Local Ranking Factors 2013

Here you'll find our latest blog post about the local ranking factors 2014.

Local search continues to be an important topic in 2013. Whether it's for a service company with a physical office address, a retail store, a manufacturing company, or a leisure venue – especially in light of increasing mobile browsing numbers, being findable locally is crucial. Once a year, David Mihm, one of the leading experts in Local SEO in the USA, surveys experts for their insight. The result is a weighting of local ranking factors from an expert's perspective, answering the question: What must businesses focus on to be found locally?

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Local results on Google[/caption]

The Survey

35 experts, primarily from online marketing agencies, were surveyed. However, compared to previous surveys, there were some differences: Considering the various types of local rankings – local organic search results, Google Maps, and the newly introduced local Carousel results in the USA – experts were explicitly asked about the weighting of different topic groups on the various outcomes.

Additionally, there was a distinction made between basic factors, particularly important for businesses that haven't yet made any local SEO efforts. In contrast, experts were also asked about the factors that make the most difference in highly competitive industries. Lastly, the factors that can negatively impact local ranking, which should be avoided if possible, were identified.

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Carousel of results[/caption]

Results: Ranking Factors

In general, it can be noted: The most important factors from the experts' point of view have not changed from previous years.

Basic factors:

• Correct categorization

• Business address in the city where the search is conducted

• Consistent business citations from relevant sources with high trust and authority

• Consistent address data (Google+ Local, website, business listings)

• Number of structured business citations

• Domain authority of the company's website

• Verified Google+ Local listing for the business

• City in the title tag of the Places landing page

• Quality and authority of backlinks to the domain

• Number of Google Places reviews

Advanced factors for competitive industries:

• Quality and authority of business citations

• Quality and authority of backlinks

• Number of reviews with high authority

• Consistency of structured business citations

• Number of business citations from topic-relevant domains

• Number of Google Places reviews

• Domain authority of the company's website

• Quality and authority of unstructured business citations

• Number of business citations from locally relevant domains

• Authority of the Places landing page URL

Note: As mentioned earlier, there is not one local algorithm. There are differences between local organic results, the "carousel view," and Maps. As long as the "Carousel" is not visible in Germany, at least the difference between organic ranking and Map results is relevant. For example, on-page factors play a larger role in local unpaid search results than for ranking in Map results.

Negative Ranking Factors in Local Search

Just as important as positive factors are the signals that can negatively influence local ranking. These factors were considered particularly important by the experts:

• Listing identified as the wrong business location

• Keyword stuffing in the company name

• Inconsistency in key business data (name, address, phone number) in business listings, Places/Google+ Local entry, and on the website

• Incorrect business category

• Multiple Places entries with the same or similar business data (name, address, and phone number)

• Inconsistency between data (name, address, phone number) on the Places page and the Places landing page

• Malware on the site

• Missing crawlable address data

You can read more about additional positive and negative factors at Moz.

Conclusion: Local as an Opportunity for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Onsite

Particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, local search results are still a good opportunity to compete locally with significantly larger competitors. While it is becoming increasingly difficult to acquire high-quality backlinks that comply with Google guidelines, business citations can still be built relatively easily, actively or passively. Especially in industries with little internet affinity, a significant result can often be achieved with manageable effort. It is particularly important to ensure consistency in address data and keep entries up-to-date.

In light of the increasing spread of mobile devices, the topic of mobile SEO and mobile design should not be overlooked. Even in 2013, the topics of Mobile and Local remain of great importance for businesses. If you have questions or are looking for expert advice, our SEO experts are happy to assist you. Contact us!