Because consumers no longer swear by the Internet to get information before buying, search engines and other digital channels have become essential growth levers for businesses. Indeed, the name of your company must, from now on, appear among the first search results of Internet users to hope to obtain traffic on your website. And good referencing on Google Map, the American giant's mapping tool, is all the more important as it allows local establishments (restaurants, agencies, stores) to generate qualified visits and then transform them into clients.
In this article, we explain how to ensure a decisive presence on the web thanks to the local SEO and we present the main best practices to follow to make a difference against your competitors.
- Create your Google My Business profile to be visible
- Optimize your listings to boost Google's local SEO rankings
- Bet on collecting customer reviews to improve your positioning
- Deploy long-term marketing actions to stand out in the long term
- Seek support from e-reputation experts to become the destination of choice
Differentiate natural referencing from local referencing
Even before deploying any action aimed at ensuring your place among the local requests of Internet users, make sure you have understood the nuances that separate SEO from Local SEO. Indeed, natural referencing and local referencing do not meet the same objectives:
- The purpose of natural referencing is to maximize your chances of appearing in the first search on all Internet searches associated with the keywords corresponding to your offer as expertise.
- Local referencing is assigned the heavy task of distinguishing your establishment, or group of brands, from other points of sale for any customer looking for a local business. In fact, it concerns all searches related to a geographical location such as: a restaurant in Mulhouse, a hotel in Paris, or a dry cleaner in Nice… the presence in the Google Maps results for these terms is a matter of local referencing.
Local SEO is not suitable for e-commerce activities. It is dedicated to any activity requiring increased geographical visibility to attract, triggering the act of purchase and build loyalty. So, when the first places in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) are sometimes difficult to achieve due to very strong competition, companies can very well stand out thanks to increased visibility on Google Map, which is easier to obtain. Thus, being present on this service facilitates the overall visibility of an establishment which can very easily be on the first page of Google results in local referencing.
The advantages conferred by a good Google Map referencing
The results of the search engine used by more than 92% of French people¹ are composed of several simultaneous services which form the information displayed to Internet users:
- advertisements
- interactive maps
- classic web pages
And these displayed results adapt according to the user request. It is at this precise moment that geolocation or the mention of a geographical location can come into play and allow the appearance of Google Map results.
Pre-installed on a large majority of mobile devices, the Google Map application is ubiquitous in the daily lives of consumers. It is popular with Internet users to find a restaurant, go to the doctor, find the nearest shopping center, select a real estate agency, a car dealership.
Google is based on the geographical position, when the latter is available, in order to offer Internet users the best browsing experience as well as the most relevant results according to their research on the famous mapping tool. Indeed, whether their searches start from a smartphone or a computer, the geolocation of the device used makes it possible to refine the ranking of the search engine results. In fact, the positioning of your establishment is decisive when a consumer is looking for a local business. In other words, working on your SEO on Google Map amounts to making your points of sale more visible to local customers for free.
Maps provides a real competitive advantage to your business by giving it a choice position among the local queries of the Google search engine. While the American giant, via its algorithm, detects searches with a local dimension, it also favors establishments with addresses close to the consumer and with an optimized Google My Business profile. So, if SEO and local SEO have different objectives, they must be combined to hope you stand out.
In summary, to ensure your Google My Business profile gets on the first page of local searches and converts and retains more customers, you need to optimize its content.
1. Create your Google My Business profile to be visible
With its GMB service, Google offers companies the possibility of creating pages that boost their local natural referencing on the web. The registration of your company as the optimization of its Google My Business profile is totally free. In fact, Google My Business represents an acquisition lever that is as easy to deploy as it is profitable.
Each establishment, even in the case of a group comprising a multitude of brands, hasof a filesummarizing all of its practical information:
- opening time
- means of contact
- address
- description of his activity
A section of the GMB pages is even dedicated to the animation of the web community. Indeed, Internet users can share their feedback on the services provided via the publication of comments (Google customer reviews).
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| THE IMPORTANCE OF REVIEWS FOR LOCAL SEO |
The simple fact of correctly completing the information relating to your establishment promotes its visibility on the Internet. So if you are at the head of a distribution network, franchises or simply a group made up of numerous points of sale, creating a Google My Business profile as well as files for each agency, store or brand will ensure a free and immediate valuation on a large scale.
Because these are the Google My Business listings that Internet users see first, you must make sure to fill in any element relating to the customer experience that could trigger a contact or visit: opening hours, exact address, a phone number, your website, as As well as some photos to attract more attention.
However, you should be aware that the appearance of your business on Google Maps may fluctuate. Any change in appearance is due to where the user is searching. Indeed, Google aims to offer ever more personalized results to its users. Its proposals are therefore adapted to the geolocation of the consumer. So after the creation of your GMB profile, it is the optimization of your local SEO that must become your new priority in order to differentiate your offer from that of the competition.
2. Optimize your listings to boost Google's local SEO rankings
Correctly indicating the contact details of your brand is a crucial issue for your local SEO. Indeed, thanks to the opening hours, the photos of the storefront or the telephone number, the Internet user will be able to find your store all the more easily if it is nearby and meets his needs. And as the saying goes, the first impression is often the right one! By positioning yourself in the first results of Google Map, the Internet user has the feeling of having been able to quickly and efficiently access all the information to get to your place. Google Maps and Google My Business are thereforereal levers of growth. But beware, if you have completed your Google My Business profile, it is more than likely that a competing establishment has done the same. Local SEO work is all about promoting your ranking in the first results of Google Maps.
