Helping Hands — Recovery Tracker

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Helping Hands — 30-Day Recovery Tracker

Live working dashboard • built section by section • data: GBP performance export, Jun 2025 vs Jun 2026 (all 170 locations)

FIBRE.MARKETING

Google Business Profiles — conversion health by branch

The brief: don't assume the fall in actions is simply people finishing their journey inside the profile — treat it as a possible conversion issue until the data disproves it. The data supports that caution.

The headline "views are up" is largely a measurement artefact. Reported profile views rose +81.7% YoY, but that is almost entirely Google Maps mobile impressions (14,036 → 118,726, +745%) — a Google counting change, not new demand. On the surfaces that behaved normally (Search + Maps desktop) views rose a modest +10.7%. Against that real reach, calls and website clicks both fell −5.7%, and the comparable view-to-action rate slipped from 14.4% to 13.1%. So this is a genuine conversion softening, not journey completion.
Calls (YoY)
−5.7%
3,716 → 3,503
Website clicks (YoY)
−5.7%
5,979 → 5,638
Directions (YoY)
+7.1%
9,251 → 9,912
Comparable views*
+10.7%
131,284 → 145,373
Reported views
+81.7%
Maps-mobile inflated
View→action rate*
13.1%
from 14.4%

*Comparable = Search mobile + Search desktop + Maps desktop, excluding the Maps-mobile counting change. View→action = (calls + website clicks + directions) ÷ views.

Where the "view growth" actually came from

Profile views by surface, Jun 2025 vs Jun 2026. Every surface is broadly flat except Maps mobile, which is why the raw view total is misleading.

View-to-action rate by branch 34 flagged

Sortable and searchable. Flagged = top-quartile visibility (views ≥ 1,935) but below-median conversion (view→action < 7.4%) — high reach, weak action — the profiles to prioritise. Click any column header to sort.

Biggest year-on-year call declines

Branches with a meaningful 2025 base (≥15 calls) that lost the most call volume — the first candidates for the call-tracking / listing diagnosis below.

GBP actions roadmap

The actions for this area. Track and update status on the 30-day plan tab — the single source of truth.

ActionIssue it fixesOwnerAcceptance measure

What Fibre depends on to deliver this

  • Infinity call-tracking number mapping confirmation, to reconcile GBP call taps with real calls
  • Branch photos & more reviews + review responses from the local teams — focused on the branches hit hardest (list below)
  • GBP website URL audit (Fibre)
Branches impacted most (biggest YoY call declines) — priority for photos & reviews
  • Eastbourne −72%
  • Nantwich −68%
  • Bath −65%
  • Gloucester −64%
  • Sheffield −63%
  • Camberley −61%
  • Dartford −61%
  • Cheadle & Wilmslow −61%
  • Lincoln −60%
  • Warwickshire −59%
  • Halifax −56%
  • Wirral −55%

Notes

Live-in cluster recovery

A specific live-in recovery view — the pages and queries that lost clicks, what's happening on the SERP, and the actions to recover each priority term. Sources: GSC query data (YoY, Jun), live SERP checks and Adthena AI Overview / paid data.

The driver is the shape of the SERP, not lost organic standing. On these searches Helping Hands still ranks strongly — #1 organic on every head term when checked live in Chrome (see below) — but the organic result now sits beneath the sponsored ads, local pack and (intermittently) an AI Overview on a local-style results page, so many people get their answer or click a paid result before they reach the listing. That's exactly the pattern in the data: impressions are up (Helping Hands is still showing) while clicks fell 74–89%. AI Overviews appear on 92% of "live in carer" searches and 79% of "live in care", with 40–49 rival advertisers above the fold. Net: the organic job is largely done — the task is winning the click back on a crowded local SERP, and it's recoverable.
Live-in organic calls (YoY)
−36.6%
per the monthly report
"live in carer" clicks
−74%
132 → 34 (impr +9%)
"live in carers" clicks
−89%
28 → 3 (impr +189%)
"live in care" organic
Often #1
but below AIO + ads (incognito)
AI Overview on "live in carer"
92%
79% on "live in care"
Rival advertisers above fold
40–49
"live in care" / "carer"

Live SERP check — searched in Chrome, 13 Jul 2026

First-hand evidence, not a rank tracker (Google.co.uk, localised). Even the broad head terms — "live in care", "domiciliary care", "24 hour care" — return a local SERP (a local pack and locally-relevant results), so the search intent is local. That reinforces the local strategy: GBP, branch/local pages and local relevance are the right levers, and it's why local competitors can appear above us even on generic terms. Helping Hands is #1 organic on every head term here — the issue is everything Google stacks above the organic result. (An AI Overview renders intermittently and didn't appear on these loads; Adthena measures it on 79–92% of these searches.)

