DulalM
Member
There are only 2 meaningful representations in the local search space: the website and the business listing. If you want to improve your site's "findability" in the local search space, then it's time for you to optimize your business listing.
Major search engines like Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, and Bing Local deliver results from the most to the least relevant ones. Translating the local search algorithm in layman's term will give us this formula:
Ranking = Location + Information + Corroboration + Input + x
Location, information, corroboration, and input are basically the factors that influence the rankings. Understanding these variables is crucially important in marketing your business online.
Location
Your business location can affect your ranking in the local search space. The closer you are to the centroid (geographic center of the area searched), the bigger is your chance to rank higher online. However, this factor's significance in the local search ranking has been greatly reduced.
This is due to the fact that relevance has been given more importance. But you can still take advantage of this location factor by means of keeping your business name, address, and telephone numbers accurate and complete.
Information
Business listings that contain more information and links tend to rank higher in the local search space. You can enhance your listing with the use of keyword-rich content. In order to come up with the best keywords (those that are most likely to be used by consumers), you can run some tests using Google Analytics.
This tool is available in Google Local Business Center. You can also boost your ranking by adding your company's logo, photos, and even videos. Although supplements such as a custom coupon can't affect the ranking directly but adding them may just be all worth the try.
Corroboration
One critical aspect of local search space ranking is the "trust factor." Each time your site's info. matches the NAP (name, address, phone number) and description of relevant sites, your listing gets some sort of "citation." The more citations you have, the higher your business ranks. You may use the same template in distributing your information to as many relevant sites as possible. You can start it off with one relevant site then continue with the rest.
"Objective" Consumer Input
If you want to achieve the highest ranking possible, you can maximize your "citations" with the use of positive feedbacks. Encouraging your happy customers to go online and leave you with a positive review on different sites will help. Since Google favors citations differently from one industry to another, it's important to get reviews from sites on the same industry.
Restaurants, according to the latest Google citations will benefit from these top review sites: Citysearch, TripAdvisor, and Zagat. On the other hand, businesses in the field of service will benefit from the reviews of Citysearch, InsiderPages, and Kudzu.
Any business owner would do away from bad publicity. If you want to avoid getting negative feedbacks, then do not use the following:
1. Multiple phone numbers across listings for tracking purposes
2. Non-local area code
3. P.O. box
4. multiple LBLs with same phone number and/or DBA and/or address
5. Stuffing geo-targeting keywords into non-related keywords or fields
The "X" Factor
The "x" factor in the formula stands for the ever-evolving factor that contributes to the unpredictability of the result. You can never guarantee yourself the top 1 rank in the local search space even though you have built an impressive business profile or have undergone the painstaking task of the manual submission process. It is because the rules of the search engine are constantly changing and for another reason, their logic isn't perfect.
You may not be assured of the top 1 rank but you can always improve your ranking as long as there's regency, accuracy, trust, and relevant content.
Major search engines like Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, and Bing Local deliver results from the most to the least relevant ones. Translating the local search algorithm in layman's term will give us this formula:
Ranking = Location + Information + Corroboration + Input + x
Location, information, corroboration, and input are basically the factors that influence the rankings. Understanding these variables is crucially important in marketing your business online.
Location
Your business location can affect your ranking in the local search space. The closer you are to the centroid (geographic center of the area searched), the bigger is your chance to rank higher online. However, this factor's significance in the local search ranking has been greatly reduced.
This is due to the fact that relevance has been given more importance. But you can still take advantage of this location factor by means of keeping your business name, address, and telephone numbers accurate and complete.
Information
Business listings that contain more information and links tend to rank higher in the local search space. You can enhance your listing with the use of keyword-rich content. In order to come up with the best keywords (those that are most likely to be used by consumers), you can run some tests using Google Analytics.
This tool is available in Google Local Business Center. You can also boost your ranking by adding your company's logo, photos, and even videos. Although supplements such as a custom coupon can't affect the ranking directly but adding them may just be all worth the try.
Corroboration
One critical aspect of local search space ranking is the "trust factor." Each time your site's info. matches the NAP (name, address, phone number) and description of relevant sites, your listing gets some sort of "citation." The more citations you have, the higher your business ranks. You may use the same template in distributing your information to as many relevant sites as possible. You can start it off with one relevant site then continue with the rest.
"Objective" Consumer Input
If you want to achieve the highest ranking possible, you can maximize your "citations" with the use of positive feedbacks. Encouraging your happy customers to go online and leave you with a positive review on different sites will help. Since Google favors citations differently from one industry to another, it's important to get reviews from sites on the same industry.
Restaurants, according to the latest Google citations will benefit from these top review sites: Citysearch, TripAdvisor, and Zagat. On the other hand, businesses in the field of service will benefit from the reviews of Citysearch, InsiderPages, and Kudzu.
Any business owner would do away from bad publicity. If you want to avoid getting negative feedbacks, then do not use the following:
1. Multiple phone numbers across listings for tracking purposes
2. Non-local area code
3. P.O. box
4. multiple LBLs with same phone number and/or DBA and/or address
5. Stuffing geo-targeting keywords into non-related keywords or fields
The "X" Factor
The "x" factor in the formula stands for the ever-evolving factor that contributes to the unpredictability of the result. You can never guarantee yourself the top 1 rank in the local search space even though you have built an impressive business profile or have undergone the painstaking task of the manual submission process. It is because the rules of the search engine are constantly changing and for another reason, their logic isn't perfect.
You may not be assured of the top 1 rank but you can always improve your ranking as long as there's regency, accuracy, trust, and relevant content.
