SEO Google Map – How to Leverage Google Locations for SEO

Vũ Khôi

Author at Wotech Electronics Blog

Google Map SEO is an area attracting a great deal of attention in the online marketing community at large. Google Map SEO is expected to be a new approach that brings businesses closer to their potential customers by providing an address and a pinned location on the Google Maps platform, thereby increasing visibility on search engines. Let Markdao walk you through it and pick up the best tips for carrying out this SEO service!

What Is Google Map SEO? How Does It Differ From Regular SEO?

Google Map SEO (also known as local SEO) is a branch of marketing that uses Google Maps to make it easier for users to find your business. More specifically, it is a special form of search engine optimization (SEO) in which the search results returned to users are displayed together with the business's/store's location on Google Map, address, phone number, and opening hours. Local SEO is used to increase the chances of potential customers finding information about your company — both when they use search engines, most notably Google, to research your company specifically, and when they research any other business offering goods/services similar to yours.

What Do Google Map SEO Results Look Like? How Many Types Are There?

There are a few ways Google returns results when it receives a corresponding search command. Most commonly, when it receives a search query that does not contain a business name (as in the example below, where we searched for "bakery"), Google will display only the 3 nearest Google Map SEO results, based on the actual geographic distance between the searcher and the businesses. This means the first result will be the place that best matches the search need closest to the user, followed by the 2nd and 3rd positions at greater distances. These results appear right above the organic search results, and include the business name, review rating, and address.

The second way is that results are displayed according to the number of reviews and the rating score a business has achieved. The more positive reviews received, the higher the placement on the SERPs (search engine results pages). Take a look at the example below. When searching for the keyword "digital marketing agency", the results in positions 1, 2, and 3 received 8, 6, and 1 reviews respectively.

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Why Should Businesses Care About Google Map SEO?

When users need a product/service, they may want to look up the phone number or address of big brands they know, or they may search broadly for the product itself. When people search for this kind of information, Google Map SEO helps search engines deliver it to them through the search engine results pages (SERPs).

A study on the influence of location-related information in the marketing industry, conducted by Juris Digital, found that up to 31.5% of searchers click on the returned Google Map results, while the rest choose paid ads and organic results. Of course, alongside Google Map SEO you will certainly still need to carry out regular SEO plans. Local SEO only gives potential customers an additional chance to find your company online when they search for your business, products, or services.

Is Google Map SEO Hard? How Can You Do It Effectively?

In short, doing Google Map SEO is not hard, but getting into the top 3 positions in the Google Map links section of the search results page is by no means easy. You may want to refer to the handy tip below. Read to the end to pocket the secret to running local SEO!

Google Map SEO with major global location aggregators

In the SEO world generally, what matters for ranking highly on search engines is earning many links and citations, because they increase the trust and authority of the domain you own. This holds especially true for both organic search results and Google Map SEO results.

There are hundreds of websites where you can submit your business information for free citations, but doing so is of course very time-consuming. The good news is you can earn a large volume of links and citations by submitting your business information to the four major local business data aggregators: Express Update, Factual, Neustar Localeze, and Acxiom. These companies supply business data to Google, Facebook, Yelp, Apple, and many others. Adding your business information to these sites can easily get you hundreds of citations and links, because many websites buy their data from these sources. Simply follow the instructions on each site to submit your business information.

Remember to Commit to the Google My Business Listing When Doing Google Map SEO

Another very important step in doing Google Map SEO is adding your business information to Google My Business (also known as Google Places) — a free, easy-to-use tool developed by Google for businesses to manage how they appear on Google Search and Google Maps. Follow the steps below to secure your spot on Google Map!

Step 1: To start doing local SEO, more specifically, it is advisable to begin with the business's official email, especially since email with a domain related to the business name is prioritized over email with a regular domain. These accounts give you easier access to the additional utilities and services Google develops.

Step 2: After logging into the email and opening Google Maps, enter the business address and choose the "Add a missing place" function.

Step 3: In this step, you will need to provide accurate information and save it so Google's system adds the new place to the map. The information you need to provide includes the business name, category, address, phone number, and opening hours. Once done, you should verify the business with Google (click "Claim this business" or visit Google My Business) and then hit submit.

Step 4: Verifying the business is the most important step for Google Map SEO to succeed. When you open the Google My Business tab, you will be asked to provide more specific business information, including:

• Business name

• Country/Territory

• Detailed address (house number, street, ward, district), city, state,

• ZIP code

• Phone number

• Website link

• Operating hours

• Business category

• Service area

• An introduction (you can summarize your company and the products or services you offer, the strengths that set you apart from competitors, etc.)

After completing the registration for verification, they will send you a code so you can confirm ownership of your local business. That is why you should be sure to provide accurate business information on Google My Business, because it will be displayed on Google Maps.

What Can You Do to Make Google Map SEO More Effective Using Google My Business?

To make your Google Map SEO richer and more effective, you should also upload high-quality images and write an attractive description of your business to make it more appealing to users. This can increase the number of people clicking your links, which in turn helps improve your visibility and ranking on Google Maps.

Customer Reviews Are Also a Key Part of Google Map SEO

Reviews are always an important ranking factor when doing Google Map SEO. Recently they have become even more important because review websites are now more strictly moderated than before. This makes it harder for both users and businesses to give and receive fake reviews.

Keeping your business ready and proactive about receiving customer reviews is the basis for Google to recognize that your business is popular, reputable, and attracting a lot of attention, which in turn improves your Google Map SEO ranking. This is also a bonus benefit for your organic traffic SEO plan, because reviews make potential customers trust your business more, especially when they are encountering or hearing about you for the first time. A survey by BrightLocal found that 73% of customers trust businesses with positive reviews more, and 85% of customers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations in everyday life.

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