Improve Your Google Maps Ranking

by | Mar 25, 2023 | SEO Blog

How to Improve Your Google Maps Ranking

Just so you know, doing this right brought me so much business I had to turn off my Google My Business Profile.

As business owners, we all know that appearing at the top of Google search results is crucial for success. But did you know that your ranking on Google Maps is just as important? 

With 86% of people searching for local businesses on Google Maps, it’s essential to optimize your business listing to appear at the top.

Also, on Google there are on average 99,000 searches a second. The latest data shows that Google processes over 99,000 searches every single second, or 8.5 billion each day. With more searches on mobile devices you must participate by using and optimizing your Google My Business Profile, and setting up an optimized website.

In this article, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive guide on how to rank higher on Google Maps. We’ll cover everything from optimizing your Google My Business listing to acquiring more customer reviews.

Claim and Verify Your Google My Business Listing

The first step to ranking higher on Google Maps is to claim and verify your Google My Business listing. This process is straightforward, and it only takes a few minutes. You’ll need to provide your business information, including your name, address, phone number, and website.

Once you’ve claimed your listing, you’ll need to verify it. Google will send you a postcard to your business address with a verification code. Once you’ve received the postcard, enter the code into your Google My Business account to complete the verification process.

Optimize Your Google My Business Listing

Once you’ve verified your Google My Business listing, it’s time to optimize it. Here are some best practices for optimizing your listing:

  • Choose the right categories: Selecting the right categories for your business is crucial for ranking higher on Google Maps. Be as specific as possible and choose categories that accurately describe your business.
  • Add photos: Adding photos to your listing is a great way to showcase your business. Be sure to add high-quality photos that accurately represent your business. You also want to GEOTAG your photos either by taking them with a cellphone with the location data on, or by adding the digital location data to the photo with this free tool https://tool.geoimgr.com/ .
  • Include business hours: Adding your business hours to your listing is essential. Make sure to update your hours during holidays and special events.
  • Make your business more prominent online. You start by building out social media channels like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest for your business.
  • Register your business address with online directories, and local online directories. Things like Yellow Pages, Yelp, Bing, Nextdoor, see more in the backlinks notes section.
  • Respond to customer reviews: Responding to customer reviews shows that you value your customers’ feedback. It also helps to improve your ranking on Google Maps.Acquire More Customer Reviews. How do you acquire more Google Reviews? Read this guide.

Customer reviews play a significant role in your Google Maps ranking. The more positive reviews you have, the higher your business will appear in search results. Here are some tips for acquiring more customer reviews:

  • Ask for reviews: Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for reviews. You can ask them in person or email them.
  • Make it easy for customers to leave a review: Provide your customers with a direct link to your Google My Business listing to make it easy for them to leave a review.
  • Respond to reviews: Responding to both positive and negative reviews shows that you value your customers’ feedback. It also helps to improve your ranking on Google Maps.

    Build Citations and Backlinks

Citations and backlinks are essential for improving your Google Maps ranking. Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on other websites.

Here is a list of sites with High DA you can build links from.

Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. Here are some tips for building citations and backlinks:

  • List your business in local directories: Listing your business in local directories like Yelp and Yellow Pages is a great way to build citations.
  • Guest post on relevant websites: Guest posting on relevant websites is an excellent way to build backlinks.
  • Sponsor local events: Sponsoring local events is another way to build citations and backlinks.Use Local SEO Best Practices

Finally, it’s essential to use local SEO best practices to improve your Google Maps ranking. Here are some tips:

  • Include your city and state in your website content.
  • Use location-based keywords in your website content.
  • Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
  • Use schema markup to help Google understand your website content.

Ranking higher on Google Maps is crucial for success as a local business. By claiming and verifying your Google My Business listing, optimizing your listing. Then when you also optimize a website for Google Search, Voice Search, and Local SEO you get much more free organic traffic.

If you need help just contact us we are happy to get you ranking fast, and make sure it lasts.