Page 54 - SEO Mad Scientist 2020 Report

How Effective is it to Include the Keyword in GMB Name?

Test Setup:

Having your target "keyword" in your GMB name is something that gets talked about a lot in local
SEO. We know the GMB name is a signal and often considered the "most powerful", but how well
does it really work (aside from the risk of a soft or hard suspension)?

Around November 10th, we updated a brand’s GMB name from "Go 2 Title Loans" to "Title Loans
Miami”. We already had the "title loans" term included, but switched the title to our exact match
geo term using the GMB mobile app. There is always a risk with updating your GMB listing’s
name, but using the app, our update went through in just a few hours without any issues.

At first, we were testing the limits of the GMB app by making updates so we figured this would be
obvious spam and get denied or suspended, but surprisingly it went through. Once the change
was approved, we began tracking the local rankings for the target keyword "title loans", as well as
target keywords with a geo modifier, like "Miami title loan" and "title loans in Miami". We assumed
the Miami terms would likely go up, but what about the primary term "title loans"?

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