It’s amazing to see how many Google Local pages are left unclaimed. Otherwise known as Google My Business, Google Local listings give local businesses an opportunity to rank at the top of page 1 in their industry for location based searches + appear prominently for keywords inside Google Maps – even if you aren’t a big business.

Tips after claiming your Google My Business page

– Make sure you choose the correct business category
– Enter complete data – even add photos of your business from the inside and out.
– Ensure your name and address matches up with your actual brand name and address on your website and in real life.
– Encourage reviews from your best customers and respond to them. After receiving 5 reviews, orange stars will appear next to your listing.
– Embed your listing on the contact page of your website – especially if you have a physical address.
– Continue to increase your prominence online – Eg by attracting backlinks and social media engagement with quality content.
– Track your views, clicks and phone calls inside the Google My Business dashboard.

Always look at it from Google’s point of view… They want to provide the best RELEVANT results to the user’s search query.

For more details see an overview of the 2015 Local Search Ranking Factors compiled by Moz.