Visibility

The Google Local 7 Pack currently dominates the Search Engine Results Pages for many queries, with preferred positioning above the organic results. It pushes the organic results down the page, leaving most of them below the fold and off the screen. People searching for local goods and services see the 7 Pack and business owners want their information to appear there. So, how do you rank well in the Google Local 7 Pack?

Well, you can't be in the 7 Pack unless you have a Local Business Listing in Google Maps. Even though there is a layer of the web search algorithm overlaid on it, the 7 Pack's algorithm is based solidly on the Maps algorithm. So, if you want to rank in the Pack, you need to strive to rank in Maps, first. That's a lot easier to do when you understand the Google Maps algorithm.

What's Different About the Maps Algorithm? And What's the Same?

The Google organic algorithm is based on what we tell the Search Engines that a page is about through the URL, page title and meta description we give it. A Googlebot also crawls the page to see what the content is about. Thirdly, the Search Engine sees what other trusted sources on the web say the page is about through their links to it and the text of those links.

Google Maps is all about local businesses that have a physical location. So, Google bases its Maps algorithm on the same basic factors, but molds it to relate specifically to local business information. In a Local Business Listing (LBL), which provides the data for Maps, we tell the Search Engine what we do and where we are through the name of our business, our physical address and the categories in which we place our enterprise. A Googlebot crawls the LBL page to see what the content tells it about the business. The algorithm also takes into consideration what other trusted sources say about the business and its location and specialties through data feeds and citations, or mentions of the business, on their pages.

The algorithms are much more alike than they are different. Google Maps just has a twist to it. If you already understand SEO and keep that focus on local business information mind, understanding Local Search becomes much easier.

The Google Maps Ranking Factors

Location

By far, the most influential factor in the Maps algorithm is location. Proximity is relevance. Searchers are looking for a business within a geographic area, so if you fall within that area and you have a Local Business Listing in an appropriate category, your enterprise is among those considered for inclusion in the results. In the past, being located closer to the epicenter of an area was an overriding factor in the algorithm, but this is now just one of many factors considered.  

On the other hand, if your shop is not within that geographic area being searched, you can't realistically expect it to be ranked in Google Maps for your business type in that location. The further away you are, the worse your chances become. Of course, there are exceptions that occur when there is only weak competition for your type of business within an area. In those cases, Google widens out from that location to include businesses from outlying areas in their results.

Trust

The second undeniable factor in the Maps algorithm is trust. The more trustworthy Maps deems the information it has about a business, the better it tends to rank it in the results for relevant searches. This only makes sense, since Maps wants to present up-to-date, reliable facts to searchers about where a business is, what it provides, what phone number a prospect should call to get in touch with it, the hours it's open and so on. If searchers don't consistently get good information, they have little confidence in the source and will look elsewhere.

Since it's not practical for most businesses to move to another geographic location in order to rank better in the Google Maps results, then it's critical to boost Google's trust in our information as much as possible. Luckily, there are things we can do to make our business data more trustworthy in Google's eyes.

Ensuring Trust

First, claim (or create) your Local Business Listing in Google Maps! Maps trusts that you are the best source of information about your business, so this is a huge positive factor in the algorithm.

Second, standardize the information about your business across the web. For some enterprises, particularly newer ones, this is relatively easy. For others, who may have moved locations, changed phone numbers, used variations of their name in different online and offline places or tried to deceive the Search Engines by creating the appearance of being located in places where they are not, it can be tedious and time consuming.

Begin standardizing your information by uncovering what Google sees on the web about you when it spiders pages. Search separately in Google for your business name, phone number and address. Then, actually look at the pages that Google returns in the results. Is the information about your enterprise correct? If not, contact the website to update it.

Also, look at every page Google shows within your Local Business Listing as a Web Page to see what information is there and if it's correct. If it's not, fix it.

Sign up for services with a data feed provider. These very trusted root sources of information about brick and mortar businesses periodically feed information to Google and to other directory type sites across the web. Pricing begins at about $30 per year and can go way up from there, depending on what other services are provided.

As mentioned previously, Google gains trust in the information it has about your business through other sources, so try to get as many citations from local authority sites as possible. A data feed provider helps with this by giving your information to other websites, but you should also look at the Web Pages within your top competitors' Local Business Listings and try to get listed in the same places that they are mentioned.

Get Reviews

Reviews are exactly what Google thinks people looking to buy local goods and services want to see. Therefore, having reviews is a strong positive factor in the Maps algorithm. The more reviews, the better, so develop a strategy for soliciting online reviews from happy customers and make it a part of your staff's daily routine.

Negative Ranking Factors

The factors that are the biggest blockades to ranking well in Google Maps are those that erode the trustworthiness of your business information. This includes having multiple Local Business Listings with differing data, not providing your correct physical address and not using a local phone number in your LBL. It can also hurt you if there are no other trusted sources on the web that corroborate your information, which is why citations are so important.

Conclusion

Because many obvious spammers have been ranking well, there has been a great deal of confusion about what is and isn't permissible in Maps. However, Google is pushing to clean up the spam, and, in October 2009, it published new quality guidelines for Local Business Listings that make it very clear what it wants to see – and doesn't want to see - in its database.  

So, claim your listing, follow the new listing guidelines, build trust, eliminate confusion, get citations and get reviews. Then, you'll be well on your way to ranking well in Google Maps and appearing in the Google Local 7 Pack.