When it comes to the factors which can influence your local SEO, the most important thing you need to pay attention to is your Google’s My Business Profile. By getting a better rank on local searches, your products will be seen by more users in your area. In this guide, we will explain how to improve your local ranking on Google with Google My Business.
The importance of having a good rank for local searches
Even if your company does business with international clients, it’s still a good idea to develop a strong base of users in your local area. This is especially true for smaller businesses and new companies. It may take a bit of time to get your footing, and relying on local customers can be a steady source of income for your business. Over the past two years, we have also seen how the complex logistics of distribution and supply chains can get disrupted. Companies that invested in local SEO were able to weather the storm much better than those that only relied on long-distance customers.
Another important feature is getting your business listed on Google’s map pack, which can also be done through the My Business profile. Google will offer users a map that displays the top three nearest results when searching for local businesses. You’ll need to have a good SEO strategy to achieve a high rank in Google’s results. You can partner with web design and SEO optimization experts to get your website to the top of SERPs. Getting your business listed on the map pack is the best way to let users in your area find your business. This is essential for businesses that offer services or rely on in-person purchases.
Here is how to improve your local ranking on Google with Google My Business in 6 easy steps:
1. Configure and optimize your Google Business Profile
The first thing you need to do is sign into the Google account you used to set up the Business Profile. Creating a Google Business Profile is easy; however, your business might already be listed. You can search your business and claim the listing if it has already been created or create a new one if it doesn’t exist.
Once that is done, you can go to the dashboard and update the information on your profile. When it comes to your visibility in local searches, the best way to boost your online presence is to optimize your Google My Business listing. Ensure that all the information is up to date, and fill in all of your business information. Pay special attention to making the NAP (name, address, phone number) information consistent across all online listings. When describing your business, use relevant keywords that users are likely to look up.
2. Boost your Google My Business profile with reviews
Positive reviews serve a double purpose; they can influence customers and Google’s algorithm.
- Before contacting a business, many users first look up their reviews. Negative experiences of your previous customers can potentially turn away prospective customers. On the other hand, if you have positive reviews on your Google Business profile, they can be the push users need before deciding to do business with you.
- Reviews also play an essential role when Google decides which businesses to recommend to users. Google even has instructions for creating links for customer reviews. Share that link with your customers, and ask them to leave you a review.
3. Add photos to your Google My Business Profile
An important step in making your Business profile appealing to viewers is to upload as many photos and videos as possible.
- This will inform users what your business is about. The more information you provide users, the easier it will be for them to decide they want to do business with you.
- The photos can pop up for users doing local searches, even when they aren’t looking up your business. The images can then lead users back to your business.
- Get Google’s algorithm to take notice of your business.
4. Work on your on-page local SEO
You can also do a lot to boost your local SEO on your website. Google takes into account many traditional SEO techniques, like having dedicated local pages and keywords that are focused on the local area. If your business has offices in multiple cities, make sure to have separate landing pages for each one. You can also include videos from your business YouTube account. Since Google owns YouTube, they will recommend your website if their algorithms notice the increased engagement.
5. Build off-page citations for your business
Building citations on as many online places as you can is an often overlooked optimization technique that can improve your local ranking on Google with Google My Business. However, all of these citations need to have the same NAP as you have in your Google Business Profile. There are many websites that have citations for local businesses. You can also research to see if there are any forums dedicated to your line of work where you could also post a citation.
6. Other local SEO boosting techniques
Of course, we also have to mention the importance of having your business listed on social media platforms. Many people are starting to perform local business searches on social media, and if your business isn’t listed, you’ll lose out on customers. Another important off-page SEO tactic that is important for local searches is building backlinks on authoritative websites. Building a network of links takes a lot of time, but it can be well worth the effort. Alternatively, you can find a professional SEO package that includes backlink building to help you speed up the process.
In conclusion
Although many factors can affect your standing in local search results, the most important one is your Google Business Profile. Thankfully, once you learn how to improve your local ranking on Google with Google My Business, users from your area will have no problem finding your business.
