You see Google Maps suggesting businesses near you all the time and you wonder how your competition got there. You’ve tried to optimize your website, but you just don’t seem to be showing up.
Here are 3 ways to get your local business website to the top of Google Maps (#3 might surprise you)!
1) Setup “Google My Business” Listing
First thing’s first. You have to have “Google My Business” setup properly if you want to show up in Google Maps.
This is where you create and control your Google Maps listing.
Sign up if you haven’t already and make sure that your profile is filled out correctly.
Have you added photos of your work?
Do you have an up-to-date description of your business and services?
The more complete your profile is the more likely you are to rank in the maps section.
Make sure your address and contact information are correct too.
If you don’t have a public physical address, that’s okay too. You can sign up for “Google My Business” with your personal address and request to keep your address private.
If that’s the case, make sure to tell Google that you don’t serve clients at your physical location.
Choose your area by selecting a radius of your current city or by listing out the cities and towns you serve.
Most importantly, don’t forget to add your website so people know where to go to learn more about your services.
2) Use “Google My Business” Tools
This may seem obvious, but “Google My Business” has a lot of features that you probably aren’t using.
Did you know you can share promotions and post to your business listing?
Create posts to let your potential customers know what’s going on in your business and how you can work together.
Set a reminder to follow up with customers and clients asking for feedback in the form of a Google review.
Creating a customizable email template makes this process so much easier. Copy and paste the email, tweak a bit, and hit send. Done!
Google wants to see active users and that means people who are updating and using their platform regularly.
3) Optimize Your Website for Local Keywords
I see this mistake all the time. If you’re a local business, your website should flaunt your location.
Put your city/state front and center. Make sure the locations on Google Maps match the locations on your website.
They should mirror each other.
If you list services on Google Maps, list them on your website too.
Google looks at your website content to determine what keywords trigger your Google Business listing to show up.
Follow general SEO best practices and make sure to download your SEO checklist to learn what content you need to have on your site to rank well.
