Dipa Gandhi has been working for 99 Calls since 2011 and has grown in her role through the years. She serves as the Director of SEO and has recently earned her Gold badge as a GBP Product Expert.
Dipa was raised in Chicago and moved to Massachusetts after graduating from college. She has a degree in biology, and although the field is very different from search engine optimization work, the skill set to perform in both fields is similar. Dipa’s ability to conduct research and quest for knowledge have been tremendous assets during her transition into learning best practices for SEO.
A few years ago, Dipa began to focus on honing her skills around Google Business Profiles, which have become instrumental in increasing a business’s online presence. She then participated in the Google Business Profile Product Expert program where she achieved her Gold level badge.
In this exchange, Diane interviews Dipa about her experience as a Google Product Expert.
Diane: Dipa, what is the Google Product Expert program, and how does it work?
Dipa: Before diving into how the product expert program works, we’ll describe the Google community help forum. Google has so many products, such as Google Ads, Google Nest, and YouTube, and with all of their products, there’s a community help forum. So anyone, a product user, who has questions, issues, or needs help with any of these products, goes to that specific forum and can ask their question. Then any Google user can post a response to that question. So you’re basically helping business owners of all sorts, small businesses, large businesses, agencies. You’re expanding your knowledge and helping other businesses try to solve the issues they’re having. The more questions you answer on the forum, the more points you earn, then once you earn a certain number of points, you start earning badges. You go from having no badge to Bronze level to silver level, then gold, and so on. So that’s how you become a product expert within one specific product. I have the Google Business Profile gold-level product expert badge.
Diane: Tell us how you began your journey to become a Google Product Expert.
Dipa: It was a struggle at the beginning since I had started helping on the community forum and achieved my Bronze badge, but then I made one little mistake and my account was suspended, so I lost my status. Then I had to start from scratch and I’ve been regularly volunteering on the forum, helping so many types of businesses, and I went from no badge to earning my Gold badge.
Diane: Can you share your goals as you learned more about GBPs and the process you took to achieve Gold Product Expert status?
Dipa: After I restarted volunteering in the community under a different account, I started with smaller goals, like learning best practices to avoid getting my account suspended, then earning the next badge, and the badge after that. Once I earned my Gold status, my goal was to attend a live PE summit which is by invitation only for Gold-level PEs, and not for all Gold PEs. As a company, my goal was, and still is, to minimize GBP suspensions, and if and when they do happen, to have a 90% or higher reinstatement rate.
Diane: What stands out as a couple of the more interesting or surprising things you’ve learned about GBPs?
Dipa: I would say the most interesting thing about the GBP’s is that even though it seems like such an easy straightforward tool, there are so many little details and intricacies that go into optimizing it, keeping it active, and problems that can happen. By participating on the forum, there are many common questions or issues users encounter, however, there are so many questions or issues that are brand new…..sometimes things you wouldn’t think to ask or haven’t been asked before. So even though it’s such a simple tool, there are many little details that go into properly managing it.
Diane: How has this training helped you guide the SEO work we do here at 99 Calls?
Dipa: Because of the program and my Gold level badge, I’ve gained access to many other product experts with similar or higher badge levels. I also gained access to private discussion groups and meetings with Google product managers who keep us apprised of the latest issues, current bugs with their systems, or even upcoming changes. Once you’re at a higher level, like Platinum or Diamond, you have the opportunity to help the product managers test out new enhancements before they roll out to the public.
99 Calls manages GBPs for clients utilizing our organic lead generation service. Having early access to updates, and knowing the current problems and bugs helps us manage the GBPs better. When there is an issue with a specific GBP, like a suspension, being a Gold product expert gives me an advantage as I work to get profiles reinstated. In the case of denials, I have access to Google’s back team to have it escalated further.
This expert knowledge has led 99 Calls to offer GBP management as a stand-alone service. Our clients are in excellent hands, even if they are experiencing complicated GBP issues.