Most advice on how to rank higher on Google Maps is guesswork. Google has actually said, on its help page "How Google determines local ranking", that local results are based mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. That is the best place to start, because it tells you which parts are in your hands and which aren't.
This post takes each one in turn, then gives you a plan you can start this week.
How Google decides who shows on the map
- Relevance: how well your listing matches what the person searched. A complete profile with the right categories and services helps Google match you.
- Distance: how far you are from the searcher, or from the location in their search.
- Prominence: how well known and well regarded you are. Google mentions reviews, links and articles, and your position in its web results as part of this.
Google also says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. Everything that follows is about those three factors. Anything claiming to be a secret fourth factor is best treated with caution.
Why your rank depends on where the searcher stands
Distance has a big side effect that catches a lot of owners out. There isn't one Google Maps ranking for "plumber in Bristol". There is a different answer for every spot a person might be standing when they search.
You might be first in the map results on your own street, fourth half a mile away, and missing entirely on the other side of town. When you check from your own premises, you are seeing your best case.
This is the idea behind grid tracking. Instead of one reading, you check the same search from a grid of points spread over your area and see the rank at each one. The result looks like a map with a number on each point, and it shows at a glance where you are strong and where you drop out. Kerbrank works this way, and our guide to reading your map explains how to interpret one. If you are comparing tools, what a local rank tracker does covers the options.
Even without a tool, you can get a rough picture by asking friends or customers in different parts of town to search and send you a screenshot.
Relevance: tell Google exactly what you do
This is the part of Google Maps SEO where you have the most control.
- Primary category. Make it match the service most customers come for. It tends to be one of the strongest relevance signals.
- Secondary categories for other things you genuinely do.
- Services with descriptions and prices, written in the words customers type.
- A complete profile: hours, description, attributes, photos. Our guide to Google Business Profile optimisation goes through each section.
- A website that agrees with your profile, with a page for each main service and your name, address and phone written the same way as on Google.
- Reviews that mention your services. When customers name the service they had, it adds to what Google and future customers know about you.
A useful test: search your main service and look at the top three. Compare their categories and services with yours. If they are all "emergency plumber" and you are "plumber", that is worth thinking about.
Distance: the part you can't move
You can't change where your premises are, and you can't change where your customers are standing. What you can do is avoid mistakes that make distance work against you.
- Don't use a fake or virtual office address to appear in another town. It breaks Google's guidelines and tends to end in suspension.
- If you're a service-area business, set realistic service areas, but know that Google tends to rank you from the address you verified with. Covering a whole county on paper doesn't mean you'll show across the county.
- Pick your battles. Improving relevance and prominence tends to widen the area where you show up. It won't make you first on the far side of a city. Focus on the areas where your customers actually are.
- Don't add your town to searches when you check. People on their phones mostly type "plumber", not "plumber Bristol", and Google uses their location. Checking with the town name gives a flatter, less realistic answer.
Prominence: reviews, links and reputation
Prominence is how well known you are, online and off. It builds slowly, but it builds.
- Reviews. Google says review count and score factor into local ranking. Aim for a steady flow, and reply to them. See how to get more Google reviews for a message you can copy.
- Mentions and links. Local press, your trade body, suppliers, sponsorship of a local club, a listing on the directories people in your trade use. Each one tends to add to how established you look.
- Your website's standing in normal search. Google mentions this as part of prominence, so the basics of a decent website still count.
- Consistent details everywhere. The same name, address and phone across directories helps Google be confident it is looking at one business.
How to rank higher on Google Maps, week by week
- Week one: check your primary category against the top three. Fix your services, hours and description.
- Week two: find and deal with duplicate or old listings, and make your details match across your website and main directories.
- Week three: set up a direct review link and start asking every happy customer, naming the service in the request.
- Week four: check your rank from several points across your area, not just from your door. Note where you drop out.
- Every month after: add photos, reply to reviews, and recheck the same searches from the same points so you can compare like with like.
Changes to relevance can show fairly quickly. Prominence takes months. Measure the same way each time so you know which changes made a difference.
Common questions
Can I pay Google to rank higher on Maps?
No. Google says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. Ads can appear above the map results, but they are marked as sponsored and don't change your organic position.
Why do I rank well at my shop but not across town?
Distance. Google ranks each search from where the searcher is, so the businesses nearest to them get a head start. Relevance and prominence help you compete further out.
Does Google Maps SEO need a website?
It helps. Google looks at your website's standing as part of prominence, and a site that matches your profile supports relevance. You can rank without one, but you are giving up an advantage.
How long does it take to rank higher on Google Maps?
It depends on what is holding you back. Fixing a wrong category can help quickly. Building reviews and reputation takes months. Google doesn't publish a timeline.