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Google Local Factors Part 1 - Internet Marketing Podcast - Number 92
Local SEO success in Google Places depends on claiming your listing, matching your business address to the search city, using proper categories, and keeping your listing 100% complete.
Key takeaways
- Claim your Google Places listing, find the most complete version, and fill it to 100% completion.
- Your business address should be in the city you are targeting, not just a nearby suburb.
- Use Google's predefined categories first, and add custom categories only if the keyword also appears in your listing text.
- Put product or service keywords in your Places page description, but avoid keyword spamming.
- Use a local area code as your primary phone number on your Places page to signal geographic location.
it's getting harder and harder, even for local SEO experts, pull for this survey, survey to keep up with all the developments in our industry
About this episode
In this podcast we discuss an article originally published by David Mihm regarding Local Search Ranking Factors. We look at the factors that matter most and least when getting good Google Local Places Ranking.Visit our Facebook SEO Podcast page. Come visit the most popular SEO Podcast on iTunes. Video of our podcast is broadcast live from Houston on Fridays at 9:15CST. View our archive of SEO Videos. E-Webstyle is a…
Questions this episode answers
How important is your business address location for Google local search rankings?
The survey rated having your business address in the city of the search at 4.16 out of 5 with high agreement. If you are in a suburb, you may still rank for a nearby city, but being inside the target city is a strong ranking factor according to local SEO experts polled in the article.
What is the city centroid and why does it matter for local SEO?
The city centroid is the geographic center of a city, such as downtown Houston. Businesses closer to that center tend to rank better in Google local search results for that city. Being farther away, like in a suburb, makes it harder to rank, though a complete and accurate listing can help offset the distance.
Should you use Google's predefined categories or create your own for a Places listing?
The hosts recommend using Google's predefined categories as much as possible. Custom categories may not be used by Google to determine keywords for features like Google Boost. If you add a custom category keyword, also include that keyword in the text of your Places page description.
Does adding keywords to your Google Places business title help rankings?
The survey showed some disagreement on this point. Experts noted that businesses with keywords in their name do rank well, but Google may penalize listings that change their business name just to manipulate rankings. If keywords are legitimately part of your business name or a registered DBA, it can help.
In their words
Make sure that you have a listing, you've claimed it, you have the right keywords in it, you're in the right categories. Your listing is 100% complete, uh, which is probably one of the most important factors.
Guest
2011 is the year of local search. Even though last podcast, 2011 was the year of mobile search.
Chris Burris
Terms defined in this episode
- City Centroid
- The geographic center of a city, such as downtown Houston. Businesses closer to the centroid tend to rank higher in Google local search results for that city.
- Google Places Seven Pack
- The group of local business listings labeled A through G that Google displays in local search results, considered a high-value placement for local businesses.
- Google Boost
- A paid local listing product from Google tied to Google Places that uses your Places categories to determine which keywords trigger your ad.
- City of the Search
- The city a user is searching within or for, used by Google to match local business listings whose addresses fall inside that city boundary.
Full transcript is being added.
This episode answers
Matthew Bertram
AI keynote speaker · Owner & CEO, EWR Digital · President, ModalPoint
Matthew Bertram is an AI keynote speaker, creator of DIG™ (Digital Information Governance), and owner and CEO of EWR Digital. He helps energy and industrial leaders win visibility in AI search (GEO and AEO), is President of ModalPoint and CMO of the Oil & Gas Global Network, hosts The Best SEO Podcast, and has authored eight books including LLM Visibility. More about Matthew Bertram.
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