Local businesses can easily reach potential customers on Google through various efforts, primarily focusing on local SEO. You can invest in Google Maps SEO to become more visible locally on Google. To start implementing SEO strategies for maps, you can open a Gmail account and complete your Google My Business listing.
When a user searches for a service on Google Maps, it displays the highest quality businesses in the vicinity. By investing in areas such as location marking, contact information, business and service images, and managing customer reviews, you can stand out prominently on the maps. If you accurately mark your location, provide correct contact information, and manage customer reviews effectively, you can reach the top on Google Maps.
What is SEO in Google Maps?
Dentist Search Map Result
Google Maps SEO, a set of efforts that ensure your company or brand appears at the top of location-based results. For example, let’s say you want to find the ideal hair salon. You would likely prefer it to be both the nearest and the highest-rated salon. In this regard, Google will recommend places with successful map SEO to people searching for hair salons that are close to their location.
What are the differences between Google Maps SEO and traditional SEO?
Google Harita SEO and traditional SEO have some differences. Traditional SEO involves optimization efforts aimed at increasing the organic visibility of searches for products, brands, services, and locations on search engines.
Traditional SEO practices encompass well-written, high-quality, non-intrusive content created with accurate keywords. Informative and trustworthy content on your website can make customers prefer your business more.
Google Maps SEO is the display of nearby and high-quality businesses on the map when you search for any service you physically need to locate in the search engine.
As seen, traditional SEO generally helps you climb to the top in the virtual world with informative content, whereas map SEO will help you move up higher in the virtual world, allowing your brand to attract real-world, non-virtual customers.
How can you get to the top on Google Maps?
To rank first on Google Maps, the most important step is to verify your location. For this, you should enter your physical address accurately and mark the location of your business. You should also select your business category correctly and include your business phone number and website address if applicable. Additionally, one of the most important factors for customers is your working days and hours.
Which days are you closed? What hours will you be providing services? Are you open on holidays? These are all important questions and hold great significance for customers.
Another essential element you need to be one of the first businesses potential customers see is ratings and reviews.
No one wants to risk their money by trying a business with low ratings or no previous ratings and reviews. Therefore, you can request ratings and reviews from satisfied customers who have visited you.
You can also ask them to specify what aspects they were satisfied with in their reviews, helping potential customers determine if they will find what they are looking for.
This will increase interest in your business and your visibility. In short, you can climb higher in the maps with the ratings and reviews you receive.
Responding to reviews is also an effective strategy. You should thank those who leave positive reviews and be respectful and constructive in response to negative reviews, avoiding aggressive attitudes.
According to research, businesses that receive negative reviews but respond by providing explanations, stating what they will pay attention to in the future, and apologizing for the experience have gained points in the eyes of customers and increased their preference, despite the negative feedback.
Remember that maintaining the trust of your regular customers who visit your business regularly and ensuring that potential customers choose you depends on your attention, care, and courtesy.
Another tactic you can apply to rank higher in Maps is to add photos of your business. Adding photos of the exterior and interior of your business, your products or services, and photos that best represent you will make it easier for your customers to find your location and trust you.
One important thing to note about photos is that they should be in PNG or JPG format and high resolution. Additionally, adding your emblem or logo can be beneficial.
Therefore, make sure that these are also high-resolution and professional. Regardless of the photos you add, they should be between 5 and 10 KB in size.
If you have a website, you should include your website address in the relevant place when creating your Google Maps business listing. Linking your website URL to your Google My Business page will make your entire local SEO strategy more successful.
Your location and credibility in local search results will be greatly affected by the website you link to your Google Maps page.
Google uses your website, relevant company field relationships, your online presence, and keyword targeting, among other factors, to establish critical connections with your Google Maps ranking, all of which affect your ranking.
If you don’t have a website, we recommend creating one as soon as possible and clearly describing your services in a concise and original manner. Be sure to add the URL of your created website to your Google My Business page.
What Should Be Considered When Doing Google My Business SEO?
When doing Google Maps SEO, there are several important considerations to keep in mind. Firstly, if you are a local guide, you should avoid leaving reviews for your own business. If you do leave a review, your account may be suspended, and once suspended, it cannot be reinstated.
Furthermore, even if you consider leaving reviews from fake accounts, keep in mind that account names, profile pictures, IP addresses, and many other characteristics can be checked. Reviewers without profile pictures often give the impression of being fake, and non-Turkish names can also raise suspicion.
Additionally, using the same IP address for reviews is considered SPAM and won’t be of any help to your business. Therefore, if you want to gather reviews, refrain from leaving reviews on your own business using different accounts. Instead, encourage genuine customers to leave reviews whenever possible.
What Factors Influence Google Maps Ranking?
Here are the factors that influence Google Maps rankings and how Google determines the top positions in maps, as discussed below:
- Distance: For every person searching on Google Maps, the primary criterion is usually distance. If a user performs a search without specifying their location, the results are listed based on information relevant to their current location.
- Relevance Level: Businesses that provide better descriptions and explanations tend to rank higher. Presenting your business information in a more detailed and compelling way compared to your competitors can elevate your visibility.
- Reviews and Ratings: For example, consider three businesses that have provided all the necessary information. In this case, the business with higher ratings and more positive reviews will typically be listed higher. If the ratings are equal, the ranking may be determined by the number of reviews.
- Business Hours: For instance, if your competitor offers services until 6:00 PM and you operate until 8:00 PM, you may be prioritized in the listings after 6:00 PM when your competitor’s business is closed.
Tools You Can Use for Local SEO
- Google Review Link Generator: A tool for creating review links for Google Maps for free.
- Grid My Business: Used to see your ranking on Google Maps. You can open a premium account starting at $29 per month.
- Semrush Listing Management Tool: This local SEO tool allows you to monitor your business’s ranking, customer reviews, your ranking in the target city, and the current local search performance in your target cities.
- Growthbar (Chrome Extension): With prices starting at $29 per month, this local SEO tool provides access to a comprehensive SEO tool.
- Surfer Local: You can conduct a free review of your business profile and identify any deficiencies.
Resources:
Marian Volkwyn https://rockcontent.com/blog/google-maps-seo/
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