October 25, 2024 in Website

Google Maps & Local Rankings

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Local businesses have so many options for marketing their brand, and there are numerous channels for gaining visibility. Other than social media and content marketing, the go-to resource for local customers is Google Maps.

In fact, Google Maps carries more weight when it comes to local businesses because that is how the majority of the local audience looks for brands that cater to their needs. Whether you’re a restaurant, repair shop, or any other service provider operating locally, your Google Maps rating is going to play a significant role in establishing your credibility within the local community.

Recently various trends have shown that the majority of local consumers check Google ratings and reviews of a place before doing any business with them. This alone is a huge testament to how much of an impact Google Maps have on the rankings of local businesses. The chances of a lead turning into conversion are significantly higher if you rank well on Google Maps.

Google Maps Marketing: What is it?

The impact of Google Maps ranking is so significant that a whole segment of marketing campaigns is dedicated to it. Google Maps marketing is a strategy for optimizing a local business’ online presence on Google. This helps a great deal with the visibility of a new local business online.

How does it work, you ask?

Well, when you go on google to do a search that has local intent, such as “hair salons in the Bronx” or “sushi places near me,” you will see a list of Google Maps places in order of their ranking. So, the goal for local businesses is to be among the three that show up as a result of this search. People trust those businesses easily when they have been ranked higher by Google and also have good reviews from other local customers.

Why Local Businesses Need to Prioritize Google Maps Marketing?

The biggest selling point of a high Google Maps ranking is the immense brand visibility that you get. This advantage proves monumental for businesses that operate locally and compete for the attention of the same target audience.

Did you know that Google Maps is one of the most frequently used apps for smartphone users today? Yes, that’s true, and as a locally operating business, you need to make sure that your business looks well on Google Maps with high rankings so more and more local customers visit you or purchase from you.

The majority of US consumers check online Google ratings before doing any kind of business with local entities. Whether it’s a new restaurant, bar, clothing brand, or gift shop, your potential customers are highly likely to check your Google Maps ratings before considering interacting with you.

Therefore, if you’re a new and coming local business that hopes to get visibility in the market, you need to have a Google Maps marketing strategy that allows you to rank higher. Let’s learn more about what makes a strong Google Maps marketing strategy below!

How to Set Up Your Business for High Google Maps Ranking?

Before you begin to panic over how to get your local business up on Google Maps and ensure that it has high ratings, you first need to understand all the factors that determine the ranking of a business on Google Maps. There are a few elements that you’ll need to get right before you can shoot for that high-ranking shot on Google Maps.

It is important to note that local rankings work very differently from regular search engine optimization services and search engine algorithms. Since the searches are specific to a location, different factors come into play to determine the ranking of search results.

Once you know all the ingredients of this recipe, it will become easy for you to build and maintain a high ranking on Google Maps. We are listing all the things that go into creating a strong Google Maps profile that helps with local rankings. In total, there are eight signals that help establish a good Google Maps ranking. They include:

  1. Google My Business signals
  2. Review signals
  3. On-page signals
  4. Link signals
  5. Personalization
  6. Citation signals
  7. Behavioral signals
  8. Social signals

The local algorithm of Google Maps takes into account all the signals listed above in order to rank the search results. These 8 signals are analyzed based on the following three areas:

  • Proximity to the Searcher: How close is a business in proximity to the searcher?
  • Local Prominence and Credibility: The authority or popularity of the business in the locality.
  • Relevance to the Search: How relevant the business is to the searcher’s exact query.

All the above-mentioned factors come into play when analyzing the eight signals on Google Maps. All of these come together to rank a local business on the search results on Google Maps. Out of all these, Google My Business or GMB is the primary factor that has an impact on all the rest.




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