Category: Social

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.

When attempting to connect with local audiences, you can’t depend on broadly targeted content. You need to optimize content for locally targeted search terms and speak more directly to local audiences to carry prospects along the customer journey, which is where local landing pages can help.

In this blog post, Tyler Phillips, Marketing Manager, will go into creating location-specific landing pages and how to use location-based targeting to build a relationship with your target audiences, whether you’re a local brick-and-mortar business looking to attract foot traffic or a service-based business targeting multiple service areas.

My Expert Opinion on Creating Location-Specific Landing Pages

As the latest statistics show, more and more people are searching for local businesses online. For example, search queries with the words “near me” and “close by” have increased by a staggering 900% within a two-year period, and 46% of consumers prefer to purchase from companies with a local presence.

These are merely a couple of many stats showing the importance of local optimization for businesses serving specific areas. Not only do you need to develop your local SEO strategy to build a relationship with audiences, but you must also develop individual location landing pages to correspond with your SEO and PPC campaigns when targeting local consumers. 

These pages can serve as critical gateways that appeal to target audiences toward the top of the funnel, bringing them down to the bottom with subsequent marketing efforts. 

Learn more about what goes into developing local landing pages and how to supercharge this content with the proper structure and optimization.

Why Location-Specific Landing Pages Matter

When trying to reach target audiences toward the beginning of the customer journey, location-based landing pages are essential. More specifically, they can target people with information search intent.

There are four types of search intent that indicate where someone is in the buyer’s journey, with informational intent being at the beginning, followed by the commercial, navigational, and transactional stages. People with this intent want more details about certain topics, potentially looking up information in blog posts or about local products, services, and companies.

Location landing pages can connect with people during this informational phase, when people want to learn more about your business and offerings. By creating location-specific landing pages with good search engine optimization (SEO), you can increase your visibility online via search engine results and advertising, boost conversions by reaching the right people at the right time, and make your business appear more credible as people come to recognize and trust your brand more than less visible competitors. 

Understanding User Intent and Use Cases

In most cases, when people land on location pages, they are entering certain “near me” keywords and are either looking for more information about a local offering or business, or they are ready to turn to a local business in the commercial or transactional stage.

Here is a brief breakdown of how you would segment audiences at each stage of the sales funnel:

• Awareness: Here, people would be interested in knowing more about a service and come across initial marketing content for information. Geo-targeted landing pages would be crucial here to connect with prospects who aren’t quite ready to make a purchase.
• Interest: The next audience segment would comprise those who are interested in a potential solution to their problems. Additional marketing materials could detail the benefits of your offerings or services.
• Consideration: People at this stage might be considering different companies and their respective offerings, in which case you could promote your brand as the best solution compared to competitors.
• Decision: Once your target audiences reach this phase, it’s time to incorporate compelling calls to action (CTAs) and convert them into customers.

URL and Technical Structure

One of the main considerations when creating location-specific landing pages is each page’s URL structure. 

Depending on the nature of your website, you could choose between parent-child (i.e., tree) or flat URL structures. Generally, when developing location landing pages, a parent-child structure is often better, especially if you have multiple locations across several states or countries.

For example, if you have locations in Dallas and Austin, Texas, you might structure each location page under “example.com/locations/tx/dallas” and “example.com/locations/tx/austin.”

Also, consider the technical structure of the pages themselves, especially when you’re targeting multiple regions with more than one language. Specifically, you will need to add hreflang tags to your location pages to cater each one to different regions and languages. 

These tags will automatically connect users in specific regions with a version of the page using their target language, improving the user experience for all users while also preventing issues with duplicate content.

Keyword Research and On-Page Optimization

In optimizing landing pages SEO, you will need to implement on-page optimization techniques that help maximize visibility in search engines.

To start with, you will need to conduct in-depth keyword research for each location. Make sure that each location page targets unique keywords to avoid cannibalization, and prioritize high-intent keywords such as “quote for home renovation services in [city].” 

You can use many tools for keyword research that will indicate search volume, competition level, and other metrics. Some tools include Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Semrush. 

Once you’ve found the keywords you want to target, carefully and naturally include them within your content, including your page’s title, subheaders, and the body of your content. 

