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Doing a correct Google Maps Marketing can bring you new opportunities for your business, but do you know how to create a powerful strategy?
Google Map is one of the most powerful products ever developed by Google – every month, millions of users worldwide use it to see street maps, get a 360° panoramic view, or check the traffic conditions in real time.
However, it is also an extremely effective tool for building a successful local Marketing strategy for your business. Today, we will talk about some great ways to boost your Google Maps Marketing strategy.
What is Google Maps Marketing?
Simply put, it covers all the Marketing efforts that local businesses do to position their company as higher as possible on Google Maps for a specific keyword.
This is important because millions of users do local searches daily to find nearby restaurants, hotels and coffee shops, among other products and services.
Google Maps Marketing includes the following concepts:
- Local Pack: this pack appears in the search results of Google when the user introduces a local query, such as “restaurants near me” or “dentists in Madrid”. It includes a map of the area, the top 3 physical locations indicated with big red pins, and their contact details such as address, phone number, website, and rating.
- Google My Business: this is Google’s platform where businesses can manage their physical locations. Using this platform, company owners can claim their locations, edit details, and upload images that will later appear among search results.
Optimizing your company for Google Maps
A good positioning on Google Maps should be important for every company, especially if you are a physical establishment that targets locals.
To position higher on Google for searches with specific keywords, there are several things that you can do for better optimization:
1. Keep your business data updated:
When completing your business profile for Google My Business, you must enter your full and accurate information such as address, phone number, opening hours, website and category.
This is important because many people do local search queries to find new places nearby (and any other service, of course), so you want to make it as easy as possible for them to find you and choose your business instead of another.
Also, make sure that you use your address as approved by your local or national postal service to avoid misconfusing your potential customers.
2. Verify your location:
Do not forget to verify your business – it will not only position you higher on Google Maps, but you will also gain credibility in front of your customers. Usually, Google sends you a postcard with a pin to your address for verification.
3. Citations and backlinks:
One of the most important ranking factors for a successful Google Maps Marketing strategy is the consistency of local citations and high-quality backlinks.
In Search Engine Optimization, external high-quality links with a good domain authority pointing to your website are an important signal to Google that your website is trustworthy and helpful to users. On another hand, citations that mention your company name, address and phone are also key for higher positioning.
4. Reviews and Ratings:
Customer reviews are key for establishing a good reputation among your customers and scoring higher as a local business on Google Maps. Do not forget to encourage your happy clients to leave a review and share their experience, and always take your time to respond even if some of them are negative.
Additionally, negative reviews are a great way to discover your weaknesses and design a strategy that aims to improve them. So do not underestimate them! Ratings work in a similar way as reviews – obviously, the higher your rating is, the better, so take your time to analyze the situation and use it to improve your performance.
5. Ads:
Apart from Search Engine Optimization, there is also a paid way to boost your Google Maps Marketing strategy: advertising. And although it doesn’t mean that you should stop optimizing your business for higher organic positioning, you can definitely complement it with ads that target your desired audience.
Google Maps Ads is a very efficient way for differentiating yourself from competitors as this feature is often underestimated by companies (or they don’t know about it).
Google Maps is a great and extremely important tool to position your business and attract customers who are already looking for companies like yours. With these tips, you are now ready to boost your Marketing strategy locally!
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Ani Miteva, blogger at mktoolboxsuite.com.
