How to rank higher on Google Maps

Google publishes the basis for its local results in its Business Profile help pages. Local results are based mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. Google keeps the exact weighting confidential, so nobody outside Google can tell you the formula. What you can do is understand what each factor means, which of them you can move, and stop spending effort on the one you cannot.

The three factors, in Google's own terms

Google also says, in the same place, that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Anything you buy that claims to bypass that is either an ad (labelled as one) or something that breaks the rules.

Why distance usually decides what you see

Distance is measured from the searcher, not from you. If a person searches "dentist" in downtown Orlando, Google works out where they are, or estimates it from what it already knows if they have not shared a location. Then it looks at businesses near that point. Move the same search to Lake Nona or to Winter Park and the map pack changes, because the searcher moved.

This is why the question "what do we rank for Google Maps?" has no single answer. You rank in one position for someone two blocks away and in another for someone ten miles away. It is also why your own phone is the worst tool for checking. You are usually standing at or near the business, so you see a result that most of your customers never see.

For a service-area business that hides its address, the service area you draw does not make Google treat you as located everywhere inside it. It describes where you work. Do not expect equal visibility across a large area just because you drew it. Google also says that area should not extend farther than about two hours of driving.

What you can change: relevance

Relevance is the factor with the fastest payoff, because it is mostly typing. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up. In practice:

1. Pick the most specific primary category that completes "this business IS a". A business filed under a broad category is competing for searches it does not match and missing the ones it does.
2. Add the few additional categories that are genuinely true. Google asks for as few as possible.
3. List your services in the profile, using the words customers use. If people say "AC repair" and your list says "HVAC system remediation", rewrite it.
4. Write a plain description of what you do and where. No keyword lists.
5. Keep hours, phone and website accurate. A profile that sends people to a dead page or a closed door is less useful, and Google is in the business of showing useful results.
6. Make your website say the same things as the profile, with a page for each core service. The profile links there and Google reads it.

What not to do: add words to your business name. "Joe's Plumbing" is a name. "Joe's Plumbing Orlando 24 Hour Emergency" is a violation of Google's naming rules, and anyone, including a competitor, can suggest an edit to a listing that breaks it. Your name should be the one on your sign and your paperwork.

What you can change: prominence

Prominence is reputation, measured as best Google can from the web. Google names reviews and links to your business as examples, and says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. This factor moves slowly. That is the point of it: it rewards a business that has earned a reputation over time.

• Reviews: ask every customer, at the end of every job, with your profile's direct review link. Do not offer anything in return, and do not filter who you ask. Google prohibits both incentives and selectively soliciting positive reviews.
• Replies: answer every review, briefly. A calm reply to a bad review is read by every future customer who finds it.
• Links: get mentioned where you genuinely belong. Your trade association, a local chamber, suppliers who list installers, a sponsorship of a real local event. One relevant local link is worth more than a bundle of directory spam.
• Offline reputation: prominence is about how well known a business is, and real reputation (press, events, word of mouth) tends to leave traces online that Google can see.

What you cannot change, and should stop paying for

You cannot move your customers closer to you. You cannot buy organic map position. You cannot know Google's exact weighting, because Google does not publish it. That rules out a few common purchases:

• Guaranteed "number one on Google Maps" packages. Number one for which searcher, standing where?
• Ranking screenshots taken from one location. They describe one point on the map and nothing else.
• Bulk citation blasts to hundreds of directories. Accurate listings on the ones that matter help. Volume for its own sake does not.
• Review services that write or post reviews. Beyond breaking Google's rules, fake reviews are a legal risk. Talk to a lawyer before going near anything that looks like that.

How to tell whether it is working

Judge by outcomes, not by position. Your Business Profile shows how many people called, asked for directions or clicked through to the website. Google Search Console shows which searches your site appears for. Your phone and your inbox show whether any of it turned into work. If calls from the profile are rising month over month, the profile is doing its job, whatever a single ranking check from your office says.

If you want a fuller picture of position, use a grid tool that checks results from many points across your area. That at least shows the shape of the effect distance has, rather than hiding it.

Where to start

Spend an afternoon on relevance: categories, services, description, and a website that matches. Then make review requests a habit at the end of every job and leave it running for months. That is most of what is in your control. You can do it yourself. If you would rather have it done, Corsa Media House handles Google Maps work for Central Florida businesses with the profile kept in your name.