Other on-page elements to optimize include:

• Title tags that appear in blue text within search results
• Meta descriptions that show up beneath title tags
• Internal links to other pages
• Images with alt text and captions featuring relevant keywords

Page Structure and Flow

You also need to consider how you structure your pages with location-based targeting, incorporating the following key sections:

• Hero Section: The hero section is a block of text that appears at the top of the page before the body below, usually with a compelling title and a subtitle beneath it. This section will be short and sweet and should include a high-priority keyword or two, especially in the geo-targeted H1 title.
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Sections like “Why [Your Company]?” could include a USP that helps you stand apart from local competitors, discussing the benefits that people won’t find when looking for your offerings elsewhere.
• CTAs: In various places throughout your pages, incorporate relevant CTAs that encourage people to take the next course of action, typically with “contact us” buttons or “learn more” types of interactions to move people along the funnel.
• Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP) and Map: Be sure to make it easy for people to find you and reach out, with an accurate NAP and a conveniently embedded map that gives people directions to your location.
• Services: Be sure to list your services, and make them unique to each area if your offerings change depending on location.
• Team: In some cases, you can also include details about your team, including people who work specifically at the designated location, giving your business a more human touch.
• Testimonials: Where appropriate, include testimonials from customers, ideally from the corresponding location you’re targeting. Brief quotes from a testimonials page or embedded Google reviews could convince more people to turn to you.
• Local Content: Speak of locally specific elements, including landmarks and pain points, which will show that you understand the communities you serve.
• FAQs: Some location pages may also include an FAQ section at some point with three or more questions, especially ones that are unique to the corresponding location.

To give you some ideas of how to structure your local landing pages, let’s look at a couple of good examples.

One is Dunkin’, which keeps things simple with an address, CTA buttons requesting directions and to download the dedicated app, business hours, and an embedded map.

Jimmy John’s, meanwhile, uses proximity landing pages to help customers find specific locations in their area, with a bigger focus on its embedded map.

Local Content and Social Proof

When creating location-specific landing pages, try to tailor the content to local landmarks and pain points. For example, you might be able to help people find your location by pointing out its “across the street from” certain nearby businesses or features. 

For instance, U.S. Lawns discusses the locations’ specific attributes that make it important for businesses to use its lawn care services.

Also, include staff intros and authentic images throughout, putting a person and a physical location to your business.

And don’t forget to show reviews if you have them, potentially including Google or other reviews within the content.

Mobile Optimization and UX Best Practices

Be sure to optimize your landing pages with mobile SEO and responsiveness, which will entail facilitating fast load speeds, click-to-call options for immediate contact, and thumb-friendly buttons that are easy to tap.

Additionally, think about above-the-fold essentials that grab people’s attention, including a hero section and an immediate call to action to save visitors some time. Your opening paragraph should also be short and to the point to move people along.

U.S. Lawns knows how to develop its above-the-fold content to build an immediate connection.

Here are some additional user experience (UX) do’s and don’ts to guide your efforts.

Do:

• Integrate user-centric designs
• Add intuitive navigation
• Maintain a consistent design across your pages for recognizable branding and uniform structure
• Optimize for short loading times
• Include clear CTAs
• Incorporate a visual hierarchy to improve readability
• Use A/B testing to gauge the performance of different elements

Don’t:

• Overwhelm readers with too much information
• Include complex forms and data inputs
• Intrude with annoying pop-ups
• Overcrowd touch targets or make them too small
• Auto-play videos or other multimedia
• Overlook accessibility requirements

Schema, Structured Data, and Tracking

Another element to think about is schema markup or structured data.

This markup gives search engines more context regarding your pages’ content to help Google bots and other sites crawl, index, and rank your content. 

In the case of location-based landing pages, you would use LocalBusiness markup in JSON-LD language to optimize your pages. Doing so could help you show up for highly visible search results like featured snippets, potentially driving more clicks.

To measure the results of your efforts, you also want to consistently track all form submissions and calls with analytics and reports. You can then make any changes as needed based on how well your pages are helping you achieve your business goals.

Citations, Backlinks, and GBP Integration

Be sure to build local citations to further maximize visibility across the web, and get backlinks on other authoritative sites through guest posts and other means, ideally through local publications, influencers, or other people or entities in your target locations.

In building citations and backlinks, synchronize your pages with your company’s Google Business Profiles.

All citations should contain a consistent NAP, which services like BrightLocal can help you maintain for every location if anything changes.

