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The Steps You’re Missing to Build Your Business’s Authority and Rank High in the Google 3-Pack

 

If your multi-location business isn’t ranking in the Google 3-pack, you’re missing out on online visibility and sales. One of the most efficient ways to improve your local SEO efforts and rank high in the Google 3-pack is by enhancing your multi-location business’s authority. Authority is one of the three key concepts Google focuses on when talking about improving your rankings. Expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are all factors Google takes into account when determining your rankings. If you missed our recent blog on how to elevate your multi-location business’s expertise, you could find it here. 

 

 

Being an expert is great, but it’s only a starting point. In order to build authority, your multi-location business must become synonymous with relevant topics in your industry. When industry experts or influencers are citing your multi-location business as a source, that’s when you know you have authority. Next, we’ll dive into how you can build authority for your multi-location business and break down how it’ll affect your rankings. 

 

 

1. Partner With Industry Experts and Influencers

 

One of the first ways you can start building your authority is by forming partnerships with industry experts and influencers. The more you create relationships with these people, the more likely they will mention your business when citing a source, thereby building your authority.

 

If you’re looking for ways to connect with industry experts or influencers, consider the following: 

1. Reach out to industry experts and influencers, and suggest a content swap. 
   1. If you have content that’s worth sharing, they’ll likely be open to sharing your content in return for your business sharing theirs. This will help you gain more external links, which again builds authority. 
2. If you’re having trouble getting in contact with experts and influencers through more traditional means, you can start by mentioning the ones you’d like to partner within your own social media posts or blog content. 
   1. Once they see the content they are mentioned in, they may re-share and keep an eye on additional content your business produces. 
3. Your multi-location business can also co-host webinars or events with experts and influencers.
   1. Consider including an expert in a webinar your business hosts. The expert will likely promote the webinar on their channels, improving your business’s authority. 

 

Once you have a consistent relationship with a few industry experts and influencers, you’ll start gaining more recognition, and it will turn into a snowball effect. Google pays attention to the number of external links your multi-location business has and notices who is talking about your business. Catching industry experts and influencers’ eyes, and building those relationships are key to boosting your authority and ranking higher in the Google 3-pack. 

 

 

2. Receive More Mentions Online 

 

 

Once your multi-location business can set up partnerships with industry experts and influencers, your online mentions will start to increase. Since the influencers will be mentioning your business more online, your reach will expand exponentially, and more people will hear about your business from these influencers and create conversations about you. This is another excellent way for your business to build its authority and rank higher in the Google 3-pack. 

 

 

While the strongest tactic to build authority in the eyes of Google is for your business to receive citations and more external backlinks mentions help with rankings too. If your multi-location business isn’t already monitoring the number of mentions you receive online, it’s a great time to start!

 

If you’re more aware of the digital conversations surrounding your business,  you can find ways to elevate the conversations you’re currently mentioned in, leverage those insights to influence business decisions, while striving to gain more. 

 

 

3. Build Your Brand

 

 

While links to your multi-location business’s content and mentions online are excellent when it comes to building authority, you can also improve your appearance in the Google 3-pack by building your brand. But what exactly does building your brand mean to Google? It means that your brand should be recognizable and associated with the industry you serve. It’s even better if your brand is searched for along with other keywords related to your industry. 

 

 

If you want to improve your multi-location business’s brand visibility and recognition, this blog on the topic can help. In short, your multi-location business should set brand guidelines across all of your business locations, improve brand recognition by ensuring that your logos are consistent across all of your locations and create a trusted brand visually and through creating similar customer experiences across all locations. If your business can achieve all of this, your brand will be more recognizable to your target audience, increasing the number of times your business is searched. The more your business is searched, the more Google sees you as an authority figure, which improves your rankings. 

 

 

4. Consider a Wikipedia Page

 

 

Finally, if you want Google to see your business as authoritative and the leader in your industry, consider a Wikipedia page. Having a Wikipedia page for your business or leaders in your business shows authority, although it’s not easy to achieve this! Follow these steps to see if your multi-location business is eligible for a Wikipedia page. In the meantime, you can work on building your business’s authority by following the other steps mentioned in this blog. 

 

 

Now that you have the tools needed to surpass the competition as an authority figure in your industry, it’s time to get started. While building your authority and ranking high in the Google 3-pack will help your business succeed, it’s essential not to forget about your other localized marketing efforts. From creating a healthy local social plan that will help increase your mentions to utilizing social listening to understand the conversations around your brand, there’s a lot to consider.

 

SOCi is here to help your business reach the next level! SOCi is the central command for multi-location marketers and the all-in-one platform for your localized marketing needs. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to become number one in your industry, SOCi is here to help you succeed. For more information on how SOCi can help take your localized marketing efforts to the next level, request a demo today!