Help Understanding Localized Search Results/Ranks
-
I have a Moz campaign for duvalasphalt.com where I want to track a non-location specific keyword, then variations that include a location. For example, here are the rankings for a keyword and the 2 location variations.
- asphalt company (not in top 50)
- asphalt company jacksonville (ranked 6)
- jacksonville asphalt company (ranked 6)
When I do a search for just "asphalt company," I see duvalasphalt.com ranked 11. Why does Moz not show an 11 rank? I understand Google tries to show me location specific results even if my search is not location specific. Is Moz's ranking crawler searching from a location where Google will not serve Jacksonville-related results? It would make sense, but how can I get Moz to capture the rankings that are important to my client? The rankings we want to see are the results made from in and around Jacksonville.
Any help here is appreciated!
-
Hello!
As David mentioned, despite us pulling non-Location specific queries, for many KW Google always uses a local intent. We recognize this and actually have some stuff in the works that will hopefully solve this problem. I empathize that this is a big problem for you guys and we are working on it. If you are interested in helping us test this feature, I would be happy to add you you to the tester list - shoot me a mail at jon@moz.com.
In the meantime, as Travis mentioned, AWR Cloud allows you to set location-specific engines and that has worked well for me in the past (caveat: I don't know if/how they have reacted to the pigeon update).
If I am spot checking location specific rankings, I use the MozBar in Chrome. This has been updated post-pigeon. Super-manual - but gives a ton more insight than just capturing rank/verticals as you can see the full SERP.
Hope this helps!
Jon
-
Thanks David. The "outer space" analogy makes sense but obviously leaves a huge gap in any SEO persons ability to produce an accurate snapshot of a clients search footprint when local matters. Sounds like the best idea for me is to run manual reports, which is no fun with a keyword list the size I'm looking for. I'll still like to chime in on what insight Jon White can provide here. Thanks again!
-
Hi Elyk,
You are correct that Google is interpreting "asphalt company" as having Local Intent (e.g., it thinks you are exceedingly likely to hire a locally-based company to repave your driveway), and thus geo-locating that search to your IP address.
So you'll see different rankings than a searcher in Portland, Oregon (like myself) or Chicago or New York.
The rankings in Moz Analytics are currently pulled from "outer space" so we don't localize those queries. I'll get Jon White, the product manager of Moz Analytics, to jump in on this thread and provide a little more color around our plans to add local rankings to M.A., however.
Best,
David -
Advanced Web Ranking used to do a 'good enough' job of delivering location-based results. But even then, there were flaws. It was just modifying the search results depending upon a set latitude and longitude. There were options for a finer tune, but that was mostly for the largest cities.
There's just so many variables, it's difficult to accurately track them right now. There's signed in, signed out, search history and device type (mobile/desktop). I'm sure there's more but I'm operating on zero sleep ATM. But all of these add an interesting wrinkle when it comes to tracking keywords.
Further, Pigeon appears to have made mobile search even more sensitive. As M. Blumenthal has tentatively proven in this blog, being on one block or another could definitely alter the results in a material way. So for me, moving away from keyword reporting looks like a better move every day.
If you want, you can give AWR a try for 30 days - FOC. So if this is just a make or break thing, and you must report keyword ranking for the time being, that may be a good enough solution. You can also likely purchase location specific IP addresses, for added zest.
Last I knew, AWR was a trooper, though I haven't used it in years. But even then it was only good for showing you where a page may rank in a fairly specific instance - that may or may not happen.
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
-
Search Visibility Dip
Hello, During the site crawl in the week of Jan 29th, my site experienced a somewhat significant dip in search visibility. While all my dashboards for the brand experienced a dip, it was most noticeable in a dashboard focused on a specific region. Overall, I didn't make any major changed to the site, nor did the competitors I'm tracking. FWIW, the competitors I'm tracking stayed steady and didn't move up or down in visibility during my dip. I stay fairly up-to-date with SEO best practices and I don't believe there were any algorithm changes during this time. Now, there is one possible reasoning for this dip. Sometime before the week of Jan 29th, we began a new web promotion. To track this promotion, I added some minor JavaScript in the header. This additional JavaScript did slow the site speed slightly, but only to a rating of "Average" based on PageSpeed Insights. Does anyone have any insights as to why my site may have suffered a dip during the week of Jan 29th? Thanks.
