Google Maps Marketing | Google Map Marketing

Google, Yahoo, Bing and others feature maps now for more search terms than ever before – and it seems to be trending more in that direction. For example, 3 months ago, map listings didn’t appear for keywords like “Los Angeles realtor” or Los Angeles realtors” – today, Google is not only displaying map results for these keywords, but shaking the foundations of traditional organic optimization. As map listings become more ubiquitously present in local search, the effect on overall marketing strategy requires a fundamental shift. A new discipline, local map optimization will reign, if it does not already, as the most critical element to a local SEO strategy.

The following eye chart shows just how critical local map positioning is:

You’ve probably seen this classic image before. The X points represent clicks and the red/yellow areas represent the most intensely viewed areas of the search page. The darker areas of the page represent less viewed areas of the page. Based on this study of the 96% of users who never leave the first page when they search, one thing is for certain, the local map section resides in the hottest (most intensely viewed) portion of the search page.

Local map listings ooze practicality. If a user is searching for a carpet cleaner, plumber, or even a plastic surgeon, they may prefer local results to paid and organic listings. Google has trained us to use local search keywords by giving us better results when we are searching for a local company when we add city state combinations. At this point, it’s likely that most people have searched enough now to know that to obtain local good local results using city/state descriptors. For those who want immediate local contact options, map listings offer them in a uniform fashion unlike any other portion of the page by listing the phone numbers in clean rows along the side of the geographic breakdown of each business. In addition, customer reviews are immediately obtainable with one click – so you can research and contact a company all in one easy step with map listings. Obviously these features are not currently available in the sponsored and traditional organic results.

Although no recent studies have been published about the distribution of clicks on organic, map listings, and sponsored links, the consensus for years has been that 65-70% of all clicks flow to the organic areas of the page. Many users prefer what they consider to be Google’s “genuine” or “natural” results to paid listings. Being that map listings are often the first set of organic listings, it is possible, if not likely, that local maps listings may in fact garner the largest portion of potential clicks. That being said, local map listing optimization may be the most critical piece to your local online marketing campaign.

For an expert consultation in the areas of map optimization, SEO, and paid search optimization, call Be Found Marketing today at 1-888-287-7370.