Whether you run locally or not, you always want to keep existing loyal customers but also find new potential customers to grow your business. Therefore, ranking high on Google Maps can be of considerable importance and assistance to your company since it generates revenue, brings new buyers, and helps you stand out from your competition.
Of course, Google Maps won’t do the job itself, so hiring Google Maps optimization services to successfully utilize local maps and integrate them with your search engine optimization strategy can be vital to your company’s growth.
Therefore, to increase Google Maps ranking, we will see some of the best tips to optimize your overall local ranking.
Still, before we do so, let’s see what Google Maps Marketing is in today’s marketing world. Let’s not waste any more time and get into it right away.
Google Maps Marketing Is Highly Beneficial
One of the biggest misconceptions about Google Maps is that it’s used only as an excellent way to navigate routes and to show you where to go once you type your location. And yes, this is a highly beneficial aspect of Google Maps, but there is something else that every online business owner should know – its marketing efficiency.
Since you are a business owner, you can use Google Maps to your advantage by helping customers find your business and also to gain fantastic marketing leverage against your industry competitors. And what is even better is the fact that it can be effective no matter if you have a small or a large business.
In essence, the main goal is to increase the likelihood of being included in Google’s Map Packs, which is the coveted space appearing the highest on SERPs when a search query specifies an intent that is location-based. And when your business is featured, it provides customers to find your company location, site, and anything else, so it brings customers to the table.
Thus, using Google Maps Marketing is an excellent way to attract customers for your business, and now we will see some tips on how to do it effectively.
Create A Google My Business Account
If you want to increase Google Maps ranking, one of the main steps is to create an optimized Google Business Profile. Of course, creating an account won’t do the job for the entire Google Maps marketing strategy, so once you have your business profile, you have to include the following steps:
- Make sure to provide updated and correct information about your address, phone number, and business name. Don’t forget that this has to be applied across every online platform and directory.
- Pick the proper business categories as accurately as possible, but also as few as possible.
- Add high-quality images of your products, business, but also the staff. You can even include images of your customers if they agree, and it is not a problem for them.
In essence, everything has to be simple yet engageable to attract people right away.
Motivate Your Customers to Leave Reviews on Google
Motivating your loyal customers to leave Google reviews can improve Google Maps ranking in a significant manner since Google listens to what customers have to say about specific products and services or when they share their experiences.
That’s why it is more than beneficial to use this tactic, but make sure that almost all of these reviews are mostly positive in order to help your brand’s visibility. Furthermore, you have to try to reply to as many reviews as possible, even the negative ones, since it shows professionalism at a high level. But more importantly, this will show Google that your company is always active and that you like to engage with your customers.
In addition, it’s valuable to make sure to get your buyers to mention location keywords and relevant services in their reviews since there is a high probability that this will signal to Google that your company’s business is locally trusted.
Claim and Verify Your Business’s Listing
Another important step you need to take in order to rank higher on Google Maps is to make sure that your Google Maps listing is claimed and verified. The main reason being is because it adds a lot more details about your business. Your local business will most likely rank a lot higher on Google Maps if there is more information available about your company in its listing.
In addition, don’t forget to be consistent with the added info and always remember to keep everything updated in order to be effective. This aspect also includes things such as offerings, contact information, business hours, and so on. Otherwise, many potential customers will be lost due to the unavailability of this simple but effective segment, whose essence is fundamental in the online world today.
Publish Google Posts
When it comes to publishing posts, there isn’t much difference between publishing anything on Facebook or your Google Business Profile. Therefore, it is not so complicated, and it can engage with a lot of people, which is the ultimate goal in any type of marketing, so it’s the same here.
But the more important aspect of publishing Google posts is that it can trigger the algorithms of Google to recognize your activity and the way you manage your Google Maps listing, which can be highly beneficial for the local ranking that is so essential for your business. Publishing is a continuous activity in the business world nowadays, and it will continue to be one of the vital things for success in the near and far future as well.
You Have to Be Mobile-Friendly
One thing that you can not avoid, whether you like it or not, is the fact that you have to be mobile-friendly at all times. The reason is more than simple, most people search for everything on their mobile phones, so mobile searches are constantly on the rise. That’s why it’s natural to have a desire to make sure to provide an excellent user experience for anyone who is coming to visit your site from a smartphone.
