This week’s “Ask an SEO” question comes from Ursula and asks:
Should a small business with a local office (more of a workshop than a sales office) and a Google Business Profile listing delete the GBP listing if they want to focus on selling their product nationwide?
Great question, Ursula! I hear this question all the time at conferences and online, but there is no easy answer. As with everything in SEO, it depends.
If you were to ask in person, I would first ask what type of business they are – it’s possible that they aren’t eligible for a Google Business Profile (GBP) in the first place.
Which companies are eligible for a Google Business Profile?
If you have any questions about Google Business Profiles, it’s best to check the guidelines to see if you can find an answer there.
Google maintains an up-to-date list of GBP guidelines in the Help Center that explains the eligibility requirements and rules that businesses should follow.
Most people are not aware that not every company is eligible for a company profile. According to the GBP guidelines
“To qualify for a business profile, a business must have face-to-face contact with customers during stated business hours.”
There’s more to it, of course, but this statement is the most important element of the eligibility section. If a business does not conduct face-to-face business with customers during the stated business hours, it is not eligible for a GBP.
Local businesses are clearly eligible, but service businesses such as plumbers or electricians are also eligible. Personal business dealings with local customers still count. Aside from some specific exceptions, this is the most important qualification that businesses must meet.
Since we don’t know what kind of deal Ursula was asking for in this specific case, let’s go through the two options.
I’m inclined to say that the company isn’t even entitled to a GBP.
Since Ursula said “more of a workshop than a sales office” I assume that there is no sales at that location. If that is the case, they are not eligible and cannot have GBP.
The guidelines list several examples of ineligible businesses, including “brands, organizations, artists, and other online-only businesses.”
However, if they sell their products at this location, Also If you sell online to the rest of the country (or even the world) you are entitled to a single GBP at that workshop/sale location.
You cannot use a Regus or other coworking space – the location must be separate to your business, it cannot be a shared space, you must have permanent business signage and your staff must be present during the posted opening hours.
So what? Couldn’t you set up a GBP anyway?
Pretty much every time someone finds out they’re not allowed to have a Google Business profile, they wonder why they shouldn’t set one up anyway.
Actually, this is a really bad idea.
First of all, Google has stopped using postcard verification and now uses video verification exclusively. Part of that verification process is proving that you meet their guidelines, so if you’re not eligible to begin with, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to get verified.
In recent years, Google has become increasingly aggressive in enforcing its GBP policies.
Anything that looks suspicious (and even some activity that is completely harmless) can result in a ban, so even if you have a profile that you are not eligible for, it is likely that you will be banned in the near future.
If this happens and you are not eligible for a GBP, you will not be able to restore your profile.
Will a GBP affect national visibility?
The second part of Ursula’s question is the most important. She asked if they should delete the Google Business profile if they want to focus on national sales.
As I go through this part of the answer, I am assuming that the company is entitled to a GBP (because if they are not entitled, this part of the answer doesn’t matter anyway).
Let’s take a step back: Local SEO is not just limited to Google Business Profiles as most people assume. Google uses multiple algorithms and whenever a search query has local intent, the local algorithm is used to display the search results.
The local algorithm displays localized search results in four areas:
- The Map Pack (or as it is sometimes called, the “Local Pack”) – The local map with 3 search results displayed either below the map or to the left, usually above the organic results on the SERP.
- The local finder – The page you see when you click on “More Locations” under the map pack. This shows all search results in the area that match your search query (instead of just the first three).
- Google Maps – The results on Google Maps are based on the local algorithm. While the interface looks the same as Local Finder, Google Maps usually offers a smaller result radius than Local Finder because the user is more likely to drive to the location.
- Organic search results – The results below the map pack are still localized and supported by the local algorithm.
Local SEO and traditional SEO are not mutually exclusive. The same business or website can be optimized for both algorithms and achieve high visibility on both sites.
So what should Ursula do? Actually, nothing!
If the company is eligible for a GBP but also sells its products nationally, its national visibility will not be affected by the GBP.
But what about the display in the map package?
Assuming the company is entitled to a GBP and I gave Ursula that answer, it’s quite likely that either she or her boss will come back with a question next: “And how will we appear in the map pack in other cities?”
You can’t show up in a Map Pack if you don’t have GBP – so keep that in mind. If the important searches that matter to your business have local targets and a Map Pack is showing up, you won’t show up in those Map Pack results. Period.
However, you can still target the localized organic results below the map pack, so focus your efforts there. Create great content that answers prospects’ questions, but create multiple iterations for each major market you target.
Let’s say you sell blue widgets. You need a great blue widget page for the main menu of the site, probably optimized for the city the store is located in. You then have several other, custom-written versions of the page, and each individual page is optimized for a different target city.
With the right internal architecture and solid SEO, you can get your site to show up in multiple cities, even if you don’t have a GBP in any of those cities.
TL;DR Summary
Having a Google Business Profile for your individual location won’t affect whether you appear in search results nationwide, but keep in mind that you’ll only appear in the map pack for the city you’re in.
Also, always remember to check the GBP policies if you have any questions about eligibility or the options available to you with your profile.
More resources:
Featured image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
