Google Maps Rank Tracking -- 2024 Guide

Introduction

Whether called Map Rank Tracking, Google Maps Rank Tracking, Local Rank Checking, or something similar, understanding your position in local map search results is crucial for understanding the steps you need to take to attract local customers and drive calls or foot traffic to your business.

This is where Map Rank Tracking comes into play, and the word “Rank” is the key element here. Map Rank Tracking is the practice of monitoring your business’s visibility on map-based search results, which we dive into detail about below, to ensure you’re reaching potential customers in your area effectively.

Importance of Map Rank Tracking

The importance of map rank tracking cannot be overstated. With the increasing reliance on location-based searches, businesses that appear higher in map results have a significant advantage over those that rank lower. Countless studies have shown that being higher in the map rankings directly leads to more engagement by potential customers. By tracking your map rankings, you can test whether changes you make to improve your visibility are actually working.

As the leader or owner or manager of a location-based business, or one location of a larger organization, one of the ways you win is through organic growth. You get organic growth in a location-based business when your business is the one that people reach out to. And being in the Map Pack, or at the top of the list for the larger map views, is critical for making that happen.

When people search, they search for something – “best pizza near me”. That phrase is a keyword. So Map Rank Tracking allows you to see how you rank, in any given location, for one or more keywords. And track your performance over time.

As leaders have said for years – you can't manage what you don’t measure. That’s what Map Rank Tracking is all about.

Objectives of This Guide

This guide aims to provide a comprehensive overview of Map Rank Tracking, explaining what it is, why it matters, and how you can leverage it to stay competitive in local markets. We’ll look at the factors that influence map rankings, explore various map rank tracking tools, and offer practical strategies to improve your map rankings. Whether you’re new to Map Rank Tracking or looking to refine your existing efforts, or looking for better and more cost-effective software, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and tools to enhance your local SEO and attract more local customers.

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What Map Are You Talking About?

There are two different routes to getting local information from Google in a form of a map with listings:

Starting from Search - the Map Pack

If we start from Google Search, and enter “best gyros in Jacksonville, FL” this is what shows:

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You can see that this is called “Places.” It’s also called the Google Places Pack, Places Pack, Local 3-Pack, 3-Pack, Map Pack, or even the Snack Pack.

Lots of names, but it’s really important because it only has the top 3 listings. This is why, in most Map Rank Trackers, they tell you if you’re in the top 3 positions. If you’re not, you’re not on this page!

You’ll see that under those three listings, there is a “More Places” button. Click that, and you get:

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The Local Finder

The image above is The Local Finder. The Local Finder looks more like a map, but you can see that the url is “google.com/search…” – it’s from search, not Google Maps. It’s now got more than 3 listings; in fact, the listings will go on in a paginated format.

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Google Maps Local Search Results

You can also get search results from Google Maps. You can see below a similar image, but note that the url is “google.com/maps/search…”

Take a look at these two pages – the listings, at least the first four that you can see on both, are identical. In fact, in this particular search, I had to go down to number 7 before I started seeing differences between the two.

That being said, Google says that these results are based on slightly different things: Search related results are more SEO-like, and Maps related searches are more based on Proximity, the Google Business Profile, and Prominence.

Proximity

Maps searches place a value on how close you are to the location. That's why most businesses rank #1 in their Circle where they're located. If you're standing right in front of a business and that's the kind of business you're searching for, it makes sense that it would show up first!

Google Business Profile

There is a lot of information options in the Google Business Profile that helps Google understand if your business is relevant to a particular search term. Outside of the core informational items like having a consistent name, address, phone number, website, etc., is the Primary Google Category. The Primary Google Category is the core "industry" identified and carries a lot of weight. That's why we pull your Primary and Secondary Categories onto the Map Rank Tracker for both the client business and competitor businesses. Identifying the best Categories is a critical part of your search strategy.

Prominence

Prominence is a way of asking, "How important is your business?" in this search? And a big part of the answer is with Reviews. Reviews are like clicks on a website -- it's an indicator of how popular your business is. If you have a lot of Reviews, then it most likely means that you have a lot of customers, and that means you're prominent in your area in that industry. That's why you'll often see that businesses with a lot of Reviews will rank higher, even if the Ratings are a bit lower.

Reviews are something that you can influence. Are you doing everything you can to get more Reviews? Are you getting Reviews regularly? Are you Responding to Reviews in a way that will encourage new customers to seek your product or service?

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RightResponse AI’s Map Rank Tracker

Overview

RightResponse AI’s Map Rank Tracker is a powerful tool for allowing you to understand where you rank, who your competitors are, how they rank, and how your rank is changing over time.  We will look at RightResponse AI’s Map Rank Tracker as a way understanding what you should look for in any map rank tracker you are using, or plan to use.

