Why website content won’t boost your Google Maps keyword rankings

If you’re spending time and money adding keyword-rich content to your website, hoping to improve your Google Maps rankings, you’re wasting resources.

Website content does not influence your visibility in Google Maps – but there are proven strategies that do.

The SEO myth: Blogging and Google Maps rankings

When Google Maps first launched, it appeared to pull keywords from local business websites to help match businesses with local searches. 

Because of this perceived influence, local SEO experts have long advocated for blogging and content marketing. 

However, this belief is based on incorrect correlations. 

Adding content to your website – if it is not part of your Google Business Profile (GBP) – does not impact Google Maps rankings.

This misconception is significant because it has led to widespread misinformation about local SEO. 

As a result, businesses may invest resources in efforts that will not produce the expected results. 

Testing the theory: A keyword experiment

To test this idea, I conducted an experiment over the past year. I created a page optimized for a completely fabricated keyword phrase, “hypnerotomachia enhancement.” 

“Hypnerotomachia” comes from Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a book published in 1499 by early printer Aldus Manutius. 

The phrase itself sounds like a niche service a marketing agency might offer, but in reality, no business or website has ever used it before.

By selecting a phrase that did not exist on any business profile or website, the experiment aimed to determine whether Google Maps absorbs new content added to a website and associates its keywords with the corresponding business profile. 

To test this, we:

• Created a dedicated page for “hypnerotomachia enhancement” on my agency’s website.
• Linked it in the sitewide top navigation.
• Submitted it to Google Search Console for indexing.

Given that Google Maps may take time to process content from business websites, we left the page live for several months. 

The results: Organic search vs. Google Maps

Despite all this, our business listing never appeared in Google Maps searches for “hypnerotomachia enhancement.”

In contrast, the page ranked at the top of Google’s organic search results for the exact phrase.

This demonstrates that while the content was recognized in organic search rankings, it had no influence on Google Maps results. 

The takeaway: Your keyword-rich website content has little impact on Google Maps visibility

Although this may seem like a minor distinction, local SEO experts have long advised that optimizing website content with keywords could improve Google Maps rankings. 

This claim may have been true before Google introduced GBP listings. 

However, over time, this guidance has evolved from “could affect rankings” to the widely accepted but incorrect belief that it “definitely does affect rankings.” 

As a result, this misunderstanding continues to spread through blog posts, social media discussions, and industry conversations. 

In reality, website content now appears to have little to no direct impact on keyword relevance in Google Maps.

If you are investing significant resources into blogging and creating new pages with the expectation that this will help your business rank in Google Maps – or improve your visibility for keyword phrases beyond those in your Google Business Profile – you are wasting your budget.

This also applies to another common misconception.

Creating location-based pages (often called “city pages,” “city area pages,” or “geo pages”) will not help your Google Business Profile appear more frequently in searches from those locations. 

Website content does not influence keyword relevance in Google Maps or Google Local searches. 

Additionally, these types of pages may violate Google’s spam policies, as they can be considered doorway pages, which have long been against the rules.

Dig deeper: How to use location-specific authority content for SEO

But keywords still matter for local search

Adding keyword-rich content to your website does not create keyword relevance for your Google Business Profile or improve Google Maps rankings. 

That said, it can help your pages appear in regular search results outside the map pack. 

Depending on the query, these listings can drive traffic to your business, particularly for unique or low-competition keyword combinations.

However, creating geographic pages is unlikely to make your Google Business Profile appear in search results for users searching from local areas – unless your business is physically near them or your profile settings include that location. 

Many users do not include a geographic name in their searches, as they expect Google to automatically provide locally relevant results.

For some local search queries, appearing in Google Maps is crucial, especially as mobile searches continue to outpace desktop searches. 

Consumers often rely on Google Maps more than standard search results when looking for local businesses. 

This is why some businesses prioritize Google Maps optimization – and why it’s important to understand the differences between ranking in regular search results and ranking in Google Maps.

Dig deeper: Top SEO tips for location-specific websites

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Where should I focus efforts to rank for keywords in Maps?

What should you do if optimizing website content does not help your keyword relevancy? 

Google’s guidance is not vague about this, as it turns out. 

You need to optimize your Google Business Profile. 

On its help page for “How to improve your local ranking on Google,” Google states: 

“Relevance refers to how well a local Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. Add complete and detailed business information to help Google better understand your business and match your profile to relevant searches.”

Nearly 20 years ago, I wrote “Anatomy & Optimization of a Local Business Profile,” which is still worth reading – though some aspects are outdated. 

For example: 

• GBP business names must now strictly follow Google’s guidelines.
• DMOZ is no longer relevant.
• Mail store addresses should be avoided.
• Some rating sites prohibit soliciting reviews. 

However, most core principles remain applicable and provide a strong foundation for optimizing your GBP.

Write a strong business description

• Your description should clearly highlight your main products, services, and unique differentiators. 
• Keep it concise and compelling – avoid AI-generated text, as it often lacks the nuance and authenticity needed for effective local SEO.

Maximize your business categories

• Each category you add increases your potential visibility. While Google’s official guidance suggests using only your primary business category, this approach can be limiting. 
• Businesses often operate in multiple relevant categories, and Google’s category list is not always comprehensive. 
• For example, some niche specializations may not have a perfect category match. To maximize exposure, add all directly relevant and valid business categories to your profile.

Dig deeper: How to pick the right Google Business Profile categories

List your products and services

• This is one of the best ways to incorporate specialized keywords that don’t fit within Google’s predefined business categories. 
• Google offers a set of standard service names based on your category, but you can also add custom services to target more specific searches. 
• For example, if Google doesn’t include a precise service your business offers, you can manually enter it here – which is more effective than trying to influence Maps rankings through website content.

When and how Google uses website content for Maps visibility

Google Maps does use website content for certain aspects of search, such as:

• Link value (PageRank): Used as part of the prominence signal in rankings.
• NAP (name, address, phone number) consistency: Helps verify business details.
• Business hours: Cross-referenced with the GBP.
• Local business structured data: Used for verification and consistency.
• Product inventory content: Can be associated with GBP, though not directly tied to product pages.

This is why there has been confusion about how website content factors into local search and the display of map pack results.

As SEO myths go, the idea that adding keyword content to a local business website improves Google Maps rankings is relatively harmless since those pages can still appear in organic search results. 

However, this demonstrates why it’s important to reassess longstanding assumptions to better understand how everything fits together.