Avoiding Pitfalls and Duplicate Content

There are a couple of potential pitfalls to avoid with your geo-targeted landing pages, including:

• Thin Content: Make sure each page has sufficient content to signal to Google that your page is of value to users. More content will also drive more engagement among visitors, subsequently sending more signals to Google.
• Duplicate Content: If your pages contain duplicate content, this could lead to a penalty. To avoid this, don’t use mass page builders and try to keep each page unique to each location by speaking more directly to local audiences.
• Creating Pages for Unserved Areas: Only create pages for locations you actively serve, or this could lead to confusion and even frustration among people who mistakenly believe they’re in your service area, hurting your brand reputation.

Continuous Optimization and KPI Tracking

Work on continually improving your location-based targeting with consistent optimization.

In doing so, track key performance indicators (KPIs) and specific metrics based on your goals.

Some metrics may include:

• Impressions that gauge the number of times ads linking to your pages appear in front of target audiences
• Click-through rate (CTR), which tracks the rate of people clicking through to your location pages or to other pages from within them
• Conversion rate based on the number of people who complete a desired action after landing on your pages
• Assisted conversions that track the marketing channels that nudge people into conversions

In optimizing your pages, make ongoing updates as necessary, such as event mentions, reviews, or changes to staff.

Continuous A/B testing with new content could also help you figure out what connects most with audiences.

FAQs

1. What should a location-specific landing page include?

There are many components these pages should include to connect with local audiences, such as keyword and geo-targeting headers, above-the-fold content, CTA buttons, images, reviews, embedded maps, a list of services, geo-specific mentions, and a unique selling proposition.

2. How many location landing pages do I need?

Ideally, each location your business serves should include its own unique landing page to connect with local audiences. However, avoid creating pages for locations that you do not currently serve, as this can mislead target audiences and waste your resources.

3. Do local landing pages improve SEO?

Well-optimized landing pages can improve search engine rankings, especially if they continually engage visitors and drive conversions. Using on-page optimization, backlinks, and other strategies, your pages could climb to the top of search results for target audiences over time.

Build High-Quality Location Landing Pages with Ignite Visibility

Need help creating location-specific landing pages that effectively convert? Ignite Visibility can provide you with content marketing, local SEO, and other digital marketing services to help you get the best results from these pages.

Our experts are able to:

• Identify your target audience and segment based on unique characteristics
• Develop in-depth and well-optimized landing pages for each service area
• Track the performance of each page for continual optimization
• Create plenty of other content to supplement your landing pages
• And more!

Find out what all we can do for your local marketing efforts when you contact us today!

If you own a local business, one of the most important tools to connect with local audiences is a Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business. Among the many elements to optimize for this profile is your list of services, which can significantly impact SEO while clearly indicating to your customers what they’ll get when they turn to your business.

In this blog post, Tyler Phillips, Marketing Manager, will go into how to list your Google Business Profile services and the importance of doing so for optimization and conversions.

My Expert Opinion on Listing Google Business Profile Services

Having a Google Business Profile is essential for any local business online, whether you own a brick-and-mortar store trying to bring more people to your location or a service-based business with certain service areas.

There are many elements to consider when developing and optimizing your GBP, including high-quality images that represent your business and offerings, a consistent name, phone number, address (NAP), and accurate business hours. 

However, one element that many overlook and which could significantly boost your profile’s visibility is your services list. Including as many services and service categories as possible could enhance your profile, not just for search engines, but for users as well.

The latest stats reveal just how important category searches are over brand searches, with one study finding that 86% of all GBP views are from category-based searches.

Knowing how to edit your Google business listing with your company’s services or products could help you get the most from your GBP.

Why Listing Services Matters

Listing your business’s services is essential in helping people and search engines understand your business and offerings.

These can appear as a text list of services within the profile, but some profiles even include them as products, complete with images and more in-depth descriptions.

For example, this car wash business lists the different types of car wash options as products, including their prices.

You can then click on each to see more details.

Meanwhile, this real estate agent lists properties as products under various categories.

Listing your Google Business Profile services could ultimately help you rank higher in your industry and make your profile more robust as people browse search results.

It will help with local SEO as you target geo-optimized keywords for individual services and categories, which can boost discoverability. Giving potential customers more details about your offerings, including links to each, can also increase conversions.

Understanding User and Searcher Intent

Throughout the customer lifecycle, each individual will go through a unique buyer’s journey via the social ecosystem, going from the awareness at the beginning to the decision stage toward the end. Throughout this journey, search intent will change as the user seeks different types of information at each stage.

During the awareness stage, search queries will be informational in nature, as users want more details about a particular topic, such as a service or product that may resolve a certain pain point.

