Blog

Google local search rankings are always in flux. The results page for a given keyword is different depending on the time of day when you last checked it, and your location. This fluidity has led many to conclude that the very idea of a "local ranking" list is flawed. How can a list remain constant when its contents are constantly changing? What benefits would this type of result have over a regular organic SERP?

Google's local rankings are more dynamic than they appear. This "fluidity" of local search results is actually a feature, not a bug. Google wants its map results to be as fresh as possible at all times - regardless of the age of the underlying data. One day you might find your business on top with an exuberant 5-star rating and high CTR, but then see your position drop-down three pages if you don't make changes to improve upon these key areas. If this happens, do not despair! All is not lost, but it will take some work on your part to get back to where you want to be within the local pack SERP. 

How can I improve my position?

The local pack SERP is all about CTR. This means that the likelihood of your business appearing in Google's results for any given search query can be directly influenced by how much people like your business. The number one way to attract more attention is through SEO services.

Hire a trustworthy SEO company such as Foamers to optimize your site so that it ranks higher in non-local terms, but also boosts its position when someone searches locally. While this may sound like a no-brainer, you'd be surprised at the number of businesses who fail to invest in SEO services and expect their rank to improve on their own accord.

By investing time and money into your local seo campaign, you can boost your click-through rate so that Google notices the increase in interest for your business. Think of it this way - if you rank #1 on Google's local pack results but enjoy less than a 50% conversion rate, then all the people who do click on your site will likely just bounce right back to the SERP without converting into customers.

The more people that click on your listing and convert into paying customers, the higher you will climb in Google's local rankings. If someone is looking for a restaurant in their own city, they don't want to see businesses over 100km away show up as top-ranked listings - even if those results are #1 organically. A high CTR indicates trustworthiness and relevance to searchers.

Conversely, if you're sitting at position five with an 80% CTR but have less than a 5% conversion rate, Google will not be able to trust that you are relevant or trustworthy. In this case, the search engine might want to bump your local ranking down a few pages so that searchers can find a more trusted business instead.

Google's local pack works because it is self-reinforcing. A high CTR leads to a higher rank which leads to an even higher CTR and so on and so forth. Now that you understand the local SERP landscape, let's investigate some strategies for increasing your click-through rate within Google's map results.

What makes for good SEO?

There are three main elements of SEO services that contribute towards raising your click-through rate: trustworthiness, relevance, and usability. We'll be covering these strategies in more detail below. 

Trustworthiness

If a business is new or untrusted, then it will have a difficult time ranking its local pack results for relevant keywords. This is because Google's algorithms are designed to weed out unreliable businesses from the SERP and ensure that consumers visit websites they can trust. It is not enough to be trustworthy within your own website or online presence - you need to show Google that you are truly worthy of their rank as well! 

How do I tell if my company is trustworthy?

While every industry has different standards of what makes a trustworthy company, there are some universal rules that apply to all businesses:

- A professional looking website with a contact number/email address prominently displayed - A social following on sites like Facebook and Google+ (at least 100 real followers) - An appropriate and consistent about us page that outlines who you are and what makes your business special - A privacy policy and terms of use, available on every page of your site - Clear contact information with a professional email address (and not Gmail etc.)

If you feel as if your business fails to meet the above criteria, do not panic. All is not lost! But it will take some work on your part to improve your click-through rate within Google's local search results. Once you start receiving high CTRs for relevant keywords, then you can expect to see improved rankings in just few months' time.

The bottom line is that Google's local rankings are designed to change frequently. The results you see on any given day may not match the ones you had yesterday or last year for that matter. If your business was on top of the local pack but suddenly disappeared for no apparent reason, not all hope is lost! Just keep reading to find out how to rank high in Google's local pack SERP once again. 

Finding unique ways to stand out from the 'online' crowd has become increasingly difficult when it comes to improving your business visibility. Digital marketing strategies continue to develop and adapt to the rapidly changing technologies and trending social media platforms and apps. With almost every business utilizing an online presence and trying to remain 'searchable' and 'visible', through applying strategies such as keywords, blogs, aesthetically pleasing website designs, content creations, my google business (MGB) account and social media platforms. None of that will be actionable if you don't take advantage of local search engine optimization (SEO).

