While those coming to visit a med spa may be looking for a relaxing time to unwind and restore themselves, running one is a different story. Keeping up with appointments, making sure your inventory of products is stocked, getting payments on time, and finding new customers all take up time and can make your med spa day look hectic and overwhelming.
Thankfully, there are solutions out there that make running your med spa easier and more efficient. One of those solutions involved taking advantage of the Google Map Pack in order to improve your lead strategy and get your Google Business Profile to start working for you. In this article, we’ll explain what the Map Pack is and give you some tips on how to create the most effective Google Map Pack strategies for med spas.
Understanding the Google Map Pack
Even if you are unsure of what the Google Map Pack is, you’ve definitely seen it before if you’ve ever used Google to search for a business. The Map Pack refers to the top three results that appear on a search engine results page when someone has conducted a search for local businesses.
The Map Pack, as the name suggests, utilizes the map feature of Google. The top three local business results within the local area will appear in a box at the top of the page. The box will include the location of the business on the map, along with some information about the business that is pulled from Google Business Profiles. Some of that information includes:
- Business name
- Reviews and star rating
- Brief description of the business
- Hours of operation
- Phone number
- Map directions link
- Website link
The Google Map Pack is some of the most sought-after digital real estate. If your business appears in the Map Pack, you are certain to get more clicks than the businesses found below the top three rankings. The Map Pack gives you direct access to customers who are actively searching for med spas or the services you provide. You can use the Map Pack to get more leads, improve your online rankings, and spread the word about your business brand.
How Do You Improve Your Rankings in Google’s Map Pack?
Now that you know what the Map Pack is, let’s talk about some specific strategies you can use to improve your Google rankings and show up in the top three results, so you can qualify for the Map Pack listing. Here are some of the best Google Map Pack strategies for med spas that you can start implementing today.
Optimize Your Google Business Profile
The first, and one of the most important tips, is to optimize your Google Business Profile. Previously known as Google My Business, the Google Business Profile is the most important online listing your business can have. By having a Google Business Profile set up and optimized, you can have the information you need for the Map Pack ready for the algorithm to pull. Some tips for optimizing your profile include:
- Keeping accurate, up-to-date information on your hours, holidays, and services
- Using the same spelling and name across all platforms
- Adding images and videos to make your business more legitimate in the eyes of searchers
- Listing a phone number with a local area code, rather than a toll-free number
- Adding a great and effective description of the business
- Improve the quality and quantity of your reviews
- Answer questions that are asked and actively post on your profile
High-Quality and Recent Reviews
As mentioned above, having high quality and a high number of reviews on your Google Business Profile is an important part of optimizing your profile for success. But reviews also help you improve your brand’s reputation in the eyes of potential customers. We tend to trust and believe the opinions of others, even strangers. Online reviews, whether they are for businesses like med spas or individual products, help guide searchers to a decision.
You wouldn’t want to spend your money or time at a place that had poor reviews or a low star rating. So the more high-quality, 5-star reviews you can get from happy customers, the better off your business will be, and the more likely you are to get ranked in the Google Map Pack.
Some of the factors that play a role in the quality of your reviews include the star rating and description. You never want to get a review below 3-stars if you can help it. The more 4 and 5-star reviews you have, the better off you will be. The more detailed and praising the description is, the more authentic the review will appear to potential leads.
Having reviews with photos or videos also helps boost your rankings. These photos and videos again add legitimacy to your business. Another important part of online reviews is the quality of the reviewers themselves. If a reviewer has many reviews and ratings linked to their personal Google profile, they are more likely to be trusted as an authority by potential customers and searchers.
Business Directories
While your Google Business Profile is the most important profile to have filled out for your Google Map Pack ranking, there are other online directories that need your attention as well. The more citations and listings you have, the stronger your online reputation and presence will be. Directory listings for other search engines like Yahoo or Bing, along with local directories and industry business listings can all help boost your rankings on the Google Map Pack.
While having listings on multiple directories is important, it’s also important to make sure that you are being constant across all platforms. Don’t add articles to your business name, have different hours of operation, or list different services. Instead, keep all of your information consistent and accurate. If you don’t, you risk losing out on Map Pack rankings because the search algorithms don’t understand your business.
Website SEO
Another aspect of your business to consider for the Map Pack ranking is your business website. The website is your med spa’s main source of information and the gateway you want to guide all customers to. Improving the local search SEO, or search engine optimization, of your website will help you rank higher for specific locations and local search signals. Quick tips for optimization include:
- Adding local search signals like your city, state, or neighborhood to your pages
- Having location-specific pages for multiple business locations or areas of service
- Adding your physical address to your footer or header
- Showcase reviews that mention your location or your business name
- Highlight local events that you are sponsoring or supporting
- Using location-specific keywords on your pages outside your contact page
- Implementing structured data sets into your meta code
- Connecting with customers on through messaging and chat options
- Optimizing your pages for voice search and hands-free searching
Community Engagement
The final strategy to improve your Map Pack ranking is to encourage more community engagement and participation from your customers. Ask them to leave questions on your Google Business Profile, upload photos of happy customers and their results, and ask them to write more reviews for your business. When people in your local area are interacting and engaging with your business, it shows Google that you are really active and involved in a specific local area. These tips help you improve your reputation not only with the local community but with the Google algorithm as well.
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform Demo
Improving your chances of ranking within the Google Map Pack can make a huge difference for your med spa. By taking these steps into consideration and implementing a strategy for the Map Pack, you can optimize your brand presence and effectively target nearby customers in your area.
Another great way to make sure that you are optimized for the Google Map Pack is to use the power of a tool like Surefire Local. Surefire Local is a business intelligence and marketing tool that only costs a fraction of the price of other software and agency solutions. With Surefire Local, you can manage all of your essential marketing activities from a single platform. You can update your Google Business Profile, respond to questions, and even send review requests to customers all from a single location. To learn more about the Surefire Local platform and how it can help your med spa reach the Google Map Pack, schedule a demo of Surefire Local today.