SEO & Online Marketing
Marketing your small business online is not just Marketing 101. You also need an understanding of how search engines find sites (SEO) and how your customers use websites.
Getting The Top SERP Just Got Harder
On Oct 27th Google announced a major change in local search results. The changes give more prominence to the Google Places results.
Like the old map search results, the Places results are placed near the top of the page. The map overlay has been enlarged and placed in the right column, previously reserved for Adwords (PPC). Surprisingly, the map overlays the PPC, so as you scroll down the page – the top PPC listings are hidden ‘behind’ the map.
The Places listings are much ‘richer’ than the normal results. If an image was included in the Places listing, it will be displayed along with the number of reviews, and address.
The Places position is to a large extent based on geographic location and your distance from that location. Which, if you are in the right location, can lead to some interesting results. For example a search a search for ‘accommodation Vancouver Island’ produces a map center around the geographic center of the island. This completely eliminates Victoria, the largest city on Vancouver Island.
Other blogs are reporting significant changes in the SERP based on the Places results. For example, the Barry Hotel, a small Bed and Breakfast on Sussex Place in London has top ten SERP in a search for “accommodation london england”. Higher than many 5 star London hotels.
For many terms the standard methods of on page SEO are no longer enough to secure a top SERP. The Places listing can take up to seven of the top ten positions. The exact relationship between Places position and SERP isn’t immediately obvious. While businesses like the Barry Hotel that rank well in Places, and have a good Page Rank may be getting a boost in their SERP, none of the top ten SERP positions for “rental cabins vancouver island” appear in the Places listing.
Getting Optimum Results
Of course, the best results for your business would to be in the top results for both the Places and SERP. The first thing to do is make sure your Places listing is up to date. Once that is done, start optimizing the web pages for Places. This is a much slower process than you are used to with SEO.
Five things to check are:
- The business address is correct and on every page.
- The business address is the same in all external references. eg Is it ‘Sreet’ in one place and ‘Avenue’ in another
- Get listed in local online directories
- Get reviews
For a more complete list of ideas on Google Places ranking see David Mihm’s article on Local Search Ranking Factors.
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