Do you wonder why other businesses are being found in Google Maps and yours doesn’t rank? Or maybe your business ranks and brings in cold enquiries…

Shouldn’t a search engine help you to be found rather than lost?

Let’s agree, a business could rank better around its primary location.

If you are running a local, service-based business and not getting much from your Google Business listing, something is wrong. On average we find that 5-20 enquiries is what most business listings should generate.

If this isn’t happening, it’s time to run a health check.

There are Rankings and There are Conversions…   But this is a whole another conversation.

The effectiveness of your listing comes down to 3 things – Search Terms, Target Audience and Location.

The Keywords Dilemma

Not all keywords are equal. Some keywords have higher intent than others. This means that the likeliness of people taking action from certain keywords is greater than others. Do your research to find the right keywords before committing to SEO, Google Ads and other costly activities.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

If you think that your customer can be anyone, you are wrong! Your time is precious. So, save time by targeting customers that are halfway to reaching for their wallets, not those who are just browsing …

Remember this: it’s not just about getting in front of someone, it’s about getting in front of someone who is most likely to commit…

The easiest way to understand your audience: look at your invoices for previous business and break it down by asking the following questions:

  • Do they own the home?
  • Are they male or female?
  • How old are they?
  • Do they have pets or kids?
  • Did they call or email you?

The answers to these questions will help you cut down on your paid advertising by excluding people who aren’t ideal. Moreover, the understanding of these audiences will help you pick the right tone of voice for your website content.

Location, Location, Location

The suburb where your business is located might be a great place, however, this doesn’t mean that this is where your target market is. Besides, some areas simply bring a higher yield.

Your address is the most important element in your Google Maps strategy. They will only be relevant for your organic results. Make sure you include your location correctly and keep it consistent across other listings that appear online.

If you don’t want to show your address (in the case where you run a business from home), there are other ways around this. Make sure to play by the rules though as when you start messing with Google, consequences can be quite severe (account freezes are not pleasant- we’ve seen it first-hand).

A Tonne of Other Stuff

There are also photos, reviews, website speed, citations, content and a heap of other stuff that takes a deeper understanding of how Google works. Addressing the above points through guarantees you to get better local search results.

I truly hope this helps your business do better when it comes to search marketing. If you are however unsure how to action this advice, feel free to reach out.

I’d like to talk about your business goals and see if we can help you reach them.

Questions? Ask away.