Strategies for Ranking Higher on Google+

Google+

Optimizing your Google+ profile is important to your business’ ranking and can answer the ever popular question, “Why is XYZ Business ranking above me on Google maps?” The answer lies in Google’s local search algorithm. Google relies on many different sources of information verification to determine which businesses are the most relevant and locally prominent related to the given search. The tips below will help you get the most out of your Google+ profile.

The first and most important thing you can do to increase rankings is to ensure your Google+ Account profile is complete. Ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) is consistent between Google+ and any other location it is posted on the web. Your NAP will be the base upon which other citations across the web are matched and built. Add person details, photos, an email address, social connections, and YouTube videos to your profile. It is also valuable to post messages on your page “from the owner”; this helps to keep your page updated and unique.

You also want to concentrate of the relevance and prominence of your business on the web. Relevance is determined by matching content about your business throughout the web to your Google+ business categorization and location listed in your NAP profile. Prominence concerns the frequency and quality of mentions about your business on the web. In essence, you want to be popular among local consumers and have many mentions about your business.

Customer reviews can help your Google+ ranking. Start a campaign to encourage your customers to review you online. Get as many reviews as possible, but aim for at least ten. It’s ok to ask for reviews, and even to offer incentives for customer reviews, just try to keep them from all posting at the same time.

You can also increase your Google+ ranking by building citations. Citations are mentions of your business name and address on other websites. Some of the best sites to get citations on are Yelp, Yahoo Local, SuperPages, CitySearch, Facebook, and DexKnows.

If you are worried about your Google Maps ranking, it could be related to the location of the search. If you are located more than 10-15 miles from the city searched, you probably won’t see a positive ranking in Google Maps. Rankings are based on the distance from the center of the city searched. The closer to the center your business is located the higher your ranking will be.

Additional ranking factors for Google+ include:

  • The physical address in city of search on Google+ Local page
  • Proper business category listed
  • Number of structured citations
  • City and state in the page title of home page
  • Local area code on Google+ Local page

Put these helpful hints to work and you should see positive results in your ranking.

If you’re wondering what all the fuss about Google+ is about? Check out this information on consumer trends related to local and mobile searches.

  • 86% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses.
  • Nearly 60% of consumers will begin a purchase on search engines.
  • Nearly 90% consumers view online reviews before buying and 78% say those reviews are an important factor in deciding what to purchase.
  • One in three mobile searches has local intent.
  • 61% of smartphone users called a business after looking them up online.

Perhaps most importantly, as few as 15% of business listings are claimed on Google. It is vital that your business claim their listing and start building relevance, prominence and citations. Establish your company on the rankings list before others get a strong foothold.

If you need help establishing your Google+ profile or embarking on an internet advertising campaign, call Qiigo today at (404) 496-6841.

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