The New Google Maps – What Local Businesses Should Consider

These days, the new Google Maps is being introduced worldwide for desktop users. The new version was first unveiled last May and subsequently tested by users. Now, the new features and layout are becoming the standard. While it aims to be more user-friendly for users, it carries some implications for local businesses. Find out what you need to know in our overview.

Rankings in Google Maps

In the new Google Maps, the order of listings is less obvious than in the old version.

Initially, only the first three listings are displayed (businesses shown here have a considerable advantage).

Only after clicking on "view all entries" will more listings become visible. However, these do not correspond with the Maps results from search results.

When the search query resembles a proper noun, sometimes only this is displayed as a single entry.

Frequently searched locations are displayed as suggestions during the search.

The larger the map section chosen, the fewer individual entries are displayed. Entries are aggregated, sometimes the markers are still shown, but not the associated names. What determines who gets shown? It’s not merely the quantity or quality of reviews as a sample suggests, instead, several factors like mentions, links, and reviews play a role.

Keywords

The related search queries displayed during a search are insightful. For businesses, it might be beneficial to add relevant terms shown here to their own Google+ Local description.

Particularly interesting are the keywords that Google automatically adds to entries.

You can also find a larger number of terms in the Google+ profile.

Google extracts these keywords from reviews. To influence these terms, it’s sensible to promote certain services or products prominently to elicit reviews containing these keywords.

Summary and Further Remarks

• Reviews have long been one of the most important factors for local search engine optimization. With the new version of Google Maps, their importance increases further.

• Google+ is a must for local businesses, and this has been true ever since Google Places became Google+ Local. It's not enough to just set up a profile; keywords, actively maintaining the profile, and importantly, reviews are crucial.

• In the new Google Maps, the social aspect also plays a significant role. Google encourages users to sign in and create personalized maps with favorite places. Maps for logged-in users are influenced by their marked places and contact recommendations from the Circles. The latter function can be manually activated by selecting the option “Places from… my circles.” Here too, reviews play a significant role. According to Google, user data and search history of the logged-in user also influence Maps results.

• Since the new Google Maps is explicitly designed for mobile use, the topic of Responsive Design is becoming increasingly important for local businesses.

• And ultimately, the topic of advertising is also interesting: The prominent ad display directly below the search results might be an attractive advertising spot for local businesses.

If you want to be found locally and use the new Google Maps to your advantage, it's high time to optimize your Google+ and Google+ Local profiles and encourage reviews of your business. We are happy to support you with this!