Google Local Maps Ranking

If your business doesn't rank on Google’s Local Maps for the services that you’re offering, there’s sure to be a lot of traffic to your site that you are losing out on. Depending on the niche and the geographic location, the local pack or the spots that show up on Google Map results could be considerably competitive. One of the factors is local ads on Google. You can now set up local ads for Google searches that will increase traffic to your site, increase the number of calls and let people know about your business. Now that’s sure to heat up the competition for a place in the local rankings.
If there is more than one business in the same niche located in close vicinity or even the same building Google will only choose one and the others will be filtered out. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as the search giant the same thing with organic search results too. To add to that a virtual office with no human presence during normal office hours isn’t eligible for Google My Business listing. To put things in perspective, Google had 7 spots on Local Map Rankings prior to 2016, after the Possum update it’s down to 3. So, the question is how do you secure a spot in top 3?

According to Google’s guidelines the 3 factors that contribute to local rankings are:

• Relevance
• Distance
• Prominence

Structured Citations Through Standard NAPW (Name, Address, Phone Number and Website):

Having a consistent NAPW and verifying it is essential. Make sure you own the business listing that shows up against your name. Also, make sure the Name, Address, Phone Number and Website URL are current and up to date. If not, follow the prompts to make necessary changes. Search for your business name in Google and make sure the NAPW is consistent across all other directories where your business is listed. If the information is not consistent across directories, Google might get confused and drop your business names from Local search results. Location: It’s very obvious that shared locations don’t help your business. And relevant results show up in the vicinity of where the search is performed from or the location where the visitor is looking for businesses. It’s easier to track the location of a mobile device than that of a desktop computer.  If your business is being filtered, you will have to make sure your listing has stronger signals and that your GMB listing is unique to win that filter.

Reviews on Google My Business:

Reviews left on the Google business platform are considered trustworthy and are important for your Local SEO strategy. Though there are exceptions, the general trend still remains biased towards positive reviews on Google. It’s natural to trust these reviews as Google is a neutral source of information. Other third-party review sites like Yelp also help customers make up their minds. But a potential visitor would only go to a third-party site if there aren’t enough reviews on Google Local Listing for the business. Did you know people can filter reviews based on ratings? So, in order to increase your CTR ask customers to review your business on Google My Business and make sure they leave good ones. According to Google, more than 60% of organic searches are for local businesses. That’s a significant amount of search traffic. If you haven’t already started creating a strategy to help your business dominate local search results, it’s high time to start right now. If you want to dominate the competition on Google – and turn your SEO campaign into an almost endless source of leads, sales, and revenue – the time to get started is now. Contact us today so we can put our expertise to use for you! Edward Kundahl, Ph.D., M.B.A. CEO and Founding Partner BusinessCreator, Inc. ed@businesscreatorplus.com www.BusinessCreatorPlus.com www.ForLawFirmsOnly.com

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/?p=7824