David Mihm’s Local Search Ranking Factors revised
David Mihm recently published volume 2 of the Local Search Ranking Factors study. The study included 27 prominent industry figures and bloggers. The participants were asked to rate the importance of 49 difference local ranking factors for both Google & Yahoo! results. Here is a summary of the 5 most important factors:
1. Address in City of Search
The location of your business and the address entered into the local business listings, despite your service locations, is one of the biggest factors in ranking well on local search. For example, Switched on Media is located in Sydney – despite our services being Australia wide and international. We can rank well for Sydney based search terms, but not Melbourne terms. Google Maps has become extremely accurate in matching addresses to the city of search.
2. Citations From Major Data Providers
Google and Yahoo! rely on big local directories and their citations as a strong ranking factor. Australia doesn’t have many major local data providers, but the key ones to include your business into are the Yellow Pages and Sensis.
3. Using Proper Categories for your Listing
Using keywords with your categories will improve your local ranking results. One strategy that we use at Switched on Media is to pick the automated categories provided by Google and Yahoo! and then include more niche terms into the categories.
4. Claiming/Verifying your Local Business Listing
By claiming your business listing, you prove to the search engines that you are the business owner. This creates a sense of trust between your business and the search engines. You’d want to claim your business to stop anyone else from creating false information about your business. Simply create a Google Account and Yahoo! Account to claim your business.
5. Keywords in Listing Title
An important factor for ranking well in local search, but as Alex McArthur says “There’s a fine line between good keyword usage and spamming”. Keep it short, simple and most importantly, relevant to your business/services.
Check out the full list here
