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Local-3-Pack-Seven-Ways-To-Keep-Ahead-Of-The-Competition

Local 3-Pack: Seven Ways To Keep Ahead Of The Competition



The worldwide web has become the new shopping destination for people across the globe. According to statistics, 67% of consumers prefer to shop online rather than visiting physical stores. 

Looking at this percentage increase, every business - small, medium, or big - wants to capture the online market space and grab as many leads as possible.

However, according to a study published by Chitika Network, the top 3 results on Google’s organic search pages receive almost 62.73% of the total traffic. The percentage of traffic only decreases from there.

Most nationalized businesses have a better domain authority and hence, get higher preference on search engine page results (SERP) than localized businesses. The challenge is fierce in the case of localized businesses operating on the world wide web.

But, no more! Thankfully, there is a hack to crack everything. This includes making your localized business rank high on SERP and keeping ahead of the competition.

This blog has listed seven best practices to follow to rank in Google’s top 3 page results and increase conversions.

Let us start by first understanding what Local 3-Pack is.

What is a Local 3-pack?



Otherwise known as Google’s local 3-pack, it refers to the top three business listings a user sees on Google’s search result page based on their entered query. For instance, if a user enters "best restaurants near me," the top three results make the local 3-pack.

What-Is-a-Local-3-pack

There may be numerous restaurants in that particular location. Then, why does Google prioritize some over the others?

Google utilizes algorithms such as proximity, search relevancy, business information, domain authority, ratings and reviews, and operational hours to analyze which results would best match a user’s query. 

But why should businesses care so much about ranking in Google’s local 3-pack? They can use other prominent platforms to source deals and sales as well.

As mentioned above, Google’s local 3-pack receives 62.73% of the total traffic landing on a particular keyword. Meanwhile, the organic listings receive 40% of the click. This means it is these top listings that grab the maximum business. And hence, they mark a comparatively higher conversion rate.

So, why not grab these leads and increase your business revenue? Below are some smart ways to rank high on Google SERP and leave your competition behind. 

Read: What Is A Local 3-Pack & Its Benefits?

Top 7 Ways To Rank In Local-3 Pack And Bag Conversions



1. Create/Update your Google My Business account

Google My Business (GMB) plays a critical role in helping local businesses get recognized worldwide. It enables them to,

  • display important information
  • Website/store link
  • Location and address
  • Operational hours
  • Services
  • Contact details
  • Add business images that lure customers to your site/store
  • Get visibility on Google Maps

Besides these, the benefits of GMB are plentiful. Here are some to give you an idea of why it is a must to have a GMB account.

  • Immediately sets the first impression with all the relevant information visible to users
  • Google Map integration further helps users to easy to find and reach your business location
  • The direct message option enables customers to call/send messages and answer their queries.

Here’s an example of a business displaying important information on their GMB profile:

CreateUpdate-your-Google-My-Business-account

2. Get Reviews On Your Google My Business Profile

In today’s day and age, reviews and ratings play a massive role in deciding the number of leads a business converts into paying customers. This comes from the fact that nearly 84% of consumers base a lot of trust on online reviews and personal recommendations.

Since reviews and ratings hold such importance in the eye of the end consumers, use them to your leverage.

  • Ask your customers to write reviews about your business and rate it as per their experience.
  • Post these reviews on your Google My Business account as a sign of trust authentication and to boost visibility

Higher ratings also tell Google that people like your business, and hence, it will give you more importance over other companies operating in your local area.

The better the reviews and higher the ratings, the more the footfall and, ultimately, conversions.

Here’s a screenshot of the button to click for generating a Google review link:

Get-Reviews-On-Your-Google-My-Business-Profile

3. Pick The Right Set Of Local Keywords

Keywords are phrases entered by an individual in a search engine bar to find what they are looking for. For instance, if a user is looking for the best toy store in their locality and enters, “best toy store near me.” Then this becomes a keyword.

So, find keywords that people enter in search results and are relevant to your business. You can use tools like Ahref, SEMRush, or LSIGraph to find the right keywords.

For example, if you run an online toy store in New York, here are some local keywords to add to your website.

Pick-The-Right-Set-Of-Local-Keywords

Try and focus on high-search volume keywords. These are the phrases people are most likely to enter in search bars. The more high-search volume keywords you embed in your site content, the more likely your business will rank high on local SERP results.

4. Optimize Your Local Landing Pages

Optimization means crafting your site’s content and adding relevant keywords that resonate with the expectations of the end consumers and search engine crawlers.

However, you must follow certain rules and best practices while optimizing your site’s content and making it SEO friendly.

Let’s take a look.

  • Add Keywords In Your Title Tag And Meta Description. Title tags and meta descriptions are simple summaries of your landing pages. They help both searchers and search engines understand your page's intent. For instance, nymag.com has drafted an article around the best home-gym equipment. Here’s how smartly and strategically they’ve crafted their title tag and meta description. 
Optimize-Your-Local-Landing-Pages1
  • Add Keywords Within The 200 Words. Google gives much weightage to your content written in the first 200 words. Your introduction sets the tone of whether or not a consumer will go ahead and buy your product(s) or service(s). And, search engines work on the same mechanics. So, perfect your first 200 words.
  • Insert your primary keyword within the first sentence or paragraph. Avoid hampering the quality of your content.
  • Insert secondary keyword(s) in the first 200 words and not in the sentence
  • Place your primary keyword in the most important places
  • Add other relevant keywords across the entire page content
  • Follow the below-given pyramid
Optimize-Your-Local-Landing-Pages2
  • Add Keywords In The Last 200 Words Or Conclusion. Similar to introductions, conclusions are equally important. Hence, add keywords, especially primary and secondary, in your conclusion.
  • Break Down Lengthy Content Into Sections And Add Keywords In Headings. Purely from a visual standpoint, headings are a must-have. Lengthy text can turn off consumers and search engines as well. Break down your content into smaller sections and add relevant keywords. This increases readability and chances of high engagement.

