Googles Local Business Centre
Google’s Local Search is great for businesses small and large, allowing consumers to quickly compare 10 or 3 different results based on many factors.
These include customer reviews, location, photos and videos, website, company details and contact details. Reviews are sourced from major consumer review sites. Yelp.com, CitySearch.com and JudysBook.com are highly featured in local search results acting as reviews. But more on this later.
10 likely factors that influence the Google Maps algorithm, some of which I will expand on here.
1) Use of Google’s Local Business Centre-Submitting your business to the LBC gives Google data supplied by you as to your location and contact details. However, just being a member of the LBC does not mean your business will list highly in a local SERP.
2) Availability of trustworthy business data- If you are not in the LBC Google may take details from other reputable sources like YellowPages.com and SuperPages.com. If the listings are the same in all the directories it looks at, more trust is assigned to these details.
3) A business website- Although you do not need a business website to appear in Google maps or Yahoo search, if you have a webpage with keywords and location on, McGee argues it must influence the algorithm.
4) Listings in other directories-including Yelp, CitySearch, Insider Pages etc.
5) Listings in vertical directories- These can be used for customer reviews, like TripAdvisor and HotelGuide.
6) References from other websites-Links and citations from other websites that include the business name and location such as location directories and local categories of DMOZ, Yahoo Directory etc.
7) Reviews – It is unclear exactly how reviews impact the algorithm, but they do. But sometimes a business with no customer reviews will rank higher than a listed business with 5* reviews.
8) Proximity to location-SERPs used to show listings based on proximity by default, but it does not do this anymore. However, proximity still has to play a part, even if it is a reduced one.
9) User query and location prominence-the business that is been searched for will impact on how wide a location the algorithm goes, for example, someone looking for a Chinese takeaway would not want to travel more than 5 miles for it, but someone looking for a car dealer will be prepared to travel much further.
10) Does the business use other Google services? If the business takes advantage of Google map services like the coupons, it may play a part in the search results, however there are not enough businesses using these yet to make any firm judgements.
It is suggested to make sure your website has a contact page that includes all company information name, address, telephone, email, it is advised to give full details here and if possible to add these contact details to the footer of every page of your website and to use HTML.
Mobile phone usage has increased and been revolutionised by the iphone, and all mobile devices use local data from search engines and data providers so you need to be listed if you are going to be visible to this growing number of potential customers.
David Mihm’s survey of local search ranking factors- Industry experts and their opinion what influences local search results and ranking.
Location
Local business listings play a big part, but not the biggest part. Generally claiming an LBL increases the chances of getting ranked and search results can be dependent on how you have categorised your business and having a listing in every city you offer services to. Proximity to the city centroid is less important for common business categories or small areas but does come into play if you are in a niche market. The more information you include in your LBL the better as Google likes lots of trustworthy information about businesses, so include videos and photos when you can.
Keywords in the title and business listings can help, especially when competing with businesses with similar factors. However, overstuffing your title with keywords puts Google off and can work against you if it looks like spam.
On Site Criteria
The importance of on site criteria depends on what business is being searched for and the size of the area, it is given less important than other factors because some businesses get consistently good rankings without having a website. Also, some on site factors can be negative, especially duplicate addresses, POBoxs and 800 numbers as they confuse Google and are not trustworthy.
Off Site optimisation
Off site are more important than onsite factors. Links from directories and trustworthy sites can boost ratings. Citations and links from data providers and IYP portals are said to be the biggest influence on ranking behind location. The quality of the links also lays a part in ratings. Everyone agreed that local PPC advertising has a low impact on local search results and ranking.
Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are seen as important as well as businesses with ratings outrank those without. The quality of the ratings is less important in terms of ranking, but there is an obvious disadvantage in terms of conversions and click through.
Local directories for UK businesses to consider are:
http://uk.local.yahoo.com/
http://maps.live.com/
http://www.mylocalservices.co.uk/