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How Do I Get My Business to the Top of Google’s Local Listings in 2019?
A Guide to Optimizing Your Google My Business Page
Think about the last time you used a search engine to find a local business. After you hit “search,” be honest—did you go past the first page of results? If you’re like 75 percent of consumers, you’re probably shaking your head no. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that when small or local business owners come to Blue Corona, they are concerned with how their business ranks in the local listings (otherwise known as Google’s local pack).
The good news is that there’s a sure way for you to get your company to rank at the top of the local pack, and the secret lies in your Google My Business Page (GMB). Below you’ll find a guide to help you get the most out of your GMB page and the local business listings.
Or, you can just have the experts doctor your GMB listing for you! Get in touch with us and we’d be happy to do a FREE analysis of your GMP page and your website.
Did your Google My Business listing get suspended? Read this blog on GMB suspensions »
What Is Google’s Local Pack? (Hint: It’s the Same Thing as Google Maps)
When a consumer enters a query with local intent (meaning you Google something “near me,” “in [CITY],” or “local”) Googles spits out the top local listings in the are in what’s called a local pack, or Google Map listing:
OK, Great. How Do I Get My Business to the Top of the Local Pack?
With Local SEO.
Local SEO: Your Ticket to More Local Business
What is local SEO? Local SEO helps businesses promote themselves online to local customers within a geographic area. The difference between local SEO and organic SEO is the intent. Thanks to advanced machine learning and AI, Google can pick out search queries that have “local intent,” meaning the searcher wants search engine results with local companies.
Google is the most used search engine on the web, period. The exact percentage of users is difficult to pin down, but it’s usually cited as somewhere between 66 – 80%, depending on the study. This means that if you want your business to be seen by more people, you should actively work to increase your ranking on Google. Using Local SEO best practices to break into the Local Pack is a great way to accomplish this.
The Local Pack listing alone accounts for approximately 44% of clicks by users of Google, primarily with traffic to the business name and the website link. Local SEO and organic search are tied together, so the better your organic SEO strategy is, the better your Local SEO standing should be.
The first thing you should do, if you haven’t already, is claim your Google My Business page:
A correctly claimed and optimized Google My Business page will allow you to show up in the “Local Pack” of search results, which are based on the following factors:
- Your website structure. By making sure your site has an XML map, title tags, meta descriptions, and other site structure essentials, you make it easier for your site to be crawled. In turn, this will result in improved rankings and an easier time of getting into the local pack.
- Your website’s mobile-friendliness Mobile search isn’t going anywhere. On the contrary, 52.2% of all worldwide online traffic is conducted on a mobile device. Make sure your local SEO is mobile friendly.
- Your website’s association with local directories. When these sites update online business listings, you want to make sure your own site’s information is correct and you’re in good standing with users. Local searchers love using directories to find services near them, so be sure to use them to your advantage.
- Your proximity to the searcher. Local means local. The closer you are to the search, the higher chance you have of appearing in the local pack.
- Social media profiles with consistent name, address, and phone number (NAP). Yes, your social media profiles help local SEO, as long as they’re regularly updated and have the correct information.
- An optimized Google My Business page (see next section for details).
Your Google My Business Ranking and Local Search SEO
You should have already claimed your Google My Business Page. If not, go do that now—I’ll wait.
Claimed your GMB page? Good, your company’s better for it; not only will claiming and optimizing your GMB page help your standings in the local pack, but it’ll also help your potential clients:
- See your location. When a searcher wants “pizza near me”, that isn’t the same as “pizza in my greater metropolitan area.” By having your location listed, you can attract local customers. When you’re close to the searcher you rank higher on Google maps as well as the in search results.
- Find your contact details quickly. When someone wants an answer or service fast, the last thing they want to do is spend precious time looking for your phone number. Earn leads faster by displaying the correct phone number.
- See your business hours. Don’t lose out on searchers who scroll past your Google My Business listing because your hours of operation aren’t listed! Let them know you’re open for business!
- Discover reviews written by others. Searchers trust reviews, so put your best foot forward and show off what your past customers have to say about you.
- Find directions to you. Your GMB Page makes it easy for searchers to get directions directly to your business with the click of a button.
- See photos of your business and your work. Searchers trust built out profiles with professional looking logos, photos, and videos more than those Google My Business profiles without them.
- See your posts and offers. Google posts were implemented in 2017, meaning small businesses could promote their specials, coupons, offers, and news with both existing and new customers.
The Basics of Google My Business Page Optimization and Google Maps SEO
With all of this information in one place, potential clients will get a better gauge of what you do. So how can you make sure your GMB page is working at its full potential? By doing Google local business listing optimization and Google Maps SEO. To do that, check and make sure you’re following Google’s guidelines for representing your business:
We’ve come up with a list of guidelines for local businesses to maintain high quality information on Google. Following these guidelines helps avoid common problems, including changes to your information, or, in some cases, removal of your business information from Google. For best results using Google My Business:
- Represent your business as it’s consistently represented and recognized in the real world across signage, stationery, and other branding.
- Make sure your address and/or service area is accurate and precise.
- Choose the fewest number of categories it takes to describe your overall core business.
Brands, organizations, artists, and other online-only businesses aren’t eligible for Google My Business listings.
Name
Your name should reflect your business’ real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers. Accurately representing your business name helps customers find your business online.
Add additional details like address and/or service area, business hours, and category in the other sections of your business information.
- Your name should directly reflect your business’ real-world name as used on your signage, website, stationary, and as known to customers.
- The name on your Google My Business profile must match the name on your signage.
- Including unnecessary information like your target service area, services, products, or keywords is not permitted.
