Google Map Ranking - How To Stand Out

Do you want your business to prosper?

Then you need to understand local SEO. Here's how to make local search work for you. Local search includes all those search terms that scream local, such as:

mechanic near me
doctors near me
mechanic in [city name]
doctors in [city name]

Local search engine optimization

Local search engine optimization is a branch of SEO that focuses on optimizing a website to be found in local search results. Essentially, local SEO is a strategic process that focuses on highlighting the optimization efforts of local businesses.

Content, on-page optimizations and link building, all with a targeted, localized intent are part of these efforts.

The focus changes, however, when it comes to link acquisition location. The focus is on making sure that all potential local signals across the Google local search landscape are consistent and correct.

If this is not the case, or if you accidentally provide different information for the same business, you could potentially experience a situation where your local results display something different than intended.

A Google Map Presence Is Critical For Local Businesses

If you don't show up in the proverbial Google Three Pack, no one will find you.

Why local search is important

Here are some statistics that prove how important local search remains for businesses:

50 percent of people who performed a local search on their phone visited a physical store within one day
34 percent of people who performed a search on a computer or tablet did the same.
18 percent of local mobile searches lead to a sale within one day.
60 percent of adults search for local services or product information on tablets and smartphones.
50 percent of cell phone users who perform local searches look for information such as the address of a local business.
78 percent of local searches on mobile devices result in purchases made offline.
71 percent of people surveyed said they search for a business location to confirm its existence before their first visit.
1 in 3 smartphone searches were made just before entering a store.
97 percent of consumers searched online for local businesses in 2017, with 12 percent searching for a local business online every day.

As a source of reliability for Internet users, customer reviews have become a decisive factor for a large majority of consumers. Therefore, it is essential for your company to continuously collect reviews because the volume of reviews also proves your credibility. Also, regular feedback is necessary. The more recent the reviews are, the more weight they will have because they represent a recent proof of good or bad experience for your future customers. And because the customer relationship doesn't end with the finalization of a purchase, the response to reviews, good or bad, is also essential.

A response only increases customer satisfaction.
Feedback from you allows you to prove your good faith and your professionalism to the future Internet users who will read these reviews.

Deploy long-term marketing actions to stand out in the long term

Google favors fresh content: make sure you stand out by updating your Google My Business listing regularly. As we mentioned earlier, adding photos is a good example of how to maintain your brand image and engage users.

In the same way, outperform your competitors in content creation. Think about setting up effective marketing actions in the long term: develop your social networks, e-mailing, create a blog and write articles relevant to your audience.

Produce clear and relevant content that responds to the problems of your customers by positioning yourself on strategic search terms.

Indeed, it is essential to optimize this content according to local queries. Thanks to free tools such as Google Adwords or paid tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs, you can define the queries on which you want to place yourself.

Keep in mind, part of the work is also to identify the search volume associated with your search terms and the competition that has already exploited it. Then, we recommend you to regularly optimize your website. Different techniques are possible including:

Improve internal linking. Optimize the structure of your internal links. The navigation of your site will be more ergonomic and Google will favor your brand even more.
Develop netlinking. By getting links from third party sites on similar topics, you will send good signals to Google since other sites will consider your site as trusted and credible.
Optimize the on-page content: titles, tags, semantic fields. Get the right tools to have a semantic field that answers the queries of the Internet user. The MarketMuse platform is one of your best options for great content on your website.
Develop a responsive site, i.e. a site adapted to all media (mobile, tablet, PC) so that all users can access it regardless of the terminal used.
Maintain a fast loading site and make sure it does not generate errors (404, 500, 301, etc...).

Finally, we urge you to follow Google's news to stay on top of any new developments. Depending on its algorithm changes or product launches, Google can tip the balance of local referencing on your side as well as on your competitors' side. Your company must therefore be vigilant to prosper.

Hire our experts to become the destination of choice

John Guy Marketing is an all-in-one online marketing solution. Combined with ongoing support from specialists and we are dedicated to achieving your goals.

We can help you to :

Collect a lot of Google reviews: by designing powerful customer satisfaction surveys with your account manager, and sending your surveys at the best time of the customer journey, via the best collection channel (QR code, SMS, email or tablet), you increase your chances of visibility on Google tenfold.
You benefit from our strategic tools and software to constantly monitor and update your business listing for better visibility.

We optimize your strategy for the long term: as SEO specialists, your account manager will share his best practices and methods with you during regular follow-up meetings to ensure that your company's visibility on Google increases over time.

Thanks to our decisive partnership with Google but also to a team of experts dedicated to the success of our customers, the John Guy Marketing Group can increase the number of reviews of its customers on Google, boost their average rating and allow them to gain visibility on the Google Map!

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