Title: P1246341515lXpvS
1Ranking in the Local Search Algorithms
presented at the sempdx hotseat september 9,
2008 portland, oregon
2Presentation Outline
- 1) Why Local Search Is So Important
- 2) Inside the Local Search Algorithms
- - The Local Search Ranking Factors
- - Cracking the Code
- 3) The Future of Local Search
- 4) Recap
1) Why Local Search Is So Important 2) Inside the
Local Search Algorithms - The Local Search
Ranking Factors - Cracking the Code 3) The
Future of Local Search 4) Recap
3Why Local Search Is So Important
- 40 of queries have Local intent
- 5 use the city and/or state name
- 2 use informal terms, like neighborhoods
- .5 use zip codes
- --Ian White, Urban Mapping
4Why Local Search Is So Important
- 100 Million unique visitors per month search
Yahoo with local intent - --Frazier Miller, GM of Yahoo Local, 7/24/08
- Yahoo has 15 market share.
- Extrapolation Half a BILLION unique visitors per
month search Google with local intent
5Why Local Search Is So Important
- Local search engine algorithms are going to drive
Mobile results - (they already do with more sophisticated devices)
6The OLD Local Search
- Organic search results for location-specific
queries - Local SEO was the same as traditional SEO, just
geo-focused - These were the default listings for ALL searches
on Google and Yahoo until...
7The NEW Local Search
- ...January 2008, when the following kinds of
results were reported with increasing frequency
8Why This Is a HUGE Deal
- This is the default 1 (or 4) result for every
keyword city, ST keyword search - It appears even more frequently than that...
- (cyberspace interlude)
9Why This Is a HUGE Deal
- How to narrow the gap between the 40 of local
searches and 7.5 of geo-modified searches? - Google has started asking people to enter their
ZIP code for non-specific searches - Google shows Local results to signed-in users by
default
10Why This Is a HUGE Deal
- Industry leader (Danny Sullivan) speculates that
Local results will soon displace local organic
results entirely by default - SEOmoz Expert Seminar, 08/20/08
11Why This Is a HUGE Deal
- These Local results are driven by a completely
different algorithm than the one that is
returning organic results. - This algorithm also drives http//maps.google.co
m (more or less) - Results do not match 11 in some cases there
are dramatic differences
12A Quick Vocabulary Lesson
13A Quick Vocabulary Lesson
14A Quick Vocabulary Lesson
15A Quick Vocabulary Lesson
- (Yahoos search results look more or less the
same.)
16Presentation Outline
1) Why Local Search Is So Important 2) Inside the
Local Search Algorithms - The Local Search
Ranking Factors - Cracking the Code 3) The
Future of Local Search 4) Recap
17Time to Go Inside the Algorithms!
18Goal of the Study
- What helps businesses rank...
19The Challenges of a Local Search Survey
- Far less discussion of Local than of traditional
algorithms - Relatively few well-known experts and bloggers
(20 included in the survey) - Newness more shot in the dark factors
- Comprehensive scale no separation of negative
factors from positive
20A Very Important Note!
- In general, there was a LOW level of agreement
among the experts. - Why? (my hypotheses)
- Variation by industry and location
- Newness of algorithms
- Larger grey area of best practice vs. spam than
with traditional algorithms
21The Top Positive Factors
- General importance of claiming Local Business
Listing - LBL address in city of search
- Proper Categorization of LBL
- Product / service KWs in LBL title
- Proximity to centroid
- Validation with third-party providers
- Number of inbound links to website
- Location KWs - anchor text
- Number of customer reviews
- General importance of on-page criteria
contributors felt that Yahoo and Google might
differ
221. Claim / Initiate a Local Business Listing
- https//www.google.com/local/add/
- http//listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.ph
p - BLEW away the other factors in terms of
importance AND agreement.
The fact that there are businesses with no web
site who are ranking highly for local queries
simply because they own a listing at the search
engine speaks volumes. M. McGee
23 Local Business Listing Yahoo
24Local Business Listing Yahoo
25 Local Business Listing Google
26Local Business Listing Google
272. Local Business Listing Address in City of
Search
- Obviously location is the biggest factor in any
local algorithm. T. Coleman - The problem is that, with some queries, there
arent enough matches in the city. So a matching
address is important, but not for some queries.
M. McGee - Factor 1 Factor 2 ? Claim your listing in ALL
locations.
28 Local Business Listing in City of Search(yes)
29 Local Business Listing in City of Search(no)
303. Proper Categorization of Local Business Listing
- If youre in the wrong category...youre done.
