Levi ✍️ » Hinkle
i find it near impossible brooks I follow all the advice everyone says. Citations, embeds, schema, keyword rich reviews, custom maps, daily posting, you name it it’s all done and has no impact haha even been paying for gigs and they have no impact so I stick to organic SEO as I have mixed results some success and some not
Noire » Hinkle
how does one effectively rank their GMB page? I post daily, but what else should I be prioritizing? 🤔
Hinkle » Levi
I rank into the three pack with almost every local business I work with. Yes it is possible and repeatable.

Nelson » Hinkle
what is your advice for having a top notch GMB listing?
Hinkle » Nelson
There is quite a lot to getting a GMB to rank into the 3-pack, however, start with 20+ GMB photos (and use www.MassOptimizer.com to attach meta data and geo location to each), ensure keyword optimized business description and Services section are complete, build out the GMB 'Products' section if appropriate. Build 3-5 custom Google My Maps (https://youtu.be/yICYmwfGaKs), Ensure Citations are correct and complete (www.Moz.com or other). Website should contain an embedded Google Map, H1 header should contain GMB category and city (if multi location, build separate city pages for each location), do two press releases 3-4 weeks apart (https://www.Legiit.com/… /get-into-abc-fox-cbs-nbc-tf-30… ). Make sure to put up a GMB post at least once a week that includes meta-data rich photo, keyword optimized description and link back to one of the clients web pages (home or inside page), citation link or GMB page. Once all this is in place, continue to add meta-data rich photos, additional Google Maps and Press Releases. I am charging $2495 + $250 a month and booking 10-20 clients per month fo the above. Yes it works and yes clients will pay a premium because nothing works as well as or gets the phone to ring as well as 3-Pack visibility!!
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Mikey » Hinkle
lol. I own map pack, and organic, and ads for my niche. It's local, and I have, by far the highest rating in my niche on maps. I can, with 100% certainty tell you, you are wrong. The best, and easiest to convert leads still come from organic. This is also evident in the other niches I market.
Hinkle » Mikey
Well, there are lots of ways to skin a cat … My clients have stopped spending on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google Ads, FB ads etc. and put their Marketing spend into the Google Map pack and have 2x, 3x and in one case 4x their business. To each their own.
Mikey » Hinkle
but why not complement an organic campaign with maps? You are right, there are many ways to skin a cat. But if you only rely on one and your specific tool breaks, you aren't skinning anything
Hinkle » Mikey
Well so far, I have put over 70 companies at the #1 spot in the 3-pack and as it turns out, MapPack rankings 'pull' organic results as well (without doing any of the typical website SEO). As Google continues to enhance Google My Business features and functions (and the demise of Google+) I don't think that tool is going to break any time soon. As GMB is 'in' the Google eco-system (where websites are not), it is quickly becoming the 'website for business' and 'hub' for business information. If you can outrank all the directory sites organically (Yelp, YP.com, Manta.com etc.) and land in the absolute #1 spot, yes that will generate leads and business. However, I find (and other studies as well) 'Local' customers are making buying decisions in the 3-pack (without ever going to a website) and that visibility produces results for my clients.
Mikey » Hinkle
each to their own mate. No doubt you are doing well. But I am greedy. Would never be relying on a single source. By breaking I meant algo changes, or things which negate your ability to reliably manipulate rankings.
Levi ✍️ » Hinkle
do you ever bother with the GMB own .business site?
Hinkle » Levi
I do build it out and use the URL in the meta data I add to GMB photos as well as Google My Maps. The GMB business site also pulls all GMB 'posts'. While not the 'greatest' digital asset, as it is 'in' the Google eco-system, it does seem to help 3-pack rankings a bit.
Holgate » Mikey
There's no right or wrong and it's niche dependent. In my niches I find it to be totally the opposite.
Levi ✍️ » Hinkle
that’s useful feedback of all the stuff you mentioned I didn’t do that bit, didn’t do the pr gig or link back to a client site url from each post. I’ll see if that was the missing ingredient. Do I provide the GMB embed url to Nix for the pr gig? Are the images your uploading unique or stock images? I find it hard to get that many images from the client but I read pics that are unique have more weight vs stock ones already online.
Hinkle » Levi
Unique images whenever possible.
Patrick » Hinkle
Which citations do you prefer and do you do them yourself or use Moz/BrightLocal? I agree that a 3-pack ranking is more beneficial than organic. Organic is my downsell, not my upsell.
Hinkle » Patrick
I have had good success using Moz (although I hear Brightlocal also works well) just be sure the citations match the GMB listing and the GMB listing matches Google Maps.
Patrick » Hinkle
I'm currently doing a 10 citation trial with BrightLocal. I'll let you know how it goes. It seems a lot easier to pay $30-$75 than for me to spend my time doing them. I was asking if you had any preferred citations (like a top 25 or 50) that you always go for, or do you just check every box in Moz?
Hinkle » Patrick
usually just use the 'Local' package from Moz and then do BBB and Chamber of Commerce in the client city.
Patrick » Hinkle
Cool. Thanks. Looking at some of your work now. Do you have better success pointing GMB to your FB versus your website?
Hinkle » Patrick
I deliberately don't have a website b/c almost every client believes a organically ranked website is necessary to rank in the map pack. Not so … Just search 'Digital Marketing Fort Collins' and you will see my company in the #1 spot. No website required!!
Patrick » Hinkle
Yup. I was just curious about that. Thanks again.