Localised results always been returned for a query, how do you handle this?

[RodneyRiley]

I've got an interesting issue relating to geo-location and I'm not sure how to go about solving it. The site: http://www.onlinecoal.co.uk according to the Moz rank tracker is currently ranking 12th for the term "coal merchants" but has been as high as 5th in recent weeks.

However, I've tried the search out in a number of locations (cleared caches, not logged in, different devices etc) and it always seems to returns results with a bias towards local business. The only way I see the results that Moz reports is by using this string: https://www.google.com/?q=coal&pws=0#pws=0&q=coal+merchants&safe=off&start=10

I know from the visits report by analytics that my experience is typical of that potential visitors are finding, Google always returns localised results for the term "coal merchants"

My question is two pronged:

1. What causes google to decide that a general search term is best served with localised results?

2. What is my best strategy to deal with this?

[RodneyRiley]

Thank you everyone, lot of interesting information. We'll take the approach suggested by Miriam of building up organic authority slowly and we're already on with Adwords (this site is only 5 months old so it was the obvious choice over the winter). I'm also going to follow Rob's advice and focus on a few local areas based on Analytics to try and get a bit more visibility until we build up some domain authority.

Thanks again,

Rodney

[RobertFisher]

Sorry, had to go away a bit. 
The Omskirk is being returned due to proximity. You are near there, you get to see Omskirk. If you went into Google Search settings and made the location London, you would see London showing more.

So, someone in Liverpool, won't be seeing a bunch of Omskirk.

Your question was: How do you handle localised results being returned for a query? You don't. In the eyes of search engines (Google in this case), search results are impacted by the searcher who makes the queries. If you and I are in the same room and we both search on Home delivered coal, we will likely get a somewhat different result (you search on that type term more and click on specific results that modify what you see.) If we both are on non personalized search and in the same room, 99% we will get the same SERP.

So, we probably got off track a bit with the way we all answered. If not, then Miriam's direction is as solid as can be. She knows local back and front. You can either grow slowly or you advertise for a faster result.

The only way YOU will impact Local terms is to use them. Now, DO NOT GO OUT AND CREATE A BUNCH OF LOCAL LISTINGS. Not yelling, really emphasizing. You could have a page for London coal and other larger cities, etc. but take care with duplicate content.

To learn where the traffic is coming from, I would do this. Go into GA, Audience, Visitors Flow and isolate the traffic to city. In my screenshot you will see what I am speaking of. This will show you what city the traffic is coming from. (You need to first click on the UK and View only this segment). Now you see where your city traffic is coming from. That can show you where you can improve or change to meet your business desires.

Let us know if this helps,

Robert

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[MiriamEllis]

Hi Rodney,

What you are experience is pretty much what all non-local businesses have been experiencing since Google began displaying local packs for queries even if they don't include geo-terms. There is nothing you can do to influence whether Google feels your search terms have a local intent or not. If Google has decided that they do, then the local pack is probably here to stay for your core search terms. As you are not a local business, your best hope lies in the following:

1. Building up enough organic authority so that you are ranking alongside the local pack - but not in it

2. Paying for visibility via Adwords

Option one will likely take a great deal of time an effort. Option two can be instantaneous, but will require an outlay of money. Hopefully, you can find a feasible strategy that combines both of these efforts and gets you as much visibility as you can achieve without being a truly local business model.

[RodneyRiley]

Hi Robert,

Thank you for your detailed reply, the results are focused on towns and cities rather than broader surrounding areas. I've uploaded an image of an example result,  here: http://www.onlinecoal.co.uk/images/coal-merchants---Google-Search.jpg  the 7 pack above and the serps highlighted in red below with lots of local elements being returned e.g. Ormskirk (which is a very small town, 3 miles away from where I currently am). This localized serps is my real problem because Google is returning them in all areas and never appears to be showing a UK serps. I know from my adwords campaigns the power of the phrase "coal merchants" as a traffic driver but if Google always returns localised serps for this term I've got an issue.

My traffic is coming from a very broad range of locations (12.5k locations are identified in Google Analytics, most with only a few visits).

Regards,

Rodney

[RobertFisher]

Rodney,

My first question when you say local is you are speaking of a city or region around a city or a "neighborhood" as we would call it in the States, is that correct? (I am trying to differentiate between local being the UK or Great Britain and you are wanting to go beyond those borders.)

If so, I would suggest a couple of things that could assist you. First, understand that in local (with very rare exception) you will not have a page that is in the 7 pack also show in the organic for that SERP. You need to think about that if Local is important to you. So, you want the Local traffic, but you also want to broaden your market beyond "London" for example. You will need to be sure that you have a page that is "set up to rank for Local" (this is a loose phrase) and one that is more for the organic. For example on a service business you might have a contact page that is resolving in the 7 pack and a services or homepage that resolves in the organic. I have had clients with three organic pages (all different) and a listing in the Local 7 pack (also different from the other three) a couple of times - not by our design; it just happened they had strong pages.

If you look at the landing pages you are seeing traffic to, if you look at visitor flow in analytics, etc. there will be clues as to what is happening. Have you looked at where your traffic is coming from in terms of geography?

LMK if you have other questions,

Best,

Robert

[vmialik]

In that case your best bet is organic rankings. To rank for local seo you need a local presence in the area, this would not work in your case. Unless you open local business locations that would represent your company.

[RodneyRiley]

Hi Vadim,

Thank you for your quick response. How would you go about "local seo" for a site which supplies nationally from one point of distribution?

Thanks,

Rodney

[vmialik]

Hi Rodney,

1. This is up to Google, it is open about some categories such as web design; however most results are up to Google, and it can vary for different people and different locations viewing.  This brings me to my main response:

2. Best is to rank for local results and organic results (general search as I assume you are referring to). This way you give Google two options to serve your amazing page, as Google feels best fit

Hope this helps!