Getting your business to rank higher in Google Maps can bring in more foot traffic, phone calls, and revenue. With over 1 billion monthly active Google Maps users, appearing on the first page for relevant searches is key.
This comprehensive guide covers actionable tips to improve your Google Maps ranking this year.
Complete and Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
The foundation of ranking well in Maps is having a complete and optimized Google My Business (GMB) profile. This signals to Google your legitimacy as a local business.
Here are the key elements to focus on for your GMB listing:
Basic Information
Ensure your business name, address, phone number, and website are filled out and accurate. This helps confirm your locations and categories.
Description
Write an informative 150+ word description summarizing what you offer. Include your products, services, mission, and what makes you unique.
Photos
Add high-quality photos that showcase your storefront, offerings, menu items, interior, exterior, and staff. Aim for 20+ photos of at least 720p resolution. Update with seasonal images.
Attributes
Fill in all relevant attributes like menus, price range, health & safety details, and any business certifications. This provides more context around your business.
Service Areas
Define the regions and cities you serve for proper geo-targeting. Else you may not appear in some relevant local searches.
Encourage Customer Reviews
Reviews indicate popularity and social proof. Having at least 15+ recent 4+ star Google reviews signals trust. Reply to them too.
Email customers asking for honest feedback. Or print a QR code on receipts linking to your GMB listing for easy mobile reviews. Appreciate every review.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Build credibility with unbiased reviews | Negative reviews need monitoring |
| Boosts ranking factors in Google's algorithm | Takes effort to collect many reviews |
| Social proof attracts new local customers | A mix of 5 & 4 star ratings ideal - all 5's may seem fake |
Create and Optimize Google Posts
Google Posts let you share updates, events, offers, and photos to your GMB listing. This engages customers and helps Google understand your business.
Post 2-4 times per month around your products, services, deals, news, event updates, community initiatives, awards etc. Ensure posts use relevant keywords too.
Include high-quality photos, videos and nicely formatted text for maximum visibility and clicks. Check back on analytics to optimize.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Frequently updated businesses rank higher | Time-consuming to create great posts |
| Engages local followers and customers | Easy to neglect compared to social media posting |
| Events and deals attract new visits | No direct way to share deals or convert visitors from posts |
Get More Direct Customer Actions
Signals like clicks to call, get directions, website visits, and requesting a quote from your GMB listing matter.
Install tracking numbers and call extensions. Promote these conversion options on ads, emails, social media, and directly on location. Offer incentives for customers who engage to motivate actions.
The more quality signals Google sees, the more they infer relevance and trust for your business.
Build Local Links and Citations
Having authoritative sites link back to your GMB page with your business name, address and phone number (NAP) helps confirm location authority.
Claim and optimize popular citation/directory listings on Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, Mapquest and 50+ niche sites relevant to your industry.
Also request high-quality editorial backlinks from local news publications, blogs, chamber sites etc. Link building takes time but boosts local SEO.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| More NAP citations confirm location and legitimacy | Link building very manually intensive |
| Helps rank for branded keyword searches | Low control over who/where links from |
| Editorial links provide referral traffic | Risk of spammy links if outsourced |
Run Local Promotions with Tracking
Limited-time local store promotions that you track bring in foot traffic while signalling popularity to Google.
Change offers every quarter to incentivize new and returning customers. Use UTM campaign tags to better analyze redemption rates on analytics.
Highlight your promotions on your GMB posts and listings on various directories to maximize awareness.
Optimize Website for Local SEO
Ensure your location pages, contact page and all landing pages are mobile responsive. Use local keywords in titles, headers, content, alt text, schema markup and XML site maps.
Having a fast website with local content builds more regional signals to boost local pack rankings.
Track and Improve Metrics
Log in to Google My Business insights to track key metrics like search impressions, clicks, directions, calls and photos views. Study customer behavior and fine-tune listing elements that generate the most engagement.
Compare month-to-month trends to find what works. Double down on those areas with continually improving metrics. Drop less effective efforts.
Leverage Google Maps Advertising
For competitive keywords with established local pack leaders, precise Google Maps promotions ads can help shortcut to the top.
Target by radius around your storefront location or bulk upload customer proximity data for hyper local reach. Monitor costs and manually bid higher as able.
FAQ
How long does it take to improve Google Maps rankings?
Typically allow 6-12 months to begin moving up in local pack for competitive searches by stacking and tracking all location signals possible. Have patience and focus on continual optimization.
Does positive review count impact rankings?
Yes reviews build critical social proof and trust used in Google's local algorithm.aime for at least 15+ recent positive Google reviews. Reply to demonstrate good customer service too.
Should I choose a Google Maps or Google Ads strategy?
For the best results, pursue both simultaneously if your budget allows. SEO establishes long term organic visibility while paid ads offer predictable rankings to keep revenue flowing in as you climb higher over months of ranking efforts.
What if another unrelated business shares my address?
You can submit an address separation request to Google to ensure distance/relevance signals from other businesses don’t negatively impact your listing authority.
Getting yourself found by local searchers on Google Maps takes effort but generates tremendous free traffic and conversions over time. Follow this comprehensive local SEO and promotions game plan to build sustainable footsteps and phone calls in 2023.
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