As online marketing is different from traditional marketing, it offers excellent opportunities to expand your business’s global reach. This helps you increase brand awareness to a wide range of audiences in local communities and open your business up to potential customers in your area. There is no denying that Google is the most popular search engine. It processes approximately 5.6 billion search queries per day & 2 trillion global searches per year and continuously enhances the user experience. Google always wants to show its users the most accurate information relevant to their search intent. It is why Google search result pages contain different types of results like people also ask, organic results, sponsored results, image results, news, local 3-pack, related searches, and many more in various formats like video, image, table, paragraph, chart, etc.
Google map pack is a map-based feature that is helpful for local users as well as local businesses. Using Google map pack, users can easily find shops, brands, or services in their local area by Google search with the help of this feature. They do not need to explore Google maps separately for this. Businesses operating in a specific geographical location can rank in it and efficiently achieve their business goal. This blog will discuss one of Google’s most useful and interactive feature map pack, the local 3-pack. We’ll also discuss some of the vital benefits and local SEO strategies to rank in the Google map pack.
What is a Google map pack feature?
A local 3-pack or map pack is a SERP feature by Google that shows users search results according to their local search query. This is a location-based feature and contains results in the form of maps. These results generally appear on top of the organic results for the searches of physical locations like restaurants, banks, shops, mechanics, etc., in the local areas. Suppose any user searches Google for an SEO company and gets these results:
Users can easily decide which is the most suitable result according to their search query because it has a lot of information about each company. This is not the case with the results in the above image. The below image is more helpful, interactive and easy to understand.
This result is called a local 3-pack because it appears for local search queries with only three results; previously, it was a local 7-pack and contained the top seven results. It includes several pieces of information like name, rating, how expensive the place is, specialization, address, website URL, direction, business hour, features and many more based on the search intent. You can get more results by clicking on the ‘more places or businesses or view all’ option. Google map pack is a location-based feature and has now become more interactive as you can see in the GIF below:
Benefits of ranking in the Google map pack
Search results, including the map pack, get the most clicks compared to other forms of results. Therefore, ranking in this pack can prove to be a helpful local SEO strategy that strengthens your marketing campaign. It is a very interactive feature and some of the vital benefits of using this are discussed below:
- Drive more traffic to your website – The ultimate goal of most website owners is to increase traffic or the number of visitors to their site. Ranking in the Google map pack can help you achieve this goal. Appearing in the local search results or ranking in the map pack are two different tasks. As map pack optimization is part of local SEO strategy, ranking in this section can significantly help in boosting the engagement rate on your website, which ultimately leads to better SEO ranking.
Previously, seven results appeared in the map pack called the local 7-pack. Google made some changes to it and has three results now known as local 3-pack. This pack evolves more competitive and useful, which increases the opportunity for websites ranking in it to get more clicks than before they get. More traffic to your website means an increase in the clickthrough rate(CTR) because websites rank at the top and gets more clicks.
- Increase sales – More traffic on your local business listing is directly related to getting more users converted into your potential customers. Getting audiences to your website automatically increases the sales figure of your business. You have more opportunities to expand your businesses and increase your revenue. Traffic on your website increases the clickthrough rate, which means it lowers your cost per click (CPC) and cost per conversion. These factors ultimately lead to a better return on investment(ROI) which is one of the targeted goals of most businesses.
- Enhances user experience – One of the most critical factors in making local businesses successful is enhancing the user experience. The more convenient you make your website for users, the more chances of getting traffic. Google map pack is one of the best features in making the user experience that also helps to appear in search ranking. Users can get directions to the business’s physical location, see ratings & reviews, know business operating hours, how expensive the place is, distance, features and all information related to the business without visiting any external site.
Google map pack is different from Google map, which is a navigation app, while it is a SERP feature that shows information to visitors about your local business listing with reference to Google maps. The map pack is a feature that is introduced to enhance the user experience and provide them with accurate and detailed information.
- Helps in achieving business goals – Suppose you started a restaurant and want to tell local customers about your new business. There are two methods; one is traditional marketing methods that include posters and hoardings across the city. Second, you can frame your local SEO strategy and start working on it to rank in local results. If you get it right, you will see a sudden growth in your business because it provides various facilities, including photos and videos of your newly opened restaurant, direct contact with the customers, directions, unique features and services, etc.
