Local search optimisation
-
One of the major keywords in our industry “fireplaces” is now viewed as a local search phrase & Google seems to be displaying website results that it views to be local businesses. We have 2 stores, and for some reason they do not appear high on the rankings despite us having a physical location near by... can anyone help?
Also, we have a verified location on Google place, but even that doesn’t appear.
-
Hi Ray,
Harvey is definitely pointing you in the right direction. Definitely read David Mihm's Local Search Ranking Factors. It is the premiere annual industry report. *Do bear in mind that the last report (I'm a yearly participant) was published just prior to the launch of the whole Google+ Local system, so it does not reflect that big change. Here are 2 pieces I send my own clients when they are just getting acquainted with Local:
The Zen of Local SEO
http://www.solaswebdesign.net/wordpress/?p=1314The Rudiments of Local
SEO http://www.solaswebdesign.net/wordpress/?p=1344Local ranking factors are very diverse...there may be more than 200 factors in Google's local algo. Here are some of the most widely cited factors:
-
Lack of violations on your Google Places/Google+ Local profiles. Nothing kills rankings like violations. Memorize the guidelines: http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528
-
Age and authority of your domain (you can't control age but you can build authority) - Local and traditional optimization of your website
-
Consistency, quantity and quality of citations
-
Quantity of Google-based reviews
-
Proximity to city centroid of the target city and proximity to Google's cluster of similar businesses
-
Traditional SEO factors such as quantity and quality of links and co-occurrence.
-
Social factors
That's just a start, but it does sum up some of the main things that go into achieving a high local rank in the city in which your business is physically located. Read David Mihm's report, the 2 articles I've linked to and the Google Places Quality Guidelines I've linked to and you will develop a very clear picture of your business' opportunities, its present failings and its room to grow.
-
-
Well, you tell Google where you are specifically located (city) via places rather than GWT.
It looks to me that your local listing is completely unoptimised.
There are no pictures or videos and the listing looks incomplete, plus it seems you have very few citations etc.
You're not ranking in local search and your listing is very weak compared to others so it makes sense.
Don't get me wrong, I've only spent 5 minutes looking at it, but IMO you need to look at local factors. The link I posted will show you lots of the things you need to do.
-
Thanks Harvey ... will look through that .Is there any way of telling Google where you are located in WebMaster tools or something like that... perhaps im missing something simple
-
Hey
Sure, but is your local listing much stronger? It looks like it's not as you seem to have very few citations from a super quick hunt.
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
Check out the above link (it's a LONG read!), as these are the kinds of things you proabably need to be considering.
-
Thanks Harvey
Our local listing is https://plus.google.com/107506644864807163902/posts
But for some reason it doen't seem to appear and our site doesn't show for local searches but is much stronger than the ones that do appear.
-
Hey Ray
I couldn't find your places listing anywhere. However you do seem to have very few local listings which would likely have an effect on your local rankings.
Check out this search:
"01909 449 501" -creativefireplaces.co.uk
It only shows 13 results, much less than I would have expected.
Have you changed your number at any point as consistent NAP details are very important.
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
-
I want to improve our client's website structure, so he gets more traffic locally. What advice do you have ?
We want to "revamp" our client's website, by improving the overall looking (content, images, structure). Our client is a small retail business but wants to have more traffic. What advice can you give me ?
On-Page Optimization | | marketingmedia.ca0 -
How to exclude URL filter searches in robots.txt
When I look through my MOZ reports I can see it's included 'pages' which it shouldn't have included i.e. adding filtering rules such as this one http://www.mydomain.com/brands?color=364&manufacturer=505 How can I exclude all of these filters in the robots.txt? I think it'll be: Disallow: /*?color=$ Is that the correct syntax with the $ sign in it? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | neenor0 -
What is the best way to optimise a site that wants to target one service in multiple locations?
Hello! I would like to get some opinions about the best way to optimise a site/pages/URL's for a client that offers one service in multiple locations. The client has done work in various areas of the UK and wants to be found for these locations. They don't have addresses in these locations. What would be the best way to set up the pages/URLs for each location? Is there any reason why I can't have, for example, a main Portfolio page which has content about the service and a link to each portfolio in the different locations, e.g. /portfolio/london, /portfolio/hampstead, portfolio/kensington. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks Kerry
On-Page Optimization | | Kerry_Jones1 -
How to force a refresh after on-page optimisation update
After updating areas highlighted in the On-Page Optimization report even after clicking the [Grade My On-page Optimization] the results don't refresh or reflect the changes eg The h1 tag does include the exact search term and there is bolded examples of the keyword phrase but report says not! Is there a way to force an update or is it a time related issue?
On-Page Optimization | | RobWillox0 -
Pages that show in Open Site Explorer that show as 404's in search
When I use Site Explorer to find our Top Pages there are a whole series of pages like this: http://www.nile-cruises-4u.co.uk/mybestbets/mybestbets-culture.html which I think were created when we had a Bulletin Board on the site. Although they are showing in the Top Pages results when you visit the page you get the following error message: HTTP Error 404.0 - Not Found The resource you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. What implications result from these pages still showing in results and what action should we take without messing up our search rankings? Any advice would be gratefully received.
On-Page Optimization | | NileCruises0 -
How can I get a website to show up in local search in a major city when it is in the suburbs
We did a website for a local landscape company.they are in the outskirts of a major city of Dayton. Most people search landscape company Dayton area. I'm finding landscape companies coming up with lower moz trust and moz ranking. Some of them had no keywords or page titles. I am signing up on all of the local directories. the site is www.scarffs.com
On-Page Optimization | | MarkBolin0 -
Non essential and essential on page optimisation?
I'm very new and not to sure about seo, but i want to know what on page factors are important and what are not important (example: meta tags and meta descriptions) are they important or not, a small list would be greatly appreciated of both thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | shrikey0 -
On-page optimisation for CMS based sites
With so many sites being based on a CMS, and with so many hundreds of different CMS out there, as SEO consultants how do you recommend dealing with on-page optimisation for a client where you discover their site is built with a CMS you have not previously used (or even heard of!)
On-Page Optimization | | bjalc20110