When people are looking for more surface-level information, having a Google Business Profile services list is helpful. People entering “[your service] near me” or targeting your location could have a better chance of landing on your GBP, potentially supplementing local landing pages and other local SEO efforts. 

In the end, you’ll have an easier time aligning your GBP with search intent to maximize discovery among people in the awareness stage who are just starting their journey.

Preparing Your Profile

Before you add services to your online business listing, there are a few critical steps to take to get your profile all set to go, including:

Verify Your GBP

The first step is to create and verify your Google Business Profile. You will need to verify your profile before you can make any changes to your services and other info, and you can do so in several ways:

• Having a postcard sent to your business address in the mail
• Recording a video detailing your business information
• Requesting a verification code via phone or text
• Email verification
• A live video call with Google staff

Choose the Correct Categories

Before you can include base and add-on services in your GBP, you must also select the right categories for your business. If you’re not entirely sure which categories to select, take a look at competitors’ profiles and see what kinds of categories they include. You may also find that you cover certain categories that competitors don’t.

Consider Attributes

You may also select certain factual attributes that you can manage for your business, while subjective attributes will come from Google based on people’s opinions about your business. For example, people may say that your business is “casual,” “family friendly,” or “popular.” These could further influence your services and categories.

Step-by-Step Guide to Add Services

Now you might ask, “How do I add services to Google listings?” 

The following is a brief guide on how to edit your Google business listing:

1. Log into your Google Business Profile. 
2. Click on “Edit Services” within the dashboard.

3. Add services to the list, or choose “Add more services” to include add-on services for the list of existing services.

4. Select services from the list that correspond with the category, or add a custom service.

5. Confirm your selected services by clicking “Accept” to finalize the changes.

If you would like to add products, you can also do so to highlight specific services or product offerings. These actually have the chance of boosting visibility even further, with images detailing your offerings.

Simply take the following steps to add and edit products:

1. Log into Google Business Profile.
2. Click “Edit products.”

3. Click “Add product.”
4. Complete the required fields and include a photo that’s ideally around 1200 px X 900 px.
5. Add a price (Ranged or Fixed), product description (up to 1,000 characters), and button to “order online,” “buy,” “learn more,” or “get offer.”
6. Include a link to your website.
7. Confirm changes and save.

Crafting SEO-Rich Service Descriptions

When optimizing your Google My Business services, be sure to include well-optimized and detailed descriptions of your services.

Naturally incorporate relevant keywords and include a descriptive service name when appropriate.

Here is an example of some rich descriptions:

Service Categorization and Structure

Also, you will want to group related services together in a single category for your directory listings. Doing so could help organize your GBP and make it even easier for both users and search engines to understand your offerings.

In addition, avoid overlap of services and ensure each service is distinct enough in your listing. If different locations offer different services, you must make sure each location’s corresponding profile reflects these differences.

Common Mistakes and Pitfalls

There are multiple mistakes that businesses can make when adding Google Business Profile services, such as:

• Auto-generated Duplicates: Always make sure your services are uniquely written and avoid incorporating duplicates across locations, as this could hurt rather than help your SEO.
• Keyword Stuffing: While it’s important to include relevant keywords in service names, categories, and descriptions, don’t stuff them within descriptions or make service names too cumbersome. Again, doing so could do more harm than good for your SEO.
• Over-listing: Only include a Google Business Profile for each of your business locations. Developing too many listings can confuse customers looking for businesses in their area, and it could negatively impact your rankings by hurting the authority of other listings nearby. This might lead you to ask: How does service area work in Google Business Profile? Generally, a single location could appear for people based on the user’s location and listed service areas for each business, making it unnecessary in many cases to include a GBP for every city within your service area.

Maintaining and Updating Services

To keep your Google Business Profile in good shape, regularly maintain it and make any necessary updates as your business changes.

For example, you should encourage customers to review your business on Google, as these stars and written reviews can impact both your aggregate star rating and subjective attributes.

Also, regularly make Google Posts that can provide updates on events, changes to your business, new offerings, and more, with links to your site for more details. 

You may also want to make changes to your services and services lists based on industry trends as you adapt to meet the needs of your customer base.

Measuring Impact

To determine whether your optimization efforts are successful, it’s important to consistently measure GBP performance with the right marketing metrics, such as:

• Views: See how many people view your Google Business Profile to measure its visibility.
• Actions: Track how many people click on certain links within your GBP, including links to your main website and individual service or product pages.
• Ranking Changes: Determine if there are any shifts in rankings for your GBP and other local SEO results in search engines. A drop in views could indicate that you are not showing up for certain terms.

