Local SEO and Marketing Q&A Session May 21, 2021

Each week, Eric, Jason and Ben answer your questions on digital marketing for local businesses … local search engine optimization (SEO), Google My Business, social media, email marketing, websites, online advertising and more.

This Week’s Updates and Questions

  • For service businesses, is it more impactful to optimize the website for organic traffic or set up Local Service Ads?
  • What is the difference between direct, discovery, and branded searches in GMB insights data?
  • How can I add products to my GMB listing?
  • How can you see what API connections there are with your GMB listing?
  • Is it bad to have multiple domains for a single website?
  • Does the age of a GMB listing get reset after it gets suspended?
  • How to fix the “Located In” issue in GMB?
  • What do I do if the information connected to a pin in Street View is incorrect?
  • Do you have any insights for advanced verification for Local Service Ads?
  • What’s the best way to remove a client’s UPS listings without getting a “Permanently Closed” sign on them?
  • How do I merge two GMB listings for the same business?
  • Do you think Apple Maps will move beyond Apple devices to other devices to compete with Google Maps?
  • If someone searches for the old name after rebranding, will the new GMB listing appear?
  • Why is it so hard to claim your listing on Apple Maps? Is there a workaround regarding phone verification?
  • If I own two businesses at two different locations, should I have two separate GMB listings?
  • If my client does not have a services section on a GMB listing, how do I get that fixed?
  • What is stacking and is it gray hat?
  • Is there a place you can go to see what GMB listings you’ve been invited to manage?