Google Maps ranking factors
Google Maps ranking factors are all related to a location, both yours and the searcher’s. According to Google’s documentation, the three main local ranking factors are :
- Relevance — how much your business matches the user’s query.
- Distance — how close you are to the search user.
- Prominence — how well-known and well-liked the business is.
Local ranking factors and the Vicinity update
They called it the “December 2021 core update.” In December 2021, Google confirmed that they had rolled out a massive local engine update. They called it the “December 2021 core update.” The Vicinity update was the most significant local search algorithm update in the past five years, causing a major shift in the relative importance of the three core ranking factors. The distance factor has become more important than in the past. Before the update, listings that were better optimized could easily outperform those that were actually closer to the searcher. As for now, this is hardly possible.
Google has started testing a new local pack layout in SERPs, along with the Vicinity update. A wider block with a map on the right and three local pack results on the left may be seen.
How did the Vicinity update affect local SEO ranking factors?
Relevance factor
Relevance is probably the easiest factor to explain. How relevant a business is to the query. The recent update has made it so that having an exact match keyword in your business name is not as important as it used to be. The most important thing for your business listing seems to be the category and subcategories.
Say, I google pub Melbourne .
The only result in the local pack that includes the word “pub” in the name is now featured.
Distance factor
But with a little creativity, you can definitely reduce the impact it has on your training. Distance is the only factor you cannot influence, but you can reduce the impact it has on your training with a little creativity. Your business is in a specific location and cannot be moved. Nor can you force users to search for it from a particular location.
The Vicinity update means that distance is now more important than ever. You can see in the screenshot below that a listing that is not filled out well can still appear in the local pack if it is located close to the searcher.
No ratings, reviews, prices. No nothing. Even though the snippet was not very informative, it appeared in the search engine results page because of its location.
Why is this possible? Google is trying to show users the closest places to their desired destination without making them walk too far. All for the sake of people’s comfort.
Prominence factor
Prominence is the most important ranking factor, but it is also the most difficult to pin down. The Vicinity update has had some impact here, too.
Google says that how well-known a business is, both offline and online, is what determines how prominently it will show up in search results. Google Maps uses your company’s website information, such as organic positions, GMB reviews, ratings, and backlinks, to determine your prominence.
If you want to find something in another city you’re planning to visit, you can see the power of prominence.
1. Add your business to Google Maps
If you want to show up in Google Maps search results, you need to be listed on Google Maps. You will need to go to Google Maps and type your business name into the search bar.
If you cannot find any information about your business, you can use the Add a missing place option.
A message will appear asking you to fill in basic information about your business such as opening hours, category, and location.
Once you’re done, click Send . Your application will be reviewed and you will be notified by email if it is approved.
2. Add your business to Google My Business and optimize the listing
You don’t need a GMB listing to rank on Google Maps, but it can help. But in fact, you do, as GMB does matter a lot when it comes to local ranking factors :
If you want to list your business on Google Maps, you can do so as soon as you add your business. To claim a business on Google Maps, click “Claim this business” in the pop-up.
You will be directed to the Google Business Profile page where you can input information about your company once you take this action.
The rule for optimizing your GMB listing is simple: carefully fill out every line and section you see. Or read our comprehensive guide on optimization for Google My Business listings.
In conclusion, your business name should be exactly the same as your legal name without any extra keywords or phrases.
3. Get more reviews
I talked about how reviews affect your ranking on Google Maps and in the local pack earlier. Of course, I mean positive reviews. How do you get them? The most important thing you can do to increase the number of reviews your business gets is to encourage your clients to leave them. There are a few ways to get feedback from your customers. You can launch a social media campaign, offer a discount, or email them directly to ask their opinion on your business and ask them to rate you.
By the way, reviews have their own ranking factors (bet you have seen how Google pushes some of them to the Most Relevant section):
- Review score. And sometimes Google even goes beyond the star rating. Some SEOs have reported on Google’s sentiment analysis experiments.
- Review quantity. The more reviews you have — the better.
- Keywords in the review text. Your reviews are considered better if they contain relevant keywords.
You should try to get many reviews for your business, and make sure that these reviews include relevant keywords. Consider asking for reviews of specific products or services to encourage customers to use needed keywords.
4. Optimize your website
You don’t need a website to appear on Google Maps, but having one can improve your performance.