Based on these metrics and how they measure against your goals, you can optimize your profile accordingly.

SEO and Content Gaps

When optimizing your GBP, also conduct research to see how you can make your profile stand out from competitors.

For instance, you can use certain keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner and Semrush to see what terms (including branded keywords) people might be entering into Google, and for which your profile could rank.

Additionally, take a look at your competitors’ profiles and see if there are any services or products that you offer and that they don’t list within their profile. Through a content gap analysis, you might discover that you have certain categories or individual offerings that could help people find you over competitors.

FAQs

1. Can I list more than 5 Google Business Profile services?

Yes, you are able to list as many services as you want on your profile. At the same time, you should try to avoid overlap with services and cluster similar services together in groups to keep them organized. Also, only add the specific services you offer.

2. Should I include prices?

Including prices with service listings is a good idea if you have a fixed price or a specific price range. You can include prices for both products and services within your profile, giving target audiences a good idea of what they can expect to spend. Doing so can also attract more high-intent leads who are ready to buy.

3. How often should I update services?

Any time you make any changes to your services, you should ensure your listings reflect these changes. Also, you may want to add or change keywords, titles, and descriptions to boost SEO performance for your profiles.

4. Do descriptions affect rankings for Google Business Profiles?

Yes, descriptions and their keyword inclusions can impact SEO rankings. This is why it’s crucial to include relevant keywords in a rich description, but avoid stuffing keywords for the sole purpose of ranking. Instead, write descriptions that are helpful for users while incorporating natural keyword instances throughout.

Develop a Winning Google Business Profile with Ignite Visibility

Knowing how to edit your Google business listing can help you add all of the information you need to boost your rankings, including services. At Ignite Visibility, we can help you get the best results from your Google Business Profile and other local SEO efforts, with the ability to service many national to local businesses.

When you work with us, you get:

• Help with developing Google Business Profiles for each of your locations
• Keyword and market research to inform listing optimization and other local SEO elements
• Regular updates to keep your GBPs high up in rankings and driving conversions
• Consistent measurements of relevant metrics to inform continual optimization
• And more!

Reach out to us today to find out what we can do for you as seasoned local SEO experts.

Marketing Automation

Social media is everywhere, and just about everyone is on one or more platforms today, reaching billions of people across the globe. Businesses that don’t target their audiences through this channel are missing out on a huge opportunity to establish and nurture a strong connection. In addition to general marketing, highly targeted social advertising can extend your reach and get you in front of the right audiences when they’re actively using their favorite apps.

In this blog post, Tyler Phillips, Marketing Manager, will go into why advertising on social media is so important, some of the key components of social ad campaigns, and how to advertise your business on social media with the right approach.

My Expert Opinion on Social Advertising

The majority of people today use social media in some capacity and on some platform. According to a recent Kepios report, there are currently around 5.31 billion social media users all over the world, which comes to 64.7% of the global population.

There’s a social media platform for everyone, regardless of age, location, or other characteristics. If you have a target audience, there’s a channel through which you can reach them.

While marketing on the right platforms can help you connect more personally with audiences through your profile, you should supplement these efforts with an ad strategy that helps you reach even more new audiences with hyper-targeted campaigns. Harnessing the power of paid social media and other advertising and marketing platforms, you can continually appeal to and convert more customers.

What Is Social Advertising?

Social advertising is a form of paid media advertising that involves promoting a brand, offering, or promotion on social media platforms. However, some definitions also specify that this form of advertising must be consensual for the user.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a social ad is “an online ad that incorporates user interactions that the consumer has agreed to display and be shared.”

There are many forms social media ads can take. For example, a brand could promote certain products using a carousel ad on Facebook, offering an interactive experience to engage its audiences.

Meanwhile, other brands may connect with audiences on Instagram using video ads, such as mattress brand Lull Bed partnering with an influencer whose video of him installing a mattress is repurposed for ad content.

These social advertising examples touch the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many ad platforms and formats you can use depending on your industry and audience.

Why Social Advertising Matters

Brands of all types can benefit from using paid social advertising, and it’s essential in helping them stay competitive today.

Recent statistics further demonstrate the importance of implementing social advertising campaigns: Statista reports that the total U.S. social media advertising spend will reach $95.70 billion in 2025, with Wordstream confirming that social ads comprise 33% of all digital ad spend and Sprinklr determining that 61% of American online consumers are likely to purchase products because of suggestions on social media.

