Importance of Links for Local Search
-
**According to an article about the "no no's for local SEO" links are not very important. Here is an excerpt: "**Local SEO is very different when compared to traditional SEO. The importance of backlinks in local SEO isn’t as important. In other words, links simply don’t matter as much when it comes to local SEO. Googles’ local search algorithm treats links completely differently than its standard algorithm."
How accurate is this statement? Wouldn't more links help your local pages rank better in non-local organic results such as the results outside of the new carousel?
-
Actually the current blended local algo - where the 7 pack shows up is primarily weighted toward regular organic ranking factors. Some still think it's based on citations and reviews but that's the old algo not this one.
I have a big post coming out tomorrow (partly due to discussions with Miriam on her newest 2 blog posts) that explains the local algo and proves that at least the top 3 in the pack are controlled by the organic algo.Then of course the "Venice" local results are based on the traditional organic algo.
So links 'can' play a part, however in local it's often not even needed because it's often not super competitive. If you do the Place page right and know how to do good "LOCAL" on-site SEO (which is slightly different than regular SEO) then it can make all the difference. I used to take clients on average from #16 to #2 just doing on-site SEO and local hooks. Never did citations or backlinks and many clients rank #1 even though they had no reviews and are furthest from city center.
So I say good on-site and Places optimization are most important. BUT if in uber competitive market like Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney, then you'll need links too.
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
-
Sudden Drop in Organic Traffic through Image Search
We've have been facing a strange issue with our Organic Image Search Traffic since July month, 10th July 2016 to be precise. There is a significant decline in our Organic Image Search Traffic that we can see in our Google Search Console Account, We have noticed a sudden drop (Almost 80%-90%) in our daily clicks through image search in Google Search Console, Does anyone here have any idea why this has happened suddenly though everything is same as it was before and we haven't done any changes in image names and images path. IWPbQ
Algorithm Updates | | tigersohelll0 -
My site dissapeared from google search...
I was ranked for the keyword 'airbnb clone' in 3rd page, my url is http://www.claydip.com/airbnb.html. But today it was not found in the search results...i dont understand...i checked with google webmaster tools, there is no errors in on page optimization....Please help...
Algorithm Updates | | claydip0 -
Changes in Google "Site:" Search Algorithm Over Time?
I was wondering if anyone has noticed changes in how Google returns 'site:' searches over the past few years or months. I remember being able to do a search such as "site:example.com" and Google would return a list of webpages where the order may have shown the higher page rank pages (due to link building, etc) first and/or parent category pages higher up in the list of the first page (if relevant) first (as they could have higher PR naturally, anyways). It seems that these days I can hardly find quality / target pages that have higher page rank on the first page of Google's site: search results. Is this just me... or has Google perhaps purposely scrambled the SERPS somewhat for site: searches to not give away their page ranking secrets?
Algorithm Updates | | OrionGroup1 -
With Google's Location Based Searches, Should I Include a City Name with My Keywords?
What I mean is when you search on Google it seems to pull information by your location so would it be helpful including the city name + keyword still for SEO or would it be just as helpful using just the keyword? For example, a client is in Alexandria, VA and has a computer repair shop so would "Alexandria computer repair" be as good or better than "computer repair"? Just a little curious. Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | CodyOelker-AMICreativeStudio2 -
Is it OK to 301 redirect the index page to a search engine friendly url
Is it OK to 301 redirect the index page to a search engine friendly url.
Algorithm Updates | | WinningInch0 -
Categories where "freshness" is of importance
I know that within the past couple of months, Google as made algo updates so that freshness of content is used as more of an indicator for relevancy, and hence, rankings. see: http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/06/search-quality-highlights-39-changes.html I understand that freshness is important across the board, but it is obviously more of a factor for certain search terms. My questions is, how can you determine if your product category (ecommerce) is one where freshness is becoming more of a factor? Is there any way to know which terms are considered to require fresher results? Any input is appreciated.
Algorithm Updates | | inhouseseo1 -
Help, I am in Local Search Results!
I do not know what to do with this... and could use a bit of advice on this issue: "Doing things right", resulted in great organic rankings and a bonus by showing top of local search results for our area. Sounds great... until Google decides it was time to mix things up a little. I do not know if this applies to all types of businesses, but for ours it means that you will no longer get any organic page 1 listing if you are a local business that (un)luckily ranks in local results too. One day G will include local results on a keyword, the next they won't... making our SEOMoz Campaign rankings weekly a true yo-yo of "50 keywords declined by >48 and >49 places", and "30 keywords improved by <47 and <49". It turned this feature in campaigns completely useless for me (ever since SEOMoz decided to include the local result light bulb that is) Some traffic dropped from 240 a day for one keyword, to 30 now for that same keyword. Frustrated? You bet. I do not understand why Google seems to create a war with local businesses. Should we get out of Local results or does anyone have any ideas, suggestions? Thanks a bunch guys!
Algorithm Updates | | Discountvc3 -
Local events in SERP
Hi all, I just noticed some extra links in the SERP where a webpage was showing events in the city. Does anyone know how these events can be indexed and placed by google in teh SERP? I have attached a screenshot, the underlying pages don't seem to be that special. I was wondering if there are special guidelines when optimising for events. It seems that Google will only show upcoming events for the next few days... Any help is greatly appriciated! Cheers!
Algorithm Updates | | hellemans0