A well-optimized Google Maps website ranking is one of the most important aspects of local SEO, allowing businesses to get more visibility in search results and increase their conversion rate. In fact, a recent study revealed that 67% of potential customers choose a venue with an excellent Google Maps rank and don’t even check venues outside the top3. To improve your company’s Google Maps website ranking, here are 10 simple tips you can try.
Use local keywords throughout your website. The more local keywords you use, the higher your chances are of appearing in the local pack. Make sure you include them in your business name, homepage, product/service pages, and contact page. You can also add them to image alt text, meta tags, and internal links.
Embedding a Google map on your website is an easy way to prove that your location is accurate and help you rank higher on Google Maps. This is especially helpful if you are in a competitive industry, where the accuracy of your location can make or break your Google Maps ranking.
The more reputable websites your business has a citation from, the higher your Google Maps rank will be. However, you have to be careful not to overdo it with citations. Too many citations can be detrimental to your ranking, while too few citations may not have an impact at all. It’s also a good idea to monitor the consistency of your citations and keep an eye out for any volatility (similar to that in the stock market).
Reviews are a key component in Google Maps rankings, so it’s important to proactively encourage customers to leave you reviews. In addition to being a ranking factor, reviews also help build trust and credibility for your business. And remember, you can encourage reviews even if you run paid ads on Google Maps.
Google is all about showing the most relevant search results to its users. To do this, it needs to understand the user’s intent and context. One of the ways it does this is by analyzing the user’s search history, the places they’ve visited, and other factors. This helps it determine if you are the best match for their query.
Another factor that influences your search engine optimization is the relevance of your content. It’s important to optimize your website’s on-page SEO (metadata and code you control) to ensure it matches the keyword and topic of a user’s query. You can do this by using tools such as Yoast.
It’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest changes in Google’s algorithms. This will allow you to adapt your strategy to make the most of it. You can do this by frequently checking your SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for your targeted keywords, or using a tool such as Semrush to track your local rankings over time. In addition, you should research new longtail keywords to see if they have an impact on your Google Maps rank.