Google Maps Isn’t Enough – Local SEO Is Your Real Foot Traffic

Google Maps Isn’t Enough

Unless a couple of years ago, winning the Google Maps race felt like winning the tight competition race on a search engine. Leading Google Maps meant that the business owners were just waiting for a huge influx of website traffic. However, that’s not the case anymore.

The Digital Marketing world has turned upside down in the last couple of years. Now, just being on the map doesn’t make the marketers lead the race. To lead the local search race, you need to incorporate various strategies, and Local SEO is one of them.

What is Google Local Search?

Let’s start from the basics. 

What is Google Local Search? 

It is just a feature on Google that helps searchers find businesses or services within the range of their current location.

For instance, you type something like “pizza shop near me”, and you get a list of pizza shops around your location.

One-third of online consumers conduct local searches daily, highlighting the importance of Local SEO for your business.

Types of Google Local Search Results

Google Local Search results come in several types, with each type having a specific purpose and helping users in different ways. Let’s dive into these types below.

1. Local Packs: Also widely known as Map Pack, this type includes the listings that appear in a box with the map. The type includes various pieces of information like the Business name & hours, address, ratings, and directions.

Google displays Local Pack for 93% of all local searches, which makes it a significant factor in any local SEO strategy.

Example of the Local Pack? Ever searched something like “shoe shop near me” and found 3 relevant shops with a map & other details in the listing? It is nothing but a Local Pack.

2. Maps: When you click the Map link on a Google search result, you are redirected to Google Maps and displayed relevant results. You can then filter out the results by distance, services, hours, and ratings.

If you want a larger number of results within the range of your location, along with directions, Maps is an ideal option for you as a user. Around 86% of users check Maps to locate the business before actually visiting it, which makes it harder for you to ignore Maps while formulating a Local SEO strategy.

3. Local Finder: Local Finder is the set of results displayed when the user clicks “More Places”. By look and feel, both Local Finder & Maps might look similar, but be it url or results, they both are completely different.

What is Google Maps?

Google Maps is a feature developed by Google that allows users to explore different places and get directions to any part of the world.

Google Maps & Local SEO complement each other in terms of helping businesses to get found by searchers looking to get the relevant services in a nearby location.

Importance of Google Maps for Local SEO

Some ways in which Google Maps works as a backbone for Local SEO are:

1. Building Instant Trust: High ratings and decent reviews on Google Maps naturally build that instant trust and push users to check the services, at least.
2. Enhanced Traffic: Users checking the references on Google Maps often call the businesses and inquire about the services. It often leads to increased overall traffic.
3. Scope of Discovery: No matter if the user doesn’t know your business name. Google Maps helps searchers discover you by category name, which implies a higher scope of discovery.

Google Local Search & Google Maps: How Do They Differ?

Most people think Google Local Search and Google Maps are the same.

They’re not.

And no, you’re not alone in mixing them up—they look similar, show local businesses, and both use Google Business Profiles to pull data.

But the intent and experience? Totally different.

Google Local Search: The Quick Hit

Let’s start with Google Local Search.

This happens when someone types something like: “Best pizza near me”, “24×7 medical shop in [city]”, “Best club on New Street”

You see a local 3-pack. Right below it? A link that says “More businesses.”

Click that and you’re now in Google Local Finder – an interface that looks like Maps but functions like search.

Here’s the kicker:

It’s still part of Google Search, not Google Maps.

You’re searching Google. Just with a map on top.

It pulls business data from their Google Business Profile (GBP) like reviews, hours, phone number, and location and gives you results based on relevance, distance, and prominence.

Google Maps: The Deep Dive

Now, Google Maps is a different beast.

It’s not just for finding businesses – it’s your virtual city explorer.

Maps is built for navigation, travel, and exploration. It defaults to a wider area and isn’t limited by your exact location unless you tell it to be.

People on Maps aren’t always searching with high intent

They might be discovering. Browsing. Zooming in on neighborhoods.

But when they do search for a business say, “dentist” or “plumber” they get results influenced by proximity, keywords, and their movement on the map.

Maps works great for mobile, especially when voice search is involved.

It’s the go-to when you’re on the move.

So What’s the Difference?

Think of Google Local Search as pulling up businesses when someone is already searching with intent.

And Google Maps as a place where users explore and then decide.

Quick Comparison Table: Google Local Search vs. Google Maps

Why Google Local Search with Google Maps?

