30-second summary:
- Following pandemic-driven shopping trends, lots of local businesses had to explore online marketing opportunities
- Google offers a few great ways for a local business to get found through organic search
- Local 3 Pack is Google’s search element containing top three local businesses based on your search query.
- To rank in the Local 3 Pack you need to ensure your Google My Business listing is complete and active
- Third-party local business listings (like Yelp and Tripadvisor) may also drive some organic search visibility so it is a good idea to claim your business there
- Hyperlocal content may help your business discovered by people who were not even searching to buy a local product or service, so produce relevant content on a regular basis
Local marketing has become even a more trending topic, following the pandemic-driven pandemic.
Lots of local businesses that used to rely on local foot traffic were forced to turn to the Internet to get found by customers.
That digital transformation brought this huge challenge to just about any local business – how to get found online.
Step 1: Claim your business profile on Google My Business
Google offers huge organic search visibility to local businesses through the so-called Local 3 Pack that shows up on top of organic results when search intent reflects buying (or doing) something locally.
Local 3 pack is Google’s search element that includes three relevant businesses from Google Maps results:
Image source: Screenshot by the author
Ranking your business in the Local 3 Pack is no easy task. It heavily relies on proximity of those businesses to the customer’s current location.
However, there are a few things you can do to improve your local rankings:
- Make sure you have a detailed (and original) description of your