Google my business SEO – The Fastest Way to Rank N#1 on Google Maps

first things first unless you didn't
know google my business changed its name
a few months ago and it's now called
google business profile the only reason
i use the term google my business in the
title of this video is because the
number of people searching for google my
business seo is way higher than the
number of people using google business
profile seo since the title of a video
is a very important ranking factor on
youtube it was a much wiser choice if i
wanted my video to rank high and attract
more viewers and this is your very first
seo lesson if you want to rank high on
google maps it's important you
understand what truly works sadly the
internet is not short of self-proclaimed
local seo experts saying they know what
works but provide poor advice and
so-called shortcuts that will likely
result in a total waste of your time and
disappointment the google business
profile seo tactics i'm going to share
with you today have been researched
tried and tested across hundreds of
google business listings by the top
experts in local search who share their
findings in the annual search ranking
factor report
this is the bible for anyone wanting to
rank number one on google maps which i
have been using year after year to
consistently get my clients into the
google maps top spots using this report
along with a simple google chrome
extension i'm going to show you the
fastest way to rank your own google
business profile number one on google
maps if you're ready let's get going
with our first step
for efficiency purposes and to speed up
the process i recommend you install a
google chrome extension called gmb
everywhere gmb everywhere is a simple
tool you can add to your google chrome
browser that will provide valuable
information about your competitors which
you can use to your advantage
to download the extension click on the
link in the description below once
you've downloaded the extension go to
google maps when conducting a search gmp
everywhere will overlay information on
all the listings in the results
we'll be using this information to help
boost your rankings more on this in just
a few seconds
before let's look at the local ranking
factor report to see what matters the
most
as you can see from the report they are
really only 20 local ranking factors you
should consider if you want to increase
your position on google maps rapidly
since this video is all about helping
you rank as fast as possible we're going
to go through the ones that will have
the biggest impact in a shortest period
of time with minimum effort starting
with your primary business category
your primary business category is the
number one influential factor google
will take into consideration when
ranking your listing in google maps
results
although choosing the right business
category may seem to be a
straightforward exercise at first it may
not be as simple as you think
let's say you run a nail and beauty
salon like this business should you
choose beauty salon or nail salon as a
primary category since both options are
available
this listing's information shows they've
picked beauty salon as a primary
category but when i do some keyword
research it would appear that nail salon
could be a much better option it has
more monthly searches and is nowhere
near as hard to rank for
if you're not sure which primary
category you should choose spy on your
competitors using the gmb everywhere
extension search for a keyword you want
to rank for then look at the categories
your competitors are using which will be
highlighted here
the primary one is the one with a star
next to it the other categories listed
are secondary categories which gmb
everywhere will also reveal
if some of them are relevant to your
business i would suggest you add them to
your listing too since secondary
categories are listed as the fifth most
influential factor in a local ranking
factor report finally whichever primary
category you decide to choose make sure
it is in line with the content of the
page your listing links to
for example if you're a dentist and deal
mainly with dental implants pick dental
implants as a primary category and make
the content of your page about dental
implants specifically the title and the
header of the page which are
respectively factors 11 and 20 on the
list of the report
to change or add categories to your
listing sign into the google account
associated with your business profile
search for your business name click on
edit profile then on business
information you should see a section
called business category click on the
pencil icon to edit it
let's move on to the next ranking factor
i've mentioned this time and time again
in previous videos your business name
plays a significant part in the ranking
of your listing on google maps as it
stands it is number two on the most
influential ranking factor in the report
having the keywords you are targeting in
your business name will help you a great
deal to rank very high and very fast in
google maps for those keywords i was
able to rank listing number one in less
than 96 hours using this technique many
business owners are aware of it and
that's why it's not unusual to see
listings that have very similar names in
search results you can use this to your
advantage as long as you can
legitimately add keywords to your
business name word of caution google's
guidelines are very clear on this topic
including unnecessary information in
your business name is not permitted your
name should reflect your business's real
world name or your listing could end up
being suspended as a result but if done
carefully you can get away with it like
in this example for this business called
michigan auto law who use their strap
line in their business name auto
accident attorneys which i'm sure is
giving them a ranking advantage moving
on to the next tactic
if you're looking for a local business
on google maps what is the very first
thing you will be checking before
calling them reviews of course
a business lives or dies based on its
reputation this is the primary reason
why you must collect positive reviews
from your customers in the first place
the other critical reason is that google
reviews play a key part in how well your
business listing ranks on google maps if
i switch back to the local ranking
factor report you can see how
influential overall reviews play as they
are mentioned in three instances
first review ratings getting positive
reviews will give you a clear advantage
second if customers include relevant
keywords you are targeting in their
reviews it will also help you rank for
those words
third the number of reviews you are
getting is also important to capitalize
on reviews here is what i recommend you
do contact every customer you do
business with and ask them for a review
this is recommended by google by the way
so don't feel like you are begging
send your customers an email that will
encourage them to include relevant
keywords in their reviews i have put
together a template you can use to do
this in a very subtle way which is
downloadable from the description below
when you send your review requests make
sure you include a direct link to your
listing review pop-up so it makes it
easier for your customer to provide
feedback
to get the appropriate link sign in to
the google account associated with your
listing
search for your business name
click on the customer button and then on
reviews then click on get more reviews
copy the link and add it to the email
template you have downloaded then send
it to your customers make sure you
respond to all reviews positive and
negative and make them personal avoid
copied and pasted answers ideally you
want to outdo your competitors to get
the best chances of ranking above them
to check how well they are doing go to
google maps search for their listing and
use the gmb everywhere extension to run
a review audit on a listing
this will show you if they are
aggressively using reviews as a strategy
and what keywords their customers are
using to describe their services which i
think is pretty awesome
use this information to adapt your own
strategy gmb everywhere will allow you
to run five free audits a month
let's move on to our next point
ever since its creation google has
always used links to rank websites in
search results let's say you run a local
cafe for which you created a website and
one of your blogger friends wrote an
article on his blog in which he included
a link that points to your website this
would be considered as one backlink
since google uses backlinks as a strong
ranking signal the more backlinks your
website gets the higher it will rank
when it comes to ranking on google maps
the backlinks that will matter the most
are local backlinks that point to your
website for example links from your
local chamber of commerce websites local
bloggers
your local church or school website and
so on these links will clearly show
google your business is an important
part of the local community since there
is a strong correlation between your
google listing ranking on google maps
and the website it links to the more
local links you will get pointing to
your website the more relevant your
listing will become therefore the higher
it will rank the quickest way to get
local links is to engage with your local
community and ask website owners at
every opportunity if they'd be willing
to add a link on their website that
points to yours this will make a huge
difference to your listing visibility on
google maps as it stands at number eight
and 18 in the local ranking factor
report based on my experience i feel
confident these key recommendations are
the fastest route to rank number one on
google maps i also believe that most of
your competitors will not take the time
or be willing to do the work making your
life even easier to reach the top spot
on google maps the last thing i'd
recommend is to check your results
regularly to see if your efforts are
paying off gmb everywhere has just
launched a brand new functionality
called teleport which simulates a search
from a nearby location
all you need to do is bring up your
listing on google maps click on the
teleport option type the keyword you
want to check ranking for then click on
the location of the map where you want
to check if your listing ranks then
click on teleport me there
it will show where your listing ranks on
the maps when someone searches for this
keyword at that precise spot and who is
ranking above you
alternatively you can use more
sophisticated tools such as write local
which will measure your progress over
time and how far your business listing
reaches on google maps if you're
interested in finding out more
information about bright local and other
tools i suggest you watch the video
coming up next
please don't forget to like the video
and until next time happy marketing
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