With more and more people using Google Maps to find local businesses and services, it’s important that you optimize your business listings for SEO. The good news is that optimizing for Google Maps isn’t as difficult as it might seem. Read on to learn four tips that will help you get your business’s listing to rank higher in Google Maps.
First and foremost, make sure your business’s Google Maps profile is verified. This will improve your chances of showing up in localized searches as well as standard Google searches. Verification is easy, and you can do it through your dashboard or by contacting the Google support team directly.
A well-optimized business description will also boost your Google Maps ranking, as this will provide searchers with more information about your company. It’s important that your description doesn’t sound overly stuffed with keywords, though. Google may penalize your listing if it suspects that you’re trying to spam the system by stuffing it with keywords.
It’s also important that your company’s name and NAP (name, address, phone number) are consistent across all platforms. This includes your website, social media profiles, and Google Maps profile. You can do this by ensuring that all of the names and addresses on your website match those in your GMB profile. You can also use a tool like Nozzle to keep track of your NAP consistency and verify your listings regularly.
Another way to boost your Google Maps ranking is by creating posts on your Google My Business page. This will allow you to share updates with your audience and engage with potential customers. It will also tell Google that your profile is actively managed, which is a ranking factor in itself.
Lastly, it’s critical that your business has a quality website and social media profiles. Your website should load quickly, and it should function consistently across all devices and screen sizes. It’s also important that your social media profiles are updated regularly and include links to your website.
Prominence is the most difficult and confusing of the three Google Maps ranking factors to understand. However, it’s generally believed that prominence is based on how well-known a company is both offline and online, which includes its website organic rankings, GMB reviews, and social media following. It’s also believed that proximity is still a ranking factor, but the Vicinity update made it more difficult to determine how proximity impacts Maps rankings.
With so many different factors at play, it’s important to stay on top of your Maps rankings and optimize your listings as often as possible. You can do this by manually searching for your keyword or by using a rank monitoring tool to monitor your SERP ranking and see how you’re trending. Keeping up with your Maps rankings will ensure that you’re always one step ahead of the competition, and it will help drive traffic to your website and your physical location. Happy marketing!