GMB Penalty: How to Recover From It?

[Zhanna]

Hi guys,

I believe one of my clients' Google My Business (GMB) listings has been penalized, and I am seeking expert advice on identifying the root cause of this problem.

The business in question is a restaurant that previously ranked very well on a city level for the target keyword "service+city."

We implemented various activities to improve its online presence, including GMB optimization, SEO shield, tiered link building to SEO shield entities, press releases, and traffic campaigns. Additionally, for organic SEO, we created 500 specific pages targeting different neighborhoods around the target city.

The ranking was stable for a couple of years and then the business dropped from position 6 to 100+ for all queries related to the target keyword. While other keywords also experienced a decline in rankings, the impact wasn't as severe.

Also, the restaurant has a big blog with 40k+ monthly visitors. Organic rankings remain the same.

I have a suspicion that the traffic campaigns and the extensive use of the "magic pages" may have contributed to this issue, as the last few months we didn't do anything else.

Nonetheless, I'm struggling to determine the exact cause of the penalty and how to rectify it.

I would really appreciate any of your ideas and advice.

Thank you.

 

[JeffClevelandTN]

Hi @Zhanna, I know you specifically are asking for help on your GMB/GBP listing but I'm a little confused as the ranking drop you are describing seems to be more typically associated with an organic SERP ranking drop as being in Position 6 on Local Pack or Google Maps is not super competitive. Also, website content is not typically associated with a GMB/GBP penalty.

However, your mentioning about the 500 specific pages targeting different neighborhoods could definitely result in an organic SERP drop as you described. Please see this thread about "thin content" which seems very similar to what you are describing: Google Manual Penalty - Thin Content