One of the best parts is that you can track your marketing campaign and stop when you are not getting desired results with a click. It can help you to achieve your business goals. Optimizing your local SEO for ranking in the map pack is not as expensive and time-consuming as optimizing for global SEO. You only need some quick local SEO plan & strategy and guidance to achieve your desired results.
- Increase brand and website visibility – The map pack is displayed on the top of Google results. It quickly attracts users’ attention as it is the most interactive SERP feature and generally appears above the organic result. One of the most challenging tasks for new websites is to get visibility. With the help of this feature, you can get audience exposure with small efforts as there is less competition for ranking in local search results. There are fewer chances for websites that rank nationally or globally to get ranking as this is a location-based feature. Google provides only those results that are accurate and relevant, so this is a nice opportunity for local business listings to increase their appearance. These sites can easily outrank global or national websites in local SEO.
How to get ranking in the Google map pack
- Try to get ratings & reviews – Online ratings and reviews have more impact on users than advertisements. In this digital world reviews from authorized users are the only way to gain customers’ trust. It is a fact that positive and negative reviews influence customers. According to a study, 91% of users aged 18-34 trust online reviews and consider them before shopping. Getting reviews does not mean acquiring only positive ones; you should try to get honest reviews, whether it is a positive or negative review. All you need to do is ask customers for reviews.
Reviews and ratings are a vital part of the Google map pack as it is directly visible to users. Local businesses can easily connect with their customers and ask for feedback & suggestions. 62% of customers will write a review for you if asked. Also, You should try to reply to every review and work on them if it is not in your favor to improve your services.
- Make content user-friendly – An effective SEO strategy focuses on developing user-friendly content; do not engage yourself in developing only SEO-friendly content. Your first priority should be the users, so develop user-friendly content as much as you can by regularly posting pictures & videos of your business, replying to customers’ reviews, keeping operating hours accurate, etc. Ensure that your local business listing is always updated and that no section should be left vacant or filled with irrelevant data. Research for your targeted audience and develop content according to them.
- There is always a chance to rank – Local 3-pack is now more competitive as it requires a strong local SEO strategy to rank in it. Even if you are not ranking in the top three local business listings, you still have the opportunity to appear on the map so that customers can reach out there. In the image below, you can see several results appear (in the form of red icons) for the Google search for the keyword ‘SEO company’ and the local 3-pack displays only three top results. Any business listing does not get ranking immediately, so you must be patient.
Google decides local search ranking on three bases. They are
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- Relevance (keywords, landing page, ads)
- Prominence
- Distance
You can closely work on these factors to significantly improve your local search ranking. If you want to rank higher in a specific region, the name of that location in the URL increases the probability of your website getting a higher ranking in that area. Google’s algorithm identifies those websites as relevant to rank in that specific region. Suppose you want to rank in the California region; if your website’s URL consists of the name California or some of its letters, you have more opportunities to rank in this location.
- NAP and citations building – Name, address and phone number (NAP) are essential for the identification of an online business. So, you should focus on NAP and citation building for your business. This helps a lot in the ranking of your business. In fact, for local businesses, NAP and citation building are enough to get you a high ranking. Do not confuse citations with link building, as both are different. Citations do not have hyperlinks and only include your business’s name, address & phone number, while backlinks contain hyperlinks that direct users to your business listing.
- Keep your Google my business profile updated – The contents and information on your Google my business profile are the first interface where users know about your business. It provides an overview of your business’s services & features. After interacting with it, users would decide whether they click on it or not. Organize your GMB profile so that it looks richer. Fill out all the sections with accurate information. Put your best photos & videos that showcase your business in the front and add more to it regularly. Add frequently asked questions(FAQs) section on your profile that answers users’ common questions about your business. For this, you can conduct market research, target audience research, keyword research, etc., related to your business.
Conclusion
As Google doesn’t reveal information on how it decides to rank in the local 3-pack, there is no fixed strategy to get ranking in this pack. Also, no significant data and stats exist that describe its effectiveness. Google always tries to provide the best and most accurate search results for users’ search queries, so you must focus on the same. As results in this pack are highly personalized and based on geographical locations, you cannot rank for all locations but still optimize your local business listing for nearby areas as much as possible. There is no limit to optimizing your website; the more you can do, the better it will be for your business. For better optimization and search ranking, you can consult an SEO company that provides services for SEO, small business SEO, keyword research, market research, etc. and boost your online presence.
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