How can we boost our rankings in a London-based Google search?
-
Hi all,
I work for enterprise app development & mobile consultancy, Mubaloo.
We tend to rank fairly well on Google for our targeted keywords in the Bristol area but not as well in London. Obviously there is more competition in London but that aside, we still don't rank brilliantly.
We use our London address as our main address on our website, same for our London telephone number. Both of our offices are submitted to Google Maps and we include blog content with London and Bristol in the headers. Our main HQ is in Bristol but the London office is growing. What are the ways we can improve our rankings from a London-based Google search?
Thank you in advance!
-
Hi Gary,
I thought I had added a local listing for London, do you know where I can do this?
-
Sorry Andy! Thanks so much for your help.
-
^-^ Andy
-
Thanks so much Gary.
I've absolutely no idea how you found out this information but it's all correct! I'll take a look into your suggestions.
-
Thank you so much! This is all very useful.
-
Hi Clair,
Let me recommend a few learning resources for you here from Moz as it sounds like you may just be starting on the big task of Local Search Marketing.
Here's an intro to the very basics:
http://moz.com/blog/free-local-seo-education-for-businesses-on-a-shoestring-budget
Here is the big new Moz Local Learning Center, which is literally chock-full of information about this topic:
Here is an illustrated guide to the Top 20 local search ranking factors:
http://moz.com/blog/top-20-local-search-ranking-factors-an-illustrated-guide
And here is the official annual expert survey from 2013, Local Search Ranking Factors, that you can study in great detail:
http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
If you're experiencing a local ranking failure, check out this post:
http://moz.com/blog/troubleshooting-local-ranking-failures
And you will need to understand the concept of building local landing pages. This should help:
http://moz.com/blog/local-landing-pages-guide
Hope these resources will get you off to a terrific start!
-
Ok so I looked at the site and there are a few things you can do.
Firstly I looked at your site on archive.org all the way back to 2009 it seems you have had a UK address and Bristol address on the site for the time in the contact us page. In July of 2012 the site was re-designed and the London address was used on the homepage. Then in July of 2013 until now the registered address in Bristol is used at the bottom of the page in a format favored by Googlebot and Google+
Second I looked at Google.com results (not UK) to see where your default local listing points to. The answer is Bristol.
First of all I do not see a local listing for London, I would get that sorted out as a priority.
Secondly I would used rich snippets with schema.org to markup your code.
Lastly (an option if the others do not solve the issue) I would create a London page on the site with correct schema featuring the London office and the services provided at that address. maybe something like Mubaloo.com/london-office/
I suspect however that most of your issues will resolve fairly quickly with a local listing. But giving Google more content to work with directly on the subject matter is always a winner.
-
Hi Clair,
How is your Google local listing? Has this been confirmed? It is also worth looking for some localised listings and cocitations from sites dedicated to London - Google will still use these sites to confirm your site and contact details.
i would also suggest having a look at http://www.whitespark.ca/ as they are a great way to find local listings. This has helped me many times in the past.
-Andy
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
-
Google Places Bulk Uploader
Hi we have 15 stores we want to transfer over to our main google places account. We can only claim them with google places bulk uploader. So from what i have read, i have to add each store to the spreadsheet then request bulk upload. Since these google places listings already exist, will the listings i create (via the spreadsheet) simply merge with the old ones? Or could there be a chance of the creation of duplicate listings (how can you avoid this). And is it necessary to add latitude and longitude points (because you don't have to add them)? The goal is to add the old listings into a our Google Places account, and can only use the bulk uploader. Thanks,
Image & Video Optimization | | Mattcarter08
George0 -
Does anyone know a browser extension that could show me the position an image has in Image Search?
Hello and thank you for your attention! Does anyone know a browser extension that could show me the image ranking in Google Image SERP - similar to what SEOmoz Tool does for regular search - shows you a number under each result, in the left side. Thank you so much!
Image & Video Optimization | | Netlogiq0 -
Help - Google places,a service my competitor has used...
I was just doing a bit of detective work on a competitors website and noticed they had employed the services of an SEO company. Anyway, i went on this SEO companies website and discovered they offer a service called "Google places". Now I have an idea what google places is (my company is registered with it) but how are SEOs using Google places as a method for SEO? And how can I copy this service to do this for my own website?
Image & Video Optimization | | copywritingbuzz0 -
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 with locations inside of a mall
I got a great question from a franchise owner today regarding Google Places for his business. His businesses are all in malls. With Google Places there is an emphasis on using consistency and full contact details, as we well know. The issue is his locations are in a mall and don't have a physical address to receive mail or verify their address. Is there a way to leverage Google Places in this kind of situation, or do you just use the general mall address?
Image & Video Optimization | | SarahGoliger0 -
Google Shopping in SERPS - What % of clicks do they get?
Howdy, Looking for any data we can get on the % of click through the shopping results are getting in Google SERPs. There are tons of variables: how many products & which position the shopping feeds and images are shown in but any hard data would be helpful. The background is that we have a client who ranks #1 in Google for a shopping related term and their organic traffic is down in 2011 for this main keyword which has ranked #1 all year since the shopping feeds are continually showing above or below the 1st Google position vs sporadic or no display in years prior. I.e. They aren't happy the traffic is down & we are looking for some data we can provide them with beyond, "Google shopping is now eating part of your organic traffic for that term". Many thanks in advance!!
Image & Video Optimization | | WebpageFX0 -
Do I need incoming links to my mobile site, if I want to rank for mobile search?
Does a mobile site need backlinks to rank? Or are onsite factors the one and only here? And what are the most important "onsite" factors for mobile seo?
Image & Video Optimization | | jameda0 -
Google Images
Hi, I'm setting up a Barcelona guide as a hobby: barcelonacitybreak.com. Naturally I take care to use good alt-tags, checking Google images I see one of the photos I took listed as number one: "hibernian bookstore barcelona". There is no doubt that this is the photo I took myself, but when I place the mouse over the photo the origin is listed as:http://www.auladirectiva.com/. What is even more worrying though is that when I press the image I automatically download this: "Antispy 2011" from http://protectionxpscannermaster.com! Evidently some kind of "anti-virus" program. How is this possible?
Image & Video Optimization | | vibelingo0