OPTIMIZING YOUR PRESENCE ON GOOGLE MAPS – WHY?
When someone searches Google Maps for the products or services you provide, does your business show up? If so, where does it appear? Whether on a desktop or a cell phone, consumers rarely look past the first results when searching. Therefore, ensuring that your Google Maps listing is configured for the first appearance in the applicable searches is important.
Therefore, ensuring that your company’s presence on Google Maps is configured for the first appearance during specific searches is essential. Keep in mind that Google results pages also show local results so that a higher ranking on Google Maps equals a higher ranking on the main Google search results (Google Search) ultimately.
How to make your business listing appear best on Google Maps? Follow the guide!
1) Google My Business optimization: use a local phone number
Google does not like free numbers (0-800 and others) because these types of numbers are frequently used by spammers. Use a local phone number with the area code for where your business is located. This will allow you to obtain an additional positive sign and, ultimately, a better ranking in Google Maps.
2) Google My Business optimization: Do not use a tracking number
Do not use a stalked phone number for the purpose of segmenting customers from Google Maps. The number with tracking could falsify the correct geographical attribution of the telephone number of your company in the sense that the number with tracking cannot be cross-checked by the Google robot with your “official” telephone number. Therefore, always enter the main telephone number of your company.
3) Optimized Google My Business file = Make sure you display the correct opening hours
Google Maps tells users if a business is open, closed, or in the process of opening or closing. Adding hours of operation to your list can make potential customers want to contact your business to reach you by phone or to make a physical visit.
4) Description of your Google My Business listing: Choose the right keywords in Local SEO
The description of your listing on Google Maps remains limited in the number of characters, so you must present your potential prospects with a brief description that will be optimized with local keywords that will impact your local SEO. For example, if your company is specializing in selling luxury apartments in Atlanta rather than using “real estate agent,” then try “real estate agent Haut-de-Gamme-Paris ouest.”
5) Add photos highlighting your business
One of the easiest ways to stand out on Google Maps is to add photos to your Google My Business listing. Choose high-quality photos that illustrate your business and its services. You can add several photos such as certifications obtained by official bodies, snapshots of testimonials written by the clients you have supported, prizes/rewards obtained. In short, use the photos area to highlight the elements that will encourage your prospects to use your services.
Ads that do not include company photos will display a generic map of your business location, as follows:
6) Google My Business optimization: Encourage and collect positive opinions about your business
GMB reviews boost the credibility of your business, so Google identifies a high volume of 5-star reviews as a very positive signal that should impact your business’s positioning on Google Maps. Keep in mind, however, that once you have a GMB listing, closing it to remove negative GMB reviews will not be an option for everyone (to have your GMB listing removed, there is no established procedure). You have no control over what people submit as reviews, so ratings can be good or bad, so you will need to provide your customers with impeccable service to maximize the chances of garnering positive reviews.
Furthermore, it is crucial that you respond carefully to negative reviews, you can mitigate and even rally to your advantage a negative review by showing your customers that you take the utmost importance in managing and resolving a crisis situation with an unhappy customer. Rightly or wrongly.
To get more opinions on Google from your customers, remember to get the direct link to your GMB file, to do this:
Go to your Google Maps list,
Click on “more information.”
Copy the direct link you will find there.
Share this link on your social networks or see emails to encourage your customers to come and submit a review.
Tip: You can also create a landing page on your website that leads directly to your Google review form.
To start with a positive rating, have a handful of loyal customers (the ones you know will leave you a positive review) to write a review for you. A few positive opinions will suffice to display a “sexy” rating, and it must then be maintained.
Do you want support to better optimize your presence on Google Maps? Are you facing a series of negative reviews that undermine the credibility of your business? Contact us for a quick quote.
In a few pointers, what you need to remember to strengthen the visibility of your business on Google Maps:
- Complete the registration of your business on Google My Business (GMB)
- Complete your Google company profile
- Use a local phone number
- Do not use a stalked phone number (with redirection)
- Keep your schedules up to date
- Optimize your description
- Assign the right category to your business
- Add attractive photos of your business
- Encourage your customers to submit GMB reviews; they are your best ambassadors
- Consolidate duplicate lists
- Have a responsive website
- Use local keywords in your business description
- Embed a Google Map on your website
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