Google Maps website ranking is one of the most important aspects of a local business’s online marketing strategy. Whether you’re an established marketing agency or a new start-up, being featured in the Google 3-pack can significantly increase traffic to your website, brand awareness, and customer leads. However, achieving a high Google Maps listing position is not easy. It requires continuous effort and optimizations to maintain a high visibility. In this article, we will discuss 10 tactics/strategies that you can apply to improve your Google Maps website ranking.
Google is continuously trying to filter out spammy results to ensure searchers find the best and most relevant local businesses. A recent update, dubbed the Vicinity update, placed more prominence on proximity as a ranking factor. However, this is just one of many factors that Google maps uses to determine the best business listing for a specific search term.
When someone searches for “marketing agency,” they are most likely looking for a company that can help them grow their business or generate leads. The most likely companies they will contact are those that show up in the top 3 search results on Google Maps. If your marketing agency is not showing up in the top 3 search results on Google, you are missing out on potential customers and revenue daily.
While it is not as pronounced as organic search rankings, optimizing your Google Maps listings is still an important step to take to attract new customers and improve your bottom line. The good news is that if you put in the work, you can easily rank in the top 5-10 for most of your target keywords. To get started, we recommend running our free business listings grader to assess your current visibility in the Google 3-pack.
The first and most obvious tip for improving your Google Maps listing is ensuring that it is complete and accurate. To do so, you can claim your business on Google by searching for it by name and then verifying your physical location with a code on a postcard sent from Google. Completed business profiles are ranked 7 times higher than unclaimed, incomplete listings.
Another way to increase the quality of your Google Maps listing is by updating it with photos and other rich content. This can significantly boost your search visibility and lead to a more trustworthy online reputation.
It is also important to build local citations to improve your Google Maps ranking. Citations are links to your business from other websites that have been added by Google. These can come from third-party directories like Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing, etc. They can also come from industry-specific publications, events, or other reputable websites that list businesses in their categories.
Lastly, it is also important to regularly update your Google Business Profile. This will help you stay up-to-date with any changes in your business or in the local search landscape.
Finally, to improve your Google Maps ranking, you must continually monitor your rankings with a tool like Local Rank Tracker. This will allow you to see how your strategies are working and how they are impacting your Google Maps ranking over time.