Have you ever asked yourself how a Local Algorithm works? Do you just want to find out how you rank in the local search and boost your position? Here in Roc Pro, we will discuss the three significant matters on ranking in local search: relevance, prominence, and proximity.
Everyday rank in local search is very challenging. Want to know why? It’s simply because of the competition. Google Local algorithm continuously updates to make sure that SERP meets the user query.
Local algorithms
Optimize the strategy to provide better visibility in local searches. Local SEO plays a significant role in today’s search landscape. Most of the consumers use the internet to search for a local business.
Local algorithms affect those first three results on Google which are Relevance, Prominence, and Proximity. When a user intends a local search, Google finds those that have local intents. For example, when you search for a department store, you will get the first three results of the department store nearest to you, along with their address and map. You will get a “View More” option to view another department store near you.
Now, let’s discuss why Local Algorithms are important.
Relevance
What is the key role of local algorithms? It’s simply to answer the question: Does the business offer a specific product, services, or brand that the seeker is looking for? To make sure that search engines such as Google and Yahoo will show your business when the customer searches, wisely choose the popular keywords or topics that will catch the attention of the customers. Google thinks about how related you are in the query customers are looking for. Please check out our blog about What Is Keyword Research And How Does This Help your SEO Strategy? to help you more in picking the right keywords.
On relevance, one way to make sure your business shines with the relevance factor is by constantly adding valuable content to the company’s webpage. They should also be arranged well and should be linked to popular search queries. The list below will help you see how relevant your web page is to the latest query of the customer.
- Business name – Most of the time, the business name has a big impact on your customers and it can give you a high chance to rank.
- Content – It’s not important how long your content is. What is important is if it answered the customers’ query. This will help them recognize you more.
- Title tags – are important because they allow the customers to have a snapshot of your web page. It is like you’re giving information about the product or services you are offering in a concise way.
- Meta tags – are essential since this will help tell search engines what a web page is all about. Meta tags are snippets of text that provide information about the page content.
- Categories – Since your Google My Business has a lot of categories, make sure you’re listing your work in the correct categories, or else you won’t rank.
- Reviews on your site – Everyone knows that reviews play an important role in a business and rankings. All reviews or statements on a given page should apply to that page and will refer to the product or services that your business offers. If you have reviews that mention exact locations, consider it as a plus factor in your business.
Prominence
This shows if your business is popular enough to be known by customers (in a good way). Google thinks about your importance in the local market. It focuses on things like:
- Mentions – If you find that your business is often mentioned, it means that you’re doing great and this can have a big impact on the image of your business.
- Articles – Creating articles about your website will help lift the position of your business in the local market. It can be one factor for your business to become well known.
- Links – Creating links can assist your customers to navigate to the related links and pages on your website. You can direct them to your webpage by using keywords.
- Store reviews – This helps a lot in business stability since you can see a lot of reviews from previous customers if they are satisfied enough or not. That feedback can support the business to create a lot of prominence in your web page. For you to have a good prominence, you should develop a strategy on how you will manage and handle those reviews.
- Find a way to get more feedback. There are a lot of tools you can use to help you generate more feedback from your customers. It can be online, written, or verbal, whichever will be easy for the customers.
- Manage your reviews regularly. Showing your willingness to interact with your customer not only in positive feedback but also on the negative feedback shows you in a positive light. Keep in mind that if you want to be ahead of your competitors, acknowledge and take action on their feedback.
Proximity
When you are in a particular place and looking for the nearest store, that’s the role of the proximity. It’s helping the customer to particularly search for your place. There are some ways customers can perform a local search.
- Zip Code – If you are using your computer, it will show the zip code where you’re located. You can see the list at the bottom. You can use some tools to check your ranking based on your zip codes.
- Geo Modified searches (mobile searches) – Most of the customers use their mobile when they are searching. For example, if you are looking for a supermarket, it will allow the SEO to suggest and know your exact location. It will display a list of the most well-known supermarkets in that specific place so you can have a lot of choices.
These three factors will help you drive your business platform to become more successful and to achieve your goal, which is to have higher revenue. Remember these three significant factors:
- Relevance = Customer queries
- Prominence = Your importance to the marketplace
- Proximity = Location that customers looking for
We wish this could help you understand the local algorithm and its importance to SEO. If you want to know more about how to create the best local SEO content, check this post out: Local SEO Content: Plan it, Write it, and Rank #1.