Google Maps website ranking is a top priority for many local businesses. Having a strong online presence on Google Maps can significantly boost your business’s visibility and bring in more customers. The good news is that optimizing your Google Maps website ranking is not as difficult as it may seem. This guide will walk you through the basics of Google Maps website ranking and provide some tips to help you improve your local SEO game.
Google is constantly changing its algorithms and it can be difficult to keep up with. However, it’s important to know what factors are currently driving your Google Maps website ranking so you can optimize accordingly. The following are some of the most influential factors in Google Maps website ranking:
NAP (name, address, phone number) consistency is one of the biggest Google Maps website ranking factors. This is because search engines want to make sure that the information that they display on their results page is accurate and consistent across all platforms. This includes your Google My Business profile, your website, and all other third-party business listings you have on platforms like Yelp and Facebook.
Another big factor is the quantity and quality of your reviews. Having a high number of positive reviews can help you rank higher on Google maps. This is because searchers trust businesses with more positive reviews, and having a lot of reviews will help you build credibility and trustworthiness.
You should also make sure that your Google My Business profile is 100% complete. This includes adding photos, your hours of operation, services you offer, and more. Studies show that fully-completed profiles get 7 times more results from Google searches than those that are incomplete.
Structured data is also a crucial aspect of Google Maps website ranking. Including schema on your website can help search engines better understand the information on your site and thus trust it more. Structured data can include things like your address, opening hours, social media profiles, and more.
Lastly, building local citations is one of the most important things you can do to improve your Google Maps website ranking. This is because citations can help search engines determine the credibility of your website and how well it matches up to other similar websites in your niche.
Google Maps is a huge part of the local SEO landscape and it can be a huge benefit to your business if you’re able to rank highly in the “Map Pack.” The “Map Pack” is a set of three highlighted Google-Maps-based search results that appear above organic search results on the SERP. To increase your chances of being featured in the “Map Pack,” you need to optimize your Google My Business profile and ensure that all your other online listings are optimized. The good news is that this can be a time-consuming process, but it’s one that will pay off in the long run. With Semrush’s Listing Management tool, you can automate the process of optimizing and keeping track of your Google Maps profile and all other online listings.