Do you have enough online reviews?
Your CUSTOMERS are searching LOCAL MAPS.
Are they finding YOU?
Local maps ranking considerations include:
- Relevance: How closely your business matches what someone is searching for.
- Distance: How close your business is to the person searching or the location specified.
- Prominence: How established does your business appear to Google, Apple, Yahoo, Bing? Reviews help!
- Engagement: How often are consumers using your map profiles for directions? Calls? Ect.?
WE CAN HELP!
Google Maps
Analysis
16,098 Google
Business Profiles
were studied & analyzed
Common Questions
What is the most important local search ranking factor?
Review count is the strongest local ranking factor measured.
Sorted by review count, the top-three rate climbs from 39.3% for profiles with 1–5 reviews to 73.0% at 201–500. That 33.7-point spread is wider than any other factor produces.
Is a perfect 5-star rating necessary to rank on page 1?
A 5-star rating isn’t necessary for page one, and a perfect 5.0 actually ranks worse than a 4.9: 53.6% against 69.1%.
Across #1 through #10, the share of profiles rated 4.5 or above runs between 77.0% and 84.4%, with no clear order: #9 sits at 83.4%, above #2’s 82.1%. At #11+ it’s 74.7%, so the gap between the bottom of page one (78.7% at #10) and everything below is just 4 points. To reach page one, rating barely sorts you.
Is a perfect 5-star rating necessary to rank on page 1?
A 5-star rating isn’t necessary for page one and a perfect 5.0 actually ranks worse than a 4.9: 53.6% against 69.1%.
Across #1 through #10, the share of profiles rated 4.5 or above runs between 77.0% and 84.4%, with no clear order: #9 sits at 83.4%, above #2’s 82.1%. At #11+ it’s 74.7%, so the gap between the bottom of page one (78.7% at #10) and everything below is just 4 points. To reach page one, rating barely sorts you.
Does responding to Google reviews help?
Responding to reviews doesn’t help ranking, but does provide your side of the situation. The correlation actually runs backwards: top-three profiles reply less than lower-ranked ones.
Profiles in the top three average a 73.4% reply rate against 76.7% at positions #11–20. At the extremes it’s the same story: 50.2% of profiles at 11–20 reply to every single review, against 47.0% of top-three profiles.
That doesn’t mean replying hurts. The likeliest reading is that reply effort follows anxiety rather than success; the profiles working hardest at review management are the ones with the most ground to make up. Reply length shows the same pattern and the same flatness, hovering near 42 words wherever a profile ranks. Reply for reputation, which it does build. Don’t reply expecting position.
If I have the most reviews by far, will I be in the Google Maps 3-Pack?
You have a better chance, but reviews are not the only factor.
The quanity of reviews on Google Maps is a vital factor to consider when attempting to show up in Google Maps. Senior to the the quantity of reviews is the distance from the business to the prospect’s location with matching the town/city the prospect is searching being a high priority. Also relevant is whether or not the business profile matches what the prospect is searching.
Is this information backed by Science?
16,098 Google Business Profiles analyized
Localo is a respected marketing firm and is the company that tested and analysized 16,098 Google Business Profiles, position by position based on Seventeen profile metrics that get sold as local ranking factors: the Google Business Profile attributes supposed to correlate with where a business lands in the local 3 pack. Some were relevant, some were found to have little or no correlation.
