To rank higher on Google Maps, make sure your Google Business Profile is complete, keep your business information consistent, and regularly earn new customer reviews. Your website should also make it clear where you're located and what services you offer. Your location matters too, so rankings can change depending on where someone is searching from.
Start with your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is a big part of whether you show up on Google Maps. It tells Google what your business does, where you're located, when you're open, and how customers can reach you.
Start by making sure the basics are filled out correctly:
- Business name, address, and phone number
- Business hours
- Primary and secondary categories
- Website
- Services
- Photos of your business, team, or work
Don't overthink this part. The goal is simply to give Google accurate information about your business.
One thing you don't want to do is add keywords to your business name or choose unrelated categories just because you think they'll help you rank. Keep the profile accurate to the actual business.
Keep getting new Google reviews
Reviews matter for Google Maps, and they also matter to the people looking at your listing.
Think about how you use Google yourself. If you're choosing between two nearby businesses and one has 150 good reviews while the other has 12, that's probably going to affect which one you look at first.
Make asking for reviews part of your normal process. After a good experience with a customer, send them your review link and ask if they'd be willing to share their experience.
You should respond to reviews too, but there's no need to write an essay. A quick, genuine response is plenty.
Make your location obvious on your website
Google shouldn't have to hunt around your website to figure out where you're located.
If you have an office, include the address in places where it makes sense, especially your footer and contact page. You can also embed your Google Business Profile map on important pages.
If you have multiple offices, create a page for each location. Those pages can include the office address, services available there, directions, and the embedded map.
Most importantly, make sure your business name, address, and phone number match what's listed on your Google Business Profile.
Create pages for other cities you serve
Having an office in one city doesn't mean that's the only place you do business.
Let's say you're a roofer based in Tampa but regularly work in Brandon, Riverview, and Plant City. You can create individual geo pages for those areas to help your website show up when people search for roofing services there.
Just don't create 30 copies of the same page and swap out the city name. Give each page unique content and make it genuinely useful for someone in that area.
Smaller nearby cities can be especially useful because there may be less competition than there is in your main market.
Keep your information consistent around the web
Your website and Google Business Profile aren't the only places Google finds information about you.
Your business may also appear on directories, industry websites, social profiles, and other sites. Make sure your basic information is consistent across them, especially your:
- Business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Website
You don't need to spend your time signing up for hundreds of directories. Focus on established business directories and ones that actually make sense for your industry.
Give your main services their own pages
If you offer several services, don't squeeze everything onto one services page.
A plumber, for example, could have separate pages for drain cleaning, water heater repair, sewer line repair, and other major services.
This gives Google more information about what you actually do. It's also better for potential customers. Someone searching for water heater repair can land on a page specifically about water heater repair instead of digging through a general list of plumbing services.
Your location still matters
This is one part of Google Maps you can't completely control.
Google considers where the person searching is located. You might show up near the top for someone a couple of miles from your office and much lower for someone searching from the other side of town.
That doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with your SEO. Google Maps results are local, so they can change significantly depending on where the search happens.
There isn't one trick to ranking higher
Ranking higher on Google Maps usually comes down to doing a bunch of smaller things well. Keep your Google Business Profile accurate, continue earning reviews, make your location clear, build out your main service and geo pages, and keep your information consistent around the web.
That's really what a good local SEO strategy comes down to. You're making it as easy as possible for Google to understand what you do, where you're located, and when your business makes sense for someone's search.