The Map Pack is one of the most essential tools Google has created for local businesses.
This section has links that lead directly to the Maps portion of Google, where local businesses are ranked according to the relevance of the keywords mentioned.
Why is the Map Pack Important?
The Map Pack is the best way for local businesses to interact with local customers. Since typical organic results are usually flooded with national level competitors that can be hard to compete again, Google has created the Google My Business to help small local businesses connect directly to customers that need them.
Inside of this local result block, you will find information about where the business is located on the map, their open times, their rating, and much more.
There are keywords that are set up by Google to automatically pull your location to display a map pack with relevant results. If you are a local business trying to focus on your local customers to bring them in the door, Google My Business and the map pack are an essential way to get served to people who are nearby and are searching for your services.
Adding A Business To The Map Pack
If you have a local business, and you aren’t listed on Google Maps, be sure to set up a Google My Business account.
Once you have verified your address through the mail, you will be able to edit and update your information as it’s seen in Google Maps, and on the local map packs.
TIP: Only certain keywords have map pack results. Use a keyword discovery tool like keyword explorer to find out if your top keywords have map pack results. paid tools like SEMrush can provide you with map packs to target to increase the number of leads you get through google maps
Optimizing Rankings In The Map Pack
You can optimize your ranking in the Google Map Pack by increasing your overall website SEO and increasing your number and quality of ratings on Google.
There are web platforms like BirdEye that are made with the Map Pack in mind. It can increase the number of reviews you get by capturing the attention of each client while ensuring low-quality reviews get filtered out.
Create Directory Listings
You will need to create directory listings for your business as you increase your local ranks. Directories like Yellow Pages, Yelp, and Yahoo! and incredibly effective in adding new backlinks to your site and trickling customers to your listing. Our services of brand reputation management will ensure that your phone number, address, and contact information is completely accurate across hundreds of directories.
Target New Keywords
We can add custom lists of products and services to organically boost your ranks for those keywords. Targeting new local keywords with the content on your website and with your reviews will let Google know exactly what they should be ranking you for. After optimizing, be sure to use a tool like Google Search Console to monitor your progress and how well your optimizations are working.
Get More Relevant Reviews
You have the power to get more reviews! It can be hard, but it’s all up to you unless your business is so great that people feel naturally inclined to give you 5-star ratings. It’s important to not have any fake ratings as these will be detrimental to your star rating overall.
Common ways to get Google reviews:
- Ask every current customer
- Seek out past customers
- Run email blasts to customers in your CRM database
- Set up automatic email for review upon completion of work
Google will pull the review text when searching for relevant keywords to your brand. Ask your customers to be descriptive when writing reviews and this could lead to seeing an increase in the organic keywords your website is ranking for.
