Winning the Map Pack: A Local Citation & Sponsorship Strategy
Client: A family-owned plumbing company serving a major metropolitan area.
Challenges We Faced
The client was a skilled plumber but invisible online, losing all “near me” business to larger franchises:
No Map Pack Rankings
They were on Page 3 of Google Maps for “plumber near me.”
Inconsistent NAP
Their Name, Address, and Phone number were inconsistent across 50+ directories.
Zero local seo backlinks
They had no links from local websites, only generic directories.
Low Trust
Google viewed them as a “new” business despite being open for 10 years.
No Local Authority Signals
They had no local sponsorships, community mentions, or neighborhood-specific citations to prove real-world relevance to Google.
Dominate Your Neighborhood
“Want to rank #1 in the Map Pack? Our Local Sponsorships & Charities service builds the local links your competitors can’t touch.”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Local Citation Building & Cleanup
We used BrightLocal to audit and fix all inconsistent NAP data.
We manually built 40 new, high-authority citations on niche directories (e.g., Angi, Porch, BlueBook).
Local Sponsorships & Charities
We identified a local “Little League” team and a charity 5K run looking for sponsors.
We secured two high-value, locally relevant backlinks from their websites by sponsoring these events.
Chamber of Commerce & Associations
We helped the client join their local Chamber of Commerce and secured a high-authority, trusted backlink from the Chamber’s member directory.
Local PR & Brand Mentions
We pitched the business to local news sites, blogs, and community event roundups, earning unlinked brand mentions and editorial backlinks that further strengthened geographic relevance and trust signals.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map Pack Rankings (“plumber near me”) | Position #28 | Position #3 | +25 spots |
| “Click-to-Call” Leads (from GMB) | 15/mo | 95/mo | +533% |
| Local Citation Consistency | 45% | 100% | +122% |
Free Local Link Audit
“Not sure why you aren’t ranking locally? Claim a Free Local Link Audit and let our local link building company find your gaps!”
Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- NAP consistency is the foundation. Before you build new links, fix your existing citations.
- Sponsorships are SEO gold. A $200 sponsorship for a local team can get you a powerful, relevant local seo backlink that you can’t buy elsewhere.
- Join your Chamber of Commerce. It’s one of the most trusted local signals you can send to Google.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- The local sponsorship links were the “tipping point” that moved them from Page 2 to Page 1.
- Cleaning up the NAP errors consolidated their local authority.
- The client’s willingness to invest in the community (sponsorships) paid off in both goodwill and SEO rankings.
