When trying to maximize online visibility as a local business, local search engine optimization (SEO) is essential, and one of the most powerful tools you can use to get the most from your efforts is the Google Map Pack. By optimizing for this search results feature, you can be among the first businesses people find when looking for local services or products.
In this blog, Tyler Phillips, Marketing Manager, will get into this local SEO element and some strategies to help you boost your Google Map Pack ranking.
My Expert Opinion on the Google Map Pack
There are many search engine results page (SERP) features that I’ve found to be extremely helpful in boosting visibility and overall engagement for local businesses, from rich snippets to Google Business Profiles, but arguably the most critical is the Google Map Pack, also known as the Google Local Map Pack or the 3-Pack on Google.
The statistics of being top 1-3 in Google Map Packs really illustrate their importance, with recent reports concluding that the top Map Pack position has an average click-through rate (CTR) of 17.6%, while positions two and three see average CTRs of 15.4% and 15.1%, respectively. The CTR dramatically drops off after this.
Taking the right steps to rank for this component can help local businesses reach high-intent users who are actively looking to do business with local companies in their area, landing businesses in the top results above all other organic results.
While organic local SEO is still crucial in capturing audiences at every stage of the customer journey, optimizing for Google Place SEO can help you land these top three spots.
Let’s explore how you can stay on top of the Local Pack rotation on Google and how this feature works.
What Is the Google Map Pack?
So, what is the Google Local Pack?
When a user wants to find a local business near them, they’re likely to enter certain “near me” keywords and other locally targeted queries. Let’s say someone wants to find a good Italian restaurant in Chicago, in which case the user would enter “best italian restaurants chicago.”
Here, Google would likely bring up the top three restaurants in the 3-Pack Google results, appearing above all other organic results. They could also show up in Google 3-Pack ads rather than organic results.
These three results would show the business name, average ratings from Google Reviews, addresses, business hours, a review blurb, and a location on a Google Maps embed.
Based on these results, the user should have an easier time finding the right place to go, with all the information they need to help them make a decision right there in a convenient location.
Why It Matters for Marketing Pros
The Google Local Map Pack matters for marketers for several key reasons.
For example, getting a placement in Google 3-Pack ads and organic results can significantly increase your company’s visibility and credibility. People are more likely to trust businesses showing up at the top, especially if they have a lot of good reviews, and these placements tend to maximize visibility in mobile search.
Because this feature tends to connect with people toward the bottom of the sales funnel who are ready to visit or otherwise engage with a business, businesses with these placements will be more likely to increase calls and foot traffic.
Google Map Pack vs. Organic SEO
Here is a breakdown of the differences between the Google Map Pack and organic SEO:
Ranking Factors and Best Practices
The following are some of the key ranking factors to help you show up for the Google Local Map Pack:
- Google Business Profile: One of the key factors that will help you appear in the 3-Pack on Google is your locations’ Google Business Profile (GBP). Be sure to set up a GBP for each of your physical locations using Google Business Profile Manager and monitor performance across all locations. However, avoid certain mistakes like over-optimizing with keywords or including any inaccurate information, with a consistently up-to-date name, address, and phone number (NAP).
- Reviews and Ratings: The Google Maps Pack also incorporates aggregate ratings and reviews to rank businesses. With the help of GBP Manager and tools like EmbedSocial, you can encourage and manage Google Reviews and ratings. Try to encourage customers to leave reviews whenever possible with a convenient link, but avoid attracting false reviews or ignoring negative ones, ensuring you respond thoughtfully to bad reviews and showing that you value feedback.
- Local Citations and Consistency: You also need to build local citations and keep your NAP and other details consistent across all of them, including social media pages, which will prevent confusion among Google and potential customers. Platforms like BrightLocal can help you manage all of your listings in bulk to maintain accuracy. Just remember to promptly update your listings if any details change, or any inconsistencies could lead you to fall out of the Local Pack rotation on Google.
- On-Site Local SEO: You will need to supplement off-site and GBP optimization with on-page SEO, including city pages, structured data, and geo-tags that help target local keywords while giving Google more context about your site and business. A solution like Semrush can help with keyword research and on-page optimization. To help boost performance, don’t stuff your pages with keywords, and ensure your content is of high quality to appeal to both website visitors and search engines.
- Backlinks and Local Links: These off-site links can appear on industry-related sites and link back to yours, helping spread their authority to you. Try to obtain backlinks through guest posts on industry blogs, local sponsorships involving links back to your site, or articles in relevant publications. Just be sure to avoid prioritizing quantity over quality here—make sure your links appear on authoritative sites to avoid coming across as spammy in your link-building attempts.
- Proximity and Location: Use techniques like geo-targeting and geofencing to reach audiences near your locations. For instance, a geofencing platform such as GroundTruth can implement location-based ads to supplement your Map Pack rankings, getting the attention of people who are close to your business. However, you should ensure your local marketing efforts reflect the specific needs of each community.
Execution Checklist
When preparing to optimize your content for Google Place SEO, take these steps to keep the process smooth:
Step 1: Set Up and Verify Your GBP
The very first step is to get your Google Business Profile up and running. You can get started by visiting the Google Business Profile site and beginning the signup process.
You will need to enter details such as your business name and address, followed by verifying your locations. Google makes it easy to do so, either for individual locations or in bulk for multiple GBPs.
You may verify your location by mail, over the phone, via a video recording, a live video call, or other specified methods.
Step 2: Complete Profile Fields
Once you’ve verified your GBP, you can begin completing all the information for it, including categories, products, Google Posts, and more.