T. Coleman - If you dont place yourself in categories, the
Local SEs will pull them from other sources
such as the IYPs. M. Bowling
31 Improper Category(!)
(Hat tip to Mike Blumenthal, Blumenthals.com)
32 Proper Category
334. Product/Service KWs in LBL Title
- This probably depends a lot on how competitive
things are. M. McGee - Its working great for spammers, but leads to
some pretty ridiculous results. M. Ellis - See Chris Silver Smiths Extreme Local Search
Tactics (NaturalSearchBlog.com)
34Effective vs Ineffective LBL Titles
YES
NO
NO
355. Proximity to Centroid
- This used to be the entire algorithm in Google
for Local, and now appears to account for 20 to
40 percent. D. Klein - Looking at the Universal SERPs its remarkable
how tightly bunched the locations are. G.
Goldenberg - Centroid what Google/Yahoo consider to be the
default center of town
36 Proximity to Centroid
376. Validation with Third-Party Providers
- Matters more for Yahoo than Google. B. Geddes
- Gives you control over your reviews and business
information, and prevents competitors from
hijacking your results. I. Lurie - Specific providers and other citation
sources vary significantly by industry and
location
38 What Are Citations and Where Do You Get Them?
- Mentions of your business name in close proximity
to either your address, phone number, or both - Business name needs to be consistent
- Used by both Google and Yahoo
- May or may not be accompanied by a link to your
website.
(cyberspace interlude)
39 What Are Citations and Where Do You Get Them?
- Check the Web Pages tab of your LBL for most
complete information. - Not all citations will necessarily be picked up
by Google or Yahoo - Google is probably not showing all the citations
it knows about. - Yahoo is definitely not showing all the citations
it knows about.
40 What Are Citations and Where Do You Get Them?
- Directories great citation sources
- Many are free
- Structured data is easier to crawl
- Often organized by industry or geographic
keywordstrong relevance signal - Mine your competitors citations
- See what sites rank well for your search terms
organically
41 What Are Citations and Where Do You Get Them?
- Hyperlocal Blogging
- The next big thing in Local
- High relevance
- Can also lead to links
- Use http//search.twitter.com to network with
other tech-savvy local businesses
Read Matt McGee Hyperlocalblogger.com /
Smallbusinesssem.com
42 What Are Citations and Where Do You Get Them?
43Presentation Outline
1) Why Local Search Is So Important 2) Inside the
Local Search Algorithms - The Local Search
Ranking Factors - Cracking the Code 3) The
Future of Local Search 4) Recap
44Cracking the CodeAn Empirical Study
- Follow-up to Local Search Ranking Factors
- Conducted by Mike Blumenthal, http//www.blumentha
ls.com/blog/ with help from myself and others - Attempted to quantify ranking factors
- Confirm what we know, find out what we dont know
Courtesy Mike Blumenthal, http//www.blumenthals.c
om/blog/
45Cracking the CodeAn Empirical Study
- Key Findings
- Distance to centroid explained 80 of the
variance in ranking for low-signal data set - Citation total and business title were also
significant predictive factors - Volume of reviews held marginal importance
- TBD
- Citation authority
- Traditional SEO techniques such as anchor text
and on-page factors
Courtesy Mike Blumenthal, http//www.blumenthals.c
om/blog/
46Cracking the Code
Courtesy Mike Blumenthal, http//www.blumenthals.c
om/blog/
47Cracking the Code
Courtesy Mike Blumenthal, http//www.blumenthals.c
om/blog/
48A Few Words About Negative Factors...
- Associating multiple LBL's with same address
- Associating multiple LBL's with same phone
- Associating multiple LBL's with same business
name - Negative customer reviews
- Associating an 800 Number with LBL
- Listing multiple addresses on website
think in terms of both SPAM and CONFUSION
49Presentation Outline
1) Why Local Search Is So Important 2) Inside the
Local Search Algorithms - The Local Search
Ranking Factors - Cracking the Code 3) The
Future of Local Search 4) Recap
50The Future of Local Search
- Google in particular seems to be shifting
- On-Listing factors like proximity to centroid
and keywords in business title seem to be
diminishing in importance
51The Future of Local Search
- Off-listing factors seem to matter more
- Citations
- UGC
- Reviews
- Links
- Less vulnerable to spam
- Google is becoming / will become less transparent
about these
52The Future of Local Search
- Might not be a shift in algorithm
- Data sets are becoming better
- More information to go on
- Richer detail
- Search engines better at determining authority
53Presentation Outline
1) Why Local Search Is So Important 2) Inside the
Local Search Algorithms - The Local Search
Ranking Factors - Cracking the Code 3) The
Future of Local Search 4) Recap
54Recap
- Claim your business listing
- Google and Yahoo for sure
- Other portals can count as citations
- Use keywords in your business title
- Be consistent with your title
- Choose the right categories
- Engage your customers and partners, especially
tech-savvy ones - More citations and links
55A BIG thank-you to all the contributors for the
Local Search Ranking Factors Study.
And thanks to SEOmoz for the insipration for the
study. http//www.seomoz.org/article/search-rankin
g-factors
56GET IN TOUCH David Mihm (503) 560-2755 davidmihm
_at_gmail.com www.davidmihm.com
Slides and links to relevant blog
posts http//www.davidmihm.com/hotseat