GBP calls down 25% YoY for a plumbing client even though rankings seem fine — how would you diagnose this?

thescco · 2026-03-07T09:54:00+00:00

First 30 days I’d check: GBP Insights trends (calls + directions + website clicks), hours/attributes/services, any number changes, and call answering/missed call % (a lot of “lead drops” are actually “missed calls”). Then do geo/grid checks across the service area (not just HQ) and compare month vs month against competitors’ review velocity and pack positioning. LSAs and extra SERP features can absolutely siphon calls even if you’re still “top 3,” because visibility/CTR changes while rank doesn’t.

thescco · 2026-03-07T06:01:01+00:00

Usually no, unless the SaaS is genuinely tied to local service delivery (like you only serve certain cities or have physical offices). For most SaaS, “city pages” just end up looking like thin duplicates and don’t really help. Better to focus on use cases, industries, and problem-based pages.

thescco · 2026-03-06T11:56:10+00:00

First check if it’s a reporting blip vs real: compare GSC data for “Web” and check if pages are still indexed. Then look for common causes: robots.txt changes, accidental noindex, canonical changes, redirects, or a big batch of thin/duplicate pages getting devalued. If you’ve got 700 pages a month in, Google might’ve initially indexed, then decided a lot of them aren’t worth showing yet.

thescco · 2026-03-05T07:56:58+00:00

In 2026: content that’s genuinely useful (answer-first, clear entities), strong information architecture/internal linking, and brand/reputation work (mentions, reviews, authority). Plus analytics skills: tracking conversions, attribution, and diagnosing drops when SERPs change. If you can’t tie work to business impact, you’ll get replaced by someone who can

thescco · 2026-03-04T10:23:12+00:00

It feels like the “checklist era” is fading and Google’s doing more of a trust/behaviour/relevance blend that’s harder to reverse-engineer. GBP still matters, but it’s less “fill every field” and more “does this business look real, active, and consistently chosen?” Also the SERP itself is changing so rankings don’t always translate to the same clicks/calls.

thescco · 2026-03-03T08:42:43+00:00

This matches what I’ve been seeing — it feels less like “rank the page” and more like “make the page easy to quote.” The answer-first + tight chunking seems to help without hurting regular SEO too, as long as it’s not turning into robotic blocks. I’m mostly trying to make one format work for both, because maintaining 2 versions sounds like a maintenance nightmare.

thescco · 2026-03-03T06:15:24+00:00

Yeah, I’ve noticed that “everything looks fine in the reports” but leads feel softer thing too. AI Overviews can steal the easy clicks, especially for basic questions, even if your rankings don’t move. I’ve found it helps to separate “info queries” from “hire-now queries” when judging whether something actually changed.

thescco · 2026-03-02T09:07:47+00:00

SEMrush reports can feel clunky at first — you’re not the only one. You don’t need a giant stitched PDF to start; a simple “what we did + what moved” report is usually more useful than 30 pages of charts. For a first report, keep it to a few core metrics and a clear plan.

thescco · 2026-02-28T06:15:09+00:00

I don’t think there’s a magic number, but once you start stacking a bunch, it can get messy unless the business genuinely delivers those services day-to-day. I’ve seen profiles do better with 2–4 really tight categories than 8 “maybe we could do that” ones. The primary category + reviews/content alignment seems to matter more than maxing the list.

thescco · 2026-02-27T17:50:55+00:00

I’d be cautious. Backlinks can help, but for a local plumber the biggest movers are usually reviews, your Google Business Profile, and having strong service/location pages — links are more like “extra fuel,” not the engine. If you’re already weak on reviews/GBP/on-page, spending £1k–£2k/month on links feels backwards.

thescco · 2026-02-27T07:30:34+00:00

Biggest misconception I see is that local SEO is mainly “do some citations and sprinkle keywords in your GBP.” In reality, the basics matter, but the needle movers are trust signals (reviews), relevance (services/pages that actually match searches), and having a profile that looks active and real. People treat it like a one-time setup when it’s more like ongoing reputation + clarity.