If you are into 2025, which you definitely are, and still using only Google Maps with the hope that it will gain you immense visibility and traffic, you are under a rock.

Sure, being on Google Maps is essential, but being only there by no means would guarantee skyrocketing customers for your business through your online presence.

Let’s break it down a bit. 

Today, millions of businesses are on Google Maps. So what makes you stand out? 

If your business shows on page 2 or even at the bottom position of page 1, chances are that customers might not be able to reach you. 

Why? We are in a lazy world, users hate scrolling or waiting for the second page to load.

Solution? 

Google Local Search! 

When you formulate a local SEO strategy and win the race over there, you boost the chances of your business being visible on top when a searcher has local search intent.

Plus, with a good local SEO strategy, you just don’t show up, but rank among the top three, which is definitely a credibility boosting factor.

Local Search Checklist for Your Business

You now know the importance of Google Local Search and why it is so crucial to complement it with Google Maps. 

But, how do you set up your business for local search? We have prepared a checklist to help you make sure that your business doesn’t miss out on this crucial game plan.

1. Setting up a Google My Business (GMB) Profile: Setting up a strong GMB profile is one of the most crucial tasks of any local SEO strategy. The stronger your GMB profile is, the higher the chances of your business being visible in Google Maps results.

To set up a GMB Profile, you need to visit the official GMB website and verify your business. You will be asked certain questions about your business. Make sure to provide accurate answers to these questions. Remember, users will be referring to these details before visiting you. Hence, being accurate here is quite important.

Once your GMB is posted, make sure to manage it efficiently. Update the GMB when required and don’t miss out on answering the questions users ask.

2. Local Backlinking: Local backlinking implies driving traffic to your website via other local websites. 

Backlinks contribute to around 17% of ranking factors when it comes to local search results.

Some of the most reliable ways to acquire high-quality local backlinks are:

• Get backlinks from the business affiliates.
• Work with local bloggers and influencers. 75% of the businesses witness increased website traffic with this strategy.
• List your business on local directories. This approach potentially improves the website rankings by an average of 10 positions.
• Try to sponsor local events. Try getting links from these events.
• Provide testimonials to your local suppliers. These testimonials will be displayed on their website, which would boost the chances of you earning backlinks.

Building local backlinks is a slow and long-term game. Make sure to follow a completely organic approach rather than going with shortcuts in the lure of quick results.

It’s easy for Google to recognise spam and penalise the websites severely.

3. Work on Your On-Page SEO: On-page SEO optimisation implies optimising your web pages so that they get ranked for relevant search keywords and increase the local traffic on your website.

To improve the on-page SEO of your website, you can:

• Use relevant local keywords on your website content.
• Use primary keywords in title tags, meta description, h1, URL slug, etc.
• Focus on long-tail keywords.
• Provide answers to commonly asked questions revolving around your domain.
• Make your webpage mobile-friendly.

4. Work on Local Citations: Local citations play a significant role in helping your website reach more customers and boost your GMB’s ranking.

To build local citations for your website, just action on the following items:

• List your business on relevant directories.
• Add business information like name, address, working hours, phone number, etc. Make sure to submit the accurate and same information on all the platforms.
• Add your business on various social media platforms.
• Try to get your business mentioned on relevant other businesses’ websites. Again, the concept of backlinking comes into play here.

5. Play Your “A” Game with Reviews: Manage your online reviews wisely to elevate the value they bring to your business.

Some of the best ways to manage your online reviews with perfection:

• Add your business domain to every review portal.
• Reply to each review you get.
• Focus more on the primary review platforms. The platforms where you get a larger number of reviews demand more attention and a bit more concrete review management strategy.
• Be graceful and humble, even for the negative reviews you get. Try to solve the customer’s problem via reviews rather than ignoring or denying the feedback.
• Be quick with replying to the reviews you get.
• Ask your customers to review your business when they visit you. Show how important their feedback is for your business.

Conclusion

Think of your Local SEO as your front door to your business online. If your Local SEO strategy is well in place, refined, and well-optimised, the chances of your website attracting more traffic are quite high. If not, then you are definitely missing out on a lot.

Still confused about how to formulate a local SEO strategy for your business? Professional help is always better here to ensure that your local SEO checklist is efficiently covered and your strategy yields the desired results for you.

Our experienced team at SEOInventiv can be your answer here. With a strong portfolio in helping numerous businesses win the local SEO game, we can ensure that your strategy is formed and executed efficiently. Contact us now to get it all done!