For a local business, ranking on
Google Maps is something of an ultimate goal of search marketing, and an SEO agency has many tools to help you get there. It is a goal of at least equally worth a first-page organic ranking, mainly for small businesses with limited reach.
Your Map listing lets your potential customers know that you are nearby. This is important to your business whether you want them to come into your store or showroom, or if you offer services where you travel to their location. Proximity is one of the major ranking factors for Google, and one of the vital considerations for people searching. Customers want the service close to their current location.
Here are 10 things an SEO agency can do to help you rank better on Google Maps to grow your local customer base.
1. List your Business on Google
If you want to show up on Maps results, you must first list your business with Google, by creating a Google My Business page. This lists basic information about your business such as your physical address, phone number, and category of your business. It’s important to be clear when choosing your category, and include things like photos of your business to engage viewers. This information shows the right side of search results when searching for businesses. You can additionally list helpful information on the page like your hours of operation.
2. Get Google Reviews to Improve Your Business
Google weights reviews on the Google platform heavily, which makes it an excellent way to move up to the top of the list for Maps rankings. The idea is simple: if you have real, happy customers, Google knows that you are providing good services.
Make it easy for customers to rate as well as review your products. Platforms like WordPress have Google review plug-ins that you can use to get ratings and reviews very easily. Be careful about having all of your past customers rush to review your products all at once, though.
The sudden spike in reviews looks like fake traffic to Google, even if they are real reviews. Spread out your reviews over time in its place.
Once you receive a review, positive or negative, reply to the person who posted the review. Thank them for their time and deliberation and be responsive to sensitive feedback.
#3: Make Use Of Google Posts
Google posts is a comparatively new feature, connected to the Google My Business page, which allows you to create content that appears directly in local search results. It’s a great way to reach local customers as well as let them know that you know what you’re doing. When posting, keep content engaging with videos and images, and link to your site to drive more traffic. There are some great benefits to being able to rank in another way on Google, giving you more opportunities to reach customers.
4. List Your Business on Directories That Customers Belief
Google is not the only place where customers find new services. There are many directories that people search when they are looking for a new restaurant or local business for example -
- Yelp
- Yahoo Local Listings
- Bing Local
Users search for businesses on these directories frequently and trust the feedback they receive from the ratings that they find there. Ensure that your name, address, and phone number are consistent across every directory. Google checks for your listing across all of these platforms, and the more reliable you are, the more confident Google will be in boosting your business’s ranking.
5. Make Use of Local Scheme Markup
It is vital for your website to include information that can be accessed and displayed by the search engine. Schema markup is a simple tool to make this happen. Markup scripts are implemented behind the scenes and can show essential information to potential customers such as your hours of operation and accepted payment types.
6. Increase Your Website Speed
As it true for any aspect of SEO, site speed makes a difference to your potential customers, as well as Google. Even if people find you in local listings, they will not wait around if your site loads slowly. They will just go to a different site that works better. There are many factors under your control when it comes to site speed. Avoid pages that need to load lots of extra content that uses up resources such as oversized images.
7. Embed Google Maps on your Site
Embedding a Google map on your website achieves two things: it lets Google know that you have a local presence and it additionally helps potential customers stay engaged and learn where to find your business. Anything you can do to make it easier for customers to reach your store is worth doing.
8. Keep Up With Social Media
Google is paying more attention to social signals as a way to determine to rank, especially when it comes to Maps results. Businesses that have an active and consistent online presence are more ready to make their way up the rankings.
Ensure you keep up with your business’s social media, posting as well as sharing content regularly and engaging with your followers with quality content.
9. Prioritize Mobile Searches
Most of searches happen on mobile devices now. It is very likely that the customer will be searching for your service on their phones; frequently when they are already out the door and looking for something close by. To contain those searches, ensure that your mobile site is in good shape. That means making sure the mobile site is optimized, that it displays properly on screens of all sizes, and that it loads quickly on mobile devices. Other important considerations are including mobile-specific features such as click to call so that users can get in touch with you more easily.
Ensure that the essential information is visible right at the top of the screen so that customers do not have to scroll through your pages to find what they are looking for.
10. Go All Out with Your SEO
One of the best things you can do to get a Google Maps ranking is to ensure that you are doing everything you can for your SEO. The more optimized and highly ranked your site is, the better the chances that you will get a Maps ranking out of it. Adhering to Google’s best practices on the board can help you appear in both the regular search results as well as the Maps rankings.
Getting on the first page of Google in 24 hours is not realistic if you don’t have a partner who knows what they are doing. Give me a call, and we can talk regarding a unique strategy for getting your business on the first page of Google.
