SEO question

[ryan.mamma]

why does a business rank differ on google search and google maps (for example, a hair salon we do seo for ranks 5th for "hair salon in Dublin" on Google Maps and ranks 10th on Google search)

[Chris.Menke]

Ryan,

Google search and Google My Business employ very different algorithms. They weigh different factors when deciding which results to show at the top. For example, only businesses within a specific geographic area will show up in the GMB results for a query but a wide variety of content, including businesses, video, documents,  blogs, etc, for the whole country can show up in google search.  With that being the case, it wouldn't be possible for the two to provide the same results in the same order.

[ryan.mamma]

Hi Chris, thanks very much for your quick reply.

I'm just making sure that you understand that question, which was, why was the ranking different on Google Search than it was on Google Maps?

If you understand it correctly, do you mean Google Maps is connected to Google My Business?

So when we apply SEO practices, Google Search has a different algorithm to Google My Business, which determines your rank on Google Maps?

Thanks!

[Chris.Menke]

If you're talking about how your business shows up with a map and specific business details on the right hand side of the serps, that's GMB. Google maps complements GMB but consider them separately, as far as I'm concerned. GMB has an entire interface for including your business details, location, reviews, etc. and if you haven't claimed your biz you need to go ahead and do that. Here's a bunch of info on it for you here at Moz.

[Izenra]

There are many citation services that I do for my site (Vinyl Cutter Machines), but they just spam your links to unrelated citations that can end up hurting you more than helping you. Do them manually in your spare time if you don't have an SEO team,

Google isn't perfect, and my local area is a perfect example of that.

But let's say you live in a city called Wakaketa and you type in "Wakaketa Web Design". Very often, you'll see a top 3 ranking for a business with that in its name. The other businesses may have reviews, and this one will have none, and it still ranks.

Like I said though, this doesn't always necessarily apply to competitive niches and heavily populated cities.