That google maps trick for local seo blew my mind

I was trying to figure out why my coffee shop near Austin wasnt showing up in the map pack for 'best espresso'. Spent 3 weeks just messing with keywords on the website. Then a buddy told me to check the Google Business profile categories and add like 5 specific ones instead of just 'coffee shop'. Swear I jumped from page 5 to page 2 in 10 days. Any of you found a weird category that boosted your ranking?

3 comments

3 Comments

john_fisher5d ago

Whoa, hold up. You really think adding some random category tags is what made the difference and not just Google finally updating its index or something? Feels like everyone's always chasing these micro-tweaks like it's a magic switch.

sean8545d ago

It's rough out there trying to figure out what actually works. You see a little jump in traffic and everyone wants to take credit for some tiny change they made.

thomas_sanchez5d ago

Three years back I added "best dog clippers" as a category tag on my grooming blog and traffic actually went up 40% in a month. But then Google did a core update six months later and that same tag tanked my rankings completely. The problem is these micro-tweaks are like throwing darts blindfolded - sometimes they hit, sometimes they wreck you. You can't really know if it's the tag or just Google finally crawling your site. You ever try rolling back a change and see if it goes the other way?