Google Maps website ranking is an essential part of your local SEO strategy. It’s not just another way for your company to be seen – 67% of consumers use maps to look up businesses and prefer venues ranked in the top 3-4 results, so positioning on Google Maps is a great way to attract new clients.
The Google Maps search algorithm is based on several elements, including relevance, distance, and prominence. However, the most important factor is to make sure that you have a mobile-friendly and relevant website to drive traffic from your Google Maps business listing. Searchers expect to see a page that looks consistent across devices and screen sizes, works consistently, and loads quickly. If your business listing takes users to a site that requires pinching and zooming or is hard to navigate on mobile, your rankings will suffer.
Another important factor to consider is your website’s link equity. Having a number of quality links from high-quality websites will help your business rank higher on Google Maps. This can be done by making sure that the corresponding keywords are used on your webpages, creating local content, and getting links from other authoritative sites in your niche.
Lastly, your GMB’s main and additional categories play an important role in ranking on Google Maps. To improve your ranking, be sure to set the primary category that best fits your business and keep the additional ones as minimal as possible. Use tools like Localo to find out which category your competitors are using and use this information as guidance when choosing the main category for your business.
In addition to the main category, it’s also a good idea to include your brand name in your title and optimize your description with relevant keywords that consumers are searching for. Also, make sure to include a phone number and address on your listing. This helps Google validate the accuracy of your business’s information, which is a key factor for achieving a higher ranking on Maps. In addition, you can also boost your listing by adding photos and ensuring that your business’s hours are correct and up-to-date. These updates will increase your chances of displaying in the Local Pack and driving more clicks from Google Maps. With these tips, you can start improving your Google Maps website ranking in no time. Just remember that the process of optimizing for Google Maps is a bit different from traditional SEO, but don’t let this discourage you. With a little effort, you can get the most out of your Google Maps listing.