Rank Higher in Google Maps-10 Key Steps
If Google Maps ranking is your priority at present, optimizing your business profile is a great place to start.
These days, customers expect businesses to be online. Modern customers are searching online for businesses before they decide to make a purchase. According to a local consumer review survey in 2022, 78% of consumers use the internet to find information about local businesses more than once a week!
So it’s important to make sure your business can be found online. Most people use Google local maps to find local businesses. If your business isn’t visible on google maps then you are losing out on a lot of potential customers.
Here are 10 key steps to help you optimize your profile for better results:
1. Verify your Business on Google Maps
To appear on Google Maps, the first step is to claim your free listing on Google My Business. Check your listings to see if you have claimed it already. And if you don’t, follow these simple steps to claim your listing:
- Open the Google Maps
- In the search bar, enter the business name and choose the correct one.
- In the Business Profile, tap Claim this business, and then I own or manage this business. To choose a different business, tap I own or manage another business.
- Select a verification option, and follow the on-screen steps.
Source: Google Business profile Help
It may take a few days for your new business listing to appear on Google’s search engine. You will receive a verification code in the mail to confirm that you are the owner of that listing. Once it’s verified, you can make changes to your listing, and start getting more customers through Google Maps.
The second step, if it’s already claimed; is to make sure you have a fully optimized profile and added all the relevant information like hours, contact details, operating address, etc. You can simply edit your claimed listing through the Google Business Profile manager dashboard.
Once you update the information on your profile page, it may take up to a week for the changes to show up on Google.
2) Be Active
Once your Google business profile is listed. You must be active on your GBP page and update it with new information regularly. You can post updates in your GBP profile. Here is a list of different types of information you can post on your Google business profile page:
- Offer
- What’s New
- Event
- Product
There are options to add photos or videos to your update as well. You can add a call to action button to your posts to encourage people to engage with your business.
Here is a list of Button options you can add to your post:
- Book
- Order Online
- Buy
- Learn More
- Sign up
- Call Now
Make Sure when posting an update that you complete it with a sentence that encourages your followers to take action on it. This can be something like “Are you interested in ordering our Pizzas? Visit us at our store or give us a call at this number.” This sentence helps encourage your customers to take the desired action you want them to take.
3) Optimize your Business Presence for Local Search On Google Maps
To get your business ranked higher in Google Maps searches you need to first optimize your business presence for local searches. There are some simple things you can do to optimize your business name for local search. Here is what you need to do:
To optimize your business presence for local search:
- a) Add your business on local maps
- b) Add your complete operating hours and contact details to your profile page
- c) Upload high-quality images of your business location on Google Maps to help customers identify your business location.
- d) Get positive reviews about your business from Google customers to help increase trust between you and your customers.
- e) Provide accurate and useful information to your customers to help them find what they are looking for.
- f) Choose a good category for your business and make sure to specify your location clearly in the description section.
- g) Check to make sure that your correct contact information is displayed on your website, social media profiles, or local directories.
4) Use Local Business Schema
A schema is a code that defines how a particular type of content should be displayed. They make it easier for search engines to understand the meaning of your content and display it in the correct format in their search results.
Google and other search engines use structured data to describe the contents of a webpage. These descriptions are called schemas.
Use local business schema to mark up your business location so that search engines can display it in search results with enhanced information like business name, address, phone number, etc. This helps improve your CTR and your listing will show up on Google Maps when people search for businesses in your local area.
5) Embed Google Map Widget into your Website
Adding a map location to your website makes your business easier to find on Google and adds an easy touchpoint between your customers and your business.
Ensure you embed the map on your website and not link to it directly as it will take visitors away from your page and you lose the visitor. Try to integrate the widget onto the contact page of your website so users can easily find you locally without having to click back and forth to different sites.
6) Optimize Your Images for Local SEO
Naming your images correctly will help with your local SEO efforts. Adding “name_of_location” to the image filename will help you rank higher in local searches.
You can also include the city/neighborhood name in the image file name to make your images even more relevant to local searchers. Also, be sure to add alternative text to your images so web crawlers can see what the image is about.
7) Get More Reviews on Your Google Business Profile Page
Getting reviews is one of the most important things you can do to boost your online presence. The more positive reviews you have on your Google Business Profile page, the more likely you are to show up in relevant searches and get more customers walking through your doors.
While it might be tempting to ask your friends and family to write glowing reviews of your business, real reviews from customers will help you improve your online reputation and attract more customers to your business.
When you plan for reviews, make sure you get added up with high customer ratings. Reviews are an important factor in the ranking of your GBP so you should work on getting good reviews from the customers you are serving. In reviews management, mention certain terms that Google algorithm can pick up and use to rank you high. This will help a lot in terms of Google Maps ranking.
8) Local Citations and Listings Are Important Too
“Google considers citations to be one of the “local signals” it uses to determine the accuracy and relevancy of a listing in Google Maps. It depends on information from third-party sources like directory sites (Yelp, Foursquare, Citysearch, etc.) to vet business listings and display them in search results.”
Every country has its unique citation sites and directories in which your business needs to be listed according to your business location. You need to ensure that all the basic listings for your business are up-to-date and accurate on all the major local listings websites for your target keyword search queries.
For eg: If you search for a florist service in Denver, the results will include local businesses with their physical address, phone number, and other relevant information. If your address is missing or incorrect, your results can show up with a less accurate map pin marker, and then your listing may rank below your competitors who are correctly listed. Having correct and consistent information will also make it easier for customers to find you online.
9) Build Backlinks from Local Websites
Building backlinks from local websites can be a really good way to improve your local rankings. A local backlink is a link from relevant local websites that points back to your website. Try to build backlinks from local websites that are specific to your niche like a local florist association website, newspapers, blogs, business listings websites, etc. These links are considered relevant by search engines and are beneficial for your local SEO strategy.
10) Optimize Your Website For Google Maps
The website should be optimized properly to increase your local search visibility. You should focus on your main pages as well as your contact page. This is where people will see the most information about your business. Additionally, you need to make sure that your website is mobile-responsive because it is becoming more and more important to have a mobile-friendly website. Optimize meta titles and descriptions of pages for location keywords and add relevant keywords in the content.
Google local maps optimization is necessary for small businesses to promote their businesses. Also, help them gain new customers through mobile devices and local searches.
Google Maps ranking can give you an edge over your competition. It will help your customers find your business easily and drive more traffic to your website. It’s the best channel to invest your time and energy in because it helps to drive more organic traffic to your website. This can ultimately result in more leads and sales for your business.
Book 30 mins free consulting session with our digital marketing experts and discuss how we can help you with local SEO services for your local business. Contact us now and grow your business digitally