Local Search Engine Ranking Factors
Here is our list of the most important local search engine ranking factors as of 2014:
Local search listing are the search results you usually see right under the paid ad’s at the top of search engines like Google, Bing & Yahoo. The local search listings are crucial to a local businesses success online & offline. Here is our list of the most important ranking factors & some negative factors that could be holding your listing back.
Ranking Factors
1. Selecting Appropriate Business Categories
2. Business located in City of Search
3. Number of Citations “Citations are listings or mentions of your business name, physical address & phone number on other webpages
4. NAP (Name & Place) Consistency of Citations “Citations Name, Address & Phone numbers must mirror each other exactly”
5. Quality/Authority of Citations
6. Website NAP Consistency with Place pages & citations
7. Website Domain Authority
8. Owner Verified Local Business pages & Websites
9. Quantity of Quality/Authority of Inbound links to the business website
10. Quantity of Google Places Reviews
11. Keyword or Service in Business Title
12. Quantity & Quality of Citations from Local Specific citation Websites
13. Quantity & Quality of Citations from Industry Specific Websites
14. Proximity of Business Location from searchers location
15. Name & Place in hcard/Schema format on the businesses website
16. Local Area Code in places pages
17. Quantity & Diversity of Reviews on Authority Review Websites
18. City & State included in Most if not All of the Business Website Pages Title Tags
19. City, State in Business Home Page H1/H2 Tags
20. Age of Place Page Listing
21. Location or Product/Service Keywords in Review Text
22. Overall Velocity of Reviews on Google Places & 3rd party sites “Good reviews are a positive velocity factor”
23. Local Plus & Places Page Completeness “Photos, Description, Categories, Services, Videos should be fully completed”
24. Properly implemented rel=author or rel=publisher tag on business website
25. Social Signals “Authority of +1’s on Website,Velocity of Shares on Google+,Authority of Shares on Google+,Authority of Shares/Likes on Facebook,Number of Shares on Google+, Number of circles in which author is contained,Number of +1’s on Website
Negative Ranking Factors
1. Listing a Business at False Location
2. Negative Business Listing Practices: Keyword Stuffing one places page, Incorrect category, Multiple Categories in Same Input Field, Keyword/city stuffed Place page descriptions, Including Location Keyword in Categories, Incorrectly placing your map marker
3. NAP-Name & Place Discrepancy or Mis-Match on citation websites “Business Name, Address Text or Phone Number variations”
4. Presence of Multiple Place Pages with Same/Similar Business Title and Address
5. Reports of Violations or Spam tactics on your place page
6. Absence of Crawlable Name & Address on your business Website or places referenced landing page
7. Presence of Multiple Place Pages with Same Phone Number
9. Duplicates on Citation sites or Duplicate places listings
10. Listing 800 Number as Only Phone Number on Place Page
11. Low Review Ratings on Google places page or 3rd party sites
For some ideas on how to get your business ranking locally, check out this article.