In an age where the majority of customers turn to Google Maps to find the next restaurant to dine at, the next café to enjoy their coffee, the next hotel to stay at, the best bakery in the area, the ideal activity, etc., visibility and high ranking in Google's local searches is essential.
Google Maps has evolved from a powerful navigation tool to a powerful platform for discovering local businesses, making it vital for businesses to track and optimise their rankings. So we'll look at why rankings matter, the factors that influence them, and a detailed guide on how to use 4 different tools (free and paid) to track and improve your business's position on Google Maps.
Understanding the Google Maps ranking
Business rankings on Google Maps are determined by a number of factors, such as relevance, distance and customer satisfaction level. After all, isn't that what Google wants? To suggest to its users the best possible choice based on what they are looking for. This is why the local ranking factors are not random. They are designed to help users find the best results for their searches. Η understanding of how the local ranking algorithm works is the first step in optimising the visibility of your business. We have already mentioned them in detail most important ranking factors in local SEO. But let's look at the two most important ones below.
The 2 main factors that influence the ranking in Google Maps
The role of Google My Business
The role of the Google My Business (GMB) is instrumental in ranking businesses on Google Maps. Through optimizing the GMB listing, a business can enhance its visibility in local search by providing accurate information, quality photos and receiving positive reviews from customers. This not only improves the user experience but also significantly contributes to improving the business' ranking in Google Maps results, making it more visible to potential customers. If you don't already have a company profile on GMB, read the Google Maps business listing guide.
The role of google reviewers
The role of the Google reviews and online reviews is crucial to a business's ranking on Google Maps. These reviews act as an indicator of the quality and trust that a business has, directly affecting its visibility on Google Maps and its likelihood of being the final choice of the user. Because it's not just about ranking high in the search results but also about being visited and increase your clientele. Positive reviews can improve a business's chances of appearing in the top positions of search results, and frequent interaction and response to reviews on the part of the business shows a strong commitment to quality service, reinforcing its positive image to the public. Besides, according to the largest study conducted by Moz, the 96% users will read the reviews before they decide to visit you.
Top tools for tracking rankings on Google Maps
Tracking your Google Maps ranking is essential to understanding your local SEO performance and making informed decisions to improve it. Various tools, from Google itself to third-party platforms, provide valuable information about your rankings.
Google My Business Insights
Google My Business Insights offers a powerful analytics tool that provides valuable data on how customers interact with your business listing on Google. It tracks how customers find your business, either through direct searches (typing your name or address) or through other searches (looking for a category, product or service you offer). insights also reveals the actions that customers do when they find your listing, such as a visit to your website, navigation instructions or a call to your business. In addition, it provides data on the geographic location of customers requesting directions, which can help you better understand your local market. By analyzing this information, businesses can make informed decisions about how optimise their Google My Business listing and improve their local SEO strategy, ensuring that you become more and more visible online.
Here, of course, it is not so easy to read the information, which is why the Mail-Marketing.gr we provide tables with live all information available in Google My Business so you can quickly see the performance of the business. Where there you can clearly see the performance of our service. And we hope all the comparative numbers are green like our partner's!
SEMrush
SEMrush is a comprehensive digital marketing toolkit, but it does a great job in the local SEO space, offering businesses a powerful suite of tools to improve their visibility in local search results, including Google Maps. With features such as registration management tool, SEMrush facilitates accurate business listings on a myriad of platforms, ensuring that your business information is consistent and easily tracked by potential customers. In addition, the monitoring tool location allows accurate tracking of your site's ranking for local search queries, allowing businesses to effectively tailor their SEO strategies to target local audiences. Whether optimizing for specific geographic locations or analyzing the local competitive landscape, SEMrush provides invaluable insights that can help boost a business's local search presence, making it an essential component of any local SEO campaign.
Cost : Basic 20€/month - Premium 40€/month (Free trial)
BrightLocal
BrightLocal is a comprehensive local SEO tool designed to help businesses and marketing professionals boost their online visibility and improve their ranking in local search results. Offering a range of features such as local search ranking tracking, reputation management, backlink building and business information synchronization services, BrightLocal provides valuable information and data with the ability to optimize digital footprint in search engines and local directories. The user-friendly interface and detailed reports make it an essential tool for anyone who wants to improve their local SEO efforts, track their performance in real-time, and outperform competitors in the ever-competitive digital landscape.
Cost : 39€ - 59€/month – (Free trial)
Moz Local
Moz Local is a powerful tool from the legend in SEO in general, Moz. It is designed to help businesses improve their presence and visibility in local searches. It simplifies the management of your local business listings in key directories, search engines and apps, ensuring that your business information is accurate, consistent and visible wherever your customers search. By automating the process of submitting and updating your business information to major platforms like Google, Facebook and Yelp, Moz Local eliminates the tedious task of manually managing listings. Plus, it provides valuable insights into your listing's performance, including tracking and review management features, making it easier for businesses to improve their online reputation and attract more local customers. Moz Local is an essential tool for any business looking to boost their local SEO strategy and dominate local search results.
Cost : 14€ - 33€/month – (Free trial)
Why use a tool
Using a tool for local SEO is critical for any business seeking to increase its visibility in local internet searches. These tools help to accurately capture and optimize the business's data on various platforms, such as Google My Business and social media, boosting its presence in local search results. In addition, they offer important analytics and data that can be used to further improve marketing and SEO strategies, ensuring that the business remains competitive and achieves a better user experience, leading to increased customer and turnover.
How to improve your Google Maps ranking
Improving your Google Maps ranking requires a multi-faceted approach, from optimising your GMB listing to dealing with customer reviews and improving your overall local SEO strategy.
Google My Business listings optimization
Optimizing the company profile in Google My Business is a critical element in enhancing the visibility of the business in local search and Google Maps. By carefully filling in and updating business details such as address, hours of operation (here not only on GMB but on all platforms where hours are listed), photos and services you offer, as well as actively interacting with customer reviews, you can significantly improve your appearance in search results, attract more customers and increase user trust in your business.
Local search optimization
Or else "Local SEO". It refers to the process of strategically optimising the visibility of your business in local internet searches. In a world where geographic location plays a critical role in product and service searches, local SEO helps you stand out in search engine results by enhancing accessibility to customers located in the same geographic area. Through optimizing Google My Business listing, incorporating local keywords into website content, and managing local reviews and ratings, businesses can become more attractive and accessible to local customers, increasing their local visibility and enhancing their overall online presence.
Review management and customer interaction
Managing reviews and interacting with customers are key elements for the success of any business in the digital age. Positive reviews can increase trust in the business and attract new customers, while professional response to negative reviews shows dedication to quality service and improvement. Actively interacting with customers through social media, responding to reviews and offering customized solutions strengthens the relationship between business and customers, adding value and creating a positive image for your brand.
Monitoring and improving the ranking of your local business on Google Maps is therefore a continuous process that can significantly affect your visibility in the eyes of users and customer acquisition. By understanding the factors that influence rankings, using the right tracking tools and implementing targeted improvement strategies, you can boost your online presence and attract more customers.
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