25 Aug How Google+ Affects Your Google Maps Listing

The world of social media is always subject to change, and even though there’s still the long-held impression among some that Google+ is a “dead space”, it’s a more active community than a lot of people tend to think. Moreover, it has a lot of sway in how your business shows up in search. In other words, it’s a good idea to be aware of changes on Google+ as much as anywhere else. If you are reading this, you probably already know how important it is to have your business listed on Google Maps. People often search for locations on their mobile devices while they’re on the run, which means that if you don’t show up in their searches, you may as well be sending your customers off to your competitors, because that’s exactly what’s happening. Odds are you already have a Maps listing. However, you may not be aware of how Google+ connects to your existing listing. Here’s what you need to know about the connection between Google+ and Google Maps.  

How It Works

In case you didn’t know, your Google+ business page can be connected to your local business listing on Google Maps. When the two entities are connected, your business information, such as your address, business hours, and reviews are applied to your Maps listing. What this means is that some businesses that show up in Maps listings are “pre-loaded” with additional business information, making it easy for consumers to determine if the listening they’re looking at is the right solution for them or not. If your business page isn’t connected, even though your business might show up, your listing may not show additional information. This is less of a problem if your competitors haven’t taken this step either, but if you want to stand out from the crowd, it’s still something you should be looking into.

Ranking Well In Google+ Local

Now that you know how your Google+ business page affects your local listing, let’s take a look at other factors that will play into your overall ranking. First and foremost, the greater number of reviews you have, the better you can expect to rank. If you had reviews from before Google Places and Google+ Local merged, these are still included in your review count. In addition, don’t forget to include product and service related keywords on your Google+ page; especially in the title as well as the description. Your profile should also be completed in full. Google also pays attention to: +1s (the equivalent of ‘likes’ on Facebook), shares, whether or not your page has been verified by the owner, whether or not your phone number uses a local area code, how long your business has been on Google+ Local, how fast your Google+ circles are growing, the location-based keywords you use on your page, whether or not you have high-quality video content associated with your page, expert reviews, and so on. Those are the basic elements you need to pay attention to. Effectively, you should focus on building your brand and a community around it on Google+, as this can have an impact on how you show up in search. It’s worth optimizing your business page for better results.  

Final Thoughts

Keep in mind that this is just an overview of how Google+ affects your Google Map listing. There are many other optimization factors to consider if your goal is to rank highly in Google Local search, including the quality of your home page or landing page, your presence on other social networks, your site’s mobile-readiness, and so on. In other words, it’s not enough to get your Maps listing if you want to increase your visibility in search. There are other elements you need to pay attention to. By the way, are you looking for help with your social media strategy? If so, we’d like to encourage your to take a look at the packages we offer. We look forward to hearing from you!