When you're ready, you can create a Free Google Map Rank Tracker so you can see everything we discuss below live!

Let’s take a look:

The Map Grid

We’ll start with Box B, which is the core Map Grid. At the top of the Box, you can see that we’re looking at a burger joint in Jacksonville, FL called Epik. You can see that they have 1,897 total reviews on Google, with an average rating of 4.4 stars.

Importantly, you can also see their Google Business Categories. In this case, their Primary Business Category is "Hamburger restaurant", and their secondary category is "American restaurant". Not many Map Rank Trackers show the Google Business Categories, but this is CRITICAL, as the Primary Business Category is one of the most important factors in Map Ranking as we discussed above. Choosing this primary category, while thinking about what people will be searching for, is critical to Map Ranking. Look for this in any Map Rank Tracker – if they don’t have this feature, be skeptical!

You’ll also see some metrics. The metrics we use are:

Top 3: The % of the grid circles where the location is in the Top 3. In this case, as you can see, Epik is in the Top 3 in every circle!

Total Rank: This is the mathematical average ranking across all the circles in the grid, in this case all 49 circles.

Presence Rank: This is the mathematical average ranking across ONLY the circles where the business is in the Top 20. If the business is not in the Top 20, we ignore that circle. In this case, Epik is in the Top 20 of every circle, so their Total Rank and Presence Rank will be the same.

There are lots of different ways to think about performance, but these are the three metrics we think are most useful.

Overlaying the map are 49 circles. You can imagine that in each circle is a list of 20 businesses, and the order in which they showed up in the Google search results. The number in the circle is the rank of the business at the top of the box, in this case Epik. So what’s the blue circle?

The Map Ranking in the Selected Circle

Box C is the list of businesses, in rank order, of whatever circle is selected in Box B, which is the blue circle. Epik is number 1 in that circle, and is therefore number 1 in Box C. You can click on any circle in Box B, making it the blue circle, and Box C will change to reflect the ranking for that circle, hence the name “Selected Circle” at the top of the box.

This allows you to fully explore what happens as you move away from your business and see which businesses outrank you. In our Map Rank Tracker, you can also click on ranking number in Box C and the location pin will show up on the Box B map so you can see that competitor’s precise location.

All Competitor Ranking

So now, you might be thinking, while there’s overlap between the circles in Box B, can I see a complete list of competitors -- any business that shows up in any of the circles? Yes, that’s Box A, the All Competitor Ranking, and it can be sorted by any of the three metrics we track. And, just like in Box C, if you click on the numerical ranking in Box A, you will see the precise location of that competitor.

Even better, if you click on any listing in Box A, the Box B grid will become their Map Rank Tracker! That’s right – that competitor will now be at the top of Box B, and you can see what their grid would look like!

Very powerful.

RightResponse AI’s Rewind Feature

Box D shows our Rewind feature. Every time a scan is run, it is what appears on your Map Rank Tracker. However, all prior scans are saved and reflected in Rewind. You can click on the Rewind slider and see how your grids, and your competitors’ grids, have changed over time.

Other charts for seeing a time series for your metrics are in the Metrics history tab as well.

Costs

I won’t put our pricing here, because pricing can change from time to time, but our philosophy is a bit different than others in the industry.

In my experience as the CEO of a 200+ location business, all most businesses need is to track up to 5 keywords once a month. Sure, there might be a time where you’re making a big change and want to see how things are changing more frequently, or make sure that something isn’t going wrong, but it’s just not necessary for most location-based businesses to track dozens of keywords daily or weekly.

Most Map Rank Tracker businesses, however, are looking for a $30+/month/location subscription, so they say “unlimited keywords!” or “run whenever you want!” And at the beginning you might click a few more times, but over time you just don’t need all that capacity and you certainly don’t want to spend $30 or more each month for Map Rank Tracking!

Because Map Rank Tracking at RightResponse AI is one product in our suite of products for location-based businesses, we sell what we think most businesses really need. We hope you’ll look at our Review Responder, which we think is the most powerful responder available, and our Review Analytics, which leverages powerful sentiment analytics to give you incredibly valuable insights into what customers think of your business and even your competitors’ businesses.

So our core package is a 7x7 grid, what you see above for Epik, and we provide 5 keywords, and we do scans once per month. If you need more, you can adjust the components of your plan, but very few of our clients do. And it’s a very attractive price.

Summary

Map Rank Tracking is your scorecard. It’s how you determine who you’re up against, gives you clues about what you need to do to improve, and lets you know whether your plan is succeeding.

It’s a critical piece to your local SEO strategy.

Book a call with us today and learn more about the most technologically advanced and competitively priced suite of Review Management products on the market, from a team experienced in leading location-based businesses!