The Best Location an Electrician Can Afford
If you ask any electrician who has cracked the code to get into the Google local map pack what it did for their business, you’ll hear the same thing. The phone started ringing more. Work started to come their way. Prospects talked about finding them on Google as though it was the most obvious thing. The three-listing block, with the map, the star ratings, the click-to-calls, at the top of local search – that’s where the life or death of local electricians play out. Knowing seo for electricians to crack the map pack isn’t about manipulating the algorithm. It’s about communicating to Google that you are the most relevant, trustworthy business in your neighbourhood. This is a different way of thinking about it, and it makes a difference.
The map pack is based on the three factors publicly acknowledged by Google: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how relevant your business listing is to a search. Distance is how far from you the searcher lives. Prominence is how prominent your business appears to be based on reviews, backlinks, mentions and so on. You can’t do much about distance – you are where you are. You can control relevance and prominence though, and that’s where map pack rankings are made.
Google Business Profile Is Kingpin
Your Google Business Profile is the most important factor for map pack rankings. Google draws all its information from here to render your listing, and if it’s not complete or well maintained, it will send poor signals to Google and you’ll get demoted. Everything must be completely filled out – not partially, not almost, completely. Name of your business as it shows up on your sign and website. Main category “Electrician“. Sub-categories for each of your services: electric vehicle charging station installation, electrical panel maintenance, emergency electrical repair, outdoor lighting, whatever you do.
Too many businesses neglect the business description. You’ve got 750 characters to explain to Google, and customers, who you are, what you do, and why they should hire you. Use most of them. Be conversational, name your service areas, and inject a little information about the services you offer that set you apart – 24-hour service, commercial service, certifications. Don’t name-drop or use keywords. Simply be like a successful professional meeting someone new and talking about their business.
The one thing I’ll add here is attributes. Google allows you to mark attributes such as “licensed,” “insured,” “veteran-owned” or “women-led” on your listing. The attributes show up in the listing, and they can help your business show up in search results where the searcher has specifically looked for those attributes. If you have an attribute, check the box. Not claiming attributes is muting a part of your profile.
You Can’t Game Location, But You Can Target Service Areas
If you can’t relocate to be closer to every potential customer in your city, then the next step is to clarify your service area. You can set a service area on Google Business Profile – the geographic area where you operate – to be the area you service. For example, if you’re a plumber based in one suburb but service a larger metro area, make sure your service area is set accordingly.
Location pages on your website complement this. “Emergency Electrician in [Suburb]” with useful information about how you service that suburb to Google that you’re relevant to that area, even if you’re actually located miles away. These pages compound over time. Create five or six pages in the areas where you work and you begin to expand your map pack coverage beyond the geographic proximity of your address.
Citations: Building Authority
Citations are instances in which your business name, address and phone number are published on directories, local listings, trade association websites, chamber of commerce websites. They’re a trust signal. If your business is listed and listed and listed again, and the listings are accurate, Google thinks you’re more established than if you’re listed only on your own website and a GBP in progress.
The key word here is consistently. Your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) must be exactly the same everywhere. Not approximately. Exactly. If you have their “suite” listed as “Suite 4” on Google, “Ste. 4” on Yelp and no mention of a suite on your website, you have three inconsistencies. Google thinks this means your listing is unreliable and so lowers your prominence score. This is a minor thing that’s costing you rankings under the radar, and it’s easy to remedy with an hour’s worth of work.
It’s a Democracy, and Votes Matter
Google uses reviews as a measure of importance. A 4.7-star rating with 160 reviews is more important than a 5.0 rating with 20 reviews. The number of reviews indicates customers are engaging with your business. Recency signals that the business is still in business. And the text of reviews (the customers’ words) serves as a chunk of third-party content that Google can index and use in relevance.
Review volume building is systematic, not a “campaign“. The electricians who gradually show up further up the map pack aren’t conducting regular review campaigns – they’ve made review solicitation part of their normal workflow. A text message on the day the job is finished, complete with a link to the Google review page and some nice words, has been by far the most effective. Make it easy, make it timely, and make it habitual. That’s the whole strategy.
How to Track Your Map Pack Ranking and What to Change
Map pack positions vary. They’re geo-dependent – if you’re searching from one side of your city, you may see a different top three to someone on the other side. Using services like BrightLocal or Local Falcon, you can monitor your map pack ranking across a grid of locations in your service area to get an idea of where your visibility stands and where it’s slipping. Without data, you’re in the dark.
When your rankings decline, it’s likely due to a decline in review age, a new inconsistency in your citations, a competitor who started putting in more effort, or a problem with your website. Monthly reviews of profile completeness, citation consistency, review volume and review recency, and website issues, nip problems in the bud. Regular upkeep on each component of the map pack ranking system helps electricians stay in the top three for years, rather than popping in and out of the pack.
