Not showing in local for primary keyword

[Dino64]

I have a client in the junk removal business and I can't get him to show in local for junk removal +city. Junk removal is not a Google Plus category so we have to choose Garbage Collection Service, which everyone else does as well. I've optimized the site and the local listing pretty well, much better than the competitors, but we're still not showing.

It's not that we're asking to rank better, we're just trying to get on the list for the one term that makes all the difference in this business. I feel like there's a junk removal party going on and we're not invited. I've thought about a possible over-optimization penalty, but there's no G warning or message and we use fewer keywords than our competitors and have no spammy links as some of the competition does. Some companies that are no longer in business are visible. I just can't figure out what we might be doing wrong.

Any ideas or suggestions I might have missed?

[Windlass]

May be you need to be more focused about the content of your website. It might help your website for better visibility in search engine.

[MiriamEllis]

Hey Dino,

Are you able to share the website? It would definitely help the community provide specific, rather than generic, suggestions. If you can't, that's okay, but you are welcome to share the URL here if you're comfortable with that and will probably get much more actionable advice by doing so.

In the meantime, I'm wondering about your chosen category. I think of a garbage collection service as a city service that picks up my recycling cans ... not something I would call to haul away an old car or something like that. I noticed that Google offers these 3 categories:

Junkyard

Salvage Yard

Auto Wrecker

In addition to Garbage Collection Service, which you mentioned you're already using, I also see a category for 'Garbage Dump Service'. I wonder if that's an important one for you to know about as the synonyms are very similar to those used for Garbage Collection Service:

pick up, pickup, recycling, trash, pick up, pickup, recycling, trash, pick up, pickup, recycling, trash

So, some interesting possibilities, but without seeing the site itself and looking at the results, best I can do here is suggest you do a full audit of the website. Here's a great post for that: https://moz.com/blog/ultimate-local-seo-audit

[Dino64]

Miriam, so sorry for not responding sooner. I don't know why I never saw your response when you posted it (just thought everyone was ignoring me). I'm overseas at the moment (Indonesia) and internet connections do some really funky things here. I know it's been awhile, but thank you for the response. I'm still having the issue, however, but you've given me some things to check out.

Here's the client: http://ezcleanupphiladelphia.com

Regarding the categories, Junkyard, Salvage Yard and Auto Wrecker really don't describe his business. I do like the other category you mentioned, Garbage Dump Service, but right now, Google isn't showing any local results for that search (from where I'm sitting).

But check this out... I went back into the dashboard to see what I could try and discovered that the primary category had been changed from Garbage Collection Service to General Contractor! Ugh. I have a team who has been helping me so now I have to find out who's been messing with it. I'll repost to this thread if it comes back.

Thanks again for your thoughtful answer, Dino

[MiriamEllis]

Hey Dino!

No worries, and hope your trip is a good one!

Now, what I say here can in no way replace a formal audit, but I confirm that your client isn't showing up in the 3 pack or the top results in the Local Finder view for 'junk removal philadelphia'.

1. Looks like you've got some citation work ahead:

https://moz.com/local/details/JTI1NUIlMjUyMkVaJTI1MjBDbGVhbiUyNTIwVXAlMjUyMiUyNTJDJTI1MjIxOTE0NiUyNTIyJTI1MkMlMjUyMkVaJTI1MjBDbGVhbiUyNTIwVXAlMjUyMC0lMjUyMEp1bmslMjUyMFJlbW92YWwlMjUyMFBoaWxhZGVscGhpYSUyNTIyJTI1MkMlMjUyMjE3NDQlMjUyMEZlZGVyYWwlMjUyMFN0JTI1MjIlMjUyQyUyNTIyMTkxNDYlMjUyMiUyNTJDJTI1MjIyMTU2NjgwNDg1JTI1MjIlMjU1RA==

2. Pay close attention to the consistency of the business name. It seems like there are a ton of different versions of it. And, pay very close attention to the presence of this duplicate Google+ Local page: https://plus.google.com/108918779748346828023/about?hl=en-US

3. Are you confident that the business address is legitimate? I'm not seeing any signage for this business on Streetview at its address:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/1744+Federal+St,+Philadelphia,+PA+19146/@39.9367347,-75.1734853,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snG8C0MUW9T0nbkMsAjSSZg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DnG8C0MUW9T0nbkMsAjSSZg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D181.74556%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c6c6146acae4e5:0xcf5f52606c671073!6m1!1e1

4. I would highly recommend putting the toll free and vanity numbers in images rather than text at the top of your website. It's the local number you want to be sure you're promoting most. Glad to see it in your footer and on your contact page!

These are just a few things I spotted in 2-3 minutes of looking. Looks like a full audit would be a smart idea when you're back in the US. Hope this helps!

[Dino64]

Thanks Miriam, I've been working on the citations and many of them should be updated very soon. I will complete a full audit as it turns out the company was once a general contractor, which may be where Google is pulling much of their information from (yes, the importance of accurate citations).

All that being said, after I updated the category yesterday, big surprise, client is now back in local for Junk Removal, less than a day later. First problem solved, now on to those citations....

Thanks again for having a look and for the kind feedback.

Regards, Dino

[MiriamEllis]

Hey Dino!

Thanks so much for following up. If your story isn't proof of the importance of proper categorization, nothing is

I'm really glad your client popped back into the pack and wish you luck with making them even stronger with the work ahead. It looks like a lot of effort has gone into their website, so that's a really good sign!