In short, if you’re neglecting to advertise on social media, there is a huge gap you need to fill to connect with your audiences and maximize ROI.

Core Components and Best Practices

To get the best results from social media advertising, there are some aspects to consider, and you must take the right approach to your strategy.

5 Main Components of Social Advertising Campaigns

When building social media ad strategies, the following are the core components that will guide you along the process:

1. Campaign Goals

Before you can develop your strategy, you need to have specific objectives in mind that will inform your efforts.

There are multiple types of objectives you might set, such as boosting brand awareness, increasing engagement, and driving more conversions and sales.

Many platforms make it easy to set goals within their native ad campaigns. 

For instance, Instagram allows you to set a variety of awareness, consideration, and conversion goals.

2. Target Audience

You also need to consider your target audience, which will dictate which platforms you use and the kinds of ads you run.

Think about the kinds of people you want to target, which could include people within your existing customer base or a new potential market.

Look at what your competitors are doing and consider developing audience personas that help segment your audiences based on different characteristics.

3. Creative Design 

Once you’ve identified your target audience, you can begin developing the creative elements of your ads, which will consist of:

• A visual component, such as a video, image, or GIF
• The ad copy, including your headline, caption, and description
• A call to action to lead viewers to the next step

For instance, here is a clearly developed ad with rich copy explaining the benefits of signing up for The Great Courses, a visual complete with a promotion, and a call to action to sign up for the platform.

4. Ad Budget

Additionally, consider the budget you want to set for your ads.

So, how much does it cost to advertise on social media? It really depends on your overall marketing budget, your industry benchmarks, your ability to test and experiment, and, of course, the specific platform you’re using.

Two models to consider to help you calculate ad budget include cost-per-click (CPC) and cost per mille (CPM). CPC measures the cost that advertisers pay for every click on their ads, while the CPM is the cost per thousand (mille in Latin) impressions. 

5. Analytics and Reporting 

To determine how well your social advertising campaigns are performing, you need to conduct regular analytics and reporting.

The metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) you track here will depend on the goals that you set at the beginning.

There are many metrics you might track, including views, impressions, click-through rate, engagement metrics like replies and “likes,” and CPC or CPM.

You can use a combination of native analytics platforms and other third-party tools to gain a complete picture of campaign performance.

Best Practices for Advertising on Social Media 

In addition to the above aspects, here are some social advertising best practices that can fuel your strategy:

• Use A/B Testing: Before committing to any of your ads, run A/B tests that change out a single creative element in your ads, be it a visual, caption, description, or CTA. Depending on which performs best, you can determine which to use for your official campaign.
• Optimize for Mobile-First Advertising: Make sure your ads are formatted with mobile users in mind, as 99% of social media users are on mobile devices, according to Indectron. Make sure video and image sizes account for mobile along with your corresponding landing pages and website.
• Accommodate Platform Vibes: Different social media platforms have different vibes. For example, Facebook tends to be more casual, while LinkedIn is often highly professional, and Instagram and TikTok are overall among the more “fun” storytelling platforms. Understanding the tone each platform appeals to can inform the ads you run on it.

Platforms and Format Strategies 

In learning how to advertise your company on social media, you need to know more about the various platforms and ad formats available to drive your campaigns.

Social Advertising Platforms

There is no shortage of social platforms for you to choose from, including:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• TikTok
• X (formerly Twitter)
• Pinterest
• Snapchat

Each platform has its own distinct audience, making it important to make the right choice based on where your audience spends its time.

For example, Facebook is the most popular platform with over 3.065 billion users, with the majority of users being 25 to 34 and a large audience of boomers. Meanwhile, younger audiences like Gen Z will tend to visit platforms like Instagram and TikTok more frequently.

If you’re targeting professionals, you would likely target LinkedIn with your ads.

Available Formats

For all platforms, you can also choose different formats, such as:

• Image Ads: These ads are static in nature and tend to include a single image that connects with audiences, along with ad copy and a call to action.
• Video Ads: With the rising popularity of video content, especially short-form content, video ads are more engaging and are popular on most platforms.
• Carousel Ads: You may also want to use carousel ads to promote specific products, which are great for boosting sales and bringing people to your product pages.
• User-Generated Content: Partnering with influencers or holding contests among your audiences could lead to the production of user-generated content (UGC), which you could repurpose for ad content in many cases.
• Story Ads: Some platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, allow you to run Story ads that run between people’s videos on platforms like Instagram Stories.
• Banner Ads: People may also see certain message ads overlaid in video streams or other touchpoints, encouraging people to click.

