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Rank Higher on Google Local Listings With These 8 Tips

Rank Higher on Google Local Listings With These 8 Tips

Nowadays, it is quintessential for businesses to be vigilant when it comes to tools that help with digital marketing. It’s no longer sufficient to rely on old methods of advertising. In order to stay on top of their games, keeping up with all the means to boost your marketing efforts is necessary. All of that being said, Google offers many different ways in which you can do so. Most notably, Google business profiles in regard to local listings are a great way to start. If you manage it correctly, in addition to working on SEO and other efforts, you can be sure that you’ll get some good results when compared to your local competitors.

Well, all of that sounds good in theory, but what is it that you have to do in practice to boost your ranking? If you want to learn more about ranking high on Google Local Listings, you have come to the right place. Here, we will talk about eight different tips that are going to help you rank higher than ever before. Let’s begin!

1. Claim/create your GMB listing

Well, you have to start somewhere, and in this case, you have to start by claiming or creating your GMB profile. There are a lot of strategies for listings management to rank locally as high as possible, but it is important to build from a solid foundation. The foundation here lies exactly in your GMB profile and how you have constructed it. So, the first thing that you should do is to make your own Google My Business account, which is free. 

Some people don’t know about this step and make their own listing on Google maps without it being claimed. If your business is unclaimed, you won’t be able to edit the information regarding it in detail. If this is something that you did, once you make your GMB account, you can easily add the missing information once you claim your business through your GMB account. If your business doesn’t exist on Google Maps, create your GMB account and then list your business from scratch. 

2. Information you add must be consistent and up to date

This tip comes as a direct continuation to claiming/creating your GMB listing. The information that you add is vital, so you must make sure that you do this properly. First of all, you want to ensure that you add all relevant information correctly. It is important that this information is consistent, so, when people look you up elsewhere - they will find the same info. The most important things to add here are the address, opening/closing hours, contact phone, email, website, etc. In addition, whenever anything relevant regarding your business changes, make sure to update the information on your GMB account.

3. Add representative photos

There are three great reasons why you should opt for adding photos to your listing. The first reason lies in the fact that it serves as a signal to Google’s algorithms that you are active. This automatically gets you a higher rank on Google Local Listings than those with lower activity. Secondly, Google has intricate photo-recognition technology. This is exactly why Google has started showing location-specific images in local search results, so take advantage of that! 

And finally, when we talk about SEO in general, Google’s algorithms favor things that consumers favor and value more in general. And it is a well-known fact that people love to look up images when looking for a certain business. So, go ahead and add representative, high-quality, and overall compelling images to your listing!

4. Reviews are vital!

You gain the ability to receive reviews automatically as soon as you’re done setting up your GMB listing. But the thing is, you shouldn’t sit and wait for reviews to come - you should encourage your customers to leave reviews. It is up to you to see what works best, but the easiest way is to simply tell your customers to feel free to leave a review after they’ve done business with you. In addition - be responsive and let people know that you’re listening to what they have to say by commenting on their reviews.

5. Take advantage of GMB subcategories

People often neglect GMB subcategories, sticking only to the main category and data relevant to it. But, you shouldn’t do this, as the more the subcategories - the higher the probability that someone will find your business. 

A good example of a business exploiting GMB subcategories to its advantage is Walmart. They are primarily listed as a grocery shop, as that is the main purpose of their business. But, they also have GMB subcategories such as a bakery, deli, garden center, pharmacy, etc. This means that Walmart will come up on Google Maps even when someone looks up a bakery or a pharmacy. You can easily see how this trick results in higher ranking and more clicks from anyone that looks up anything relevant to your business.

6. Building backlinks

Building backlinks is essential when it comes to Google rankings, as well as to off-site SEO in general. Links that you should focus on are high domain authority links, as this is the most effective way to boost your ranking. The way in which this is done is by focusing on three major aspects. 

First of all, the placement of these high DA links in your own content is essential. You want to place these backlinks on contextually relevant text, not in a random place. Secondly, make sure that you place the links on authentic, organic, high-quality content. And finally, as already mentioned - choose contextually relevant, high DA links to embed in the text.

7. Local SEO

Local SEO is essential when it comes to Google Ranking in general, and it’s based on you working on your website. Most people will click on the link leading to your website when they look you up on Google Maps. So, you must make sure that they land on a relevant, user-friendly webpage. 

So, make sure that your website is, before anything else - available on all platforms. Secondly, include relevant information on it, as well as various relevant articles, videos, imagery, etc. Also, make sure that information on your website is easy to find by providing a clear and cohesive user interface. And finally, embed local keywords to various places on your page. Keywords are incredibly important for SEO, so make sure that you do your research on them in more detail.

8. Embedding a Google map right on your website

The best place to embed a Google map to your website is on the section where your contact is displayed. Doing this is a great and simple way to boost your ranking, as it builds your consistency and makes your citations relevant. In addition, this will allow your potential customers to access your GMB listing indirectly, which also boosts your ranking on its own.

Rank Higher on Google Local Listings With These 8 Tips

Finally, the key takeaway here is to understand what parameters are important and to manage them regularly. Every tip that you’ve read about in this article is helpful and will ensure some good results, but only if you put effort into it. So, build your backlinks, provide authentic and relevant information, work on SEO in general and be consistent. Good luck out there!

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