2013 Local Search Ranking Factors (Updated)

  • ByDaniel Ducloux

  • Thursday, September 12, 2013

Overall Local Ranking Factors

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Desktop Vs. Mobile

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Local Ranking Factors Mashup

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Foundational Local SEO Ranking Factors

1 Proper Category Associations
2 Physical Address in City of Search
3 Consistency of Structured Citations
4 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
5 HTML NAP Matching Place Page NAP
6 Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
7 Domain Authority of Website
8 Individually Owner-verified Local Plus Page
9 City, State in Places Landing Page Title
10 Proximity of Address to Centroid
11 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
12 Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text)
13 Product / Service Keyword in Business Title
14 Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
15 Proximity of Physical Location to the Point of Search\n(Searcher-Business Distance)
16 Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
17 Local Area Code on Local Plus Page
18 City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags
19 Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews
20 Page Authority of Places Landing Page URL
21 Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
22 NAP in hCard / Schema.org
23 Product/Service Keywords in Reviews
24 Product / Service Keyword in Website URL
25 Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
26 Location Keyword in Business Title
27 Primary category matches a broader category of the search category\n(e.g. primary category=restaurant & search=pizza)
28 City, State in Places Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
29 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
30 Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
31 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
32 Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present
33 Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc)
34 Presence of properly implemented rel=author on website
35 Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party)
36 Geographic Keyword in Website URL
37 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
38 Location Keywords in Reviews
39 Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
40 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
41 Velocity of Native Google Places Reviews
42 GeoTagged Media Associated with Business (e.g. Panoramio, Flickr, YouTube)
43 Association of Photos with Local Plus Page
44 Loadtime of Places Landing Page URL
45 Numerical Percentage of Local Plus Page Completeness
46 Location Keyword in Local Plus Page Description
47 Product / Service Keyword in Local Plus Page Description
48 Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
49 Authority of +1’s on Website
50 Matching, Public WHOIS Information
51 Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present
52 Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
53 High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
54 Click-Through Rate from Search Results
55 Presence of properly implemented rel=publisher on website
56 Velocity of Shares on Google+
57 Authority of Shares on Google+
58 Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain
59 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
60 Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
61 Bulk Owner-verified Local Plus Page
62 Marginal Category Associations
63 City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags
64 Quantity of Native Google Places Ratings (no text)
65 Authority of Shares/Likes on Facebook
66 Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
67 High Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 4-5)
68 Number of Shares on Google+
69 Age of Local Plus Page
70 Number of circles in which author is contained
71 Popularity (# of Views) of MyMaps References to Business
72 Number of +1’s on Website
73 Positive Sentiment in Reviews
74 Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org
75 Velocity of Third-Party Reviews
76 Authority of Followers/Mentions on Twitter
77 Quantity of MyPlaces References to Business
78 Volume of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter)
79 Driving Directions to Business Clicks
80 Number of circles in which Plus page is contained
81 Number of Shares/Likes on Facebook
82 Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
83 Volume of HTML Testimonials

Non-High Priority Items

The following factors received no votes from any of the survey respondents. These factors may still contribute to local search engine rankings, but are not considered high-priority items.

Association of Videos with Local Plus Page

Author proximity to authority Google+ accounts

Clicks to Call Business

Diversity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL

High Numerical Rating of hReview/Schema Testimonials

High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc)

Inclusion of Offer on Local Plus Page

KML File on Domain Name

Location Keywords in Local Plus Page Custom Attributes

Matching Google Account Domain to Places Landing Page Domain

Number of Followers/Mentions on Twitter

Participation in Adwords Express or Google Offers

Plus page proximity to authority Google+ accounts

Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews

Velocity of +1’s on Website

Velocity of authorship circles

Velocity of Followers/Mentions on Twitter

Velocity of New Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL

Velocity of Plus page circles

Velocity of Shares/Likes on Facebook

Volume of Offer Redemption

 

