Blog Archive

National search engine results pages can be difficult to compete in. Fortunately localization cuts down national competition with local search result pages. Local SEO could be the pond where you get to be the big fish. Here is a brief competitive analysis and example to help you wrap your head around competing in local SEO.

Sizing Up the Competition
In Hopkins, there are three Chinese restaurants that deliver to the area.  There are many factors that go into what contributes to local search rankings. Some of the main factors are: physical location, categories & keywords, website domain authority and NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) citations, and many others. What makes Star Wok rank #1 in almost all the local search results for this segment? Lets look at some of the major ranking factors. I’m curious to know what would it take for one of these listings to displace the other.

[hopkins mainstreet chinese]

Geographic Relevance
All of these locations are geographically close to what Google refers to as the “centroid” of Hopkins. This is a signal of relevance for local search for obvious reasons. All three locations are about the same distance to the centroid, which contributes to an interesting case study. 

Local Search Citations
I used a tool but this can also be done manually. I searched for the competitions NAP to see how many references are made. These references are the “links” of local search and they’re called citations. They don’t have to be a literal link to your listing, they just need to exist and be readable by the search engines. This contributes to a citation profile. Here’s how the three competitors stack up:

Search engine results are enhanced by local signals which improve relevancy. It helps us find [Pizza] nearby, what the [Time] it is, and even where you are right now- all because of localization signals. Simply put, location information contributes to better search for users. According to a study done by Localeze, users not only appreciate local search results, they’re also near the bottom of the funnel while they search.
Local is an important aspect of life. All my friends, the school I went to, and even where I work are tied to where I am and grew up. In turn, it also is where I spend a majority of my money. So when I search friday night for [Food delivery], you better believe there is a potential purchase behind that query. And it’s not just me: according to that same Localeze study, local searchers are more likely to make a purchase; and even more so if they’re mobile device.
The strongest buying response is from tablet users. 86% of respondents make a purchase after their most recent tablet-based local search. That’s a powerful statistic. Mobile-Local searcher are not going away, in fact they’re trending upward quickly.

Is localization important to your business model? Then I urge you to start to paying closer attention to your local presence online. Local SEO is complex and fast changing, keep up! Here are a couple of tips:

• Verify your business listing in as many places as possible, but especially Google+ Local
• Increasing the amount of business listings strengthens the legitimacy to search engines
• Explore aggregation options such as UBL or Localeze
• Use local keywords on the website for organic search results
• Implement PPC localization ads

At the end of last month, we blogged about the Google Places change to Google+ Local. While this now seems like old news to most everyone, a few companies have been patiently waiting for Google to fix what they call a “technical issue” that is causing some of the listings to disappear.

When Google announced the change, they had already automatically converted over 80 million Google Places pages into Google+ Local pages, meaning MOST pages were automatically converted. I had the pleasure of encountering one of the few unlucky pages that didn’t get converted to a Google+ Local page, but instead had their Google Places listing disappear completely.

If your Google Places listing was removed, your dashboard may show your listing at “Pending” or even worse, if you click through to view your listing it may show the “We currently do not support the location” error message. Here are the solutions that Google shared to help removed listings:

1: Review the Google Places guidelines at http://www.support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528. If your listing didn’t meet these guidelines, it may have been removed from the Google Places listings. Change your listing to meet Google’s guidelines and you should see your listing reappear. It is especially important that if your business operates in a service area, as opposed to one specific location, that you identify that service area and select the box that says “Do not show my business address on my Maps listing”. This is a common reason why some Google Places listings were removed.

2: If your Places listing met all of Google’s guidelines and was still removed, try searching for your business on http://www.mapmaker.google.com. If you are able to find your business, attempt to undo the removal to reinstate your listing. Supposedly, this may take a few days for your request to be processed.

3: If you search for your business on http://www.mapmaker.google.com and cannot find your business, prepare yourself for the worst. You will have to log in to your Places account and delete your listing through the dashboard. You will then have to recreate you listing and wait 2-3 weeks to receive a letter (in the mail!) containing you PIN verification. When you receive your PIN, Google says your listing “may surface cleanly on Maps once you input your new pin”.

Best of luck!  As for me, I wait the 2-3 weeks patiently with all the other unfortunate Google Places page casualties.