How To Rank Higher For Google Maps And Is it Worth It

Apparently, 46% of all Google searches are for local information 

Why appearing in Google Maps matters for local businesses

Google is made up of

1. Ads
2. Google Local Pack ( top three local business listings)
3. Organic Search Results

Apart from Ads, your Google Business Profile influences, your Google Map ranking number, your Organic Search Results (just reviews) and information in a Gemini result. Ranking highly on Google Maps will not alter or affect your organic search ranking for keyword + location. Nor can AI read any of your Google Profile or Map information. Ask ChatGPT if you are not sure. Gemini can. You don’t need a website to rank in Google Maps so any advice about optimising or adding backlinks to your site is incorrect.

It makes sense that businesses optimise their GMB profile to appear higher in your Local Pack, i.e., Maps. It is free traffic, and it is not expensive for an agency to give you a hand in ranking higher on Google Maps. Why? Because location-based searches show customers with high buying intent.

• If you have a suspended or unverified GMB listing, then please get in touch, and we will help you out.

How do you rank higher?

• Create a GMB account or log into your Google account and search for Google Business Profile.
• Open your profile
• Start with edit profile

The first task is to complete all fields in your Google Business Profile. It is not necessary to be Woman owned of to have gender neutral toilets. Fill in each section as accurately as possible. Use your business name as it is registered with Companies House, or as it appears on your website. It is important that Google can verify this information as correct. Vanilla Local, Vanilla Circus and Vanilla Circus Ltd are not all the same.

Show up in all the right places: Remember, these are computers you are dealing with, not humans. Google Local is an older system than Organic Search Results, uses Google’s search algorithm, and is less complex. Remember to press SAVE after editing details, as you cannot go back.

Remember, it is all about Proximity, Relevance, and Prominence. Proximity is hard to fake and prominence takes time to earn, but relevance it exaclty why you are going to work on your GMB profile

Contact Details: These are very important.

1. Categories: Add at least 5 categories. Do not spam this section.
2. Description: Include in this section a list of local towns to which you offer your services.  Include “what you offer”, “What makes you unique (list USPs) and How long have you been in business. Anything else that’s helpful for customers to know, and the reasons they might choose you over the competitor. Use AI to help you. This description is included in your GMB panel. To view it, search for your company name and look halfway down the panel. This content is not indexed by Google but is stored in their database. It is not likely anyone will ever read it. Write it out in a separate document, as GMB’s save function is haphazard.
3. Service area: Add all of your locations in your area. It is tempting to keep on adding. Over 20 years, we have been experimenting with how this affects our Google Maps rankings and have not found any tangible proof. Still, it is important to add your areas.
4. Opening hours: Add them accurately, then add them to your website. It is tempting and not necessarily an error to open later than you do. This ensures that you could appear in Google’s locals three-pack, where it lists three companies in an area, especially if the strongest businesses are closed.
5. Online Opening hours: Set to 24 hours.
6. Add more hours: Keep your data accurate, do not add anything that is not true
7. More: this is the same advice here. I asked the team if they could find a Google profile link that showed any of these details, parking, etc., and they couldn’t. This is just part of Google’s system, so complete with care!

Photos

Google loves images, and customers look at images before visiting a restaurant or dentist. Add images of your products and services, along with images of the exterior of your premises. Upload at least five. Keep some back so you can slowly drip-feed more monthly. Google is again evaluating which businesses are legitimate and whether the images reflect what is said in the rest of your GMB profile. Clever eh!

Q&As

If you used to do these, they were removed last year as they were always generated by users and were full of spam.

Edit Products/Edit Services

This is where most companies have long since given up.  Add services > Add custom service. Use your keywords as a guide. So it would be solicitor, divorce solicitor, family law etc. Do not make this keyword + location. Add 10.  Try not to be spammy.

Then click the service, add a price, and enter a description of the service you are offering. Again, mimic the description you added for the company, USPs and when established. When you add products, you can add a URL. Add a URL to the actual product, not to a category.

Booking

• Add a link to your contact page
• Add a link to your online booking page
• Add a link to Calendly or similar booking forms

Ask for reviews

This is an auto-generated link and QR code to send to your clients or add to your website. Reviews are the most important part of the bigger local SEO picture. GMB and Google Maps do not influence organic search, but the reviews within your profile too. How many do I need? The answer is always more than your local competition. If one company has 40 reviews and another 5 which would you choose?

Adding Posts

A post can be a blog, an event or an offer. It is important to not complete and forget your GMB profile. The more information you add the higher in Google Maps you will appear. Will you appear in the 3-Pack? This is less likely as the 3-pack is all about prominence, not just GMB optimisation. But in time, constantly adding to your GMB will show results.

Outside of GMB

• Secure citations; these are the old web directory links. They are only important insofar as they support your NAP: your address, name, phone, email, and location. We can help.
• Adding links to your website. No, this won’t help, as you don’t need a website to list on Google Maps.

Is it worth investing time and money into it?

Spending an hour or two getting it right so that your information is correct – definitely. Leaving and forgetting about it is not so good. Is it worth spending £495 a month to have a company like Vanilla Circus check, optimise, and update the posts, events, images, and citations? Yes, it is. This does depend on the value of your services or products.

How does it work: Proximity, Relevance, and Prominence

1. Local Pack (3-Pack, list of three companies in a Map): Primarily appears on Google.co.uk and focuses on prominence (reputation, reviews, and authority).
2. Google Maps is all about proximity (how close the business is to the user’s IP address).
3. Relevance, i.e., how closely a user’s search query matches data in your GMB profile, is a consideration across the 3-pack and Google Maps.

Summary

1. The Google 3-pack often feels set in stone, with the same companies always appearing in it. This is because the Google Local algorithm updates less frequently.
2. Google Maps ranking seems to have a mind of its own and changes weekly. With advertising now available on Google Maps, this might seem the case. In response to this, Google has increased its proximity to include companies that are actually based miles away.
3. Why do some companies with no prominence rank above my company? Google Maps is not an exact science; it is part of Google’s attempt to be relevant at a local level. Our GMB is 20 years old. Does the account’s age have prominence? You would think so, but in a relevant search, we ranked just above another GMB account we created last month!