20 Tips to Rank Higher on Google Maps
According to the subject matter experts over at runrex.com, given that your Google Maps listing will help you get discovered by new customers, while also helping you stand out above competitors, and that it is free, it should be a major marketing tool for your business. This article will look to highlight 20 tips that will help you rank higher on Google Maps.
Get your business added to Google Maps
Before you even start thinking about getting ranked higher, you need to get a Google Maps listing if you don’t have one. Head over to the excellent guttulus.com for a detailed breakdown of how you can create a Google Maps listing, keeping in mind that anyone in the world can add a Google Maps listing.
Claim your Google Maps business listing
Next up on the road to getting your business to rank higher on Google Maps is to claim your listing. If you just create your listing without claiming it, you will only be able to provide limited information such as the name, category, and location of your business. When you claim your listing, then as discussed over at runrex.com, you will be able to add more details, and the more information about your business your listing contains, the higher it will rank on Google Maps.
Create and claim your Google My Business
As is revealed in discussions over at guttulus.com, you can’t claim your Google Maps listing if you don’t have a Google My Business account. Once you claim your GMB account, then claiming your Google Maps listing is pretty straightforward.
Add adequate information to your Google Maps listing
Once you have claimed your Google Maps listing, and you have a GMB account linked to it as mentioned above, to ensure that it ranks as high as possible, you will need to add as much information as you can. Remember, the more information you add, the higher it will rank.
Use a consistent name and address
The consistency of your information across the web is how Google Maps will measure your trustworthiness; and as you can imagine, only the most trusted business will be ranked highly. Therefore, if you are to earn Google Maps’ trust and rank higher, you should use a consistent name and address across all your online properties from your GMB to your website, Yelp listing, Facebook profile, and so forth.
Use a local phone number
Given that toll-free numbers are frequently used for fraud, as explained over at runrex.com, if you want to rank higher on Google Maps, then you should use a local phone number containing the area code of your location, which will also help verify to searchers that you are located in that area.
Update your hours
Given that Google Maps listings inform users if a given business is open, closed, or is closing or opening soon, it is important to keep your business hours updated according to the gurus over at guttulus.com. This will show Google Maps that you are not only active but are also to be trusted, helping you rank higher.
Include both your main and tracked numbers
Also, if you use call tracking, you should use a tracked number for your primary business phone number and your main number as your secondary number. This, as per discussions over at runrex.com, will help you get the most out of your calls coming in through the tracked line, and with the main number still in your listing, it will allow Google to match it with the one on your website, helping you rank higher on Google Maps.
Include a business description
Another tip that will help you rank higher on Google Maps is including a business description onto your Google Maps business listing. This will help users to know what your business is about, as well as compel them to check out your business, allowing you to improve your rankings.
Your description should match your brand
When writing your business description on your Google Maps listing, if you want to rank higher, you should make sure that you write it in a tone that matches that of your brand. This will make it easier for both Google and searchers to connect your brand with your listing, helping you to rank higher on Google Maps.
Include keywords in your description
Sticking to your business description, another tip that will help you rank higher on Google Maps is making sure that you include relevant keywords in your description. This, as per discussions on the same over at guttulus.com, will help you rank not just for searches that contain your business name, but also those that contain your products or services as well.
Categorize your business properly
Getting your business category spot on is yet another thing that will help you rank higher on Google Maps. Choose a category the best represents your business’ core offering for your primary category as explained over at runrex.com and choose any others that apply as your secondary categories.
Add photos to your Google Maps listing
Adding photos to your Google Maps listing not only indicates that you are active, but it also appeals to consumers, who love photos. Therefore, as is covered over at guttulus.com, if you want to rank higher on Google Maps, make sure that you upload high-quality and engaging photos to your Google Maps business listing.
Get and add Google reviews
Business listings with positive reviews will also rank higher on Google Maps, which is why another tip to help your rankings is to ask your customers for reviews. You should also make sure that you are offering excellent services to encourage positive reviews.
Respond to reviews
While we would all love positive reviews all the time, sometimes you might get some negative reviews. One way through which you can prevent negative reviews from damaging your Google Maps rankings is responding to them and letting customers know that you have acknowledged their issue and are working to fix the same. This will mitigate or even reverse the effects of negative reviews, helping you rank higher.
Remove duplicate listings
As is highlighted over at runrex.com, Google will penalize businesses with multiple phone numbers or locations, which is why you should move to remove any duplicate listings as well as redundant information if you want to rank higher on Google Maps.
Post regularly to your Google Maps business listing
Given that you can publish posts that appear right on your Google Maps business listing, as is the case for Facebook as covered over at guttulus.com, this is something you should do consistently if you want to rank higher. This is because this will show Google how active you are and that you are taking a proactive approach to manage your listing, leading to your listing getting ranked higher on Google Maps.
Ensure that your website is responsive
On top of optimizing your listing, optimizing certain elements of your website will also help you rank higher. One of these elements is your website responsiveness, where you must make sure your website is responsive if you want to rank higher on Google Maps. As per the gurus over at runrex.com, given that most Google searches occur on mobile devices if your website isn’t responsive, your rankings on Google Maps will suffer.
Incorporate local keywords onto your website
Targeting your website for local search will also help you rank higher on Google Maps. This is because such a move will help you rank higher on Google Search, which will have an indirect impact on your Google Maps rankings, helping you achieve a higher ranking.
Embed a Google map on your website
Finally, yet another tip that will help you rank higher on Google Maps is embedding a Google map onto your website. This will help Google verify that your business is located where your Google Maps listing says it is, which in turn will improve your rankings.
As always, if you are looking for more information or help on the above topic, then remember that the highly-rated runrex.com and guttulus.com have you covered.