Ranking techniques

This article is a complete plan for climbing the local rankings on Google Maps. Every technique ties to the real module in Localghost where you apply it and to the concrete target the SEO Audit measures. There's no magic — just fundamentals applied consistently.

What Google weighs for local ranking

Google balances three main factors:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches the search query. Category, services, description, and attributes feed this.
• Proximity: your physical distance to the searcher. You can't change this directly, but you can optimize your service area and content by region.
• Prominence: how well-known and trusted your business is. Reviews, photos, posts, directory listings, and web presence feed this.

The techniques below act directly on these three levers.

1. Complete the profile (Relevance)

A complete, accurate, keyword-rich profile is the single biggest lever. The Profile screen computes a completion score; the goal is to approach 100%.

• Description: the SEO Audit targets 700+ characters with real keywords. Write it on Profile → Basic; if you're stuck, use AI description generation (you provide at least 3 keywords; your quota is daily, per business).
• Category & services: choose the right category and add at least 3 services.
• Hours, service area, attributes: fill them completely — each field is a relevance signal.
• Phone & website: both are scored separately in the audit.

2. Manage reviews (Prominence)

Review count, average rating, and reply rate are among the strongest prominence signals. The SEO Audit scores reviews with the highest weight; targets:

• Average rating 4.5+
• Review count ~10% above the competitor average (floor of 20)
• Reply rate near 100% with new reviews in the last 30 days

How to apply it:

1. On the Reviews screen, clear the unreplied and low-rating tabs.
2. Use AI reply suggestions to draft a professional/friendly/apologetic reply in seconds, review it, and send.
3. Speed up new-review flow with QR review collection.
4. At high volume, enable Auto-reply (KVKK consent required; configure min-rating, daily cap, and delay) so your reply rate never slips.

3. Publish regularly (Prominence + freshness)

Fresh content is an activity signal. The SEO Audit rewards post volume, offer posts, and regularity (posting spread across months).

• Posts: from the Posts screen, aim for at least 3 per month (Update/Offer/Event). Schedule in the business's local time.
• Offers: an active offer drives high-intent clicks and is scored separately by the audit.
• Photos: the SEO Audit targets 27 photos with new uploads in the last 30 days. Upload categorized (exterior/interior/product/team…) on Photos.
• Instagram: turn content you already post into fresh posts effortlessly with Instagram → Google.

4. Strengthen web presence and directories (Prominence)

• Directories & NAP: get NAP consistency right and fix mismatches with Citations. Audit target: 20 active directories and zero inconsistencies.
• Social media: connect at least 2 platforms (Profile → Social).
• Website: if you don't have one, publish a GBP-synced microsite with LocalBusiness schema via the Website Builder; if you do, connect your own site to your GBP with Schema.

5. Measure, improve, repeat

There's no progress without measuring whether your work turns into ranking.

• Grid Scan: scans your keyword at 7/19/37 points spread across the area. With ARP (average rank where you appear), ATRP (your true area-wide standing), and SoLV (share of points where you're top-3), it answers "where am I strong, where's the gap".
• Competitors: the system picks the strongest rivals and compares your metrics (rating, reviews, reply rate, photos) — showing which gap to close.
• Statistics: impressions (search/maps), interactions (calls/directions/website), and period-over-period change — whether the work turns into real visibility and action.

Automate the ranking work: Audit + Tasks

Instead of tracking everything by hand, let the system prioritize:

1. Run the SEO Audit — 18 deterministic checks, 4 categories (profile/reputation/visibility/content), a weighted 0-100 score. Each missing item comes with a "+X points" impact and a direct link to the screen that fixes it.
2. Audit findings automatically become Tasks. The task list maintains itself: when you actually close a gap (upload a photo, reply to a review), the matching task closes automatically.

Summary