Rank in Google Maps listings by these perfect tips. This blog assist you in being discovered by new clients, standing out from competition, and generating more business—all for free.
However, these advantages are actually only possible if your listing is highly visible, and just because your company is listed in a certain location does not guarantee that Google will give it a certain ranking for searches in that location.

When it comes to showing intent to visit a location, Google Maps is the preferred navigation app for 67% of users, according to study. In addition to that, the top three listings on Google Maps, if applicable, will also appear in the standard Google Search results, which is another benefit of ranking on Google Maps. The third advantage of ranking higher on Google Maps is that the actions you take to rank higher will increase the quality of your listing and provide more avenues for customers to interact with your company. 

Voice Search & Google Maps business listings

Being one of the most promising 2023 Digital Marketing Trends, & with 8 billion digital voice assistants in use worldwide by 2023, This means that more and more customers will conduct local searches by voice every day. And, given that the “near me” keyword is one of the most commonly utilized complementing keywords to search phrases, you should be aware of the significance of optimizing your Google Listing account.

It may be difficult for business owners to find out how to make the greatest use of all of the available technologies but Voice Listings collects and optimizes your company’s information for the most popular voice search and map platforms. This allows clients to find your company on Alexa, Siri, Google Maps, Waze, and other platforms.

This is a very helping & practical video you can watch on “How To Optimize Your Business For Voice Search (Does Google My Business Help?)“

Follow the link to know more about Meta Jan 3 updates. Facebook Updates Explained!

How To Rank Higher On Google Maps Listing

In this blog, we assume you already have an existing & claimed Google My Business account (your business is listed on Google Maps) since you’re looking for how to optimize it, because you can’t do any of the other steps in this guide if your listing is not claimed. However, if your don’t have an account yet, head over to this article: How to Create & Claim your Google My Business Account.

Now let’s walk through how do you get your business listing to show up higher in Google Maps. Just like how there are on-page and off-page optimizations for local website SEO, there are on-listing and off-listing optimizations for business listing SEO. To enhance your ranking on Google Maps Listing, we’ll divide our strategies into two primary categories:

Actions to Rank in Google Maps & Increase Your Listing Visibility.

1- Add information to your Google Maps business listing and regularly update key information

Your listing will appear higher in search results the more details it has.
Use a local phone number with your location’s area code and update your business hours to show Google that you are active and, consequently, trustworthy, which will improve your ranking. Include keywords in your company description to help your Google Maps listing rank not only for searches including your business name, but also for searches for products and services. Choose the category that best describes your company’s primary product. If any additional categories apply, mark them as secondary.
Business Info on GMB includes your:
Business name
Phone number
Address
Website (linking to your homepage)
Hours of operation

2- Weed out duplicate listings

Google will penalize firms who have several phone numbers or locations listed for the same genuine business. Remove duplicate listings and unnecessary material to guarantee your one real listing ranks.

The visibility of either listing will be impacted at any given moment if you don’t get red of listing duplicates at the same address. Duplicates are generally overlooked for a long time and can effectively split your ranking power, especially if both listings receive evaluations. Local Falcon scans can occasionally detect duplicates and produce strange-looking results that alternate between high and poor ranks because the system returns the stronger or weaker rating listing at various places.

3- Get Google reviews & respond to them

Before doing business with a company, 90% of your consumers are online reading reviews. Google is also aware that customer purchases are heavily influenced by reviews.

Positive word-of-mouth from your own clients may help you gain more notoriety than anything else. Positive and negative comments about your listing are both possible. To generate as many 5-star reviews as you can is your company’s responsibility.

4- Add photos to your Google Maps business listing

The credibility of business listings with photographs is increased twofold, and they can generate 35% more hits. For starters, it indicates that you are an active listing deserving of appearing higher in search results. Additionally, Google is starting to include photographs in local search results as its photo-recognition technology develops. Thirdly, as customers enjoy looking at photographs, which is in line with the SEO maxim that Google likes what users like. It will also display a generic map graphic if you don’t contribute photos to your listing.

5- Consistently post to your Google Maps business listing

Similar to social networking, you can rank in Google Maps updates & broaden your client base. This might be anything from a general notice to special discounts or deals for certain seasons to blog entries and more!
Google does not expressly mention that it improves ranks, but many other local SEO experts have tried this and found that the answer is really affirmative!
The more interactions your listing receives, much as the response to the question about Reviews and Replies above, the more Google will trust the listing. Interactions are very certainly increased by interesting Google Posts.

6- Set up a Q&A section

You may also ask anybody to submit inquiries regarding your company listing using the GMB feature. These questions can be answered by both company owners and members of the general public. Stay updated on new inquiries and respond as quickly as you can. As a result, there is less chance that the question may be answered falsely by someone else. Additionally, the more actively you respond to these queries, the more of a ranking signal you are providing to Google.

Actions to take with your website

7- Optimize your website

Again, the more information Google knows about your company, the higher it may rank. That is why it is critical to ensure that your site is correctly optimized and has all of the key information for which you wish to be discovered.
The following are the primary considerations for your website:
– Ensure that Google has indexed your website.
– The title of the Home Page must include the company name, major keywords, and location.
– Make sure your home page has enough text content.
– Make a distinct page for each service.
– Include your physical address and phone number on your website.

8- Add local keywords to your website

Utilizing your website to target local search is the second strategy for improving your Google Maps rating. It goes without saying that this will boost the position of your website in Google Search, but it may also have an impact on how well your Google Maps business listing is ranked. Incorporate location-based keywords throughout your site’s primary pages, including the homepage, about us, contact us, products and services, and even blog entries. Don’t only use these keywords in the page titles; also use them in the headers, body text, image tags, captions, and URLs.

9- Embed a Google map on your website

Embed a Google map on your website, like most companies do on the contact us page, to increase your ranking on Google Maps. You may also inform Google that your company is actually located where it claims it is by embedding a Google map. Use the same address as your Google Maps company listing.

Search Google Maps for your company name to integrate a Google Map on your website. In your listing, click “Share” and then the “Embed a map” link. Copy and paste the URL into your contact page.

Directory Listings & Citations

The quantity and quality of information Google can gather about your company directly affects how well-positioned it appears in Google Maps. Google will rank you better in its results the more information you provide it, the more information it can serve its searchers, and the more “comfortable” it will be doing so.
Citation and directory sites can therefore still benefit your Google My Business results even though they occasionally reside on subpar domains and no actual humans may be viewing them.