How To maximise your ranking on Google places

Fully complete your places listing

It’s important that Google knows as much about your business as possible. That way, google can give users a better experience because there will be more information on the listing page. Make sure you include all contact information, website URL and opening hours. When there’s more relevant information, Google places will list your business higher.

Get google reviews

Google ranks businesses highly if they have a large amount of good reviews on Google maps. It adds a dimension of trustworthiness to a company, so it will give you a boost in the rankings. While reviews on sites like Yelp are useful, google reviews – which includes customer feedback and ratings will show up in Google places. These reviews are pivotal when you consider the amount of people that search for businesses and brands through Google search. Consider asking a handful of trusted, loyal customers to write a review for you. It only takes a few positive reviews to boost your rankings.

Organisational Microformats

Organisational microformats (Schema’s or Rich Snippets) are a way for brands to verify their business with relevant social media channels, telephone number and locations. This allows companies have a bigger presence on organic search for brand specific terms. (e.g. increases the chances of your location appearing beside your brand). Depending on the platform your site is built on, microformats are very easy to put in place and require little development time.

Properly categorise your business

It’s important that you include category information that accurately describes your business, as Google will show these categories to help users decide which listings to click on. You can add up to five additional categories. Your main category should be the classification of your business, while the others should be keyword orientated. The important thing to remember is that the categories are specific rather than general.

Write meaningful descriptions

Your listings description should be clear and concise, with local SEO keywords, but don’t overstuff them. The goal should be to create a meaningful message. You’ll need to position your business so that google places shows your company in response to a particular search term. Your description needs to speak directly to the customer and drives click-throughs.

These are the five key things that must be done in order to get on the first page of Google maps. Make sure you put them to practice.