For example, if you were creating a listing for a 24-hour coffee shop in downtown San Francisco called Shelly’s Coffee, you would enter that business information as:
- Business name: Shelly’s Coffee
- Address: 3247 Poppy Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
- Hours: Open 24 hours
- Category: Coffee shop
Including unnecessary information in your business name is not permitted, and could result in your listing being suspended. Refer to the specific examples below to determine what you can and can’t include in your business name.
Custom names
To pick a unique short name, try to use words that represent your business name, brand, location, or other description. For example, you can use your business name with your location, like your city or neighborhood.
Keep your short name simple so you can easily promote it, and customers can remember it.
Address — Businesses that Serve Customers at their Office
Use a precise, accurate address and/or service area to describe your business location. P.O. boxes or mailboxes located at remote locations are not acceptable.
- You must display permanent signage outside of your office.
- Your business license must have the same address as your office location.
- You cannot share office space with other companies unless you have individual suites within the office that are staffed by separate personnel.
Address — Businesses that Do Not Serve Customers at Their Office
- If your business serves customers within a specific service area, you can list only your service area on your Google My Business listing.
- Service-area businesses that only serve customers at their locations should have one page for that encompasses both the central office or location and a designated service area.
- If your business rents a temporary, “virtual” office at a different address from your primary business, do not create a page for that location unless it is staffed during your normal business hours by your business staff.
- One receptionist that handles all calls for all businesses listed at that address does not count; it must be staffed by your own staff.
- Google has not explicitly released or confirmed the requirements for a service area business’ address.
- An address is still often required to verify your Google My Business profile.
- Setting your business up as a service area business is a relatively new Google My Business feature. Google recommends that you set up your Google My Business profile this way if you don’t serve customers at your office.
- We don’t yet know how local pack rankings will be affected by switching from showing your physical location to showing your service area only.
Website and phone
Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, or provide one website that represents your individual business location.
- Use a local phone number instead of central, call center helpline number whenever possible.
- Do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or “refer” users to landing pages or phone numbers other than those of the actual business, including pages created on social media sites.
- Your name should directly reflect your business’ real-world name as used on your signage, website, stationary, and as known to customers.
- The name on your Google My Business profile must match the name on your signage.
- Including unnecessary information like your target service area, services, products, or keywords is not permitted.
- The phone number must be under the direct control of the business.
- Additional phone numbers can be used on Google My Business websites and other local surfaces.
Business hours
- Provide your regular customer-facing hours of operation. If applicable, you may use your current seasonal hours as your regular hours. You may also specify special hours for particular days, like holidays or special events.
- You should not provide hours if your location is open by appointment only.
Business Description
- Your business description should be honest, relevant, and useful.
- Your business description should not: be misleading; include low-quality content; include links; contain private or confidential information or request any.
Categories
Categories help your customers find accurate, specific results for services they’re interested in. In order to keep your business information accurate and live, make sure that you:
- Use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business from the provided list.
- The main category is the one that shows up most frequently, so to select the highest priority/most accurate category as the main category
- Choose categories that are as specific as possible, but representative of your main business.
- Do not use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business.
- Do not use categories that pertain to other businesses that are nearby or related, such as a business physically contained within your business or an entity that contains your business.
To beef up your Google Maps listing even MORE, you’ll need:
- Regular Google+ posts
- All business locations accounted for with connected GMB pages
- Consistent NAP (see more below)
- A large number of 4 and 5-star reviews (see more below)
- If you offer online booking, add the “booking button” feature
Below, I’ll get into cleaning up your NAP and how to generate more reviews.
Clean Up Your NAP
NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number. This information will be vital to users because it is the easiest way to determine if a business is local! However, businesses that have been around for a while may not have consistent NAP data across the internet. Make sure it’s consistent across every listing and you’ll have better Local SEO. Google pulls the NAP listings from many online directories, sources, and citations (including your social media profiles) when determining which companies to list for geo-specific searches. Long story short, a consistent NAP is crucial.
Get Reviews
For small businesses, online reviews are one of the best ways to get genuine customer feedback and an online version of “word of mouth” referral. Additionally, online reviews can improve your website’s visibility in search engine results for online searches with specific locations (also known as local search engine optimization). Once you correctly claim and optimize your Google My Business page, your company will stand a better chance of showing up in the Local Pack. How can you get reviews for your business? Learn more here.
GMB Frequently Asked Questions
- Can a home office be used as a Google My Business location? Yes, but if your business displays a physical location there must be prominent signage outside the home demonstrating that a business is located at the address and your business license must reference the address used for the Google My Business profile.
- What constitutes signage? It must be highly visible and permanent – not something that can easily be removed. The signage must include your business name/logo.
Need Help with Google My Business SEO, Your Google Maps Ranking, or Getting Your Local Business on the First Page of Search Results?
We’ve got your back. At Blue Corona, we’re well aware of the many moving parts to Local SEO—and those parts change on the regular. We approach Local SEO the same way we approach SEO, by making data-driven decisions to turn your website, and its ranking, into your strongest marketing asset. By evaluating the status of your current Local SEO and then creating a plan of attack, our content marketing specialists can take your website’s ranking to another level.
Ready to change your local rank for the better? Chat with us today to learn how Local SEO can help your company grow faster!
About The Author: Blue Corona's Editorial Staff is determined to help you increase your leads and sales, optimize your marketing costs, and differentiate your brand by passing on our tribal knowledge. The team vigilantly stays on top of the latest in digital marketing, bringing you the top insights with expert commentary. Want to see something on our blog you haven't seen yet? Shoot us an email and our marketing team will get to work.
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The information on this website is for informational purposes only; it is deemed accurate but not guaranteed. It does not constitute professional advice. All information is subject to change at any time without notice. Contact us for complete details.
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