Last week I noticed that for my local business, Hartzer Consulting, that the knowledge panel for my local business was not showing up. If you searched for Hartzer Consulting (the name of the business, which is unique), then the Google My Business listing would NOT show up. It had looked to me like it was a change that Google had made, as others were reporting it, as well. [Read more…]

Be careful of all of the code that others request that you add on your website, even supposed trusted SEO-related tool vendors. If you don’t fully understand the code and why it’s being place on your website, then it’s your responsibility. The tool vendor may be giving them access to your website or even to Google Search Console without an explanation. [Read more…]

Google Local listing and Google Maps link spam is still a big problem. As a Google Local Guide, I continue to see link spam attacks across entire cities and neighborhoods when I review Google local listings. In most of the cases, I see the same domain name being spammed over and over again, and in many cases the domains/sites that are linked don’t resolve. [Read more…]

Google My Business websites can easily overwrite local businesses’ website URLs in their Google local listing, the created Google My Business websites aren’t optimized using best practices, and Google Analytics code is inserted into the sites without giving access to the website owner.

Google My Business has recently launched a new website creation tool for local businesses. If you have a Google My Business listing for your business, and you log in to manage your listing, you may be presented with popups asking you to create a new website for free. Google will even host it for you. Not a bad deal, right? [Read more…]

Google has recently launched a new feature called Google Posts for local businesses. If you are a local business and have verified your business with Google My Business, you now have the option to post blog posts on your local business profile. This is really good for local business, as local businesses can update their listings with relevant information–and offer deals. But, I hate to say it, this new feature, Google Posts on Google My Business, is far from being ready for prime time. [Read more…]

If you are in the North Bay, Ontario Canada area, and are looking for a great place to eat breakfast, you might search Google to find a local restaurant. One of the search results is Terry’s Place, a local eatery. But, if you look at their Google My Business listing, as shown above, you’ll see that the top photo isn’t very pleasing. In fact, it’s quite possibly the worst photo that a restaurant could possibly have–EVER–in a Google My Business Listing. [Read more…]