The answer is a combination of the two with a focus on organic search. Paid search can give you a boost, especially if you are a small or upcoming business. At the same time, organic search is more budget-friendly and sustainable. This strategy will not work for everyone and depends entirely on your business offering. The most obvious benefit is that this makes you unique and helps you stand out from the competition.
For example, most top-ranking results for “how to write a press release” are how-to blog posts. It’s why 90% of the top-ranking results for “air fryer” are blog posts and not sales pages. Claiming your GBP makes your business look more credible and professional, ensuring that customers see accurate, up-to-date information. It also gives you full control to respond to reviews, post updates, and optimize your listing — key factors in improving your Google Maps ranking. Before you can start optimizing for Google Maps, you need to create or claim your GBP. Without it, your business has no control over how it appears in local search results, and potential customers may see outdated or incorrect information.
And, if you don’t know where to start, your content is a pretty good place. As mentioned, your Google E-A-T score essentially takes into account if your brand can be trusted. While the quality of your content will play a huge role, it will be of less help if your branding isn’t applied consistently. To help you with this process, there are a number of Google My Business scheduling tools and platforms that you can try out.
Remember that Google loves fresh content, so keep your Business Profile updated as much as possible. You can add Google Posts automatically using the DataPins Local SEO tool. The first and most important thing you must do is get listed on Google Business Profile. If you don’t, you have no chance of ranking in the Google Map Pack.
Google’s Core Web Vitals measure page speed, loading performance, interactivity, and SEO Anomaly visual stability. Addressing these metrics can significantly enhance your rankings. Use tools like Google Search Console and Lighthouse to monitor and optimize these vitals.
It is important for any SEO campaign to monitor your site's position for relevant keywords. The SE Ranking rank tracker offers a detailed analysis of keyword performance on multiple search engines over time. Monitoring keyword effectiveness and traffic changes will help to alter the strategy.