You can then make any changes and keep track of your profile’s performance through the GBP Manager dashboard.
Step 3: Generate Reviews and Respond
The next step is to begin building online reviews from customers. You can do so by encouraging customers to leave a Google Review immediately after they make a purchase or by sending personalized emails, for instance.
All reviews should be genuine and honest, and even if you see negative reviews, you can respond to them with a complete explanation and, potentially, a thoughtful counter to inaccurate details.
As you get more positive reviews, these can greatly impact your performance in the Google Maps Pack.
Step 4: Citation Audit and Cleanup
Conduct a complete audit of your local citations using solutions like Moz’s free Local Citation Checker, which can indicate if there are any issues and inconsistencies with your existing citations.
If you notice any inaccurate, inconsistent, or missing information for any of your citations, clean them up to align them with your GBP.
Step 5: Build Local Landing Pages and Implement Schema
To further connect with local audiences and help Google understand what your business is about, develop location-specific landing pages to target each community you serve, and add schema markup that helps search engine bots understand your content better.
High-quality landing pages could also be a means of converting more high-intent audiences with a compelling call-to-action.
Step 6: Get Local Links
The next step is to get local links, where possible, to help with off-page SEO.
There are many ways to build your backlink profile, from landing guest posts on blogs and encouraging people to share your pages on social media to building local partnerships with businesses and influencers that can link back to you through their various platforms.
A large network of high-quality backlinks will go a long way in helping you rank for the Google Map Pack.
Step 7: Track Google Map Pack Rankings
Finally, once you’ve landed on the Map Pack, track your rankings. You can use certain grid tools like BrightLocal and Map Pack Magic to see which areas around each location are seeing your business in the 3-Pack.
If you notice any change in the Local Pack rotation on Google, you can identify any potential issues with your GBP, citations, or other local SEO efforts, and optimize accordingly.
Advanced Tactics for Boosting Your Google Map Pack Ranking
If you need some additional help managing your Google Map Pack optimization efforts, agencies could help with more complex campaigns in the following ways:
- Multi-Location Grid Tracking: An experienced local SEO agency could help track the performance of several locations through location groups and comprehensive tracking.
- Service-Area Business Nuances: The right agency could also account for service-area business nuances, such as targeting specific areas without a physical address, encouraging more people to call or otherwise reach out to your business for home services and other service-based industries.
- Google Posts and Q&A Usage: Regularly making Google Posts and building your GBP’s Q&A section can help you continually refresh your local SEO. Google Posts can include blog posts, event or industry updates, and other content, with links back to your site in clear CTAs, while a Q&A section can answer critical questions about your business and offerings without requiring people to go to an FAQ section on your site.
- Paid Map Ads and Extensions: To further boost your rankings and maximize visibility, you can link your GBP to your Google Ads account and use Google 3-Pack ads on Google Maps as well as certain extensions.
Measurement and ROI for Tracking Google Map Pack Performance
To ensure you continue to dominate Map Pack rankings, you must regularly monitor and measure your campaigns and make any necessary changes.
You can track your performance using GBP Insights, for example, which can indicate the number of calls and direction requests you have received through your profile.
Some SERP tracking tools, such as Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz Pro, can keep track of your rankings for certain local keywords, including terms like “best [business] near me” and other terms that bring up Google Map Pack results.
Using your SEO tracking tools, you can differentiate between local organic and Map Pack performance, helping you figure out which aspects to optimize based on performance for each. For instance, you might discover that your traditional organic rankings are dropping, in which case you could improve your website’s technical SEO, while a disappearance from the top 3 Map Pack results might require some additional GBP optimization.
When tracking, monitor attribution to help you better understand where your traffic and conversions are coming from, measuring visits, conversions, and revenue.
FAQs
1. What is the Google Map Pack?
The Map Pack is a feature in Google search results that lists the top three businesses in an area for a local search, such as “top home renovation companies in [city].” These results show business names, star ratings, and other basic information, along with positions on an embedded map at the top of Google results.
2. How do I get my business in the Google Map Pack?
You can optimize for this feature by building a high-quality Google Business Profile, building accurate and consistent local citations that supplement this profile, and continually optimizing your website for local SEO with relevant keywords and other elements.
3. What factors affect Google Map Pack rankings?
Multiple factors impact rankings for the Map Pack, including your Google Business Profile, reviews and ratings, local citations, on-site local SEO, backlinks, and the proximity of your business to people searching for your offerings or brand.
4. Can service area businesses rank without an address?
Yes, even if you don’t have a physical address, you can rank for the Google Map Pack by targeting local audiences with a GBP and locally targeted SEO efforts. People could then call your business or contact you online to schedule services.
5. How do reviews impact Map Pack placement?
Google Reviews are essential for Google Map Pack rankings because these results include an aggregate rating. The higher your business is rated on Google, the higher you are likely to rank and increase your chances of appearing in the top 3 results.
Let Ignite Visibility Help You Target the Google Map Pack
Want to achieve the best rankings for the Map Pack and other search results? It helps to have a resourceful SEO agency backing your business.
When you turn to the pros at Ignite Visibility for help, you’ll get:
- Assistance with developing a fully optimized Google Business Profile
- In-depth audience research to help you target every location
- Comprehensive local keyword research to help with SEO efforts
- Local citations with accurate and updated information
- The chance to ranking for the Map Pack and all other results
- And more!
Contact us to request a free proposal today and discover how we can help your local business thrive.
Tyler is the Creative Marketing Manager.
