Getting ranked in the Local Google Maps 2018 SEO Guide
When you start a business, the first approach you always think of is how to get more and more clients and customers and how to increase user satisfaction and comfort. Your clients should be able to easily locate you and reach out to you. When a user will look out for your business on Google and come across a map for your business, he might want to come to you. A lot of people today rely on Google maps for an easy direction to their destination. Not many people realize the importance of Google Maps SEO. You can utilize this opportunity to make a mark for yourself. You must submit all the necessary details in Google Maps.
Google has made some changes for local listings in SERPs. Google now displays only top 3 businesses when a user searches for any local service providers. It is called a city’s 3-pack. It is very difficult yet important to get your business in your city’s 3-pack. It is very important to put your address correctly on your business page. If not, your listing will appear for some location around your city.
Let us have a look at the 10 most valuable Google Maps ranking factors to keep in mind to get a good and high Google map ranking:
1. Use the main keywords in your Google My Business Name:
Using relevant keywords in your business name can help attract your local user traffic. When you use your main service keyword along with your location, there are more chances that Google might index you. For example, a Miami user is looking the best pizza outlets around him and your company(say your company name is ABC) does the same, you can consider having your Google My Business Name as “ABC PIzza Joint in Miami”.
If you have a high ranking keyword in your business name, Google considers you a business with good web authority and your ranking may gradually increase.It is one of the Google My Business secrets now everyone knows about. You can even change your name, address and phone number on the major platforms based on these keywords to get better ranking.
2. Chose maximum and correct categories for your business:
Chose as many relevant categories as possible so that if not one, then the other may help you rank better.
Google My Business categories are not always an exact match for all the businesses. You might have to choose something close to yours. The best way to do this is to type your main keywords in Google along with the major cities and see what categories come up. Choose those categories as your primary business category. Also, choose as many secondary relatable categories as possible so that your chance of getting a good ranking may increase.
3. Register on local citations:
Your local SEO depends largely on your presence on all the major local citations. Registering your business on local citations results in increased local traffic. Register on your local chamber of commerce website. Some good citation sites are:
- foursquare.com
- mapquest.com
- yelp.com
- yellowpages.com
- angieslist.com
- merchantcircle.com
- yellowbook.com
- manta.com
- superpages.com
- kudzu.com, etc.
Make sure to register on the citation sites that have a good web reputation and are indexed by Google.
4. Fix your on-page issues:
Make sure you regularly keep fixing your on-site issues that come up so that you do not lag behind. Keep your website user interface updated and user-friendly. Make it easy for your user to use and navigate your website. Make your website mobile friendly. The maximum number of people today use mobile for any local search on Google. The web page you link to your Google map listing should have sufficient and relevant content. Make sure your page content has your keywords and images with alt tags and geo-tag. Put links to an authoritative website at the right and relevant keywords. Your major on-page issues may include-
- meta tags
- proper use of keywords
- page url, etc.
There are many tools that can help you analyze your on page issues and fix them. Here will be taking Semrush as an example.
The name, address and phone number(NAP) of your site should be correct at all places throughout the web. Make sure it is consistent throughout. One way of improving your site ranking on Google map listing is avoiding pages with duplicate content. If there are two pages that link to the same page, just copy the content from the page that is not linked to your map listing to the content that is linked. Then you can 301 redirect the old page to the new page. This trick brings in a lot of traffic.
5. Improve your site’s social reputation:
Focus on how to get more and more likes, shares and comments on your social platforms. From the search engine point of view, the site that has more social media presence is better than others. 
You can hire a good and reputed SEO company that will handle your social media presence. You can also get also get increased site traffic with this trick. Some good social media platforms to use are-
- Tumblr, etc
6. Get customer reviews:
A site with good customer reviews is always put at the top of SERPs by Google. The more people click on your website, the more will your web authority increase. Put the link to your Google map listing in your business card, email signatures and other necessary points for your business so that people may visit and reviews your business there. Do not try getting a lot of reviews all at once. Try doing it slowly and naturally so that Google does not consider it spamming.
7. Get press releases for your website:
This way you not only get backlinks but also increased web exposure. When users will see our business name and links in various places, it will develop a good impression on them and you may gradually develop a loyal, satisfied and dedicated customer base.
8. Write guest posts:
Publish guest posts on good websites that have a strong web reputation and put your website links in it. The more your website links will be on the web, more will be your ranking on google. Do not do it too much and too quick because Google might consider it spamming. First go with the initial steps, like submitting your videos, images etc and then do guest posts. Use high ranking keywords in your posts and do not forget to share your posts on various social media platforms.
9. Google domain authority stack:
You can use the backlinks you have put up on various authority pages without getting penalized. This can be done with the help of the Google domain authority stack. This can largely influence your Google maps and organic ranking on Google.
10. Be patient throughout the process:
Nothing good happens overnight. Keep doing your work and using the relevant methods and let the Google ranking come in naturally. There are many off-page and on-page techniques that need to be done to get a good Google reputation and ranking. Keep adding your guest posts on good sites and you will see the outcome gradually.
You can hire a good and experienced SEO company that may help you do all this with a professional approach. This way you may see better results in your site ranking.