Of course, there are many things that have to be addressed in order to create the perfect mobile-friendly environment for your users, but some of the fundamental aspects include:
- In order to avoid errors, make sure to check the Google Search Console “Mobile Usability” tab.
- Cheick it manually on various mobile devices in order to see how it looks
The essence is to make it responsive so that it displays everything properly for various types of mobile devices and to be fast with a fast loading time for the users.
Create Local Backlinks
Backlinks are essential in today’s SEO marketing strategies and have been an integral part of every ideal solution that can help Google recognize a business on the internet, and the same goes for Google Maps. They are an effective extension of your NAP, and you can connect with relevant and local third-party sites to link to your primary site pages. In fact, using backlinks can both improve and validate your company’s business from a local aspect but also from a service and product perspective.
If you have listings with links in local directories, they have to be in the correct categories if there is such an option since they are considered follow links, so Google will follow them and recognize the source. Furthermore, it’s valuable to know that many directories realize the value of these “follow” links and charge for inclusion, but you can look for chances to secure links from non-paid sources like service organization sites, partners, same industry sites, and so on.
A Local Business Schema Is Also Beneficial
The development of schema came about in a great deal because both Google and other search engines like standardization since it helps structure content, especially when it comes to business details.
The Local Schema gives the opportunity to companies to wrap code around their content in order to make it a lot easier for Google to crawl and index, as it covers various same business details from the Google Business Profile.
And what is the main benefit here for you to increase Google Maps ranking?
It’s pretty simple and yet effective; the easier it is for Google to validate your location, the higher the chances of your business showing up in Google Maps in the best possible way, so you have the best chance to increase Google Maps ranking.
Use Keywords In the Google My Business Name
This action goes without saying since, without proper keywords, it’s almost impossible to achieve any significant results when it comes to digital marketing in today’s competitive world. It goes to such an extent that you should use keywords even in your profile name if possible.
But this doesn’t mean that you should do it without addressing your business objectives, so you should make sure that your GMB profile name reflects what your business is about and what you represent.
For instance, if you have a motorcycle company named “Drivers,” don’t use a name such as Drivers Company; instead, use a name like Drivers Motorcycle Shop Company – you get the point, right?
It’s valuable to mention that this can be tricky since having keywords in your profile name may trigger Google to crack down your site because of keyword spamming, but it can still help with SEO. In essence, you have to be careful and create it in such a natural way so that it helps SEO, but it doesn’t act as an issue for Google to react negatively.
Optimize for Local Organic Search
Yet another important aspect you should implement in order to increase Google Maps ranking is to make sure that your web presence is optimized for your local audience in the best possible way. The best way to start is to perform a local SEO audit in order to identify where you have to focus your attention the most, from content and linking to keywords and everything in between.
You have to structure your site in the proper way since it enables Google to crawl and index the content, and for this to happen continuously, the content has to be locally oriented, relevant, and beneficial for the users.
The most important thing is that Google will reward you because you lead searchers to relevant answers in a small number of clicks. Of course, fast loading and seamless navigation are also essential, regardless of whether the searcher uses a mobile device, desktop, or anything else.
Insert the Google Map On Your Contact Us Page
This tip doesn’t necessarily mean that it will make a huge difference, but it’s still important to practice it for a higher local ranking. Inserting the Google Map on your Contact Us page is still a preferred format for Google since it will have the chance to make sure a much better and more consistent user experience for all searchers.
And we all know that this is the main goal both for attracting new potential customers and showing Google that you should rank higher as a reliable source of information with excellent services and products at the same time.
To Sum It All Up
Here you have some of the best tips on how to increase Google Maps ranking, and it is valuable to know that implementing all of these is highly recommended. Nevertheless, implementing at least some of them is crucial, even if you can’t do it all at once.
Still, it is advisable to hire an agency that can make these recommendations effective in the best way possible since they are marketing experts who know how to do it both fast and in the proper way. In essence, why bother wasting time on something with not a lot of success when you can hire professionals to do the job while you focus on other essential things for your company?
Growth is the cornerstone of business success no matter the industry you work in, and with Google Maps marketing services, the sky’s the limit!