Local Listings | | Dions0 -
What's the 20/80 rule in local SEO as it relates to health care organizations
Hello all, I'm in charge of local SEO for a health care system that covers the entire state of Nebraska, with dozens of clinics all over the state, but mainly Omaha and Lincoln. I'm trying to build a cohesive local strategy for our organization, and a big part of that is figuring out what are the 20% of the actions I could take that will get me 80% of the benefit. Based on your experience as a local SEO specialist or ideally someone who does local SEO in a health care setting, what are the key things I should focus on? I'm not new to local SEO (just new to health care). My guess would be to focus in on getting a good local page on our website for every clinic/location etc., and getting a good Google Page listing for each one as well. But I figured I'd seek out advice on this before I plunge ahead.
Local Listings | | Patrick_at_Nebraska_Medicine1 -
No Appearance in Local pack - group practice favored
Hi, One client has a website, Google My Business etc of his own. He ranks ok to good locally for search terms. However, his entry simply won't show up within the local n-pack (where it objectively should) and also does not appear in the map. It seems to me that instead a group practice with a colleague that has both their names in its name/title. (Moreover, it is in the same spot - they decided to go with different websites and entries of their own, though.) For some reason, this practice is also connected to the ranking website of our client. I suppose (NAP problems and previously used phone tracking numbers aside) that this group practice essentially blocks the real client-entry from appearing. Has anybody made such experiences? (My provisional ToDo would look like: Disconnect the group practice from the client's website; erase/merge it if possible; do proper LocalSEO otherwise.) Regards Nico
Local Listings | | netzkern_AG0 -
How do you go about updating / correcting bad business listings when you cannot contact the website directly?
There is a business listing I wish to correct / update on 411dir.biz There is no way to contact the website online, and in cases like this, I try to do a whois lookup, and reach out via the email / phone number there. This site seems impossible to connect with, has anybody else come up against situations like this in the past, if so what do you tell your client / what other approaches do people have? Thanks!
Local Listings | | ParadigmPCB0 -
SEO best practices for store locator and local pages - 301 or not?
I have been struggling to answer this on my own and now throwing up for the Moz community for a life line. Our company has several location across 6 states. We have local pages that we are working to improve with better content. We also have a store locator that will list the stores but the pages are not the same. See below example. I can't help but feel like I am splitting juice and traffic that should be combined to one page for each location. Any ideas or advice on how we can best combine/funnel the traffic to one optimized page? Here is an example: State local page - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/michigan/ Locator page for state - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/locator/?state=MI City local page - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/michigan/grand_rapids City Locator page - http://www.jakesfireworks.com/locator/?id=183&state=MI
Local Listings | | devonkrusich0 -
Google My Business- Will a large service area dilute local search results?
I am considering adding our actual service area to our Google My Business profile, but I don't want this to dilute our local search results. As it is, we come up in the top 3 or so when searched in our HQ's city and several nearby cities when you search for us in Google Maps (although when I look at the top 10 organic for Google for some reason when you search for these cities + our keywords Google doesn't show any local results). Our actual service area is fairly large, comprising the states of CA & Hawaii & parts of CO, AZ, and UT. I would be adding the service area by zip code rather than radius, as a radius wouldn't make any sense in this case (particularly considering the distance between HI and CA). Is it better to keep our relatively high ranking in local results? Will adding the service area not affect local results negatively? Also, do you know why Google isn't showing me local results when I look for our keywords + our nearby cities? When I look for these keywords in larger cities like LA or San Diego, Google always shows me local results.
Local Listings | | BohmKalish1230 -
Google Local Listing
Q1a: How do I do off-page SEO for Google Local Listing?
Local Listings | | kevinbp
or
Q1b: Where can i find the resources to learn about off-page SEO for Google Local Listing? Q2: Is the off-page SEO for google Local Listing similar to off-page SEO for a website? In this case, I will have to create backlinks to my google+ business page? Cant seem to find the answers by googling. The results that come out are mostly on-page SEO to complete my profile for Google Local Listing0 -
Address Format for Local SEO
Hi, Ive been reading how important it is to get the address of a business consistent and written in the right format to help with Local Search Engine Rankings. Is this correct? If this is the case, are there any online generators to help create this html in the right format to put into a webpage. Thank you.
Local Listings | | Ampweb0