Key Takeaways
- Google names three main local ranking factors: relevance, distance and prominence.
- In Whitespark's annual survey of local SEO practitioners, Google Business Profile signals are rated the top factor group for local pack rankings.
- Adding keywords to your Business Profile name breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended: use your real-world business name.
- In a 2023 PowerReviews survey of more than 8,000 US consumers, 93% said ratings and reviews affect whether they buy a product.
Google names three main factors in its own guidance on local ranking: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the searcher) and prominence (how well-known your business is, which draws on links, articles, directories and reviews). Everything else in this guide sits under those three. Where a factor comes from industry surveys rather than from Google, we say so.
Google Business Profile Signals
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is arguably the single most important element of local SEO. In Whitespark's annual survey of local SEO practitioners, GBP signals are rated the top factor group for local pack rankings. This makes sense, as it's Google's own ecosystem for local business information.
Key GBP factors include:
- Primary Category: Choosing the most accurate and specific primary category for your business.
- Your Real Business Name, and Nothing More: Adding keywords to your GBP business name is a common tactic, but Google's guidelines say the name must reflect your real-world business name and that adding unnecessary information isn't permitted and could get your profile suspended. Use the name on your storefront and website.
- Completeness of Profile: Filling out every single section of your GBP, including services, products, attributes, and the business description.
- Google Posts: Regularly publishing Google Posts to keep your profile current for the people who view it.
On-Page Signals
On-page SEO refers to the optimization of your actual website pages. These signals help Google understand the relevance of your business to specific search queries. For local SEO, this means optimizing for location-based keywords.
Important on-page signals include:
- NAP Consistency: Ensuring your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) are consistent across your website and other online properties.
- Location-Specific Keywords: Including keywords that mention your city, state, or neighborhood in your title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and body content.
- Embedded Google Map: Embedding a Google Map of your business location on your contact page.
- Local Business Schema: Using LocalBusiness structured data to describe your business details. It helps search engines read those details accurately, though Google doesn't list it as a local ranking factor.
Review Signals
Customer reviews are a powerful signal of trust, both for potential customers and for Google. Google says reviews count toward prominence, and that positive reviews and helpful replies can help a business stand out. Practitioners also watch how recently and steadily reviews arrive, though Google hasn't confirmed review velocity as a factor. Whatever you do, ask every customer for a review: Google's review policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews or offering incentives for them.
Key review signals include:
- High Star Ratings: The average star rating of your business on Google and other review sites.
- Review Quantity: The total number of reviews your business has received.
- Review Recency: How recently and steadily new reviews arrive (an industry observation, not a confirmed Google factor).
- Review Content: What customers write tells other searchers what you do well. Google hasn't said keywords in reviews affect rankings, so never script reviews or ask customers to use particular words.
Link Signals
Link signals, or backlinks, are a foundational element of traditional SEO, and Google says links from other sites feed into prominence in local search as well. High-quality backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites tell Google that your business is a credible and trustworthy entity. For local SEO, links from other local businesses, news sites, and community organizations are particularly valuable.
Important link signals include:
- Inbound Anchor Text: The text used to link to your website.
- Linking Site Quality: How relevant and trustworthy the websites linking to you are. Third-party scores such as Domain Authority are a rough proxy for this; Google doesn't use them.
- Linking Domain Quantity: The number of different websites that link to you.
Citation Signals
Citations are mentions of your business's Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) on other websites, typically in online directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and industry-specific sites. Google says prominence draws on information about a business from across the web, including directories, and consistent, accurate citations help confirm your location and contact details.
Key citation signals include:
- Citation Volume: The total number of citations your business has across the web.
- NAP Consistency: The accuracy and consistency of your NAP information across all citations.
Engagement Signals (Unconfirmed)
Many practitioners believe that how people interact with your profile influences local rankings. Google doesn't list engagement on its local ranking page, so treat these as outcomes to track in your Business Profile performance data, not as levers to pull. They are a natural result of a strong profile and excellent customer service.
Engagement metrics worth tracking include:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click on your business in the local pack results.
- Clicks to Call: The number of users who click the "call" button on your GBP.
- Clicks for Directions: The number of users who request directions to your business.
Focusing on these core areas, your Google Business Profile, on-page signals, reviews, links, and citations, will provide a strong foundation for your local SEO efforts. While the exact weighting of each factor can shift, a holistic approach that addresses all of them will consistently yield the best results. For a comprehensive strategy tailored to your business, consider working with a knowledgeable partner like Indexed.
If you want help improving your local search rankings, explore our local SEO services.
FAQ
How important is my Google Business Profile for local SEO?
It is the most critical element. Your profile is what appears in the local pack and on Maps, and practitioner surveys such as Whitespark's consistently rate GBP signals as the top factor group for local pack rankings.
Do I still need backlinks for local SEO?
Yes. Google says prominence, one of its three main local ranking factors, takes into account information from across the web, including links. Links from other local organizations, news sites and community groups are especially valuable.
How many reviews do I need to rank locally?
There is no magic number. The key is to have a steady stream of positive reviews. Reviews also sell: in a 2023 PowerReviews survey of more than 8,000 US consumers, 93% said ratings and reviews affect whether they buy a product. Focus on generating more reviews than your direct competitors and maintaining a high average star rating.
Related reading
Related service: looking to outsource this? See our affordable SEO services.
Written by
Anjan LuthraManaging Partner, Indexed
Anjan Luthra is Managing Partner at Indexed. He has spent over a decade inside high-growth companies building organic search into their primary acquisition channel, and writes about SEO strategy, AI search, and revenue attribution.
What to read next
One email a week
How to turn search into revenue.
One idea a week from live client work: what we changed, what it was worth, and what you can take from it.
One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click.