Do You Want Your Local Business to Rank Higher on Google?

If you want to get your local business to rank higher on Google, then you should be leveraging Google My Business and Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO), also known as Local SEO. Since Google owns 92% of the search engine marketing worldwide, we’re going to focus on Google Maps. Have you ever searched for a business and found a similar map?

‍

Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) leverages an assortment of techniques and strategic methods to help get your local business to rank higher on Google and gain visibility in your local map pack. If you can follow these techniques to a tee, you have an extremely strong chance of getting your local business to rank higher on Google and make it to one of the three top spots in the box you see above.

Why Focus on Getting Your Local Business to Rank Higher on Google?

Google Maps is the most popular mapping app in the United States on several fronts. However, why should you even care? What does this even mean in the grand scheme? It means that a very large amount of people use Google Maps to find local businesses and you should care because you should want your local business to rank on higher on Google to capitalize on that search volume. There are a lot of people who are likely searching for your businesses, and you should be at the forefront when those people are looking for your products or services.

Have You Heard of Google My Business (GMB)?

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool created by Google that allows local businesses to present their address, contact information, products or services to the local community. Additionally, businesses can use Google My Business (GMB) to analyze how people are engaging with your business when searching on Google. And if you weren't aware, Google My Business houses platforms such as Google Places for Business, Google Listings, and Google+ Business Pages. Google My Business allows you to generate customer reviews, respond to those reviews, add a variety of photos, and update customers with critical business information. The local community can learn a lot about your business in a single Google search, which enhances your website and showcases the significance in getting your business to rank higher on Google by leveraging Google My Business (GMB) marketing.

Here's the information you can display or optimize for Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

• Address
• Areas/Locations Served
• Business Category or Industry
• Business Description
• Business Hours
• Business Name
• Phone Number
• Photos
• Posts
• Product and Services
• Reviews
• Website

As you can see, there's quite a bit of information you can add, optimize, or respond to. All of this can help you get your local business to rank higher on Google. Do you have Google My Business (GMB) setup? Check out the Google My Business page and get to ranking your business on Google now. Make sure to follow Google’s guidelines when setting up your Google My Business (GMB) account. You'll also need to verify your Google My Business (GMB) account by receiving a postcard to the actual business address. Unfortunately, P.O. Boxes won't work.

What Do I Do With My Google My Business (GMB) Account?

If you want your local business to rank higher on Google, the very first thing you need to do is to verify the accuracy of your business information on your Google My Business (GMB) account, on your website, and all other directories that list your business. Simply do a Google search of your business if you're unsure how to find the directories. Make sure to attempt a few variations of your business name, and you'll find them. Verifying your business information is accurate on all platforms and directories is mission-critical to helping Google, and customers, recognize and understand that they’re looking at the right business. You also want to ensure that you’ve completed your Google My Business (GMB) account as much as possible.

Google My Business (GMB) Posting

Now that you've verified all of your business profiles, we can get started with posting. A Google My Business (GMB) post is similar to a social media post. Create new posts every few days with fresh content. Google My Business (GMB) marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) performs a key role as you want to both engage and inform your audience about critical facets of your business that they will likely search for. By adding that material to your Google My Business (GMB) post, you’ll augment the likelihood of getting your local business to rank higher on Google and found during a Google search. Don’t go overboard with keywords, but be cognizant when writing your Google My Business (GMB) posts. Search engines won't pickup what you don't write. You need to ensure that your keywords are in your posts, so they can be picked up by Google.

Google My Business (GMB) Reviews

‍

The more 5-star reviews, the better. Reviews will help you to establish a solid local presence through customer engagement with your local business. You'll want to respond to all reviews, good or bad. In the event you receive a bad review, shake it off. We all make mistakes or have a bad day. Even customers suffer from these, and occasionally feel it necessary to write a bad review. While it’s not ideal, you'll want to respond in a professional manner and attempt to take the conversation offline. Anything is better than going back and forth with an upset customer in the public eye. If there's any way for you to make it up to the customer, make the attempt.

When writing your responses, don’t write generic messages! Use this as a golden opportunity to mention the appropriate keywords or phrases that make sense for that specific response. Did they just have a new roof installed? Mention the new roof in your response. It won't look unwarranted as it’s relevant to that specific customer and it portrays that they aren’t just a customer like everyone else. Including keywords in your review responses will highly influence your Google My Business (GMB) marketing and help get your local business to rank higher on Google.

Conclusion

These are a few pro tips that will help you enhance your local presence through Google My Business (GMB) marketing. By working on these three Google My Business (GMB) tactics, you’re miles ahead of the game in terms of local search engine optimization (SEO) and not very far from getting your local business to rank higher on Google. Start today and watch the results!