Two new studies have revealed that your Google My Business (GMB) profile could have a huge impact on your local rankings.
The first study, done by Moz, showed that the impact of Google My Business on local search rankings has grown 37% in 2018, and now GMB signals also make up 25% of the top ranking factors for Google’s local pack.
It appears that GMB features such as Posts, Q&A, image/video updates and star ratings are some of the most important ranking signals.
And speaking of star ratings…
The second study, conducted by Bright Local, found that businesses on the first page of Google local search results have an average review rating of 4.42 stars.
The study, which investigated Google star ratings and how they relate to local rankings, showed that a good star rating was found to strongly correlate with better rankings in Google search. In fact, businesses ranking in the top 3 positions are more likely to have an average star rating of 4-5 stars.
Why should you care?
These studies show how seriously Google is taking GMB, and how businesses who keep their profiles updated are reaping the rewards.
Getting your GMB in good shape is not difficult to do (when compared with other SEO activities like link building) and these studies have shown it could have a tangible effect on your local rankings.
What’s more, there are still a lot of businesses not engaging with GMB – meaning that those who do win have a competitive advantage. If you act quickly, you have the opportunity to take advantage before your competitors are doing it.
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About Steph Von der Heyde
Our resident wordsmith’s love of digital lured her over from advertising to the online space, where she fell in love with content marketing. Since coming to the online world Steph has made her mark on all outgoing CleverClicks copy and is passionate about using words to build brands. Her obsession with the writing is rivaled only by her love of trail running, yoga and green juice. When she’s not submerged in content strategy you’ll find Steph in Downward Dog.