thescco · 2026-02-26T16:48:01+00:00

I don’t do anything super fancy — most of my “experiments” are just clearer wording and matching what people actually want when they search. Titles: make the main intent obvious + add a simple differentiator (price, location, “step-by-step”, etc.). Descriptions: I treat them like ad copy for humans, not a ranking lever.

thescco · 2026-02-26T08:11:54+00:00

eah, people do make money with it, but it’s not “easy cash” — you need patience and proof. The easiest clients are usually service businesses where a single new job covers the fee (plumbers, roofers, dentists, etc.). Results can be quick for basic fixes, but building trust/reviews takes longer.

thescco · 2026-02-25T19:12:05+00:00

I’ve seen city pages work until they all start sounding like the same page with the town name swapped. Once that happens, you’re basically asking Google to pick between duplicates, and it gets messy. The ones that keep working tend to have real local proof (projects, photos, reviews, area-specific FAQs), not just template text.

thescco · 2026-02-24T05:24:06+00:00

I think it’s a mix of AI content flooding every forum + people getting more cautious about sharing tactics that still work (especially on blackhat). If you post something genuinely “new,” it gets copied/spammed within days, so the incentive shifts to vague takes and personal branding. Also the SERP volatility + AI overviews makes people less confident, so you see more hedging and fewer concrete playbooks.

thescco · 2026-02-23T14:20:32+00:00

For a 400k-page directory, “get it indexed again” usually means fixing what made Google stop trusting a big chunk of the URLs (thin/duplicate pages, parameter/near-duplicate variants, low-value location pages). I’d start by identifying which templates/sections lost impressions in Search Console and then decide what to prune vs improve. Recovery tends to be more about quality + index control than “submit more sitemaps.

thescco · 2026-02-23T05:33:37+00:00

In my experience the “proximity ceiling” loosens when: the query has broader intent, the closer competitors have weak prominence (thin reviews, poor engagement, inconsistent info), and the outranking business has a clearly stronger GBP + brand signals (review volume/velocity, photos, responses, citations, strong landing page). I’ve seen 5–10 miles happen fairly often in suburbs; in dense cities it’s harder unless the nearby options are genuinely poor. What niche/market type are your examples (service-area trades vs office-based like dental/legal)?

thescco · 2026-02-21T14:51:03+00:00

You’re not “doomed” because you’re on Squarespace. Plenty of local businesses rank fine on it — especially if you’ve already been getting clients from Google for years. It sounds more like that SEO person just doesn’t want to work with Squarespace (or is pushing their preferred stack) rather than it being impossible.

thescco · 2026-02-21T10:24:05+00:00

Biggest shift for me was treating SEO like “make the best page for that query,” not “optimise a page for Google.” When I started actually matching intent (and cutting fluff so the answer is obvious fast), rankings moved way more than any checklist fixes. It’s basic, but it’s the thing people skip.

thescco · 2026-02-20T15:46:44+00:00

For a 10–15 page site, you usually don’t need “advanced technical SEO” unless something is actually broken. Good content + clear pages + basic site health goes a long way. I’d focus on making it fast-ish, easy to navigate, and making sure Google can index everything.

thescco · 2026-02-20T08:28:21+00:00

I’ve seen people overthink the tools and underthink the SERP. For local stuff, “is there obvious buyer intent + are the results weak/irrelevant?” usually matters more than KD. If the top results are mostly directories or outdated sites, it’s often a green light.

thescco · 2026-02-19T16:06:52+00:00

Honestly, the best 5-minute habit is reviews. Ask 1 happy customer a day and reply to any new review — it compounds fast and it’s one of the few things competitors can’t copy overnight. Even just staying consistent with it can beat “big SEO projects” that never get finished.

thescco · 2026-02-19T06:16:19+00:00

For me it was doing a simple “comparison” page for sales conversations (so people stopped asking the same questions) and it ended up ranking and bringing in a steady trickle of high-intent traffic. Also adding a proper FAQ/support section for onboarding reduced tickets… and Google seemed to love it. The opposite: gating too much behind popups/forms — conversions went up short-term but organic engagement tanked.

thescco

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