Add local keywords
To improve your website’s ranking in local search results, include local keywords on your site. The following keywords will allow Google to see your relevance to a certain location.
As a general rule, you can improve your landing pages by adding the name of the city, state, or country where your business is located. In New York, the best coffee is found at small, independent cafes. For example, the best coffee in New York is found at small, independent cafes. You may also want to try optimizing your keywords for “near me” searches.
5. Use Local Business Schema
org. This is why structured data is so important: it helps Google and other search engines understand the content on your website so they can surface it more effectively in search results.
Businesses can use Local Schema to improve their content’s crawlability and indexing by adding additional code.
Local business schema covers many of the same business details captured in a Google Business Profile. Google will naturally cross-reference the local business schema and the Google Business Profile.
If Google can easily verify your business’s location, it is more likely to appear prominently in Google Maps.
6. Embed The Google Map On Your Contact Us Page
There is no evidence to suggest that embedding a Google Map in your website will influence your ranking in Google Maps, but it is reasonable to believe that this is Google’s preferred format.
Google is successful in providing searchers with a consistent user experience, which is something that any business looking to please customers should strive for.
7. Mine And Mind Your Reviews
Any business can create a listing on the website, ensure its basic business information is up to date, and post plenty of relevant, local content.
Customer reviews are a very important factor in determining where a local business will show up in Google Maps.
Google pays attention to the number of reviews a business has as well as how active the business is in responding to those reviews, regardless of whether the reviews are positive or negative.
customer service.
Reviews left on a business’s Google Business Profile will be given more weight when determining that business’s ranking on Google Maps.
Think about actively requesting customer feedback soon after you provide a product or service, when the customer’s experience is likely to be positive.
There are services available to automate review requests once certain customer actions have been completed, for example, an appointment or a payment. These services also provide a way to manage reviews from multiple sources through a central dashboard.
8. Update Your Local Listings/Citations With Your NAP
The three most important pieces of directional information for your business are your Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP). This information should be consistent across your website and other online listings.
Your NAP (name, address, phone number) needs to be the same across all your marketing platforms for both Google and your potential customers.
These references to your business from third-party sites are also called citations.
To check that your NAP is up to date, you can search for your business name and see where your business details appear.
Update your directory and website information as needed.
9. Build Local Backlinks
Backlinks are when other websites link to your website. This is effective for your NAP strategy, because you want local, relevant websites to link to your primary website pages.
Links from other websites can help improve the reputation of your business, both in terms of your local community and in terms of the products and services you offer.
If you list your business in local directories, be sure to put it in the right category. Some directories let you choose a category for your business.
Ideally, Google will follow and recognize the source of the link to your content when it is linked to your website.
10. Engage With Your Community
Google looks at how active a business is within its community to determine its local presence and authority.
Companies that are seen working with local organizations (such as Chambers of Commerce, charities, or sports groups), sponsoring local events, or partnering with other companies are considered to be part of the community.
Engagement refers to actions taken to connect with others, such as promoting content related to events or partnering with other organizations. It also includes physically engaging with people, which may result in being mentioned or linked in local news stories or other publications.
11. Pay Attention To The SERPs And The Long Tail
If you want to improve your web presence in a specific location, you should track your progress by checking your ranking in Google Maps and regular search results pages (SERPs) for the keywords you want to be found for.
You can search on Google without being signed in to an account and in Incognito Mode to see your ranking, or you can use a rank monitoring tool that lets you specifically filter out Map rankings.
Some things to keep in mind when you are thinking about which keywords to follow are if the keywords are local identifiers or qualifying keywords. Examples of these kinds of keywords are “near me,” “best,” and “affordable.” This way, you will be able to get more specific results, like “auto body shops near me,” “best auto body shop in Barrie,” or “affordable auto body work.”
Long tail keyword phrases consisting of 3-5 keywords are often more beneficial to focus on than shorter, more competitive phrases. This is because, although they may have less local search volume, when you add them all up they can be significant.
If you have built up your business’s local authority, you will eventually be able to rank well for short-tail keywords.
Put Your Business On The Google Map
Take your list of local businesses and put them on a map.
When trying to establish your authority and expertise online, you should act in the same way you would in the real world. However, it might take longer than you expect, just like any normal relationship.
Google favors businesses that answer customers’ questions effectively, offer great products and services, are involved in their local community, get positive reviews from customers, and always deliver excellent customer service.
