What Is Google Snack Pack?

If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably heard of the Google Snack Pack. But what is it? And more importantly, how can you make sure your business appears in it? In this article, we will answer all of your questions about the Snack Pack and teach you how to optimize your website for its ranking algorithm. Keep reading to learn more!

Table of Contents

Overview

The snack pack is the box near the top of a local Google search. It is also called the “local pack” or the “Google 3-pack.” It lists the top three local businesses that match the search, along with the most important information about each one.

A map at the top of the box shows where these businesses are. The amount of information given below depends on how much information the business owner gave. If the profile of the business owner is full, the following information will be shown:

Business name
Google review star rating
Number of reviews
Address
Hours of operation
Phone number
Business images
Website link
Google Maps directions link

A History Of The Snack Pack

Google’s Local Pack was first introduced in 2006 under the name “One Box.” At that time, it only showed a single local business that best matched the search query. In 2008, the local 10-pack replaced the One Box. As the name suggests, it showed the ten best businesses in the area. After a year, Google cut the number of local pack results from 10 to 7.

The 7-pack was cut down to a 3-pack in 2015, which became known as the snack pack. Google cut the number of search results to three so that mobile browsing would be better.

On a mobile screen, you can easily see three results, but seven or ten would take up too much room. The company changed the layout of the local pack on all platforms to make the mobile and desktop experiences as similar as possible.

SEO experts have seen changes in how their sites rank as Google’s local pack has changed over time. Now that there are only three listings in the local pack, it is much harder to get one of these spots.

Why Does The Snack Pack Matter?

Most of the time, a lot more people click on the snack pack than on the rest of the page. When the local pack went from having seven results to only three, most of the businesses that were ranked fourth through seventh saw a big drop in online traffic and phone calls.

Google’s choice of the snack pack businesses as the top results makes people think that those businesses are very reliable. Many people use the snack pack to evaluate their search results because it has all the information they need. With one click, they can see the business’s address, hours of operation, phone number, and driving directions.

How Google Selects The Snack Pack

Google doesn’t say much about how its algorithm works, but SEO experts have tested their sites to find out which factors affect how likely they are to be in the snack pack.

One of the most important things is how far away the person is. The more likely someone is to see your business in the snack pack, the closer they are to it. The search terms’ relevance is also very important. Google finds businesses whose categories and keywords match what the user is looking for.

Google also considers a company’s overall level of recognition. Companies with poor SEO strategies are less likely to be chosen than those with good reviews, increased website traffic, and stronger backlinks. In general, if a site is more likely to appear in the snack pack, its SEO is better.

How To Get Into The Snack Pack

Here are a few of the most important things that your website should have:

Links coming in that have a lot of authority
Citations from people in high places
High star ratings and good reviews
Keyword optimization that works

There are many ways to try to get your site into the snack pack. Here are some of the best ways to improve your chances:

Claim Your Profile

First, if you haven’t already, you should claim your Google My Business (GMB) profile. If you don’t claim and optimize your profile, it’s unlikely that your business will show up in the Snack Pack, unless it’s very unique and has no local competitors.

Having a full GMB profile is important for more than just getting into the snack pack. It also makes it more likely that people who are searching will become customers. Many people with short attention spans want information as soon as possible, and smartphones and mobile searches make that possible. If they can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll move on to the next job.

When you create a GMB profile, you can provide searchers with all of the information they need to decide whether or not to visit your company. They may contact you, visit your website, and get directions to your location almost immediately.

For your business to be eligible for GMB, you must talk to customers in person during business hours.

Build Links

Links have always been an important part of both organic and local SEO, and they also affect the snack pack. You should have both backlinks from other sites and links that go to other sites from your own site.

To avoid a penalty from Google, you should start building links by getting rid of bad ones. Look through your website for external links that don’t work or aren’t relevant, and either fix them or get rid of them.

By looking at the number and quality of backlinks that lead to your website with software like Ahrefs or Linkody, you can find bad backlinks. If you find bad backlinks, you can find the website owner’s contact information and ask that the links be taken down.

Most of the time, bad backlinks come from spam sites that were only made to build SEO links. They could also come from spam comments on other websites. You can get rid of these backlinks from your Google account by downloading a list of them, putting them in a file, and then sending that file to Google.

After you get rid of your broken links, you may want to focus on building stronger links to your site. The best way to get backlinks is to make high-quality content that people want to share. You can give other business owners access to your content and even offer to publish their work on your website. But you should only offer to trade links with a company if it has a strong online presence and is related to your niche.

Infographics are also a great way to get backlinks. Because they are useful, informative, and easy to share, other website builders are likely to use them in their own work.

Another way to get inbound links is through guest blogging. You can write for other websites and put links back to your own, or you can pay someone else to write for you. They could link to this content on their own website.

Final Thoughts

Google Snack Pack is a great way to improve your website’s visibility and organic traffic. By optimizing your website for the Snack Pack, you can increase your chances of appearing in the top three results for relevant searches. While there is no guarantee that you’ll rank in the Snack Pack, following these tips will give you the best chance at success.