Over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed that ranking factors for local search engines are vastly different from normal organic ranking factors. Like natural search, there are so many factors that go into how a listing will rank.
Unlike natural search engines, local search engines place emphasis on totally different areas. While the basic fundamentals are still the same, if you don’t place your cookies in the right jar you’ll have little hope of doing well in the local search engines.
So what are the factors? Before, it was hard to say and many SEO’s could only speculate. Lucky for us there are people out there like David Mihm!
In May of this year, David released his 2nd annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey of some of the premier local SEO specialists in the industry, including the heads of Google Maps and Yahoo Local. Honestly, in terms of the depth of research and the quality of the sources I haven’t found a better summary of Local Search Ranking Factors out there. It is really great stuff!
I will definitely not be trying to duplicate anything, and I strongly suggest reviewing David’s full article in detail if you’re looking to understand Local Search engines better. But for those of you who are short on time, don’t like reading, or have ADD I’ve summarized his report in a little shorter fashion.
The participants were asked to rate the importance of 49 different criteria with respect to their influence on rankings in the Google and Yahoo Local “Universal” search algorithms (i.e. those that drive the 10-pack, 3-pack, and 1-box search results, etc.) using the following scale:
Highest Ranking Factors
Here are the factors, as voted on by the industry’s top Local Search specialists. Follow these key tips and you’ll be sure to find yourself close to the top of the Google Maps or Yahoo Local 10-pack! I’ve taken the liberty to organize the factors according to the score they received in the survey, with the most important first.
- 4.42 Local Listing Address in City of Search
- 4.00 Associating Local Business Listing with Proper Categories
- 3.85 Claiming Your Local Business Listing
- 3.56 Product/Service Keyword in Local Business Listing Title
- 3.34 Volume of Customer Reviews Associated with Your Listing
- 3.34 Positive Ratings Associated with Your Local Business Listing
- 3.27 General Importance of Customer Reviews
- 2.85 Proximity of Address to City Centroid
- 2.77 Product/Service Keywords in Local Business Description Listing
- 2.65 Customer Reviews Left Directly on the Engine (Google/Yahoo)
- 2.50 Location Keyword in Local Business Listing Title
- 2.30 Customer Reviews Left on Third-Party Websites
- 2.22 Location Keyword in Local Business Listing Description
- 1.82 Product/Service in Local Business Custom Fields
- 1.81 Associating Local Business Listing with Marginally Related Categories
- 1.74 Associating Local Area Code As Primary Local Business Listing Number
- 1.74 Associating Video(s) with Your Local Business Listing
- 1.50 Associating Photo(s) with Your Local Business Listing
- 1.17 Location in Local Business Custom Fields
- 1.05 PageRank of Local Business Listing Landing Page
- 0.80 Age of Local Business Listing
- 0.61 Including Coupons with Your Local Business Listing
Things That Will Get You Dinged
Now that you’ve seen all of the things you can do to your Local Business Listing that will positively impact your rankings, here is a list of things that may impact your local search rankings negatively. Avoid them at all costs. I’ve listed them lowest to highest, meaning the last one on the list is the biggest offense.
- -0.26 Associating (800) Number As Primary Local Business Listing Number
- -0.29 Negative Reviews Associated with Your Local Business Listing
- -0.67 Multiple Local Business Listings With the Same Business Names
- -1.86 Multiple Local Business Listings With the Same Phone Numbers
- -2.02 Multiple Local Business Listings With the Same Phone Numbers
Hopefully this helps out all you local search junkies, and a big thanks to David Mihm for putting together this awesome survey!
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