Google Maps Marketing: How to Get on Google Maps

If you pay attention to local SEO trends, then you’ve probably heard the term Google Maps marketing. Although many marketers and business owners are aware of the potential behind Google Maps and local SEO, most are blundered on where to begin.

Simply put, Google Maps marketing is an umbrella term. It's used to categorize various strategies designed to increase a business's visibility in Google Maps and the Google Local 3-Pack (shown below.)

When it comes to finding the best sushi in
San Francisco, where are you going to go?

In short, Google Maps marketing and local SEO use the functionality of Google Maps to make businesses easier to find. Not limited to just local small businesses, it's a powerful tool for a companies and brands operating on a local level.

The Importance of Google Maps Marketing for Local Businesses

As more and more people use the Google search (and Google Maps) to find businesses in their area, the power of local SEO continues to become a commodity with greater marketing  value. If your business doesn’t appear near the top of local search results, then potential customers are likely contacting your competitors.

Statistics show that over 50% of all  traffic comes from searches performed on mobile devices. Additionally, locally. With such an increase in mobile search engine use, it’s more important than ever to ensure your business is found.

By leveraging the potential of a local SEO and Google Maps marketing campaign, you can increase your business's mobile search ranking and overall visibility. Combined with responsive and SEO-friendly web design, Google AMP's, and mobile conversion rate optimization strategies, your business can greatly advance its marketing efforts in Google Maps.

How to Get on Google Maps: Getting Started

Many marketers and business owners want to know how to get on Google Maps. This is a broad question with a couple different answers (being found in the Google Local 3-Pack versus on Google Maps search.)

While there are specific local SEO strategies for each area of Google Maps marketing, below is simple way to get started.

• Claim your business listing. Claim and populate a Google My Business listing with accurate and complete information about your business. This is the foundation to your company's presence on Google Maps.
• Double-check your address. When listing your business’s address on Google My Business, make 100% sure that everything is exact. Any discrepancy in your Google business listing and other business listings (i.e. Yelp, Bing, Yahoo! Local, etc.)
• Verify your listing. Google will suggest that you verify your listing. This can be done through a number of options, but a postcard submission is the most dependable. It can take a couple weeks, but when the postcard arrives, you can then verify your listing via a 4-digit PIN.

More to Google Maps Marketing

The latter tip is just the beginning of a business' Google Maps Marketing campaign. For more information on how to get on Google Maps (both Google Local 3-Pack and Google Maps,) visit CaptivateLocal.com. As a full-service local SEO company, CaptivateLocal.com provides citations building, link popularity, content optimization and other Google Maps optimization and marketing solutions.