Google Map Pack: The Dream of Every Web Dev

Say you have a local business: a restaurant, a venue, or a shop. For you, local SEO is the most important thing. And the best place your website can find itself is the so-called Google Map Pack. But what is it, and how to get there?

Read also: Google Maps: Ways To Use It To Your Business’ Advantage

Google Map Pack is where you wanna be

Not that many people know about Google Map Pack, although they most certainly have seen it while using Google. It’s what you first see when looking for a local place —it’s not a plain blue link but a list of rated places on a map. It’s the first thing the users see and, thus, the best place for your business.

To make your website appear at the very top of SERPs, you need a query with local intent. Those happen when a user looks for something “nearby” or in the city. Google is particularly good at detecting local searches. We have already discussed local SEO, but Google Map Pack is something else. When it appears, the sites in the first three places are almost guaranteed to outshine every other result. There’s no better driver.

But how to get there? Well, Google itself tells us three main factors: prominence, relevance, and distance. The closer your business is to a user, the higher the chances that it will appear in the Map Pack. The info usually comes from Google Business Profiles. If you haven’t already, please make sure Google has all your relevant information.

There are other ways to increase your chances: have many reviews with your own replies (replies are critical!). Have a lot of local backlinks. Keep your name/address information consistent across the internet. 

Even if you do everything we listed and more, there are no guarantees that you’ll become the chosen one. It’s the thing about SEO — there are no guarantees unless you pay for it. But optimizing local SEO is always a good idea anyways — Google Map Pack or no Google Map Pack.