There are a lot of ways to rank high on Google maps but all are not preferred and even not that much effective in improving the rankings. Every single business owner might be aware of the most common step required to start with a local business that is its GMB (Google My Business). GMB plays a vital role in Google Maps Marketing and moreover, affects your online presence on Maps, Google Plus, and much more. GMB is a great way to create a listing of business and claim your existence. But there are more certain things other than GMB listing that are significant to rank your local business generating quality traffic and new leads.
Let us dive into some essential trends you must follow to implement a successful local SEO strategy and Google Maps Marketing.
1. Add Sub Categories to Your GMB
Adding subcategories to your GMB account helps Google to redirect the visitors to your website no matter which type of services they are searching for that you offer. Let us suppose you own an IT company. In this hub, you offer distinct services like Digital marketing services, App development services, and many more. If you have categorized all the services differently on your website and visitors search for a specific service like app development in that area the Google will guide the visitor towards your app development service category.
This wholly means your website will rank on Google searches if you categorize your services on the GMB account. So, dividing Google Map listings for all retailers or departments instantly gives your brand a competitive edge in the local markets.
2. Build Niche Local Business Citations
Before building citations, you need to know what exactly citations are? Basically, it is the data of your business NAP that is the name, address, and phone number and sometimes there can be the URL of your website too.
However, citations are used by Google to ratify your business location. According to Google, citations are like backlinks that are used in organic SEO strategy. Moreover, the number of relevant and authoritative citation sources to your business directly impacts and improves your Google map rankings. This means searching the directories or websites that are relevant to your business or targeted areas can make a way to boost your rankings on Google maps.
So, the relevance factor is of utmost importance and helps to improve your business’s overall location authority.
3. Make Use of Schema Markup in Your Website
Including the NAP on your website is not enough as you need to wrap the address in the language known as Schema Markup Language. This code language is used by Google and many other search engines like Bing, Yahoo as it makes it easy to determine what to highlight within the web pages.
By wrapping the business NAP with the schema, Google and other search engines get the signals that your business is relevant and authoritative and rank your website accordingly.
4. Optimize the Website Homepage
One of the important sections that you need to fill in while Google Map Business Listing is the website URL. Filling the website URL means you are creating a landing page that plays a major role in local SEO strategy. Besides all these, websites that are associated with Google Map Listings directly impact the authority of your business in local searches.
Other key elements that are necessary to optimize on your business homepage are:
- Title Tag
- Description Tag
- NAP
- Onsite Content
5. Build Authoritative Backlinks
If you want your business website to rank high on the search results as well as on Google Maps, you need to create quality and relevant backlinks for your website. Relationships can’t be built instantly but will set up your website for future success. Generating quality backlinks is only possible with the creation of engaging content. So, for your content strategy, start creating the content that engages the visitors and ranks you at the top of search results.
Why do you need to do external linking? Actually, by doing this, you are not benefiting their SEO but you are trying to help yours. Moreover, with backlinks, you are not just building brand awareness but you also build relationships.
But don’t forget that the backlinks you create for your website must be relevant and authorized. Only then your website will rank higher on Google Maps.
Google maps are a great way for small business owners to compete with large businesses within the local areas. Even many of the business owners have found Google maps and local SEO strategies helpful and beneficial for their local businesses. As these are not only meant for growth and success locally but also improves the ranking on search results too. So, taking these trends on board and following them for your business will keep it moving on. However, if you are unable to understand these trends then you can search for a reliable local SEO services company in your area who can help in making the most out of these trends. All the Best!
Image credit: Semrush
