As ranking high on search engines becomes more difficult, marketers and business owners are really concerned about the new Google 3 pack idea by Google. For you to get the best out of Google 3 pack for your local business, velvet Ink Media have decided to compile this simple guide to give you a brief overview of how it works, how it could be beneficial to your business, and how you can optimize your business for it.

What is Google 3 Pack?

Google 3 pack is an algorithm used by Google to rank and display the top three results for a searched local business on its search engine result page (SERP). Whenever searchers input keywords with local intents on Google, the first results to be shown would be a pack of three local businesses relevant to the searched keyword. Google 3 pack display business results based on the location of the searcher.

Google made this update from the previous ‘’Google local 7 pack” which displays seven local business results upon perceiving a local intent keyword. Several features were removed from the previous result display pack to make up for the new Google 3 pack idea.

What’s New in the 3 Pack?

Google 3 pack is an update of the previous Google 7 pack used by Google to list local businesses on SERP. Obviously, there are lot of changes in this new local listing technique. Let’s take a look at these changes.

1. 3 Businesses on SERP
Google have reduced the number of local business results to 3 on their SERP whenever a customer search any local intent business keyword. Prior to this update, about 7 businesses often shown up as local listings on SERP. This new idea means there’ll be more competition among local businesses to show up on Google search engine first page in their locations.

2. No Contact Information
This new update also feature the removal of exact business addresses and telephone numbers from listings. Google 3 pack displays only the name of the area where the searched businesses are located. This implies, customers would need to search the exact location of businesses on their own.

3. No links to Google My Business pages
Google also deactivated all the 1-click way to get in touch with businesses. No link to Google My Business pages again and no pop up business cards again. This is unlike before where searchers easily gain access to all these with Google 7 pack. Now, whenever a searcher clicks on any listing, it’ll open a new 3 in 1 page comprising of a map, a list of 20 other businesses (competitors) and a version of the old local card.

How Does It Work?

Google 3 pack show local listing results based on the geographical location of searchers. Google makes use of the IP address of the searcher when displaying local search results. In essence, the closest related businesses to the point of search initiation would be displayed on the SERP.
As earlier said, Google removed all the 1-click way business contacting features on its SERP. This implies searchers can’t conclude on the business to use right on the SERP. Searchers need to navigate to the new 3 in 1 page comprising 20 local listings to pick the contact info of their desired businesses.

Benefit of Ranking

A lot of business owners and marketers often complain about the competition Google 3 pack brought in terms of SEO. Nevertheless, if you have the right tools to optimize your business for search engine, ranking on Google 3 pack SERP can be a big boom for your business. Thinking of the benefits it brings? Here are few:

1. More visibility to local searchers
Though business results shown on Google 3 pack is not constant, it depends on the location of the searcher. Nevertheless, if you manage to get your business ranked on the SERP, certainly you can expect more business visibility from searchers within your location.

2. More business conversion rate
Once you have the ability to get across your business to several customers within your local location, you can expect more clicks on your website and calls for business. If you rank your business high on Google SERP, your number of potential customers and sales would increase drastically.

How to Optimize for the Google 3 Pack

Optimizing for Google 3 pack is exactly where Velvet Ink Media comes in. Having known the SEO competition that Google 3 pack brings and the benefit of ranking on this listing page, it is also important you know how to rank for business on this SERP. Here are proven ways to optimize a business for Google 3 pack:

1. Appropriately fill your Google My Business page
If you don’t have a Google My Business account, you can sign up for free on Google business page. Upon signing up, fill out the information required appropriately. The info Google My Business lets you manage include address, telephone number, street view, images opening hours and lots more. Make sure you fill all categories appropriately.

2. Get positive Google reviews
Positive reviews and recommendations from previous customers play a vital role in running a successful business. Google 3 pack does display overall review rating with number of bad reviews on business cards. As such, positive rating is very crucial for your business. Also, online customers prefer to deal with businesses of considerable number of positive reviews. If you’re looking to get numerous positive Google reviews for your business, Velvet Ink Media can help through its Reputation Management Program. Get in touch to enjoy this offer.

3. Build local backlinks
Building backlinks to your business is also very important to get featured on Google 3 pack. You can build backlinks to your local business by listing your website URL on other local websites. This would help redirect much traffic to your page. It is a good search engine optimization strategy. The more your backlinks, the more tendency to get ranked high on Google SERP. Contact Velvet Ink Media now to get the best local backlinks for your business.

4. Do business On-Page SEO
Almost all business owners are familiar with the ranking power of on-page SEO. It is unarguably one of the most effective ways to rank a business high on SERP. There are lots of on-page SEO techniques you could consider. They include keyword optimization, title tags optimization, Meta descriptions optimization, page content optimization and lots more. Contact Velvet Ink Media now to learn more about On-Page SEO

Conclusion

The idea of Google 3 pack should not be concluded as being detrimental to local businesses. If you follow the right techniques to get featured on Google 3 pack in your local area, it could be a big positive turnaround for your business. Get in touch with Velvet Ink Media today for more information on how to improve your business local search rankings.