There are many ways that you can optimize the performance of your Google Local Business listing to help it come up higher in the search results for various keywords related to your products, services and target market. Think about what people who need your services are looking for, what type of keywords do they use? How would someone who is searching for what you have type their request into Google? Once you find out what the majority is, then the optimization part is easy. Research is the key, lots and lots of keyword research and competitive landscape analysis.
Here are some tips and tricks to get you started:
1. Get citations from major data suppliers.
This builds trust in the information that Google has about your business and is one of the biggest influencing factors which can affect your local business listings ranking positions. This is done by listing the business in very credible, highly popular business directories which provide information and resources. These high ranking references will give your listing that boost it needs to top the search results.
2. Make sure you have a good business address location.
Google is getting more advanced with the relevance they place on location and your business address must be extremely relevant to the search keywords in question, because if someone is searching for landscaping services in Yonkers, NY and you have a company in White Plains, NY that services the Yonkers area; it is still extremely difficult to rank well locally for that search term since there may be 30 other local landscaping businesses in the area that have local addresses. See what I’m getting at? Bottom line, if you want to rank high locally, make sure you have an office in a good location in that area!
3. Make sure your listing is Owner Verified.
This establishes a sense of trust between you and Google because now they know that the local business listing isn’t just some random user generated data that hasn’t been confirmed yet; they have a reliable source….you….telling them that this is your business, who you are, what you do, where you do it, etc… This is definitely one of the most important aspects to achieving good local business rankings.