@davidmihm @slcsem local search ranking factors 2012
DESCRIPTION
Local SEO expert David Mihm visited #SLCSEM June 12, 2012 to give a presentation on the latest local ranking factors & share his POV on the evolution of Google+Local, and what it means to search results going forward.TRANSCRIPT
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Local Ranking Factorsca. Early June, 2012
SLCSEMJune 12 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Screenshot: Linda Buquet, Catalyst e-Marketing
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
We haven’t quite gotten there…
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
…but we’re pretty close!
We haven’t quite gotten there…
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Today—Blended SearchAuthor markupWebsite informationPlace informationPlus page
Blended Localresults
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
“We want to show everything we know about a business.”
--Paraphrase of Joel HeadleyLocal University EdmontonMay 1 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
30%
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
…the envelope please…
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
The Top Ten for 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
1 Individually Owner-verified Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
2 Physical Address in City of Search (PLACE PAGE)
3 Proper Category Associations (PLACE PAGE)
4 Product / Service Keyword in Business Title (PLACE PAGE)
5 Proximity of Address to Centroid (PLACE PAGE)
6 Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators) (OFF-SITE)
7 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
8 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
9 Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text) (REVIEWS)
10 Product / Service Keyword in Place Page Description (PLACE PAGE)
2008 vs 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Many of the Fundamentals are still the same.
• Having a physical location in the right city is paramount.
• Categories are huge.• Citations and location data are still critical.• Quantity of reviews are still way more important
than quality.
…and yes, proximity to centroid still has influence.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Categories
…a little more difficult with +Local.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Citations- Importance of Local Ecosystem is NOT
changing anytime soon- Exclusive focus on Places is pure folly
- You MUST fix your data at upstream data providers- AND at Google Mapmaker
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Check forProblems
NAP Audit – Getlisted.org
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
+
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Duplicates are still an issue.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Centroid Bias
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Centroid Bias
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Centroid Bias
Some factors may be country or
region-specific depending on the
quality of Google's data.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What’s new?
Blended Search.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Ratio of Blended to Packs
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Ratio of Blended to Packs
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Remember this?
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Remember this? (~October 2007)
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
But we HAVE come a long way!
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What’s new?
Blended Search.It’s now critical that Google is able to associate your website with your location(s).
And for you large corporations…the ball is now in your court.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Blended Search
Advantages forLarger companies
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Blended Search for Large Companies
• Optimized, indexable store locator & location pages
• Utilize Schema.org and KML*• Put some thought into your data strategy• Submit individual location URLs to +Local and aggregators
*not so much for ranking but to let your other factors work for you!
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What Else Is New?
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What Else Is New?
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What Else Is New?
Every single one of these is interesting (to me at least).
(#31)
(#24)
(#18)
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
!
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Unstructured Reviews
Hat tip: Michael Cottam
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What Else Is New?
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What Else Is New?
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
“It appears that sites, for which the backlinks anchor text style is mostly
“converting keywords”-rich, are regarded with much lesser value in the Google+ Local search results, compared to sites
whose backlink anchor text profile consists mostly of “branded” keywords (domain
name, business name).”
+Local less reliant on the linkgraph than Google.com?
@nyagoslav
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
@nyagoslav
‘There seems to be a trend (and it is not just in local search) towards decreasing the importance of “keyword” anchor text, and increasing the importance of “branded” anchor text.’
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
???
‘There seems to be a trend (and it is not just in local search) towards decreasing the importance of “keyword” anchor text, and increasing the importance of “branded” anchor text.’
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What Else Is New?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Debutante-dress.jpg
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
What Else Is New?
1 Individually Owner-verified Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
2 Physical Address in City of Search (PLACE PAGE)
3 Proper Category Associations (PLACE PAGE)
4 Product / Service Keyword in Business Title (PLACE PAGE)
5 Proximity of Address to Centroid (PLACE PAGE)
6 Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators) (OFF-SITE)
7 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
8 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
9 Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text) (REVIEWS)
10 Product / Service Keyword in Place Page Description (PLACE PAGE)
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Other Interesting Tidbits
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© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Other Interesting Tidbits
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Other Interesting Tidbits
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Putting It All into Perspective
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Ten Blue Links.
Birth
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Citations / First10-Packs.
The First Critical Period
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Citations start to become a “sine qua non”
Reviews start to become a differentiating factor1 Review volume
2 Keywords in reviews
Early Adulthood
Generic 10-Packs -> Hotpot.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Recent History- Links
Mostly domain level for SMBs
Volume of linking domains
Strength of top links- Citations
Volume
Particular sources- Reviews
Volume
Particular sources
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Where We’re Headed
(!)
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Where We’re Headed
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Where We’re HeadedWhat are the features / business evolutions where we haven’t seen [semi-permanent] interface changes yet?
Sentiment
Plus
Social Proximity
Authority Influencers
Offers
Mobile/Checkins
Wallet
The pace of evolution just continues to increase.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Putting It All into PerspectiveVisually
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Title Tags+ Links
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Title Tags+ Links
Citations +Location Data
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Title Tags+ Links
Citations +Location Data
Reviews
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Title Tags+ Links
Citations +Location Data
Reviews
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Title Tags+ Links
Citations +Location Data
Reviews
Social / Offline / +Local???
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
Vs.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
The Bottom LineSEO’s like to focus on easy, discrete, technical items they can “check off their lists.”
Title tags with geo-keywords
Data syndication
KML / Geositemaps
hCard / Schema.org
Etc.
There is still plenty of value in these items, especially in less competitive markets. But…
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
The Bottom Line
The algorithm is getting frighteningly complex.
The reality is that you [will] need a holistic marketing
strategy in order to ensure long-term success.
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
The dust still has not settled(at least for me).
© David Mihm / GetListed.org, Inc. 2012
The good news:
More complex algorithm+ Frequent change Job security FTW!