Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
How to show on Google Maps for specific areas close to me?
-
Hi there,
Im wondering the best approach to get more consistent listings for google map searches (the pins on the map) for a business.
Here is a small overview. My client provides storage services in London. His business is very local as customers will only want to use them if they are from surrounding local suburbs within the City. His business is showing on the map for some of the suburbs close to his business, but it does not actually show when you search for the closest location (suburb) that his business is located in, or other local suburbs.What would be the best approach to ensure google shows a pin for his search results when users search for all close-by suburbs to his business address? Is this possible or will it just happen over time?
He already has landing pages on his website for each of his suburbs that he is trying to target, eg: "Self Storage Camden".
-
Yes, but I'd also make sure to do it in small bits at a time. Meaning, don't change everything at once. Make a small change, wait a bit to see the results, and if they're good, then make another small change. If the results of the first change aren't what you want, then rethink your keyword strategy and try something a little different!
Good luck! Give an update in a while if you can. I'd be interested to hear what happens.
-
Thanks for the reply... ok so focus on the landing page on-site keywords a bit more then.. is that what you were saying?
Cheers,
-
I think the tactic to use here might be to create some "localized keywords"; or put another way, to reference areas that might be interested in your clients service on their website.
I helped rework the website of one of my clients, and this was something we did for each of their branches (they exist in several major cities). Using references to those cities and areas nearby, we've increased traffic to each branch through those references.
I'm pretty sure Google Maps uses a combination of location-based SEO, general SEO, and zip-code structures in its algorithm for maps; so keep that in mind too!
Hope that helps!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Hi all, we recently started to claim Apple Maps listings on behalf of our agency's clients, is it possible to transfer ownership of an Apple Maps listing from one Apple ID account to another Apple ID account?
We'd like to claim and complete our clients' Apple Maps listings with our agency Apple ID, then once we're finished completing and verifying each listing, transfer to the client's Apple ID. Is it possible to transfer ownership of an Apple Maps listing from one Apple ID to another? Thanks
Local Listings | Nov 5, 2020, 4:50 AM | NOUS-Australia0 -
Why won't a business show up in the local pack when all signs point to that it should?
Hello! I've been trying to figure out why a business won't show up in the local pack even though their GMB has more reviews, seems to be doing everything right, and just doesn't show. The business is "A Senior Journey", and should be showing up for searches relating to "senior placement services tucson" or "senior placement tucson", but no dice. Been doing a competitor analysis and they are doing better or on par with all of their competitors. The same businesses in Tucson that are competitors show up both times, even Phoenix locations, but not A Senior Journey...any ideas? Thank you!
Local Listings | Apr 3, 2021, 2:11 AM | WebMO-Tech-Rep0 -
Google My Business answers not appearing
We've been trying to use the GMB Q&A feature as a lot of customers seem to be engaging with the listing/asking relevant questions. However, sometimes we answer a question directly from the business listing account but it does not appear (no error message is shown when posting either). When we go to re-post the answer, the text is sometimes still visible in the answer box field. Any ideas what might be causing the issue?
Local Listings | Apr 23, 2019, 2:25 PM | Wagada1 -
Google listing only appears when I move / zoom in or out of the map
Hi everyone, We are having an issue with this local business. The Google listing isn't immediately appearing on the map. You have to move the map or zoom in and out for the listing to appear. I find this really odd as our competitors - with no reviews and way further in proximity - are appearing with no issues. The listing is only about 4km where I'm doing the search, while competitors with no reviews are about 20km away. We are ranking in the top 5 organically for the search term I used (pool renovations brisbane), but nowhere in local unless the map is moved. When the listing appears, sometimes the pin also looks grey instead of red, while others are red (if that makes sense). On top of this, their organic rankings have also been on a downward trend since June. I'm currently doing a backlink audit to see if it's contributing to the issue. If anyone also has other ideas, could you please let me know? Thanks.
Local Listings | Sep 14, 2018, 3:21 AM | nhhernandez1 -
Business Name Not Showing Up in Google's Maps
I have a client whose name in not currently showing up on Google maps. Their business location only shows once their name or related keywords are searched, but their business name does not show when you only look for it on the map regardless of how far zoomed in you are to the actual location. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this, or knows of a way to fix this. I have already contacted Google multiple times, and they told me that “business’ names are just randomly pulled”. The client is an HVAC store front business with good rankings and a fully optimized Google profile, so these reasons did not answer the issue. Client’s GMB profile: https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=rothheating oak creeek&oq=rothheating oak creeek&rlz=1C1JPGB_enUS685US685&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.5919j0j4 DBZfF
Local Listings | Nov 28, 2016, 8:00 PM | JohnWeb120 -
Google Places - Remove Completely vs. Permanently Closed?
This is a bit confusing to explain so bear with me please. We have a client that used to have an old law practice with a partner. The site and backlinks were very large and it had a lot of domain authority. It also had a very large citation profile and history. The two lawyers have since split, but there remains multiple Google Places listings out there for the old partnership. We have fixed the one showing the old business practice name, but not the one that he setup for his personal name. One of the biggest hassles is that the old location he setup has his attorney name in the actual listing. The issue is that we cannot close the old listing (we tried this), as it comes up permanently closed when you Google his name. If you search for his new Law Firm, the correct business listing that we have set up will show. The new listing also includes his name and has over 50 five star reviews. We hoped that the large amount of legitimate reviews would get rid of or at least suppress the old listing, but it is not happening. So I am a bit confused as to what to do. If we close the old listing Google shows the red "permanently closed" listing when you Google his name. We cannot update the old listing information to show his new address as then it will compete with the new listing that we setup that shows all the positive reviews. The old listing was not created by us, and the new one was. The new one shows when you search for his Law Firm name in Google, but not for his personal name i.e "NAME HERE ATTORNEY" or "HIS NAME and LOCATION" Interested to hear your thoughts. The only way I can think to fix this is to contact Google directly and see if there is a way to permanently delete the listing from Google maps, but I am not aware that this is possible.
Local Listings | May 24, 2016, 6:25 PM | David-Kley0 -
Why are my citations not showing up?
We're managing a website for a client and decided to use Yext to build citations. We've gone through and manually verified that they are live. Moz Local cannot find this website or the citations, nor could Ahrefs, or Majestic. Google has indexed 154 pages of the website, Bing has indexed 10. This dealer has two websites (I know that's a faux pas, it's by client request), so that they can "test" our website before giving up their old one. They're tied to the same NAP, but have different web addresses. We got permission to claim the listings for the website we sent live and put them up about two months ago. I can't figure out for the life of me why none of my tools will verify the existence of this website and the citations. I checked for a no index and no follow command in the HTML (which shouldn't be a problem because Google has indexed the site) and it was clean. The only thing I can think of is that the old site is getting credit for the citations even though we've listed a different website address. Can anyone verify this?
Local Listings | Dec 31, 2020, 3:56 PM | jtaylormoon0 -
What would Cause listing to fall off local search map spot?
Any reason a listing that was showing in Google between the 3 and 5 spot on local map search would suddenly disappear all together from the map position for a specific keyword?
Local Listings | Dec 10, 2014, 11:09 AM | scott3150