Google Business listing algorithm when listing the top 3 locations in Google Search
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Hi, awhile back I decided to make separate website contact pages by location and Google Business listings(some being just a service location with no address displaying) for Greenshield Pest Control Inc to help better target per city key term searches.
Please refer to screenshot A http://puu.sh/qxWjH/6153c0edf2.png and B http://puu.sh/qxWfJ/bff7ad02cf.png.
A) Searching "pest control belleville" brings up the Belleville Greenshield business listing in the top 3 as desired.
B) Searching "pest control brockville" brings up the Kingston Greenshield listing in the top 3. While they do provide service for the Brockville location we don't have a dedicated Brockville service location and listing setup.
I'm happy the Greenshield listing shows up in the search for case B but my question is does anyone know why Google decided for two out of the top 3 listings(Greenshield and Enviro Guard Plus Inc) to use a non-Brockville business listing? Kingston is 45mins away from Brockville and Harrowsmith about 1 hour away. Is there a certain distance range a Google business listing has to be for it to have a chance to be included in the search besides the actual city I'm searching for?
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It has been my experience that the distance between a business location and the search location depends on the amount of competition for that product/service. If there were 10 competitors in the zip code where someone is searching, you are not likely to see results in the top 3 from outside of that area. But if there aren't many options in or near that zip code, you'll see results from further away.
Another factor that seems to influence where results are displayed is the location of people who review the listing. If a listing has many reviews from a given town, it seems that Google is more likely to display that listing to others in that town. And, since you have reviews on both of your listings, but your competitors do not seem to have any, your ranking is being bumped up as a result. Good job on the reviews!
Hope this helps,
Ira
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