Audience Targeting and User Intent Alignment

When learning how to advertise your business on social media, you need to ensure your audience targeting aligns with user intent.

There are four main types of user intent, depending on where people are in the buyer’s journey:

• Informational: People want to learn more about a company and its products or services.
• Navigational: Individuals are looking for a particular web page belonging to a brand with which they’re familiar.
• Commercial: People might want to learn about the different options available to them when making a buying decision, such as “best companies near me.”
• Transactional: Here, the buyer is ready to make a purchasing decision with a particular brand.

Most ad content will appeal to the informational and transactional stages, as people either want more information about a brand or its offerings or are ready to make a purchase in many cases.

For instance, you might encourage people in the informational stage to click on an ad for more information about how your offerings could help them, leading them to a corresponding landing page rich with relevant details.

Meanwhile, carousel ads could push specific products based on users’ interests, enticing them to complete impulse buys in the transactional stage.

In the process, you will want to target relevant keywords at every stage. At the informational stage, for example, you would want to appeal to the need to “learn more,” including “tips for,” “how to,” and “benefits of,” among other top-of-funnel terms.

At the transactional stage, you would then appeal to the need to “buy,” “order,” “purchase,” and complete other bottom-of-funnel actions. 

Be sure to map keywords based on intent, connecting them with the right ads and landing pages to move people along their journey. Also, align user intent with specific personas.

Taking this approach will help considerably with social ad targeting.

Content Gap Analysis: Spot and Fill Gaps

When developing social media ads, take a close look at your competitors and conduct an in-depth content gap analysis.

See what your competitors are doing with their ads, and identify any opportunities that might help you stand apart in your industry. 

Find out how competitors are aligning their ads with the different intent along the buyer journey, and determine where you can streamline the journey even more. You might discover that your competitors aren’t touching on a certain pain point, or they’re neglecting to use effective messaging that might draw a particular audience segment.

To begin a content gap analysis, conduct audits against top-ranking pages to see what’s working and what isn’t, and map the customer journey.

In the process, you could use a table to make things clearer. For instance, the below template helps you list content gaps at every stage, along with pain points, goals, triggers, and other aspects to help optimize ad performance.

FAQs

1. What is social advertising?

Social advertising is the process of running paid ads on various social media platforms to reach target audiences. Ads can target users based on various factors, such as demographics, buying behaviors, interests, and location.

2. How does social advertising differ from influencer marketing? 

While influencer marketing involves partnering with personalities through sponsorships to have them endorse your brand and offerings, ads bypass any relationship-building and involve bidding on ad space to target audiences in specific placements. However, you could use repurposed content created by influencers within your ads.

3. How much does it cost to advertise on social media in 2025?

Depending on the platform, the industry, and the placement, the cost of advertising on social media can vary greatly. It can range anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month. Determining how much you will spend on paid social advertising will depend on your budget and what you need to do to stay competitive in your industry.

4. What are best practices for social ad creative?

When creating content for your ads, you should know your audience and what kind of visuals and messaging they respond to on social platforms. Also, use compelling visuals and text that stand out while avoiding being misleading. Finally, include compelling calls to action that effectively drive more clicks and conversions.

Get the Most From Social Advertising with Rallio

To excel with your social advertising campaigns, it can require a lot of work and vigilance to stay ahead of competitors, especially if you need to manage campaigns across multiple platforms. With the help of Ignite Visibility’s social media marketing services, you can maximize your reach and connect with the right audiences at the right time. We can also integrate this service into a complete digital marketing strategy.

Here is some of what you can expect with our social advertising services:

• Market research and the development of user personas for segmentation
• Selection of the right platforms based on audience location
• High-quality creative design to ensure your ads connect
• Effective bidding strategies to help you get the most from your budget
• Continuous monitoring with detailed reports to fuel ongoing optimization
• And more!

Like this idea? Contact us today to request a free proposal and get started on your next campaign.

 

Social media marketing has undergone a lot of changes over the past decade. Some of these changes have been for the better, some for the worse, and some are still up in the air. But regardless of how you feel about social media marketing, you can’t ignore it if you’re hoping to grow your business. As we get ready to start a new year, we’ll explore some of the top trends in social media marketing that will affect your marketing strategy in 2023.

1. Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is the use of software to automate marketing tasks. It’s a way to increase efficiency, save time and money, and help you get more out of your existing resources. You might already be using some form of marketing automation for social media or email marketing campaigns; this trend will make it easier for you to expand your existing programs or start new ones.

The software platforms we’re seeing today are more flexible than ever before, which means they can accommodate both small businesses with limited resources as well as larger companies with big budgets. If you haven’t yet tried a tool like this yourself but have always thought it would be useful in your business, now is the perfect time. Be sure to check out Rallio’s dashboard and mobile app with integrated artificial intelligence for an easy way to create, automate, and manage social media content and online reviews.

2. Social Commerce

Social media is becoming more and more important for e-commerce. If you want to get ahead of the game and make sure your business is ready for 2023, you need to make sure your brand is set up for e-commerce on Facebook and Instagram (at a minimum). Use the platforms’ built-in shop tools and advertising options to promote your products or service offerings online throughout the year and make it easy for people to complete their purchases from the apps.

3. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is a technology that integrates digital information with the user’s environment in real-time. It has been around for decades, but the emergence of AR-enabled smartphones has made it ubiquitous.

Augmented reality can be used to enhance marketing and sales by providing visual aids for customers who are shopping online or in person. For instance, if you’re shopping for a sofa, you might be able to get an idea of what it would look like in your living room with the help of augmented reality.

The technology also makes it possible for companies to provide virtual tours of their products and services, allowing potential customers to get a feel for what they’re buying before committing. It can also help businesses develop more personalized approaches to customer service by providing workers with information about each individual’s preferences and needs at any given time.

4. TikTok as SEO

Among the top trends in social media, you cannot ignore TikTok. This popular app that allows you to make short videos with music and effects, share them on social media, and engage directly with your audience. TikTok has surged in popularity among Gen Z in particular as a way of finding local businesses (for example, locating somewhere fun to eat). As such, there’s some chatter that TikTok is giving Google a run for its money as a search platform.

As the use of this platform continues to grow and evolve, it will only become more useful as a marketing tool for small businesses. Overall, the consumption of short videos is on the rise on all social platforms that support video uploads. If you’re looking for ways to reach new audiences or build up your brand recognition among certain groups, consider using TikTok as part of your marketing strategy in 2023 and beyond.

5. Social Media Increasingly Used for Customer Service

Social media is a great way to engage with customers, resolve issues quickly, and provide support. Social media channels can be used as customer service channels, especially if you have a large number of followers or subscribers. Social media is also an effective method for communicating with your audience in real-time. Companies that embrace this will have an advantage over their competitors that do not have the same understanding of social media as a customer service channel.

6. Interest Over Reach

Increasingly, engaging content is taking priority over accounts with a large follower count. This means that algorithms are favoring content of a viral nature — say, a cute puppy snoring or a mom ranting about prioritizing mental health — rather than accounts that have a high volume of followers. This is because the ability for viral content to spread and reach more people is generally more valuable than follower counts.

This trend makes sense when we think about how many times we’ve seen memes or videos go viral on social media — which are often funny, relatable, controversial, or just plain weird. The reason they get so much traction is simple: they’re shareable.

7. Nano Influencers

Nano influencers are micro-influencers who have a small following. They are becoming more popular than macro-influencers because they have a higher engagement rate and are more likely to be authentic and trustworthy. They’re also more likely to be active in the community, which is important because your brand needs to align with their values in order for them to feel comfortable endorsing you.

8. Audio Social Media

Although audio is not a new marketing medium, considering the popularity of podcasts, playlists, and radio to advertise brands. However, it has only recently emerged as a social media platform. Clubhouse, for one, is one of the leaders in the audio social media space and is growing in popularity.

One of the key benefits of audio social media over other forms of other marketing is that these platforms are interactive. Unlike a podcast, for example, a social platform like Clubhouse enables users to engage with brands just as they would on other social platforms. So, if you have a message that you want to get heard, consider implementing audio social media in 2023.

Social media is only going to grow in importance in 2023. Make sure you’re keeping up with the top trends in social media.

Social media isn’t going anywhere in 2023. It’s a channel that provides direct access to your customers and can help you understand them better than any other type of marketing. That’s why it should be a top priority for every business in 2023: as more people use these platforms, they will become even more important for businesses.

At the same time, the means of using these platforms and integrating them with your overall marketing strategy are certainly evolving. Make sure you’re aligning with the top trends in social media marketing above, and you’ll be in great shape with your marketing in the new year. For more help improving the results of your social media marketing, reach out to us at Rallio.