Get Your MSP Website To Rank Higher In The Mappack
If you're like most business owners, you look forward to seeing your business rank high on Google Maps Search Results. There's also a better chance that it will appear in Google's organic search results if it ranks high on Google Maps. The big question is how to rank higher on Google Maps, considering the fierce competition between local managed IT services businesses.
By now, you know that for your site to rank high, you must effectively optimize it for the keywords you want it to rank for. This means that you must invest heavily in on-page SEO to achieve the desired results. Unfortunately, the method can take a long time to yield tangible results, especially when competitors use little-known yet highly effective tactics to win the first position on Google My Business (GMB).
This post introduces you to an approach that takes less time and yields better results. We call it the PDF method. Before delving into the method, however, let's look at some basics of ranking on GMB.
Why Rank Higher in Google Maps Pack?
If your business sells services to the local audience, securing one of the top 3 spots on Google Maps listings is advantageous. The position provides extensive online exposure to your business and improves site visits, sign-ups, phone calls, and other desirable conversions.
Your business listing will appear right on top when people search for a business near them that offers the services that you do. Remember that these results appear even before the first organic listing as part of the local pack.
Initially, Google used to feature the first seven local listings in the pack. Currently, only three results show, and you have to click on the "More Results" option to view more listings. Your business must be in the top three spots for more exposure, relevancy, better credibility, and high traffic. You can help your business rank higher through local SEO efforts that include:
- Posting relevant and regular posts
- Capturing the primary keyword in your business name, but in a tactful manner
- Creating consistent mentions of your business name, area, and business category
- Embedding Google Maps on site
- Building citations, among other strategies.
However, most of these take time to complete and make you're your site rank higher. This is where the PDF method comes in to save you time and optimization efforts.
What is the PDF Method?
The PDF method, as proposed by Chris Palmer of Chris Palmer SEO, not only helps you get your site listed on Google My Business but also helps create awareness about your company. The better you rank on GMB, the more trustworthy your business becomes in the eyes of existing and potential customers. The more trust you gain, the higher the impact of your business on your target audience.
The method entails creating a PDF file with all your 5-star reviews from customers. Remember that Google accounts for all positive reviews your business gets to determine your ranking in the local pack. Positive reviews go a long way in boosting the credibility of your business, leading to more conversions and high ROIs.
Getting GMB Reviews
According to a Moz ranking factor survey, reviews are the second most crucial factor that determines your business ranking on Google Maps. They are among the many social signals that are immensely important in Google Maps and online organic searches. Social signals depend on your site's shares, likes, and overall social media appearance. You can acquire them by running social ads and other marketing strategies.
As such, reviews are one of the least technical approaches to ranking higher in Google Maps. Getting positive reviews also requires minimal effort from your end, if you know how to do it right. You must also ensure that your business provides high-quality services. Remember that it is technically inappropriate to ask for reviews, but how you do it can help your situation.
One way to do this is to input a review link at the bottom of your invoices. Attach a polite message to the customer, explaining how to leave a review if the customer doesn't mind doing so. This way, you can get your customers to leave a kind comment on your site every time. It's a simple yet highly effective method.
Replying to the reviews is also essential. It shows a high level of activity within your GMB account. Additionally, it's a show of good customer service and mitigates your business from negative reviews.
If a customer leaves a negative review, ensure you reply professionally to avoid putting future customers off when looking at your lower-rated reviews.
What to Do with The Reviews
Once you've collected a good amount of high-rated reviews, put them into a PDF document. Remember to include hyperlinks to your website in every testimonial. Post the PDF file to your website, where visitors to your site can see what other people think about your business.
Every link to your site on the PDF document will count towards helping your business website rank higher. Google will index each of them, and depending on how many they are, you will win the first three positions on GMB listings. Consider attaching the PDF document to the emails you send out to your audience as well.
Final Thoughts
Optimizing for Google My Business is a lot of hard work and takes time to yield results, given all the factors that come into play. It's challenging to tell the most influencing factor for Google algorithms in the ranking of businesses. However, based on the above tip, we hope we have given you a good rundown of what you can do to get into the highly-coveted three-pack position.
If you feel that you would like an expert to handle the technical bit of ranking high on GMB, don't hesitate to reach out to us. At Ulistic, we will carry out an audit of your website and determine what to do to help your rank high. Call us today to schedule a free consultation to discuss how you can boost your Google Maps ranking and organic traffic.
| 
