How to rank your business in Local 3 Pack?
Here is the google local search looks like.
Example: Dentist in New York
As you can see in the above image the top 3 businesses ranking here are going to get lots of business from Google. So if you can rank your business for a competitive term in google local listing, it is going to give you lots of new business. Local SEO helps you rank your website in top local listings.
Ranking Factors
Here is the list of important ranking factors with the importance
Google My Business 25%
Reviews 15%
Links 16%
On Page 11%
Citations 11%
Behavioral Signals 10%
Personalization 6%
Social 3%
Data from Moz
In this study, they review top 20 factors, out of the top 20 these are the most important factors for Local SEO rankings.
Users Location impact the search results
The local search results vary from the user’s location, so if you search the same query at one place and same query from a 1-mile distance the result would be different. So we need to understand that Google shows different rankings to the user based on his location. The result on the desktop is different from the result on mobile. On mobile google has much more accurate data about users location.
Here are best tips to rank in top for local results:
Google My Business
Google my business is the biggest ranking factor for local listing. Without GMB account you can’t rank in local packs. Also, Google is adding tons of new features to GMB. To rank better, we need to make sure, we are utilizing every feature and feeding all the right information.
Here’s how you can optimize your GMB profile
Add new posts to Google My Business. The posts can be about discounts, the new offering, your products or services.
Use Question and Answer function on GMB listing and list of all the FAQs about your business.
Post new photos and videos about your service or products.
Enter every information in Google My Business.
Create a Google site using Google My Business. Add content to the Google site.
Update correct category and business hours.
Reviews
Users trust reviews more than anything else when they are looking for new service or products. Google gives lots of importance to business reviews, so you need to focus on getting new reviews from customer. Here is a good post to increase your business reviews.
Besides getting new reviews, you need to respond to every review. Try to add various LSI keywords in different reviews so your listing will have higher chance to rank for various keywords.
Backlinks
Backlinks are still the important part for SEO. You need to create a strategy to build relevant and quality backlinks constantly to continue ranking better and maintain your tor positions. If you can’t build backlinks in-house, you can hire agencies like ours to build quality backlinks for your website.
On Page SEO
On page, SEO is a major ranking factor in Local SEO. Make sure your website is optimized for title, description, 301/302/404/500 errors, content errors, images and videos, and various other on page metrics.
Citations
Besides link building, you need to create various citations from other business listing sites. While doing business listing and creating a citation for your business, make sure that your business name, address and phone number is consistent across all sites. Here is a list of Top 70 sites to build quality citations.
Behavioral Signals
Here are some behavioral signals
How many people are searching using brand name?
How many people are clicking on the call button?
How many people driving to your location using maps?
These types of metrics are hard to manipulate, so Google is using them as a ranking factor. In this case, you can’t do much except offering better service to your customers.
Personalization
In personalization, Google uses users historical data to showcase the results. And due to personalization, the result can vary a lot. In personalization, Google can use data like previously visited websites, user location, device to show the result.
Social
Business social presence also impacts local SEO result by 3%. So you need to make sure that, your business is present on every social media platforms and you are using social media.
Conclusion
These are good points from Moz study, to optimize the local SEO. According to you what is a major ranking factor in local SEO? Are you doing something specific to rank better in local SEO? do let us know in the comments!