How long before my business shows up on Google Maps?
If your business is not showing on Google Maps at all, then you’ll have to start by letting Google know who you are. Yup! If your business isn’t showing up on the map then this might be because it lacks authority.
Trust is essential in order for any business to lead customers further down the buyer’s journey and it can be created through simplicity, authenticity and consistency.
Imagine a world without brands. It’s messy, confusing and not at all enjoyable for consumers who need to decide where they want their money spent on a daily basis.
In this day of age it is more important than ever that your brand stands out from the crowd: you must be authoritative in order to survive.
A brand with authority is seen as an expert by its customers and they tend to trust them more than other companies. This translates into higher engagement rates for your company, but also increased sales from people seeing you as someone worth trusting when it comes time to make big decisions about what products they buy online or offline.
Brands today are more than just businesses, they’re the meeting point for consumers and companies. In a world where we all want to make an impact in society there is one common goal: be as engaging with your customers as possible.
The brands of yesteryear might have been able to get away with being unengaging but now it’s not enough anymore; you really need to put some effort into making sure that people know who you are or else what difference would any business make?
Here are eight things you can do to help your clients gain local relevance and skyrocket their Local Google ranking.
Claim your GMB business
Let’s explore the basics of this process together!
If you don’t already have a Google account, create one. When signed into your newly created account go to Maps and search for the location in which you want your business to show up. Once there click “Add missing place.” Entering all necessary information will allow this profile page on google maps as yours so that any changes or updates can be made with the same login credentials used when creating it.
In case typing your business name you notice that your Google my business listing page does appear/exist, make sure you have claimed your business (if not there will be an option for “claim this Business”) and verified it with appropriate information such as contact phone number or address so Google knows its legitimate and maintained by someone who is responsible enough to do so.
Claiming and verifying your business on Google is a quick and easy way to showcase the services you provide in order to get some more traction.
It’s free, so it can’t hurt anything!
Make any changes to your Google my business listing including business name address or website if necessary before requesting verification code from google because making updates after getting validation can cause delays in the process due to having re-requesting another one again!
Build a sharp data-driven optimization
Add helpful information to your Google my business listing
- You’ll want to keep your business name as concise and straightforward as possible, but you should also avoid stuffing keywords into it.
- It’s best to have a clear title that reflects what the company does while avoiding any ambiguity.
- Check out this article before making any final decisions!
- If you’re running a business that specializes in items like carpets, some people might be able to get your contact information and order from the comfort of their own home. Other businesses can’t afford or have no need for an actual storefront location where customers come to visit them – they are instead mobile!
- Still others start out as brick-and-mortar shops but then switch over time because it’s more economical to do so. If this is what you operate, only list the service area within which your company operates with a fixed address(es) & phone number(s).
- If you’re running a restaurant, this will be your best friend. You can include links to menu items and also provide service descriptions in detail so that customers know what they are getting into before ordering!
- Listing business hours as specifically as possible will provide the best customer experience. Make sure to audit your competitor’s opening hours and include any special times you are closed or have an alternate schedule during certain holidays, events, etc.
- Adding the right primary category and all of its additional ones can help your listing stand out from competitors, but make sure you don’t add random ones.
- Use our free GMB Crush Chrome Extension and see what are the most common main and additional categories used by local three-pack businesses in order to optimize yours with data driven action plans.
- You have plenty of room in your “attributes” section for more information on what makes you stand out from other companies. Make sure to mention any appealing features or qualities; also keep an eye on what type of attributes are used by the top three competitors because those might work well for yours too!
Add real photos
In order to provide a cohesive visual representation of your business and boost the verification process, it’s important that you upload high quality photos onto Google My Business.
Photos from satisfied customers will come naturally over time as they share their experience with the world on social media but in an age where content is king and attention spans are short, uploading professional images should be considered mandatory for any company looking to stand out online.
Here why:
Great photos can boost your engagement metrics: Photos with bright colors and tasteful filters can draw in viewers. Be sure to edit your best pictures via photoshop and include exif data such as longitude, latitude, keywords etc. This is an important step that will make it easier for Google to better understand on which geolocation you operate out of and increase the geo-relevancy of your listing.
Great photos can boost your GMB trust score: The more a customer can see of your business profile, the better they feel about it. If you’re able to provide insight into things like quality assurance and other aspects that customers might not be aware of behind-the-scenes then all the better!
Great photos can power up your GMB funnel: Hook your potential clients emotionally by generating positive emotions through visuals. Not every visitor is willing, for example, to read long text. Instead of putting in something like that use pictures and graphics that will be engaging instead.
It is important to know whether or not the current amount of pictures you are uploading on your GMB as well as those uploaded by all of your clients aligns with industry category benchmarks. Weighing your options when choosing the right category is mandatory if you want any chance at boosting your business’ success with increased customer interest through appropriate targeting.
The better understanding you have of views generated and attention drawn, as well as clicks and engagements will help decide what content might need more attention before it’ll empower your strategy 🙂
Post regularly on GMB
How often should you post in GMB?
Frequent GMB posts are important to maintain your company’s Google ranking.
However, keep in mind that only the most recent post shows prominently on search results pages;
High-ranking GMB posts are generated by a strategy that considers frequency: the most recent post shows prominently on SERP pages while less relevant ones “fall off” or get pushed down below searches, as they were posted much earlier than today’s news.
We’re always looking for a way to make it easier for you, so we created the GMB Crush!
