Localized SERP Rankings - Multiple Questions...
-
The Google SERPs for my keywords are pretty regional. We are in the "IT Support Company" space. I've checked with friends in other parts of the country, and we don't show up in the SERPs in other parts of the country for KWs that we are ranking for locally. Questions:
1. I see both national and local players showing up in the SERPs. Is there any kind of formula for how Google decides who gets on the first page?
2. Some of my keywords trigger Google+ listings. How long does it take to show up in Google+, assuming we're optimized appropriately, and we have earned a placement?
3. For Moz's keyword ranking tool, how does it handle regional searches? Moz's tool is going to show different KW rankings than what I will see. My immediate concerns are rankings in my area (NY Metro), but we want to go national. How do we track rankings in different areas?
4. Is it possible to be on the 1st page with Google+ and Organic listings?
5. Do the Google+ 7 packs have generally better, or worse CTRs than similarly placed organic listings?
-
Hi Rahul,
Our Rank tracker tool does not include Universal placement listings in the results, if you'd like to see your progress with your rankings regionally, you would have to start a campaign to obtain data associated with your efforts. For more information, please check out Moz.com/help/rankings.
Hope that helps!
-
Hi Rahul,
I'll do my best to provide some insight in the many areas about which you have questions.
- Yes - the formula by which Google evaluates web pages is called an algorithm. Google has separate formulae for organic results vs., say, purely local results. Each algorithm contains several hundred components.
2. I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark here and guess that you mean Google+ Local listings (if I'm wrong, please correct me any let me know you are talking about purely social Google+ pages rather than local-focused Google+ Local pages). It isn't possible to say it takes X amount of time to appear in Google+ Local for desired terms because the competition in each geography is completely unique. You must analyze your competitors and work to surpass their authority so that you can break into the local results and surpass the competition. This can be easy, hard or next-to-impossible depending upon how entrenched your competitors already are.
3. I will CC our help staff for a technical explanation of how our tools work.
4. If, again, you mean here Google+ Local listings rather than just Google+ listings, the answer is that it is possible, but rare. Since the Venice update in early 2012, very few companies have had a double Page 1 ranking (both an organic and a local listing). Where a company has managed to get a double listing, it is typically either because they have optimized a secondary page on their website well enough for it to rank organically alongside the Google+ Local listing, or because the business has little or no competition (like the only lawyer serving 3 small towns). However, an enormous shakeup has hit the Local SEO sphere this week with the introduction of the local 'carousel' for verticals like restaurants, hotels and entertainment-oriented companies. At this moment, everyone is assessing how this may have changed what is showing on page 1 of the results and one of the things worth investigating is how this may have affected the double ranking scenario.
5. Unfortunately, no one that I know of has published an expert level study on this topic. Part of the reason for this lack could be that the Google Places dashboard does not provide accurate analytics data. This is a very good question, but one for which I do not have an authoritative answer.
Hope this helps, and I've said, I'll ask our technical help team to look at your question #3.
-
Rahul,
I'm glad you are asking some really great questions. Each one is very complex and requires a thorough understanding of how SEO and google/bing/yahoo work. Which, I think, is beyond the scope of this forum or site.
-
Getting ranked nationally is very different then getting ranked locally. There are quite a few factors that come into play - the most important being TIME. The amount of time your site has existed as well as how much TIME you have put into growing your internet presence. This translates into links established naturally over time and that leads to a historical record of traffic over time. There are a few tricks up an SEO person's sleeve to get listed on page 1 locally the fastest, but you may not want to hear that answer. The answer is Google Maps. Make sure you are listed there first.
-
You may be confusing Google+ places and pages with Google rankings. Granted Google + pages can show up in the primary Google SERP, I don't think you can substitute the good work there for the good work done on your website. Your google+ work should SUPPLEMENT your webpage work.
-
Nobody really knows how the mysterious MOZ tool works. Use it as just another tool in your toolbox, not the ultimate source. Although we use it for our primary research and for finding needles in a haystack. We appreciate it for what it helps us accomplish.
-
yes. See #2 above. Actually three times, add in your Google maps too! However, if you are listed in other highly referral directories, they may overshadow your Google+ (ie: manta, mapquest, yellowpages). Don't simply rely on Google+ to be your end-all-to-be-all.
-
Huh? Not sure what that is. According to wikipedia Google Pack is no longer available for download. Not sure why you are referencing them.
All in all, you may want to check out some other reference items. This site proved very useful to me when I was first learning SEO: http://www.bruceclay.com/seo/search-engine-optimization.htm They authored "SEO for Dummies" and it's a great reference tool for beginners.
Good luck!
-
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
-
Possible google sandbox issue? Organically ranking page 1 for our number 1 keyword, but page 5 sometimes 6 on google?
