What drives the position of the local pack in a google SERP?
-
I have noticed that sometimes search results appear above the local pack, and sometimes the local pack is right at the top. What causes this? is there a way to induce it?
-
HI Mike...
I'd love to discuss with you a couple of my findings, any chance you're on Skype?
-
In general we have found that if a local site has a significantly higher PA or DA and no Local places account it will rank above the Maps.
-
I believe distance from the city center has also become extremely important. It seems this took a back seat for a while, but may have made a comeback.
-
Local ranking factors has a lot in common to regular search ranking factors including quality and quantity of links, content LDA score, and several other metrics.
However, there are lot of other metrics that Google generally looks at to rank a site locally.
-
local place page with correct information ( address, correct category, phone # , map icon)
-
Profiles on local directories ( superpages, citysearch.com, angielists ..)
-
Local citations (links from local directories and sites like chamber of commerce, BBB, local small business groups)
-
reviews (Google and other local websites like Yelp, citysearch, judysbook)
Here is a link to a website that provides extensive research work on local ranking factors.
Here is another links to awesome SMX Seattle 2011 breakaway session on local ranking factors.
-
-
Hmm I'm curious about this too..
One of things I've noticed is that Google more often shows the local pack first when it's a singular search term, like "hair salon miami" and search results first when it's a plural search like "hair salons miami" I've seen this pattern a lot, so I think that might be one of the factors.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Local Search Clean up Done. Now Best Way to Index?
I have spent hours doing some local search clean up and have a list of all the URLs to index, about 75. Is there a place I can dump these to get them all indexed quickly or do I have to wait for the hand of Google to come down and bless me with indexing. I don't want to dump all these to Google +, Facebook, or Twitter; that would just be wrong. Any ideas for fast indexing. I want them to all get indexed before the business address changes in a couple years 🙂
Image & Video Optimization | | photoseo10 -
Why Google doesn't want to show our images?
Our website http://www.fiberscope.net has a good positions in search for the most of important keywords, but for some reason store's images are not visible in search results. All images have ALT attributes but represented in Google Images very poor. Any ideas and suggestions regarding this issue?
Image & Video Optimization | | Meditinc.com0 -
Video and SERP
Hi, 3 weeks ago I uploaded a video to my page using wistia. Does anyone know how long google needs to get the video _snippet _in SERP? Thanks!!! video-snippet.jpg
Image & Video Optimization | | petrospan0 -
Local SEO Agency Recomendations
Hi Mozzers, I'm looking for recommendations for well known, reputable agencies, who have a strong background in Local SEO. I have a US based client I want to refer.
Image & Video Optimization | | PerchDigital0 -
Google Places Verification
Sometimes you can verify and claim a Google Places listing via phone, other times they will only send a post card. ANy reason why? Is it lack of trust to verify via phone or old dulpicate listings? Post card is just so unreliable. ANy way to "force" a phone verification?
Image & Video Optimization | | Reportcard0 -
Google Places - Shared Office Space
Howdy, A client of mine has a shared office space, where several other businesses share the exact same address, including the same suite number. I realize that this is likely one of the biggest issues holding them back in local/blended search results in their market, which is a very competitive one. (They do have a completely unique local phone number.) They have tons of citations -- way more citations than anyone else at the same address -- so they are definitely the most visible. They are ranking pretty well -- top of page two in organic results (overall top 10 organic if you exclude the places results) and top of page 3 in places results for some select local search terms. But obviously top of page one as a blended result is where we want to be. They have a lot of great content, a lot of quality links and citations. Out of all the competitors ranking ahead of them, a few do indeed deserve to be there, but most do not -- i.e. they have lower DA, PA, worse links, fewer links, no content / shit content compared to my client, and some even have incomplete Google profiles. I really think this could be the sole issue holding my client back from appearing in blended results on page one. What should we do? If I convince them to change their address, we'll have to update thousands of citations, many of which we don't have access to. In reality, we would be able to update some, but not all citations. This also could cause a short term rankings decline, and/or Google Places limbo for who knows how long! Is it possible to overcome this problem if they keep the same address? In a less competitive market I would think it's quite possible, but I'm not so sure in this case. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Image & Video Optimization | | djreich
David0 -
How to Track Traffic from Google Places Pages
Hi, Is there anything I need to do in Google Analytics to setup tracking for traffic coming to a site via it's Google Places page? I can see some traffic from maps.google.com in the Traffic Sources > Referring Sites report, but it does not appear to marry up to the data reported in the Google Places dashboard. Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | WCR0 -
Are centralized local information management services like Unified Business Listings a helpful tool or unreliable?
As we work with more local businesses, I'm looking for an efficient way to manage their information across all of the different local databases. site is www.ubl.org
Image & Video Optimization | | ScottFasser590