Hi,

Got a trick for you. Will be helpful.

It works extremely fast and it is very reliable as well.

If you feel a "but" coming in this story... you're right. Because we'll be pushing the rules a little bit with this one.

No worries - we won't go against the rules if you do this right. So it's more of a grey hat thing instead of a black hat thing.

Check out this picture:

Ignore the top result for now, that's an ad. See what the top 3 have in common?

They ALL have the keyword (or at least part of it) in their business name. In this case "pest control" or "pest control London".

That is extremely helpful for your Google rankings. Weighs pretty heavily in your favor if you have that.

So what do you do if your company name doesn't have those keywords in it? Do you just add it to your GBP name anyway?

You could, and a lot of companies do. BUT that can get you in trouble with Google. Which is why I wouldn't recommend it.

The rule is that you should use your real business name as your business name in your GBP. So if you add keywords to the business name, you're using a name that is not your REAL business name.

Then if a competitor ever comes along and decides to report your profile? There's a chance that Google does a manual check. Asking you to verify if this is your real name.

Can't do that? Then you lose the ranking boost. They might even kick you out entirely because you broke the rules.

That would be bad.

That's why we need a workaround. Introducing: The DBA.

Contrary to what you might think, DBA doesn't stand for "Don't Be Autistic".

It stands for "Doing Business As". In some other countries it's known as a 'trading name' or 'alternative business name'.

It's easy to register, very low cost and in some countries it's even free.

But the best part is that this is now an official name for your company.

So you can safely change the GBP title to your DBA name and if Google ever asks you to verify it... you just show them the paperwork. You're not breaking the rules anymore. You're working within the confines of the rules. Safety first.

So, handle the DBA, change your business name in GBP by adding the right keywords into the mix and enjoy a big ranking boost right away.

Talk soon,

Arno