The more you can appear in these listings, the more Google trusts your business. When it comes to mobile local search, it is becoming more important than ever to make sure your site is mobile-responsive.
What is the Google 3-Pack?
When Google introduced the 3-Pack they said, “We are constantly exploring the best way to bring a better search experience to our users. This update provides people with more relevant information, including photos, reviews and prices, for searches that have multiple results for a given location.
The 3-Pack is the first three results that pop up when a consumer does a search that Google identifies as having local intent. These are the most critical results for businesses, and they appear “above the fold” on mobile devices and are the first thing the customer sees. In other words, people can usually view them without scrolling.
Fast Facts About the Google 3-Pack
Google now accounts for 93% of the mobile search market the U.S. The Google 3-Pack (also known as the Map-Pack) is prized digital commerce real estate that’s sometimes undervalued. If your business locations aren’t among those 3-Pack listings, your chances of attracting those customers can be 50% lower. Essentially you’re losing sales opportunities.
Because consumers have expressed they are looking for something nearby, the 3-Pack is a powerful position for multi-location businesses to leverage: The top three listings draw at least 47% of clicks – 23% for #1 position, 14% for #2 and 10% for #3. If you just consider local intent, that percentage is as high as 51%.
Mobile “near me” consumer searches are affected by a number of factors, many of which change frequently based on Google’s algorithm. In fact, in 2018 Google made more than 3,200 changes to its search algorithm, and these have had an impact on mobile-local searches. One big search change occurred in 2015 when Google converted from the 7-Pack to the 3-Pack.
The Google 3-Pack cannot be bought. Although a paid ad may sometimes appear above the 3-Pack, the coveted Google 3-Pack positions are reserved for relevant organic searches.
The Google 3-Pack is not a static list. It changes based on Google’s algorithm, the searcher’s location, and how local brands are optimizing their local landing pages. If you are not optimizing and maintaining your local pages and data across the web (on sites like Yelp, Bing, Facebook, TripAdvisor, and others) you run the risk of dropping further down the page.