Google My Business can be one of the most valuable tools for any local businesses – one that can help you gain customers or clients – and, most importantly, revenue. However, many GMB listings suffering from all-too-common, critical issues. Watch this Search Engine Journal webinar to make sure you’re avoiding these pitfalls from Local Viking’s Mark Luckenbaugh – whether you manage a single GMB listing – or thousands of them. Are you making it hard for people to find your business when they’re searching for you? In this webinar you will learn how to: • Identify technical GMB issues that can be hurting your visibility. • Avoid technical issues, filters, and ranking stagnation. • Improve local pack rankings – fast. You will also discover some free resources and tools to help boost your local SEO.

1. Are You Making These Big
Mistakes with Your Google My
Business Listing?
Mark Luckenbaugh
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark

2. About Me
1.100 Hats @Local Viking
2.Local SEO/Enterprise SEO
3.Top 50 Franchises, Fortune 100-
500 Brand Insulation
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark

3. Poll: Where are you on your Google
My Business journey?
- A. I manage a businesses GMB listing(s)
- B. I work for/own an agency that manages GMB listings on
behalf of their clients
- C. I am considering a GMB strategy
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark

4. Minor Details Having Major Impact
- Most GMB issues can’t be resolved through brute force.
- The one filter that can requires an arduous process.
- Let’s skip theory and give you some real world examples that
we solved.
- I want to give you a boatload of free resources and additional
value so you can build a strong GMB ranking foundation!
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark

5. Build your Campaign Map
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark
Let’s skip the basics and dive
right into a Technical GMB Audit
- Brand Dilution Audit
- Address Health Audit
- Phone Number Audit
- Possum Audit
- GMB Listing Audit
- Local Signal Audit

6. Poll: How many GMBs are you
currently managing?
- A. None yet
- B. 1-5
- C. 6-10
- D. 11-25
- E. 25+
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark

7. GMB Tech Audit Items
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark
Brand Dilution Diagnosis
Find the Problem
- Does the brand query serve a knowledge graph?
- Do competitors or irrelevant results get served for the
brand query?
Solution
- Brand Insulation - Authoritative profiles, social
accounts, schema, data aggregation platforms
- Reverse engineering competitor knowledge graph

8. GMB Tech Audit Items
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark
Address Audit
Find the Problem
- Melissa address audit - melissa.com
- Ensure business pin is inside of the actual city limits
Solution
- Fix nonexistent suites
- updating address formats
- modifying expectations on service areas

9. GMB Tech Audit Items
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark
Fighting the Possum Filter
Find the Problem
- Check for duplicate listings
- Paste business address into maps search bar and
select the “nearby” filter
Solution
- Mitigate practitioner listings if applicable
- Create a filter flip

10. GMB Tech Audit Items
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark
Phone Number Health Check
Find the Problem
- Ensure multiple businesses aren’t using the same
number.
- Identify data consistency issues, business listing
issues, etc.
Solution
- Create phone number variations
- Use a Google “Dork” enter all as a search query

11. GMB Tech Audit Items
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark
Google My Business Listing Audit
Hard Hitting Notes
- Completely Fill out listing
- Go the extra mile with attributes, images, Q&A, posts, reviews, etc.
- Smart category optimization - Focused 4
- Multi-Location SAB - Radii Rule

12. GMB Tech Audit Items
#SEJWebinar
@LuckenbaughMark
Local Signals (Citations)
The Great Debate
- Are citations still important? What is the problem with citations?
- Forget citations (the old def) and think local signals