Written by Explore Digital 
Did you know there are at least seven different ways your business can appear on Google? Since many of these aren’t common knowledge, most businesses only scratch the surface. By tapping into opportunities like Google Local Service Ads, Google Maps Pack, People Also Ask, Google Answer Box, and others, you can attract customers and effectively grow your business.
Get Eyes on Your Business: 7 Google Strategies
Here are some of the top ways to optimize your Google presence. For fun, we’ve also included a bonus.
Paid Google Visibility:
1. Google Local Service Ads
The results you see at the top of the search page are called Google Local Service Ads and, in other cases, Google Guaranteed. When you submit verification information to Google, it will display your business at the top of the page, and you’ll be considered Google Guaranteed. This means that Google has screened your business and its reputation.
The highlights:
- Earn credibility by passing Google’s background checks for businesses providing professional services, like legal, financial, home, real estate, marketing, or consulting.
- Display a Google Guaranteed badge next to your business name in search results, indicating trustworthiness.
By choosing a Google Guaranteed business, customers can have confidence in receiving reliable and high-quality services from reputable companies. Google Guaranteed is especially useful for generating leads on a pay-per-lead basis, as opposed to pay-per-click.
2. Google Paid Search (PPC)
Sponsored results at the top of the search page are paid search listings. A business creates ad copy and adds a photo and internal site links to run this pay-per-click listing. Compared to pay-per-lead, pay-per-click is the more traditional version of Google Ads.
The highlights:
- Produce targeted ads that appear above organic search results for specific keywords relevant to your business.
- Set a budget and bid on keywords to control how often your ads appear and how much you’re willing to pay per click.
Google Paid Search also allows for precise targeting based on location, demographics, and customer behavior. Roughly 10 to 30% of users are clicking on these paid results over the free listings found below.
3. Google Shopping (Paid Listing)
If you’re selling products through your website, Google Shopping may offer another lucrative avenue to sell online. In Google Shopping, there are sponsored and organic results; sponsored products are usually listed at the top. Now, retailers can also list products on Google Shopping for free, with organic listings appearing in the Shopping tab and integrating with Google Search.
The highlights:
- Create product listings in Google Merchant Center and set up shopping campaigns in Google Ads to promote your products directly to consumers.
- Include detailed product information, like titles, descriptions, prices, and images, to attract potential buyers and encourage clicks.
Regularly updating inventory and monitoring performance metrics (such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and return on ad spend) will help you refine your strategy and maximize return on investment. With this approach, Google Shopping makes it possible to extend reach and engage a wider audience.
Free Google Visibility:
4. Google Maps Pack
Under the paid ads, you’ll find the Google Maps Pack, featuring local businesses. The listings are called Google Business Profiles (GBP), formerly Google My Business (GMB), and display maps in a three-pack. Ads may also appear directly on Google Maps search results and within the map itself through a feature called Local Search Ads, typically marked with a small “Ad” label.
The highlights:
- Ensure your Google Business Profile is complete and up to date with accurate business information, including your address, phone number, and hours of operation.
- Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your Google business listing to improve your ranking in the local three-pack.
Showing up in the Google Maps Pack gives you the chance to draw significant organic search traffic. Google Maps is where people discover local businesses. According to an analysis of 119,221 URLs, business listings in the local 3-pack may attract up to 44% of all clicks.
5. Google Organic Listings
When you scroll down within the same search, you’ll see all the free (organic) listings. These businesses have put in the work and energy–or partnered with a digital marketing agency to implement an SEO strategy on their behalf–to rank at the top for their desired keywords.
The highlights:
- Implement on-page and off-page SEO strategies to improve your website’s visibility and ranking in natural search results.
- Optimize meta tags, headings, and content with keywords to increase your website’s relevance for targeted search queries.
For businesses, investing in SEO is essential. Organic listings get anywhere from 70 to 90% of the clicks for any given query. You can read more here about using SEO to boost local search engine rankings.
6. Google People Also Ask
The People Also Ask (PAA) section is a Google SERP feature that displays a list of related questions below the search results for a given query. People Also Ask is a free listing. As a business owner, leveraging People Also Ask can greatly enhance your online presence and customer engagement.
The highlights:
- Research common questions related to your business or industry and create informative content that directly addresses these queries.
- Optimize your content for featured snippets by providing concise answers in a structured format that matches the user’s search intent.
- Use schema to indicate to search engines that your content addresses relevant user questions, increasing your chances of being featured in the People Also Ask section.
By incorporating these questions into your website content, blogs, or FAQs, you can directly address the needs of your audience. Not only does this improve your site’s relevance and authority in Google’s eyes, but it also positions you as a knowledgeable industry expert.
7. Google Answer Box (Featured Snippet)
The Google Answer Box, or Featured Snippet, was introduced in 2015 to improve the search results, appearing at the top of Google search in an outlined box. Queries starting with “why,” “do,” and “can” are usually questions best suited for a paragraph answer box in Google. It’s possible to get in the Google Answer Box–considered ranking 0–by providing the best content.
The highlights:
- Publish clear, concise, neutral, and informative content that directly answers common questions related to your industry.
- Structure your content with headings and bullet points for easy readability, and ensure your website is optimized for SEO with relevant keywords.
- Implement schema in a webpage’s code to help your content appear in Google’s Answer Box on the search engine results page.
Additionally, using schema markup, a standardized code that can be added to a web page’s code to help search engines better understand it, can help Google feature your content. Regularly updating your content to address new and trending questions will keep your business topical and continuously improve your chances of making it to the Google Answer Box.
Bonus: Google Carousel
Google Carousel displays a mixture of paid and free listings and can appear in search results in multiple places, including at the top, to the right, or further down. For example, Google may display a carousel of local listings or news stories at the top of the search results, while showing searches for famous people/landmarks within the knowledge panel on the right side of the page.
The highlights:
- Produce visually appealing and engaging content, like articles, images, and videos, that aligns with popular search queries in your industry.
- Use structured data markup to provide additional context to search engines and increase the likelihood of being featured in the Google Carousel.
The appeal of Google Carousel is its visually rich browsing experience. Recent updates to Google Carousel include the flexible adjustment of product listings within Google Shopping Carousels. As users swipe through the carousel, the products displayed below it change dynamically, offering a more interactive shopping experience.
Get found on Google with Explore Digital. Whether it’s Google Local Service Ads, Google Maps Pack, organic listings, or anything in between, you can trust our talented Paid Marketing and SEO Teams to deliver. To take the first step, we’d love to learn more about your business. Contact us for a consultation.