SearchHelping HandsWhat appears above / around the organic result
live in care#1 organicSponsored ads (a Helping Hands ad and Elder), People Also Ask, local pack
live in carer#1 organicPeople Also Ask, 2 competitor ads (Elder, The Good Care Group), a discussions/forums block, a video carousel
24 hour home care#1 organicLocal pack of 3 competitors sits above the organic listing; People Also Ask
how much does live in care cost~foot of page 1NHS answer snippet at #1, then Age UK, Elder, Agincare + a forums block — HH buried. A genuine ranking + zero-click gap, not just interception

Priority queries — clicks, impressions & what we saw on the SERP

GSC clicks/impressions are YoY (Jun 25 → Jun 26). "Organic" is the live position we saw in Chrome on 13 Jul. AIO = share of searches showing an AI Overview (Adthena; "n/a" = not in Adthena's tracked set). The pattern: impressions flat-to-up, clicks collapsing — Helping Hands is #1 organic on every head term, but the click is taken by ads, the local pack and AI Overviews stacked above it. The two cost queries are the exception — foot of page 1 behind the NHS answer snippet, and the highest AI Overview presence (95–96%), so they lost almost all their clicks.

What to check / fix (SERP, on-page & technical)

The click loss shows up as impressions-up / clicks-down, which points to interception on the results page (AI Overview + ads above a strong organic result) rather than lost organic standing. Priorities:

  • AI Overview & paid interception: with AIO on 79–92% of these SERPs and 40–49 rival advertisers above the fold, optimise the live-in page for AI Overview citation (concise answer blocks, FAQ schema, a clear cost table) and use paid to defend "live in care / carer" clicks — this links to the branded paid/organic overlap work (paid-media).
  • Measure the real SERP: track incognito organic position + GSC average position + which SERP features are present, rather than relying on rank-tracker position alone (which counts features and location).
  • Cannibalisation: low risk on the head terms — "live in care / carer / carers" all target the single /live-in-care/ page; just watch the cost queries don't split between the hub and a cost sub-page.

Live-in actions roadmap

Per priority term: the issue, owner, acceptance measure, timing. Cross-checked against the live site (13 Jul): the FAQ content, the /costs-funding/ cost page and the condition pages already exist — so these are about optimising what's there (schema, answer-box, gaps), not rebuilding it. Track and update status on the 30-day plan tab — the single source of truth.

ActionIssue it fixesOwnerAcceptance measure

What Fibre depends on to deliver this

  • CMS / dev access to add FAQPage schema and edit /live-in-care/ and /costs-funding/ (Helping Hands web team)
  • Clinical-team sign-off on any content or cost changes (protects E-E-A-T)
  • Paid media alignment to defend the head terms while organic holds
  • Timely content approval from Helping Hands to hit the delivery dates

Notes

Click-through & AI Overviews

The aim: separate the decline into lost rankings, low-position impressions, SERP changes, weak titles, branded vs non-branded, and AI Overview impact — rather than attributing it all to AI Overviews and zero-click. Source: GSC "Performance on Search" export, Jun 2026 vs Jun 2025 (% changes; absolute counts treated as indicative).

The decline is mostly an impression-inflation and interception effect, not a ranking collapse. Clicks are down 12.5% YoY — but impressions are up 96% at a flat average position (12.4 → 12.7). When impressions nearly double and position holds, CTR falls mechanically, which is exactly what happened: 2.37% → 1.06%. The damage concentrates in two places: desktop (impressions +158%, CTR −70%) and branded search (CTR −47% while sitting at position #1). AI Overviews and zero-click are a real contributor — heaviest on branded and informational queries — but they sit on top of the bigger arithmetic of a low-position impression flood, so we shouldn't pin the whole decline on them.
Clicks (YoY)
−12.5%
46.9k → 41.0k
Impressions (YoY)
+96%
low-position flood
CTR (YoY)
−55%
2.37% → 1.06%
Avg position
~flat
12.4 → 12.7
Desktop clicks
−23%
CTR −70%, impr +158%
Branded CTR
−47%
at position #1

Device split — desktop is the epicentre

Year-on-year change by device. Desktop impressions nearly tripled while clicks fell hardest and CTR collapsed 70% — the desktop click-loss highlighted in the brief. Positions barely moved on any device, so this is interception and impression inflation, not lost rankings.