Competitive Game Changers

1 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
2 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
3 Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc)
4 Consistency of Structured Citations
5 Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
6 Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text)
7 Domain Authority of Website
8 Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
9 Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
10 Page Authority of Places Landing Page URL
11 Association of Photos with Local Plus Page
12 Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews
13 Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
14 Product/Service Keywords in Reviews
15 Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
16 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
17 Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party)
18 Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present
19 Click-Through Rate from Search Results
20 Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present
21 Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
22 Presence of properly implemented rel=author on website
23 Location Keywords in Reviews
24 NAP in hCard / Schema.org
25 Velocity of Native Google Places Reviews
26 Marginal Category Associations
27 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
28 GeoTagged Media Associated with Business (e.g. Panoramio, Flickr, YouTube)
29 Local Area Code on Local Plus Page
30 Presence of properly implemented rel=publisher on website
31 Physical Address in City of Search
32 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
33 Positive Sentiment in Reviews
34 Location Keyword in Local Plus Page Description
35 Proper Category Associations
36 City, State in Places Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
37 Age of Local Plus Page
38 Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
39 Authority of +1’s on Website
40 Product / Service Keyword in Local Plus Page Description
41 Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
42 Primary category matches a broader category of the search category\n(e.g. primary category=restaurant & search=pizza)
43 High Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 4-5)
44 Individually Owner-verified Local Plus Page
45 Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain
46 Number of Shares on Google+
47 High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc)
48 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
49 Velocity of Third-Party Reviews
50 Product / Service Keyword in Business Title
51 Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
52 HTML NAP Matching Place Page NAP
53 Number of circles in which author is contained
54 Authority of Shares on Google+
55 Matching, Public WHOIS Information
56 Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
57 Product / Service Keyword in Website URL
58 Quantity of MyPlaces References to Business
59 Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
60 Loadtime of Places Landing Page URL
61 Proximity of Physical Location to the Point of Search\n(Searcher-Business Distance)
62 Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews
63 Numerical Percentage of Local Plus Page Completeness
64 Quantity of Native Google Places Ratings (no text)
65 Number of +1’s on Website
66 Popularity (# of Views) of MyMaps References to Business
67 High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
68 Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org
69 Authority of Followers/Mentions on Twitter
70 Velocity of New Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
71 Velocity of Shares on Google+
72 Clicks to Call Business
73 Matching Google Account Domain to Places Landing Page Domain
74 Association of Videos with Local Plus Page
75 Volume of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter)
76 Diversity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
77 Authority of Shares/Likes on Facebook
78 City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags
79 Volume of HTML Testimonials
80 City, State in Places Landing Page Title
81 Number of circles in which Plus page is contained
82 Geographic Keyword in Website URL
83 Driving Directions to Business Clicks
84 Proximity of Address to Centroid
85 Location Keyword in Business Title
86 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
87 City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags
88 Location Keywords in Local Plus Page Custom Attributes
89 Velocity of Shares/Likes on Facebook
90 Bulk Owner-verified Local Plus Page
91 Velocity of authorship circles
92 Number of Shares/Likes on Facebook
93 Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
94 Velocity of +1’s on Website
95 Author proximity to authority Google+ accounts
96 KML File on Domain Name
97 Inclusion of Offer on Local Plus Page

Again, Non-Priority Items

 

The following factors received no votes from any of the survey respondents. These factors may still contribute to local search engine rankings, but are not considered high-priority items.

High Numerical Rating of hReview/Schema Testimonials

Number of Followers/Mentions on Twitter

Participation in Adwords Express or Google Offers

Plus page proximity to authority Google+ accounts

Velocity of Followers/Mentions on Twitter

Velocity of Plus page circles

Volume of Offer Redemption

NEGATIVE RANKING FACTORS! ahhhh…

1 Listing detected at false business location
2 Keyword stuffing in business name
3 Mis-match NAP / Tracking Phone Numbers Across Data Ecosystem
4 Incorrect business category
5 Presence of Multiple Place Pages with Same/Similar Business Title and Address
6 Mis-match NAP / Tracking Phone Number on Places Landing Page
7 Mis-match Address on Places Landing Page
8 Reports of Violations on your place page
9 Presence of malware on site
10 Absence of Crawlable NAP on Website
11 Presence of Multiple Place Pages with Same Phone Number
12 Including Location Keyword in Categories
13 Absence of Crawlable NAP on Places Landing Page
14 Incorrectly placing your map marker
15 Presence of Multiple Categories in Same Input Field
16 Association of Google Places account with other suppressed listings
17 Address includes suite number similar to UPS Mail Store addresses
18 Keyword/city stuffed Place page descriptions
19 Non-Compliant Categories (those that do not fit
20 Listing 800 Number as Only Phone Number on Place Page
21 Presence of Multiple Crawlable NAP on Places Landing Page
22 Keyword-Stuffing in Title Tag of Places Landing Page
23 Choosing to Hide Place Page Address
24 Low Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 1-2)
25 Negative Sentiment in Place Reviews
26 Low Numerical Ratings of Place by Third-Party Users (e.g. 1-2)
27 Choosing Service Area for Business on Place Page (as opposed to in-location visits)
28 Mis-Matched or Private WHOIS Information
29 50+ MyMaps referring to your location
30 Multi-lingual listing for the same place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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