Our chrome extension helps you in just a few clicks to audit your competitor’s total gmb post count, their publishing frequency. And then with this data at hand, run that competitive analysis and take action on what works best.
In the below example, the GMB listing published a total of 90 posts and 45 of them were in the last three months.
Audit your NAP regularly
What does NAP mean in SEO?
Simply put, NAP stands for:
- Name
- Address
- Phone Number
Your business needs one solid identity across all the channels that customers come in contact with. When you provide consistent information about your brand, even if they are searching for different terms and from various sources, potential consumers will find what they need while maintaining a good impression of who you are as a company.
Yep! The power of your brand is not just limited to what you put on the label. Consumers also have an opinion about how well NAP consistency can affect their impression of a company, and it’s important for both SEO algorithms as well as customer experience.
Build Relevancy
When your customers are searching the internet, it’s not enough to just be visible. You have to stay ahead of them and meet their changing needs as they arise without hesitation or delay. Local relevance is more than being seen in Google search engine results; it means staying agile when necessary so you can best serve your consumers when they need help most – which has nothing at all to do with how many people see you today.
Relevance isn’t always easy or clear-cut; it means knowing who we are in relation to our customers’ ever changing wants and desires for a product or service at any given moment in their lives.
Getting your business on the right track should always be a data-driven strategy, we suggest focusing on the following metrics to understand how relevant and useful your GMB listing is. Utilizing these simple insights will help you improve these important metrics that make up what Google thinks about your company.
DR Frequency (Driving Requests Frequency )
According to Hyper-Local, Directions-Based Ranking of Places document, driving direction requests are useful as popularity ranking signals for local results.
The Google search algorithm may take the distance to a location from where you’re searching and your previous history of travel when displaying maps or other directions in order to provide more desirable results, which can be drawn out by analyzing Driving Direction Requests data sets.
You can measure your DR Frequency by dividing the number of driving directions in a given time period with your total engagement rate.
One way to generate more driving request signals is by establishing your brand name in the communities where you operate. By becoming an “everyday household” name, consumers will be incentivized to search for your business on Google when they are ready or looking for a specific product and service which increases visibility as well as likelihood of receiving a click-through from potential customers who might not otherwise have found it!
PHC Frequency ( Phone Calls Frequency ).
One of the most important aspects for success on Google Maps is to have a strong brand endorsement. The Phone Call Frequency of your GMB listing is widely considered as one of the strongest indicators that searchers plan to convert, based on their query and location data.
You can measure your PHC Frequency by dividing the number of the GMB phone call received in a given time period with your total engagement rate.
Getting a lot of phone calls is key to the success of any business. Local customers are important too, but they often require more work than their faraway counterparts when it comes to getting in touch with them and convincing them that your product or service is what they need.
Get your business qualified local phone calls with our top tips so that all future clients who come into contact with your company know just how great you really are!
- Drive social traffic directly to it and skyrocket the number of views for all posts including those from Google, which will lead to a spike in phone calls!
- Tap into your local audience’s flow with a Call Now call to action on GMB posts. This will make them more likely to act and generate laser targeted leads in the area you want!
- A little extra boost could mean everything when it comes time to convert, so be sure that you offer a special incentive for calls from GMB Listings!
- You may think a phone number is only good for calling, but it’s also an important part of your company image. Having one that stands out and reflects the personality of you or your business can encourage repeat calls from potential customers!
NL Frequency (nearby listing frequency).
One of the strongest criteria for positioning a GMB listing in response to a query depends on proximity.
Leverage The Rise of “Near Me” Searches. Catch prominent “near me keywords” from your GMB insights dashboard and use them to build relevant Google posts. It’s no surprise that people love to ask questions to smart devices, and a ton of those questions contain the near-me phrase. Be sure that your latest GMB posts are fully optimized for your most prominent near-me keywords so you can boost your NL Frequency.
LS Score (Listing Sentiment Score)
The more customers you please, the happier they are. Your GMB sentiment score can help with this: by measuring your GMB Sentiment score you can outline a sentiment-rating scale so that you monitor and aim to improve the customer experience for everyone who interacts with your brand online!
Why can’t your digital strategy avoid sentiment analysis?
Sentiment analysis offers an opportunity for new insights that may otherwise be missed because of lack of access to structured conversations online; with this technology in tow, business owners keep one step ahead of their competition while also improving customer engagement!
Improve your site authority
When a business is trying to reach its target audience, it’s crucial they understand what makes their company stand out in the way of product or service.
By emphasizing this and providing helpful content specific for your customers, you can create an environment that attracts qualified potential buyers with ease
When creating content for any local business one of the best approaches is determining what’s unique about your operations in terms of value proposition given where you are operating specifically.
The idea here is to provide beneficial information which should lead to more qualified visitors.
Adding these points to your GMB Audit checklist will make sure you have an effective local SEO campaign:
- Does your website have local resources like state, county, and city offices, other local businesses, or other relevant places?
- Does your multi location business have City-Specific Landing Pages?
- Does the website have the NAP found on every page on the footer?
- Does the site have the NAP correctly implemented with structured markup?
Would you like to access the full SEO Audit Resource? Take action and get started today!
The bottom line
As you went through our guide, it is possible that your business doesn’t show up because of its newness. If this sounds like the case for you and want to optimize things such as trust and authority in order to get on top-level searches more quickly, then we suggest taking a look at what others are doing first before getting started with claiming your identity online.
Happy Crush!
SEO Lover, my motto is Action Over Words.