Branded vs non-branded

Both halved on CTR. Branded clicks actually fell more than non-branded (−27% vs −21%) despite sitting at #1 — that can't be a ranking problem, so it points to AI Overviews and paid ads on brand terms (a paid-media matter — see the branded paid/organic overlap item). Non-branded carries the heavier impression inflation (+76%).

Pages × queries — the loss, married up

Each priority page with the query cluster it serves, the YoY movement, and the live organic position we saw in Chrome (13 Jul) — not a rank tracker. The split is clear: where organic is #1, clicks were lost to interception (ads, local pack, AI Overview stacked above); "domiciliary care" and the cost queries are genuine ranking gaps to close.

The six questions — what the data separates out

FactorWhat the data showsWeight
Lost rankingsReal but localised, mainly on service pages we manage — e.g. "domiciliary care", where we're ~#6 organic (live-checked) behind NHS, directories and a local competitor. Jobs and careers pages also slipped but sit outside Fibre's SEO scope. The live-in and branded head terms are not lost rankings — organic is #1 (live-checked).Minor
Broader low-position impressionsThe dominant driver. Impressions +96% overall (desktop +158%) at flat average position — Google matching the site to far more low-value queries, which mathematically halves CTR.Major
SERP changesAds, local pack, People-Also-Ask, forums and video carousels now sit above the organic result (confirmed in the live SERP check) — pushing the click away even at #1.Major
Weak titles / descriptionsA minority. The odd page held rank but lost CTR with no impression inflation (e.g. /housekeeping-services/, 1.2%→0.5%) — worth a title/meta refresh. Most CTR loss is impression inflation or AI Overview, not titles.Minor
Branded vs non-brandedBoth CTR ~halved. Branded clicks −27% at #1 (AI Overview + paid on brand); non-branded −21% with heavier impression inflation (+76%).Both
AI Overview impactReal and concentrated on branded, informational and desktop queries (Adthena: AIO on 79–92% of the live-in head terms) — but a contributor layered on the impression-inflation arithmetic, not the sole cause.Contributor

CTR & AI Overview actions roadmap

The actions for this area. Track and update status on the 30-day plan tab — the single source of truth.

ActionIssue it fixesOwnerAcceptance measure

What Fibre depends on to deliver this

  • Paid media alignment on the branded defence
  • CMS / dev access for title & meta edits and brand schema
  • Brand / marketing sign-off on the branded paid–organic approach
  • Continued Google Search Console access for ongoing analysis

Notes

Consolidated 30-day recovery plan

Every action from the three areas in one plan, in priority order: live-in cluster → pre-migration gap → branded paid/organic overlap → desktop click loss, then GBP conversion. Owners are colour-coded; SEO/AIO work is Fibre, site/local implementation is Helping Hands. Status saves in your browser.

Page / clusterIssue preventing recoveryActionOwnerExpected impactAcceptance measureStatusCurrently withLink / attachment

FAQ rollout — store & local pages in progress

Adding FAQ sections with FAQPage schema across the store (location) and breakout local pages. Why this is a key lever: FAQ answers are exactly what Google pulls into AI Overviews and People-Also-Ask — the features intercepting our clicks — and the schema makes each page eligible for FAQ rich results and easy for an AI Overview to cite. Rolled across every local page it rebuilds topical + local relevance and wins the click back even where we already rank #1. Enter progress below — the bars update live.

of pages
0%
of pages
0%

"This month" tracks the current batch (default 531); "Overall" tracks against the full FAQ-page total — edit either total as the programme grows.

What we need from Helping Hands

Everything else on this plan is Fibre's SEO/AIO work. These are the inputs we rely on from Helping Hands to deliver it:

  • Expert review of /live-in-care/ (urgent): add a "reviewed by" clinical-expert byline — the costs & domiciliary pages have one, this page doesn't; Fibre has raised it before
  • Dev fix — FAQ schema (service-page template): FAQs are on /live-in-care/ & /domiciliary-care/ but FAQPage schema isn't rendering (the local-page template is fine)
  • Add a hero CTA to /domiciliary-care/ — a click-to-call in the hero like the live-in page (there's currently nothing to call on landing)
  • Clinical / content sign-off on new live-in content (protects E-E-A-T)
  • Confirm the Infinity call-tracking number mapping so we can reconcile GBP call taps with real calls
  • Branch photos + more reviews & responses — priority on the 12 hardest-hit branches (listed on the GBP tab)
  • Paid-media alignment on the brand + live-in defence — this is where the branded click loss is addressed (it's a paid-media lever, not SEO)

Notes