4 Hidden Mistakes That Are Costing You The #1 Rank On Google
May 28, 2025
Jaden Galinato
Struggling to rank on Google? You might be stepping on these SEO landmines by accident.
Does ranking #1 on Google feel harder than remodeling a house without a blueprint? Maybe you’ve scoped out your competitors who rank higher than you, dumbfounded on how they got there despite how much better your website is. And despite all the SEO information out there, Google doesn’t exactly give you a step-by-step handbook either...
The harsh truth is, you might be making these costly SEO mistakes without even knowing it. Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on 4 hidden mistakes that are costing you the #1 rank on Google. With these fixes, you’ll be able to claim that digital throne–as long as your competitors don’t discover us.
This includes:
Business Name (If you try to sneak in keywords, you’ll be ranked lower, or even suspended. It has to be your exact name.)
Address
Phone Number
Hours of Operation (even the slightest typo will hurt your rankings)
You might’ve noticed on Google maps, a business with the most amount of reviews are getting outranked. While we try to collect as many 5-stars as possible for our clients, they can still get outranked even with 500+ 5-star reviews. On the flipside, they can still outrank their competitors with fewer reviews.
This is because of review signaling, also known as review quality. There’s a huge difference between leaving a blank 5-star review, and a 5-star review that details their experience with the company, (and even including keywords!).
See it for yourself: If you search the keyword you want to rank for, and look at a company’s reviews, you’ll notice some bold text on some of them. It’s Google trying to show you certain reviews that answer your exact question.
Instead of asking your customer to leave a review, prompt them to share their experience with you. Sometimes asking for honest feedback over begging for 5 digital stars will lead to better quality reviews.
For a live look on how we got one of our clients to rank #1 on Google, check out this video from our CEO, Christian!
1. Liar, Liar, Rank On Fire!
Google is a smart engine–it can tell when you have inaccurate information on your Google Business Profile. You need to ensure that all info from your website is consistent with the info on your Google Business Profile.
Here’s an easier way to keep track of this: When your rankings are tired, give them a NAP. It stands for name, address and phone number, which are the 3 keys of info that should be included and consistent across all platforms from your website to your Google Business Profile, and even your social media accounts.
If your socials haven’t taken a NAP yet, go ahead and make that quick fix so you can potentially rank higher!
2. Why Number of Reviews Don’t Matter (As Much As You Think)
Strong review signaling from our client, Greater Houston Flooring, who ranks #1 in their area
Even if it doesn’t exactly match the keyword you searched for, they’ll still bold words that frequently appear across several other reviews, like “excellent quality,” “on-time,” “affordable,” etc.
How To Get Better Google Reviews
If you find that you have a lot of short, or even blank reviews, this may be why you aren’t ranked #1 yet. So here’s how you can get better reviews.
For an in depth guide on how to get more reviews, check out this blog.
And if you want to take things a step further, offer a free gift for people that leave reviews. Alex Hormozi collected hundreds of reviews for his gyms by simply offering a free T-shirt if they left a review on all platforms. Is there any free swag you can gift your customers with?
Pro Tip: Always respond to your reviews–even the bad ones–it’ll help with your SEO!
3. Digital Curb Appeal? Never Heard of It
If you aren’t ranking in at least the top 3, your website might not be as good as you think… It’s not just about how many people click on your site, but interact with it.
Are they checking out all your pages? Do they watch your videos? Do they click on your social media links? Filling out your contact form? All these questions (and more) are taken into account when Google ranks your page because they want to prioritize sites that people are actually using.
Simply linking your website to your Google Business Profile isn’t enough anymore, sadly. Everything has to be locked down–not just the visuals. Consistent SEO blog posts, service pages with detailed and enticing copy, to the header tags with keywords and location pages, the list goes on…
Yes, web design can be an annoying process, especially when you have jobs to do and inquiries to answer. So instead of trying to optimize your website blindfolded, check out this blog that breaks down how you can get more home improvement jobs with these 7 proven website hacks.
4. (Google) News Flash!
The last easy-to-miss mistake that you might be making is a lack of updates and citations on your Google Business Profile.
Updating Your Google Business Profile
If you scroll down to the bottom of your profile, you’ll see the updates section. It’s kind of like social media but for Google, minus the likes and comments. Here, you can post updates about your business, or just any exciting news like a completed kitchen remodel. You can include pictures and videos, and can even direct viewers to call you or to your website.
Why Do You Need To Post Updates?
When you post updates to your profile, it tells Google, “oh, this business is still here and thriving, let’s show it to more people” whereas if you never post updates, it’s kind of like having an unused social media account. You’re mysterious, and no one knows if you’re alive… '
While updates won’t instantly rank you higher, you’ll want to consistently post updates to show Google that you’re active.
Pro Tip: Include keywords in your updates, too.
Conclusion
More Pins, More Wins
Here’s where things might start to get tricky… We use Google citations to help our clients with SEO. And no, these aren’t academic citations like the ones you did for your middle school essays. Instead, we drop pins on Google Maps which contain your NAP info. It’s like leaving little breadcrumbs on the map that lead people (and Google!) back to your business.
Ranking Outside Of Your Direct Location
Citations can be used to rank in other locations instead of just your direct address. If you see below, we’ve placed thousands of citations for Greater Houston Flooring so they can rank in all surrounding neighborhoods, not just Houston. So you’ll want to place these around your address so you can maximize your SEO potential.
SEO is one of the most complicated marketing methods for businesses to master, with so many moving parts to keep up with. But now that you know these hidden mistakes, you can turn them to quick fixes and rank higher, and in more areas.
If you find yourself working on site all day and can’t find extra time to plug these SEO solutions in place, we don’t blame you. Local citations itself is one of the most time consuming tactics we use, but it works. So if you want us to handle all your SEO for you so you can steal leads from your competitors, we’ll propel you to the top with our proven blueprint.