First step and not least: optimizing the Google My Business listing. As mentioned above, this work consists of providing practical information, but not only! By selecting the right sector of activity, via the category tab, and by writing the appropriate descriptions, Internet users will find you all the more easily. Are you a barber? Do not forget to specify that you offer services for beards as well as hairstyles if this is the case. By sharing the details of your offer, you will increase your reach and thus reach a wider target. Also take the time to import photos of your brand and your teams and update them. You should also know that you can even offer a virtual tour of your establishment directly from the online interface of Google Map.
Second step, to follow in the long term: the regular updating of your data. Your offer, location and means of contact are likely to change, so if you change your opening hours or if you move, it is very important for your company to notify Internet users. And this valuable information must be consistent with that displayed on other directories on the web such as the Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, on social networks as well as your website. So make sure that this data is accurate across all your digital channels because Google makes the connection between information from other sites and the data it identifies itself. On the one hand, it makes it easier for the Internet user to find and on the other hand, it allows him to find you in the right place or to contact you with the right contact details. In other words, your brand provides a positive customer experience by ensuring that they see their online profile updated.
3. Bet on collecting customer reviews to improve your positioning
As mentioned above, customer feedback is an integral part of a Google My Business page. In fact, not only are Google reviews available on a listing, but links to feedback from other sites are also displayed in the “user reviews” section. In fact, customers are invited to publish their opinion and they can do so in two stages. On Google, they can write a note that will be published online, consulted by other Internet users, and to which you can answer but they also select a rating from 1 to 5 materialized by stars.
Users are now perfectly accustomed to this operation. After all, after raging in the movies, Star Wars has moved to the Internet, since to display the most relevant results to customers, Google will naturally favor businesses that have satisfactory or even excellent ratings.
Tip: collecting as many stars as possible attracts attention and boosts click-through rates to your website. Today, displaying five online reviews would allow a company to multiply its probability of purchase by 4². Imagine what a larger number of customer returns brings!
A source of reliability for Internet users, customer reviews have become a decisive factor for a large majority of consumers. Therefore, it is essential for your business to continuously collect reviews because the volume of reviews also proves your credibility. Similarly, a cregular collection is necessary. The more recent the reviews, the more weight they will have because they represent recent proof of a good or bad experience for your future customers. And because the customer relationship does not stop at the finalization of a purchase, the response to reviews, good and bad, is also essential. In the first case, a response only increases customer satisfaction. In the second case, a return from you allows you to prove your good faith and your professionalism to future Internet users who will read these opinions.
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4. Deploy long-term marketing actions to stand out in the long term
Google favors recent content: stand out by regularly updating your Google My Business listing. We mentioned it before, adding photos is a good example to maintain the image of your brand and arouse the interest of Internet users.
In the same vein, outperform your competitors in content creation. Remember to implement effective long-term marketing actions: develop your social networks, e-mailing, create a blog and write relevant articles for your audience... Produce clear and relevant content that responds to the problems of your customers by positioning yourself on strategic keywords. Indeed, it is essential to optimize this content according to local requests. Thanks to free tools such as Google Adwords or paid tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs, you can define the queries on which you want to place yourself. Attention, part of the work also consists in identifying the search volume associated with this keyword as well as the competition having already exploited it. Then your strategy can pay off in the long run.
Then we recommend that you regularly optimize your website. Different techniques are possible including:
- Improve internal mesh. Optimize your internal link structure. The navigation of your site will be more ergonomic and Google will favor your brand all the more.
- Develop netlinking. By getting links from third-party sites on similar themes, you will send good signals to Google since other sites will consider your site as trustworthy and credible.
- Optimize on-page content: titles, tags, semantic fields. Equip yourself with the right tools to have a semantic field that responds to the requests of the Internet user. The YourtextGuru platform is one of the preferred options in this case.
- Develop a responsive site, that is to say a site adapted to all media (mobile, tablet, PC) so that all users can access it regardless of the terminal used.
- Maintain a fast site and make sure it does not generate errors (404, 500, 301..)
Finally, we urge you to follow the news from Google to stay on the lookout for news. Depending on its algorithm changes or product launches, Google can tip the balance of local SEO on your side as well as on the side of your competitors. Your business must therefore be vigilant in order to prosper.
5. Seek support from Guest Suite e-reputation experts to become the destination of choice
Guest Suite is the all-in-one e-reputation solution. Combined with continuous support offered by an e-reputation specialist dedicated to achieving your goals, it allows you to:
- Collect many reviewsGoogle: thanks to the design of powerful customer satisfaction surveys with your account manager, and the sending of your surveys at the best moment of the customer journey, via the best collection channel (QR code, SMS, email or tablet), you increase your chances of visibility on Google.
- Automatically distribute these noticeson Google: Guest Suite has a strategic and privileged partnership with the American firm. Thanks to the latter, your customers only have to answer your satisfaction surveys for their opinion to be published directly on your Google My Business listings and positively impact your place in the search rankings.
- Disseminate and update the contact details of your establishment through 12 decisive platforms (online directories, GPS applications, social networks) thanks to the offer Attendance Management. These actions increase the reliability of the information shared on your Google Business profile in the eyes of the Google SEO algorithm.
- Optimizing your strategy over time: as an e-reputation specialist, your account manager shares their best practices and methods with you during regular follow-up points to ensure increased visibility on Google, over time, for your company.
Thanks to our decisive partnership with Google but also to a team of experts dedicated to the success of our customers, Guest Suite makes it possible to increase the number of opinions of its customers on Google, to boost their average score and allow them to win visibility on Google Map referencing!