Google Maps is a key tool for consumers to find local products and services. It’s downloaded 25.5 million times by US smartphone users per month and has a clear edge over competitors in its category. So, ensuring your clients’ Google Maps profiles are properly optimized and ranking highly for a variety of keywords is one of the most important things you can do to grow their business.
Getting your client’s business listed among the top 3 Google Maps listings (or ‘Maps Pack’) can significantly improve online reach, sign-ups and conversions. Moreover, appearing in the Maps Pack can increase footfall at physical stores, making it the most sought-after ranking goal for many businesses.
The good news is that, as an agency, you can help your clients to rank well in the Google Maps results through a combination of local SEO tactics. Besides optimizing your client’s GBP listing, you can enhance its visibility through off-page strategies like acquiring reviews and building local citations. Here are some of the key tips to help your clients’ Maps rankings in 2022:
1. Ensure that NAP data matches your clients’ website and other online promotional materials.
NAP data refers to the name, address, phone number of a business. Having NAP data that exactly matches those published on your clients’ website and other online promotional materials is a crucial factor for Google to consider when ranking their Maps profile. Trying to cram keywords into your clients’ NAP data or having multiple Google Maps profiles for the same location will negatively impact their ranking.
2. Invest in professional photos for their Google Maps profiles.
Google prioritizes Google My Business profiles that have high-quality, relevant images. This is because photos not only make a listing more attractive and recognizable, but they also reinforce the location of a business to search engines. Therefore, it’s crucial that you take the time to create and upload quality images for your clients’ Google My Business profiles.
3. Encourage customers to leave reviews for your clients’ businesses.
Google relies heavily on customer feedback to determine the relevance of a business in its search results. It pays close attention to how often a business receives reviews, whether they are positive or negative, and how quickly it responds to those reviews.
4. Get backlinks from relevant local websites.
Gaining links from relevant local websites, such as community organizations, tourism sites, newspapers or even other businesses within the same area can boost your client’s Maps ranking. This is because the links from these websites act as proof to Google that your client’s business is associated with a specific location.
5. Monitor your clients’ Google Maps rankings over time.
Keeping up with Google’s latest local search algorithm changes is vital to ensuring your clients rank highly in their respective industries. Google has recently made some major changes to its algorithm, which have impacted how Maps rankings are determined. Using an SEO tool that allows you to track and analyze the performance of your clients’ Google Maps listings (like Semrush’s Listing Management) can help you pinpoint areas where their listing positions could be improved.