How can we boost our rankings in a London-based Google search?
-
Hi all,
I work for enterprise app development & mobile consultancy, Mubaloo.
We tend to rank fairly well on Google for our targeted keywords in the Bristol area but not as well in London. Obviously there is more competition in London but that aside, we still don't rank brilliantly.
We use our London address as our main address on our website, same for our London telephone number. Both of our offices are submitted to Google Maps and we include blog content with London and Bristol in the headers. Our main HQ is in Bristol but the London office is growing. What are the ways we can improve our rankings from a London-based Google search?
Thank you in advance!
-
Hi Gary,
I thought I had added a local listing for London, do you know where I can do this?
-
Sorry Andy! Thanks so much for your help.
-
^-^ Andy
-
Thanks so much Gary.
I've absolutely no idea how you found out this information but it's all correct! I'll take a look into your suggestions.
-
Thank you so much! This is all very useful.
-
Hi Clair,
Let me recommend a few learning resources for you here from Moz as it sounds like you may just be starting on the big task of Local Search Marketing.
Here's an intro to the very basics:
http://moz.com/blog/free-local-seo-education-for-businesses-on-a-shoestring-budget
Here is the big new Moz Local Learning Center, which is literally chock-full of information about this topic:
Here is an illustrated guide to the Top 20 local search ranking factors:
http://moz.com/blog/top-20-local-search-ranking-factors-an-illustrated-guide
And here is the official annual expert survey from 2013, Local Search Ranking Factors, that you can study in great detail:
http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
If you're experiencing a local ranking failure, check out this post:
http://moz.com/blog/troubleshooting-local-ranking-failures
And you will need to understand the concept of building local landing pages. This should help:
http://moz.com/blog/local-landing-pages-guide
Hope these resources will get you off to a terrific start!
-
Ok so I looked at the site and there are a few things you can do.
Firstly I looked at your site on archive.org all the way back to 2009 it seems you have had a UK address and Bristol address on the site for the time in the contact us page. In July of 2012 the site was re-designed and the London address was used on the homepage. Then in July of 2013 until now the registered address in Bristol is used at the bottom of the page in a format favored by Googlebot and Google+
Second I looked at Google.com results (not UK) to see where your default local listing points to. The answer is Bristol.
First of all I do not see a local listing for London, I would get that sorted out as a priority.
Secondly I would used rich snippets with schema.org to markup your code.
Lastly (an option if the others do not solve the issue) I would create a London page on the site with correct schema featuring the London office and the services provided at that address. maybe something like Mubaloo.com/london-office/
I suspect however that most of your issues will resolve fairly quickly with a local listing. But giving Google more content to work with directly on the subject matter is always a winner.
-
Hi Clair,
How is your Google local listing? Has this been confirmed? It is also worth looking for some localised listings and cocitations from sites dedicated to London - Google will still use these sites to confirm your site and contact details.
i would also suggest having a look at http://www.whitespark.ca/ as they are a great way to find local listings. This has helped me many times in the past.
-Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google Product Feed Results
Hi all, I am pondering whether or not to try the new model of paying for the shopping results. I was just wondering what results people had seen and your ideas/thoughts on it.
Image & Video Optimization | | KarlBantleman0 -
Google images indexing on no-index html page?
Hi, I wonder if a image can get indexed, included in google images if it is located on a html page with a no-follow tag? Thanks for your help.
Image & Video Optimization | | wildnis0 -
How to improve google shopping ranking of any products?
What are the techniques to improve google shopping results of any product?
Image & Video Optimization | | Alick3000 -
Genuine Reciprocal Google Places Reviews, is that OK?
I have a client who works with other businesses, is it OK to have reciprocal reviews going on, they would be genuine reviews both both sides as they work for each other. Is that OK? Is it best for my client to use the Google Account that holds their Google Places page for doing the reviews? Or should they have a separate account for writing reviews, not associated with their business? I would appreciate your thoughts on this please? Many thanks Leo
Image & Video Optimization | | Rosewood0 -
How to Fix Duplicate Item Error in Google Merchant Center?
I have set schedules upload of Test Data Feed in Google Merchant Center. Today, I have found duplicate item error in test feed status summary! There are 2697 error for duplicate item. But, my http://www.vistastores.com/feed/test_data_feed.txt does not contain any duplicate item. I have checked test feed twice before raise this question. How can I fix this issue?
Image & Video Optimization | | CommercePundit0 -
Google Places ranking not making sense
With regard to the proximity to the city centre if you google 'chartered accountants swansea' you will see that the 2nd google places listing 'drpaccountants' are located way out of the city centre and they have no photos, reviews etc Where as on my listing it has a 100% completed profile but am way down the results, when many of the top places results are very basic http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=chartered%2Baccountant%2Bswansea&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CGIQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harrisbassett.co.uk%2F&ei=sp-mTraQEoiz8QPBqMzVDw&usg=AFQjCNG1C-xsNxgM6vWj1geoxv_u4KbD0g What else needs to be done apart from getting reviews? I have added lots of local citations to the likes of Yelp, Qype, Hotfrog etc but none are showing under the listing on google places? Also is there a reason why the description field is not being populated in the google places account? As from some of the other top places listings it seems to be picking this up from their website? The other issue is under the dashboard it displays 0 impressions and 0 actions is this normal? What is my places listing missing or have I done everything I possibly can and just have to wait for Google to re-rank the places results? I
Image & Video Optimization | | idv0 -
Maximising Local Search
Hi, I work for a weather company. I have recently begun to define a keyword strategy to target specific keyphrase segments with the objective to maximise webpage visibility and increase CTR. One growing keyphrase segment is "location weather" based searches (e.g. "London Weather", "Manchester Weather"). I am keen to understand how I can maximise our presence for location weather searches within the SERPs. This seems to be a common trends seeing as Google announced that over 20% of all searches contain a relevance to locality. I have been trying to understand if there is a way to maximise our location based weather pages, perhaps using the Google Local search tactic and if there are any recommendations you could suggest? ISSUE: In order to maximise your presence through local search you need a fixed address, something our site does not offer, however it does offer bespoke landing pages for a specific weather forecast based on locality (city, town etc) Essentially, are there any recommendations you can provide a website that offers specific location based pages (without a fixed address) to maximise our location weather based search rankings within the SERPs? Many thanks Simon
Image & Video Optimization | | simonsw1 -
Links from Google Books
Hi Interested in your views on this and any references to research on the subject Using Google Books recently I have discovered multiple citations of a web site I produced years ago in a whole load of publication. Really quite touching to find these 10 years afterwards I imagine that this must have a positive effect on search engine listings for this site. The site has really good listings still. Has any research or any announcement been made by Google about this. Pushing this a bit further ; An advertising hoarding has a web site address http:// ... would Google StreetView pick this up and could it be used as a signal too ? Neil PS No I don't sell adversing hoardings 😉
Image & Video Optimization | | NeilInFrance0