What are some things I can look into to figure out why google is ranking us on page 5 sometimes page 6, with some slight rank boosts to rank 36 from 48 but then falls right back. While Yahoo and Bing rank us page 1 consistently, without these big drops back. I use google search ( webmaster tools ) daily, fix 404s and make sure to fetch new content I create. Our site is within the Sandbox issue time frame, google 1st indexed the site about a year and a half ago, the site has been through various SEO service checks, and has had those issues fixed ( some bigcommerce won't allow, such as full sitewide ssl and a few other small factors ) but all the big stuff was handled or will be 100% handled after this redesign is complete. But just still seems we're stuck in the google hole again. We do use adwords, but no clear signs as to why we'd suffer such hardships with google ranking, only thing we don't have optimized in terms of on page optimization from moz is keyword in url, of which will be changing within the next month or two, as we're rolling our a new redesign with SEO 100% at the forefront, nice url paths, with keywords in their url, much more responsive site that uses less resources. But before we release this redesign, I'd like to find out what toe we stubbed of google's to give us such a ranking blackeye... We don't have that many backlinks, and I know these are a huge factor, however, building quality backlinks it's harder than walking on water at time and on the same level as spinning hay into gold. Any ideas community...
Competitive Research | | Deacyde0 -
SEO ranking question
Hey, If a site for had a series of articles, and had the privilege of guest posting on several sites, such as mashable, entrepreuner.com, inc.com, and a few other not as big sites. and let us also say that this site is new and currently has pagerank of 0. How would the above benefit the site and the visibility of the articles on google? Also, with guest-posting, is it problematic to have the exact article also on your site? thanks in advance!
Competitive Research | | Raz.0 -
Continuous drop in Rankings on Google.uk
I have a Website who was ranked top 6 for most competitive keywords on Google.co.uk but suddenly dropped to page 2 after 21st January 2013 and later back to top 10 position and now dropped to pages 2 to 5, for most terms. I initially thought it was the transition rank causing this fluctuations. The strange thing is, i haven't done anything wrong in terms of back linking efforts. My site is content rich and offers real value to users also, the website PR increased from 3 to 4 recently, my site seomoz rank, PA, DA and Moz trust is higher than top ranked websites above mine. Please any suggestions?? Kindly help.....
Competitive Research | | ayo10 -
Good moz rank and trust, terrible page and domain authority
I have this happening both for page and domain. For domain the rank and trust are 5.2 and 5.51 but domain authority is only 48. My competitors with trust and rank between 5.5 and 6 have their domain authority in the 70-80 range. The same happens for home page metrics and the metrics are about the same. What can cause this authority discrepancy?
Competitive Research | | adrianmn0 -
How can stale, poor quality sites rank above fresh, high quality sites?
Dear Community, How is it that a Google search for temperature sensors shows the second result as site **A **(http://goo.gl/zRS1L) in a higher positionthan site B (http://goo.gl/3Xy2O) which is on the 2nd page of the SERPs. Site A blatantly does not follow Google's webmaster guidelines and recommendations for design, content or code. Site B scores an 'A' for on page analysis using SEOmoz, it also has a much higher number of root domains in and Moz rank, we have checked that site B has only quality inbound links, and anchor text is natural, it follows Google's guidelines for content and code diligently, and it is on an older domain. We are satisfied that site B has not been penalised by Google, e.g Penguin algorithm updates. We have also done a website verification with Google. Site B has fresher content compared to site A. Site B also has a sitemap yet site A doesn't. We're satisfied that we can rule out the following Algorithm Factors: Penguin algorithm updates Google Notified penalties Dodgy Inbound links Dodgy Anchor text Website verification with Google Fresh vs. static content Sitemap present Server Speed Server location Domain age and about 170 other algorithm factors Does anyone have any ideas as to why site A is ranking higher than site B in Google.co.uk? Thanks in advance. CD.
Competitive Research | | chichesterdesign0 -
Keyword Search - another site bypassed me and they are not ranked well...
I was trying to optimize the keywords "music for kids" . This is a no brainer because my URL is "musicforkids" My On-Page Report Card for "music for kids" gives my site a "A". The on page report card for the other site gets an "F". But the other site comes up number ONE in the organic Google search and my site comes up number three. The two sites above me receive a crappy on page Keyword report for the key words "music for kids" but they still come up above me for that search term. What's the deal?
Competitive Research | | musicforkids1 -
Counting up local reviews
Mozzers, Does anyone know of a tool that can count up the number of local reviews a business has and compare them against another business? Google Places has the number of reviews at the bottom of each place page but it never fully reflects the true count of reviews each business has. Thanks!
Competitive Research | | hawkvt10 -
How can I find the pages on my site with the highest page rank?
I have a lot pages on my site and I'm wondering if there is a tool out there that will find all the pages with the highest pagerank for me? Also, it would be helpful to find that on competitors sites as well. Any ideas?
Competitive Research | | shawn810