Overview of important local search ranking factors affecting how businesses rank on Google. Updated June 2017.

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LOCAL SEARCH RANKING

2. search results page
Google AdWords;
Pay-Per-Click (PPC);
Sponsored Ads
Local Business Listings;
Google Maps, GMB listings
Organic
Universal Search Results;
websites, directories, etc.
Organic

3. Knowledge Panel

4. Broad keyword
search ranking …
what every
business wants!

5. What determines local search rankings?

7. 100’s
of factors
determine
local ranking!
Local Search Ranking Factors (Moz, 2017)
https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

8. A breakdown of local ranking signals:

9. Local Website
Social &
Reputation
A simple way to look at local ranking factors

10. Local Website
Social &
Reputation
9 / 10 2 / 10
4 / 10
Consider all three areas as synergistic
Overall ranking
no bueno!

11. Local ranking factors: website
Website
● Quality/authority of inbound links
● Crawlable quality keyword content
● Mobile-friendliness (absolute must)
● Page speed (must load fast on mobile!)
● Keyword presence in page titles
● Keywords + city, state in title tags
● NAP presence on every page
● Website NAP matching Google Places
● Optimized images (reduced size)
● Domain authority of website
NAP = Name, Address, Phone
Tip: Use Google Search Console. It will tell you what’s wrong with your site!

12. NAP consistency
GMB listing & website

13. Bathroom Remodeling Memphis, TN
Commercial Bath Remodeling Services Memphis
Bath Fitter of Memphis - One-Day Bath Remodeling
Title tags: keyword phrase + location

14. Local ranking factors: social & reputation
Social &
Reputation
● Quantity of reviews
● Ratings, sentiment & keyword content of reviews
● Number of shares, Likes, followers, +1's
● Social media presence & activity
● Engagement

15. Reviews: keep up with the competition, especially on popular
industry specific review sites!

16. Local listing ranking factors:
Local
● Physical address in/near city of search
● Proximity to searcher
● NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency
● Proper category associations
● Website URL (consistent across listings)
● Quantity & quality of citations
● Google listing: Owner-verified
● Google listing: Local area code
● Google listing: Personalization (lots of images)
● Google listing: Recency of activity
Citation = Mention of NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
on a relevant IYP, directory site or data aggregator.

17. Seek out citation sources by looking for
relevant sites around the web.
Local
Look for niche/vertical directories within your industry and locale by
Google searching your phone number and that of your high-ranking
competitors – identifying directory listings indexed in search results.
Tip: Use tools like whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder to look for potential citations.

18. Local Listings
Distribution

19. There are four primary sources of data
for all the major search engines:
These data aggregators typically accumulate their business databases by
scanning and transcribing things like phone records, utility records,
business registration websites, and printed yellow pages directories.
If business information is incorrect at any of these major providers, it may
override what the major search engines have in their own database. And if
not included in the databases of these major providers, a business is not
going to rank as well in Google or Bing.

20. EZlocal sends the correct (or preferred) listing details to ALL FOUR data providers so it is used consistently
across major search sites and directories. This improves Local SEO and saves you valuable time compared
to attempting to update each listing manually (approx 300 hours of work).

21. Even subtle differences in your published NAP can trigger inconsistency issues:
Google’s search algorithm may flag inconsistent listings as potential spam or consider them different
businesses which lowers your overall chance of ranking.

22. Manually correct and claim the BIG 4

23. Go here: https://secure.ezlocal.com/newbusiness/find.aspx
Also, be sure to claim your FREE listing on EZlocal!

24. login.ezlocal.com

25. http://ezlocalpro.com/solutions/local.aspx
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