For local businesses, leveraging Google Maps is super important for attracting customers. Statistics indicate that consumers frequently turn to maps when searching for nearby businesses, making it a crucial channel for visibility. When users type local keywords into the search engine (Google), they are often drawn to navigate directly to Google Maps.
How to be visible on Google Maps? Of course it’s best to trust the professionals and order Local SEO in Calgary from Effortless marketing because achieving visibility on Maps requires deep understanding and optimizing for Google’s ranking algorithms.
Google Maps uses algorithms that prioritize displaying the closest businesses to the user’s location. Despite this, it’s common to see businesses farther away ranking higher than nearby establishments. Why does this discrepancy occur? While proximity plays a role in rankings, it’s just one of many factors considered by Google’s algorithms.
Considering the importance of rankings, businesses strive to secure a position within the top three results on Google Maps. To achieve this coveted placement, businesses must meet certain criteria:
✅ A fully completed Google Business Profile is the first and easiest step towards enhancing your visibility. Yet, many businesses overlook the importance of thoroughly filling out their company information. We come across this deficiency often dealing with local small businesses.
✅ Keep your business profile up-to-date: Maintaining an updated business profile is key. Google rewards active profiles with higher positions in Maps. Regularly posting updates such as company news, blog articles, new photos or videos, and special offers can boost your ranking. Our experience shows us that many local businesses are not even aware of the fact that posting is available.
✅ Reviews: Positive reviews play a crucial role in Google’s ranking algorithm. Aim to get as many positive reviews as possible, and actively engage with both positive and negative feedback. Responding to reviews demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction. Specifying a location in a review response would be great for higher ranking on Google Maps. It should be natural.
✅ Embed a Google Map on your website: Incorporating a Google map on your website’s contact page can positively impact your ranking on Google Maps. This is Google’s preferred format and can improve your visibility to potential customers. If you don’t have that done contact your webmaster and set that up as soon as possible.
✅ Leveraging Schema for Local Business. When structuring content, especially business details, adhering to standardization is key for search engine optimization. This need for consistency has led to the development of Schema, also known as micro markup. Local Schema specifically enables businesses to encapsulate their content in code, facilitating easier crawling and indexing by Google and other search engines.
Local Schema contains many of the same business details found in Google’s business profile, which Google automatically links to. By utilizing Schema markup, businesses make it simpler for Google to verify their location. As a result, their likelihood of appearing prominently on Google Maps increases. This underscores the importance of implementing Local Schema to enhance visibility and optimize search engine rankings. Most businesses and even some SEO specialists omit this so make sure your business is using Schema markup. This could be your advantage.
✅ Optimizing for local keywords. To rank highly in Google Maps, your website should incorporate relevant local keywords. While some may believe that simply repeating a city name multiple times will boost rankings, this approach often leads to spamming and offers no real benefit. While including the city name is important, there are many other local keywords to consider, such as region names, streets, or even specific buildings.
For instance, the keyword “massage Calgary” has a high search volume at 6600 searches per month, but it’s also highly competitive. Focusing solely on this keyword may not yield the desired results in Google Maps rankings. Instead, targeting a more specific keyword like “massage in Calgary NW” with 480 monthly searches and lower competition can be more effective. Long-tail keywords, which include additional qualifiers, offer better chances of ranking higher in Google Maps, provided they are integrated into the website’s content.
The key is to approach keyword research professionally, rather than randomly inserting them or relying solely on city names. Consider incorporating local identifiers like “near me,” “best,” and “affordable” to further refine your keyword strategy.
Keyword collection requires careful attention, as establishing local authority takes time. With a well-crafted strategy focusing on both short and long-tail keywords, your business can gradually achieve higher rankings in Google Maps.
✅ Boosting your website’s presence in local rankings and directories. Having a strong presence on various web resources with reviews and descriptions of local businesses is also important for signaling to Google and improving your website’s ranking in Maps. Consistency across all platforms regarding your business’s name, address, and phone number also known as NAP, is essential to build trust and credibility.
✅ Local backlinks: Backlinks remain a cornerstone of search engine ranking, and this holds true for Google Maps optimization. Quality is of extreme importance when it comes to link-building. To rank higher in Google Maps, one has to focus on acquiring a substantial number of local backlinks.
However, not all backlinks are created equal. Simply obtaining no-follow links from directories is no longer effective. Instead, prioritize professional link-building strategies and naturally acquire links from reputable local blogs and other high-traffic web resources. By emphasizing local link-building efforts, you can strengthen your website’s authority and improve its visibility in Google Maps.
✅ Engaging with local organizations for community integration. Businesses that actively participate in local service organizations, sponsor community events, or collaborate with other prominent local businesses who are perceived as integral parts of the community.
Engagement may include various activities, such as publishing and promoting related content such as event announcements and partner pages linked to these organizations. Additionally, physical participation in community events and potential mentions or links in local news or publications further solidify a business’s connection to the community. This level of involvement signals to Google Maps that the business is deeply rooted and thriving within the local area.
✅ Website optimization for enhanced Google maps ranking. Optimizing your website for search engine visibility directly impacts your ranking in Google Maps. One factor is the speed of your site for mobile devices, which is vital for both SEO and Google Maps rankings. Since most local searches occur on mobile devices, Google prioritizes businesses with fast-loading mobile sites.
In addition to mobile site speed, there are many other factors that influence both search engine positions and Google Maps rankings. These include:
- Technical validity and security: HTTPS, no doubles, sitemap, cyclic links.
- Search keywords and their proper implementation.
- Quality and constantly updated content.
- Quality link mass both external and internal.
- Behavioral factors: bounce rate, the number of visits to the site and the time that the user is on the page.
It cannot be said that by performing one or two actions you can get to the TOP 1. To rank and stay in high positions in Google Maps and not only there but in Google Search, you need a comprehensive and professional approach.
Order Local SEO at Effortless marketing company Calgary today!
