Why Is Google Not Showing My Local Listings In The Search Results?

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What is a Local Listing?

One of the most common questions about online listings is why your business listing won't appear on Google search. 

There are many reasons for this, but it is something that you can solve. The way you structure your website content is a key factor for visibility.

How Google sees your business and how you rank in search results is dependent on several factors. 

A good start is considering what makes your site unique from other local businesses in your market. You can use this as a jump-off point to start the process. 

The Reasons Why Your Local Listing Is Not Showing up on Google

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1. You Don't Have A GMB Page

You first need to check that you have your own Google My Business page active. Or, if it is already active under your name, claim it as your own. It can give you a headstart to ensure listing visibility. 

Optimizing Your GMB Page

GMB is a powerful tool that you can use to build your local brand presence. It allows you to manage all of your business listings in one place. You can easily and consistently update your information and keep track of any changes. 

When creating a GMB page, you must understand what makes a successful GMB listing. There are a few things that you need to check off a list to make it optimized. 

• Ensure that your GMB has accurate NAP details of your business.
• Add in relevant and right keywords to your listing.
• Audit your GMB profile with tools like BrightLocal and GMB Crush

Here's a screenshot of BrightLocal auditing a GMB profile:

2. Your Website Does Not Include Local Keywords

Many business owners only equate keywords to SEO rankings, but that is not the entire picture. Keywords are an important part of the listing process as well. The right keywords can help the directory categorize your listing better.

Finding The Right Keywords For GMB

Opting for the right niche is the key to getting good results with keyword optimization. Keywords need to have local relevance to get better exposure. 

Getting the right keywords can be challenging, even for experienced people. Several tools can help you get the right keywords. 

• Google Keyword Planner is usually most people's first choice because it is free and easy.
• KWFinder is another great tool that can help you find the right choice.
• A more expensive but more featured option is Moz Keyword Explorer.

Here's a screenshot of Google Keyword Planner:

Read: Tips To Gain Visitors For Your Enterprise Using These Keyword Research Tips

3. Your SEO Process Is Not Optimized

A glaring issue regarding visibility on searches is your listing's SEO profile. Most people don't think SEO is integral to rankings, even on business listings. You need to ensure that you have all the requisite information from your end to achieve success.

Strategies To Optimize SEO For Your Listing

Listings are a powerful way for businesses to get on searches as well. It can improve visibility and rankings on searches. This is something that a lot of businesses forget. This means they need to optimize their listings to include key terms related to their business.

• Google Search Console is a great platform that is free to use and powerful. 
• Ahrefs is a powerful platform with all the tools you need for optimization. 
• Another well-known competitor is SEMrush which is another all-inclusive platform.

Here's a screenshot of Google Search Console:

4. You Don't Use Paid Marketing 

Organic SEO is a powerful way to rank your listings, but you need more to rank today. Paid marketing can help you improve your SEO performance over a much shorter duration. PPC can leverage the power of advertisements to get more traffic to your listings. 

Leveraging Paid Marketing For Rankings

Paid marketing can be a great tool to drive traffic and conversions, but it can also waste time and money if you're not using it correctly.

While paid marketing might be expensive, it becomes worthwhile with organic methods. Opting for PPC marketing can accelerate your results and improve rankings. It delivers a lot of SEO performance for your local listings and does so quickly. 

• Google Keyword Planner can help you choose the right keywords for your PPC campaign. 
• HubSpot lets marketers get more out of their paid campaigns through insights and data.
• SpyFu can work to get actionable business intelligence against your competitors. 

Here's a screenshot of SpyFu:

5. You Aren't Active On Social Media

It is almost mandatory for brands to be active on social media in today's market. This includes businesses in all niches and of all sizes. It has more than three billion people on one platform or another. This presents a huge opportunity for marketing for brands. 

Using Social Media To Improve Listings

Social media marketing is a great way to increase the visibility of your business in your target market. If you are a real estate agent, there are several social media sites that you can use to help promote your business. 

Social media can be a great tool to help businesses get more exposure in their local area. The key is ensuring your posts are relevant to the local market. 

• BuzzSumo is one of the best tools for social media marketing.
• You can use Biteable to create viral content on social media.
• Buffer is perhaps the most commonly used scheduling tool for social media.

Here's a screenshot of BuzzSumo:

6. Your Link Building Needs To Improve

Link building can help the reach of your business listing. There are more chances of your listing ranking higher when you have authoritative links. Not many people know this, but it needs to be done. Take care not to spam links because that can be detrimental. 

Implementing High-Authority Link Building 

Link building is one of the best ways to increase the quality of a website's backlinks and content. By increasing the links to your website, you increase your website's authority and ranking in the search engine results. 

It can also affect the quality of your business listings. Businesses can use this to improve visibility and rankings. 

• Hunter.io is one of the best link-building tools in the market currently. 
• Majestic has a huge repository of links that you can use to improve your listings.
• Moz Pro always features on any list of tools that focus on link building. 

Here's a screenshot of Hunter.io:

7. You Don't Focus On Citations

Focus on citation for a more personal and authentic way of presenting yourself and your services. This is because, for many people, reputation is based on the quality of your business profile. 

Getting More Brand Reach With Citations 

This citation type is one of the most effective ways to increase the number of views and click-throughs on your business page. To start, you need to select the right keywords for your business. Then use them in your page titles, descriptions, and content. 

This can help improve your citations and get you ranked higher on searches. 

• Foursquare is a great place to list your business and has considerable exposure.
• Today, Apple Maps has become much more detailed and used by millions of people. 
• BBB is another platform that can help your business gain trust and credibility. 

Here's a screenshot of Foursquare:

Read: Simple Tips To Build Local Citations

8. You Don't Have Any Reviews

Reviews are a great way to improve traffic and get more reputation for your business. Positive reviews can ensure people trust your business more than your competition. The number of reviews a company receives directly affects how likely it is to rate it highly. 

Getting More Reviews For Your Website

A great way to gain more reviews is by offering a gift to the first person who leaves a review on your site. The more reviews you have, the more trustworthy your business is. Also, it becomes easier for consumers to see you in the top three search results. 

• Give your audience an incentive to leave reviews on your website.
• Monitor your website reviews with Reputology, Google Alerts, and Social Mention tools.
• BrightLocal has a Review Manager, which can help attract more reviews.

Here's a screenshot of BrightLocal's review manager:

Local Listings - FAQs

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1. What Are Local Listings?

An online listing is similar to a local business listing in print media. They are a way for consumers to see and choose from your products and services in the neighborhood or on the go. 

2. Do Local Listings Help Your SEO?

Yes, a big part of SEO is about getting local listings. If a company doesn't have a listing on Google, Yelp, or any other similar site, they miss out on a lot of traffic. A business listing will help get your business in front of a relevant audience. 

3. Are There Free Local Business Listings?

Google My Business is a great place to add your business listings. It is also tied to a lot of services like Maps and others. It provides a great experience for your business and your audience. But as a strategy, investing in other paid listings is also important. 

4. What Are The Most Popular Local Listings?

These are some of the more popular local business listings today. The more listings you use for your business, the more chances people will come across your listing. 

• Google My Business
• Bing Places
• Yelp
• Foursquare
• Yellow Pages
• BBB
• HotFrog
• BOTW
• AboutUs

Key Takeaways

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• Starting with GMB optimization is a solid foundation for improved visibility. 
• Promoting your business listings is a great way to get more traffic. 
• Use popular and niche-relevant directories to post your listings. 
• Opting for paid marketing makes sense to boost SEO.
• Extend your brand reach with social media platforms.