Use tools like Grammarly to create grammatically correct and plagiarism-free content.

5. Keep Your Site Healthy

An unhealthy site triggers all kinds of SEO problems. This is true in the case of both local and national SEO. A search engine cannot efficiently find, understand, crawl, and index content. 

Use tools like Ahrefs’ Site Audit to check the health of your site. Such tools

  • regularly schedule search engine crawlings
  • highlight issues like
  • broken pages
  • missing or empty title tags
  • broken external links
  • irrelevant meta descriptions
  • wrong page structuring
  • offer smart solutions to fix issues
Keep-Your-Site-Healthy

Meanwhile, your site’s load speed also matters.

According to Google, a site’s bounce rate increases by almost 32% if its load speed increases from 1 second to 3 seconds.

From a search engine’s point of view, since they need to show relevant information to searchers as quickly as possible, they tend to prioritize sites that load faster.

So, improve your site’s speed. Use tools like Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights to detect and improve site speed and overall user experience.

6. Optimize For Mobile

Another way to rank your business in Google's local 3-pack is by optimizing your site for mobile. This is because 52.2% of the world’s traffic comes from mobile devices today. If you’re able to perfect this game, Google is more likely to prioritize your business over others on SERP.

Here are some other statistics that show why it’s important to optimize for mobile:

  • 61% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a mobile-friendly site than a website

If your site doesn’t have a good mobile display or there are navigation issues, this would

  • keep prospects from engaging with your business,
  • Keep search engines from prioritizing your site on SERP.

Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to know if your website is optimized for mobile phones:

Optimize-For-Mobile

7. Leverage Locally Relevant Links And Backlinks

Link building is critical from a local SEO standpoint. Backlinks signal search engines that other websites value your site’s content and vouch for your business.

Consider backlinks as a vote of confidence that others instill in your business. They also help improve your site’s organic ranking.

When many sites link to the same website, search engines assume that the content holds value and is worth ranking high on their search pages. The more high-quality sites link to your site; the more confidence search engines have in your website.

So, leverage backlinks. Use tools like Linkgraph.io, Smallseotools.com, etc., to check the domain authority of sites that link back to your site.

Here are five types of backlinks to invest in.

  • Editorial backlinks
  • Business profile backlinks
  • Webinar backlinks

Even if searchers skip the local SEO 3-pack, you will still have a website that strongly ranks organically, so prospects will still find you.

Here’s a screenshot of Linkgraph.io:

Leverage-Locally-Relevant-Links-And-Backlinks

Key Takeaways



Fighting to climb the SERP ladder, especially when you’re a local business, can be tough; however, not impossible. Follow our above-mentioned best practices, and you’ll surely succeed in making your business rank in Google’s local 3-pack. 

Here’s a quick recap for you. 

  • Create or update your Google My Business Account to increase visibility on Google
  • Leverage customer reviews as nearly 84% of consumers base their decisions on online reviews and personal recommendations.
  • Pick the right keywords that resonate with your business and add them to your site content. This helps both Google and searchers to find your business easily on SERP.
  • Optimize your site content to help searchers and search engines easily understand your content and engage with it 
  • Check the health of your site and remove/fix inconsistencies
  • Make your site mobile-friendly. Nearly fifty percent of today's millennials shop via mobile sites. 
  • Google gives much weightage to mobile-friendly sites. 
  • Get as many backlinks from high-domain sites as possible.
  • Backlinks tell a search engine that other online businesses value your site’s content and are vouch for your site.

Rank Your Website


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brice Decker

Brice has been handling marketing projects for more than 12 years and he is providing consulting services on SEO, Social Media and PPC. He has a huge expertise in working at large corporations including Accenture Interactive & PwC Digital Services.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brice Decker

Brice has been handling marketing projects for more than 12 years and he is providing consulting services on SEO, Social Media and PPC. He has a huge expertise in working at large corporations including Accenture Interactive & PwC Digital Services.

Related Post

Site Speed Impact on Local Business

Dentist Local SEO Mistakes

Smm for Local Businesses

Video Marketing for Local SEO

Google Maps for Local Business

Local SEO and Google BERT

Tips to Partner With Local Businesses

Boost Local Rankings Using Cdn

Local 3-Pack Ranking Factors

Tips to Build Local Backlinks

Local SEO Predictions

Local SEO FAQs

Boost Offline Sales for Local Biz

On Page Local SEO Strategies

How Google BERT Affect Local Businesses

Boost Local Rankings Using Cdn

Why Invest in Local SEO

Local SEO Benefits for Ecommerce

Wordpress Local SEO Best Practices

Google My Business Suspension

Impact of AR on Local SEO

Local SEO Mistakes Plumbers Make

Tips to Build Authority Using Local SEO

Tips to Rank Higher in Google Maps

Tips to Optimize Category Tag Pages

Technical SEO for Local Business

Tips to Get More Visibility for Gmb

Niching Down Benefits for Local SEO

Optimize for Near Me Searches

Local SEO Fixes to Boost Rankings

GMB Optimization for Small Businesses

Boost Audience Engagement With Local Email Marketing

Respond to Reviews in GMB

Tips to Use SEO Ppc for Local Business

Tips to Optimize Small Business for Local SEO

Types of Content Local SEO

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Tips to Build Local Engagement

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