According to Forbes, 46% of Google searchers are actively looking for local information and 88% of searchers seeking local business' via a mobile phone device, call or visit that business within 24 hours. Therefore the research confirms how important utilizing local SEO's are in order to obtain not only local traffic but directly increases sales and builds a local community within your business. Find ways to maximize your local business visibility. Foamers is a San Jose SEO company that can help you thorough this part of the process. Here are some quick an easy ways to improve your business' local SEO.

Competitive Ranking

Every business understands the importance of SEO's, however in order to have a high and visible search engine result, it has to be targeted to your local area in order to be discovered and attract online traffic. Using geo-search based keywords and optimizing local listings via google maps, GMB, Yelp etc with greatly impact your chance at being found. For a better chance at using this strategy to your advantage, seek an SEO specialist. Local SEO in San Jose is an essential part to helping your website rank higher and to better position your business' online active presence.

High Bounce Rate

With increasing global population and business expansion, we all strive to enhance conversion rate and improve high bounce rate so that we can generate more revenue from our online business. For any business who are still new in the online industry, geo-targeting is a must to maximize your online presence and business growth globally. Through geo-searching and geo-localizing content, we are able to get in touch with the potential customers who are nearby. Moreover, geo-targeting and geo-searching will provide high Google ranking for your site.

Maintain your online traffic and convert their browsing into 'action' by navigating them to join your database, engage with your content for example 'like', 'comment' or 'share' your posts on social media and ultimately take consumer action and purchase your products or services.

Location Based Apps

Location-based apps gives you an insight of where your clients are located, how they are trending with respect to your industry, and what they need from you. Location-based apps can help you understand your customers' needs and understand their behavior. Moreover, these location-based apps not only help you to understand customers' behavior, but location-based apps are also helping you streamline your process and make things easy for your business. 

You will get more opportunities for brand building, customer relationships, sales and expand globally. Location-based apps is now a great opportunity to tap into new markets, interact with new communities, improve your brand image and drive more revenue. The new mobile era is all about Location-based apps, high bounce rate and higher engagement, which can be easily leveraged for online business. 

Resources: 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2020/09/29/five-signs-that-your-business-needs-local-seo/

In today's competitive markets, it is imperative that every business utilizes effective marketing techniques to build a community of active customers and local interest. Digital and online marketing practices have become increasingly popular and are saturating search engines making it very difficult to navigate your way through the mess. The use of keywords and key phrases have lost their power and require more specificity when it comes to algorithms and trying to be found via the traditional search engine tactics.

This is where local search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. Local SEO is a vital element involved in the marketing mix for small to medium local businesses and gives your business a higher chance of being found through the traditional digital marketing channels. Building a community of local consumers via 'Google' or other search engines, attracts active and accurate online traffic to your website that are more relevant to the businesses' needs, resulting in increased local interest, increased customer database and ultimately an increase in business sales and profit margins. Prioritizing and investing in this marketing strategy can drastically help boost your visibility.  Speak to an SEO expert in San Jose today!

Google, Yahoo, Bing and all the other major search engines have algorithms that favor local listings. For small local businesses that want to build a stronger online presence in their local area, it is imperative that they take advantage of localized listing opportunities such as featuring on Yelp, google maps, search engine local listings and more. Building a community around your local products and services will help you grow a wider customer base and ensure increased sales. Discover more specific advice on SEO. 

Now you have understood the importance of using local SEO, lets look at the relevance of incorporating geo-location within your local SEO efforts. There are many things like meta tags, headers, description text and even URL structure that play a major role when you want to target the correct audience for your site or product. However, there is one more important thing to consider besides the list of things like keywords and URLs. This is the idea of geocoding and geo-location of your listing signals. There are a lot of factors that can help you improve the performance of your online business such as reviews, recommendations and search engines according to the Forbes article regarding the power of local SEO.

Reviews are one of the most powerful tools that target your local SEO efforts. Directly target your audience, use peer recognition to your advantage, remain engaged with the feedback, communicate directly with your customers and or pending customers, build respect with your community and act on their feedback regardless if it's good or bad. This will help improve the chances of you obtaining high search engine rankings and pay per lead conversion rates.