a Competitor Claiming My Clients Yahoo Local Profiles?
I am working with an Insurance agent and he has Google Alerts setup on his company name. He has received two alerts where his name only appears in the URL. If you click the links they bring you to a competitor's Yahoo Local profile page with their name and info. If you look at the URL it has his company's name and city in the URL. Could a competitor be claiming his listings and then changing the business name, phone, address and URL to their own? Does the URL on Yahoo Local listings stay the same after a business changes their name? This has happened with two of his listings in two different cities, he has two offices in one state. But not with the same competitor, it has happened with two different companies. Any idea what could be happening? I would be happy to PM the URLS, I just don't want to post them publicly here. Thanks!
Local Listings | | MainelySEO0 -
Local Listing Question for Vet Office
We have done the off-page directory listings work for a veterinary office (submitting to the main data-aggregators, as well as sites such as CitySearch/Manta/Yelp) & now want to supplement those with submissions for each individual doctor. There are 8 doctors at their practice. The plan was to submit them to only 3 sites - the main data-aggregators of LocalEze, ExpressUpdateUSA & Factual. They only have one phone number (their main number) to use for listings. So can we submit the doctors all with the same number? Or is that a total waste of time b/c listings will end up being duplicated/merged down the road? What do you recommend that we do?
Local Listings | | JohnWeb120