Case Study: GBP Services
Overview
Services on a Google Business Profile (GBP) may affect rankings, but we are unable to determine how much with the below study. Based on this data though, services did not hinder #1 ranking positions so they should be added to profiles to provide as many keyword indicators to the algorithm as possible as it should not have any harmful effect.
Purpose & Hypothesis
The purpose of this case study is to determine if adding services to a Google Business Profile (GBP) can impact rankings.
Services are a section of information on the backend of a GBP that business owners can use to list what services they provide. Google has recently started auto-populating service lists on GBPs based on content within the profile and the associated website. However, these auto-populated lists are not always accurate and may need to be reviewed.
It is recommended to add services to a GBP not only because it is good practice to utilize all optimization avenues but it gives the business the opportunity to add explicit keywords to the GBP. These keywords can potentially help positively affect local rankings, which is what this case study seeks to determine. Our team hypothesized that by adding specific services to the GBP, the corresponding keyword rankings will increase.
For this study, 3 firms were used. Each firm ranks well for their top terms due to their good digital presence, but had room for improvement on secondary keywords and practice areas. Keywords that exhibited this room for improvement were used to show how local rankings fluctuated after 24 hours and after an extended period of time.
Data
Analysis
Analysis of Data Set 1
Keywords ranking in the lower end of the three pack and just outside of the three pack moved either upwards (medical malpractice lawyer) or downwards (birth injury lawyer, misdiagnosis lawyer) depending on the specific keyword. However, no drastic changes. Keyword ranking number 1 throughout had no change. Keywords with no rankings started ranking number 1 across the market.
Analysis of Data Set 2
Minor increases and decreases throughout. However, changed rankings remained in the three pack or at number 4. Keyword ranking number 1 throughout has no change.
Analysis of Data Set 3
Minor increases throughout, mostly on the edges of the geogrid. A few rankings entered the local three-pack but keywords ranking number 1 mostly showed no decreased change.
Conclusion
Overall, there was very little change due to adding services to the GBP. While rankings across the market had both positive and negative movement, this data set is inconclusive in determining the ranking capabilities of services.
However, the major change from no local rankings to #1 across a market for Delayed Diagnosis Lawyer is an interesting example that leans in the direction of services having a positive impact. But this was not replicable with the other keywords in this study and the change occurred after a longer period of time and may have been due to other changes on the website or within the Google SERP itself.