Do You Think the Distance Algorithm Has Less Weight for Local Service Related Businesses?
-
Hey guys, I wish Rand could answer this question, because I know he figured all of this out, or has at least thought about it at least once. Basically, I want to understand exactly how the local algorithms work. Do you think the Distance algorithm works differently for service related businesses that don't offer services directly to your car, or other moveable assets? (motorcycles, lawnmowers, small engines) For example, construction companies. We all know how boring their offices are. No one wants to go to one unless there has been a problem or to pay a bill, say at Trugreen or something. They don't sell products, and who wants to go to some construction company that will likely just be a receptionist and maybe a field manager on his lunch break with some field reps rotating in and out during the day getting new leads and entering sales?
That's uncomfortable. Why not just call them?
So, do you think Google's local algorithms know that and put less weight on businesses that fall into that category? Car shops, small engine repair, and say shoe repair shops are different because you have to bring them something to fix. Stores that sell products are different because you have to go shopping and pay them to take the products home. But remodeling companies, marketing agencies, etc. probably don't get a lot of foot traffic. (And it's because we know we can handle it on a phone call.)
-
Yes, it is correct that for the majority of the business especially those businesses that are service related and are in close proximity, the distance algorithm has less bearing. This is because different aspects such as service delivery, customers feedback and needs may compel local businesses to give little regard to the distance that may be separated with the customer.
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
-
Strategy for Local Site
Hi everyone I am working in a Media Agency in Los Angeles and we have to locally rank this site to get leads. Arts by Yaseen https://artsbyyaseen.agency/ We are strictly going for whitehat SEO. Can experts here give me an strategy to rank this site on top results? Thank You
Link Building | | jack4920 -
Unsolved Drop in organic rankings but we cant work out why
Hi, we are an SEO agency with over 10 years experience. We have always used white hat methods, we have only ever built quality links, and written quality content marketing. We have consistently had good organic ranking's in Google. The website recently moved back in the serps, not just a bit but absolutely massively. We cant work out why, we cant justify why neither. We are wondering if any SEO experts know why such moves exist, even if you follow white hat methods?
Moz Local | | sarahwalsh0 -
Unsolved Can a location have multiple locations?
I have a business that has added another location to their business. How do I add this in for Moz Local? Will it push through to Google?
Moz Local | | StorefrontEngine0 -
Unsolved Are my local pages watering down my website?
We operate in multiple cities, and for a number of years, have (mostly successfully) targeted each city with its own landing page. But lately Im seeing these pages drop in rankings, If I ignored SEO tactics, and designed the site based on what I think would be most useful/helpful to people viewing the website, I would not have any location landing pages. I would have one strong page (eg, probably the home page), that says "and we operate in the following locations..." and then list them off. The thing is, I dont really think these location specific landing pages have ever offered any real value to someone searching, other than just making it clear that we operate in their area (which doesn't need a landing page to make that clear). They're basically variations of each other, key word adjusted for the location - done for the purpose of ranking locally. I mean, that sounds like spam. But all the research says that I need landing pages for each location. My question: What would happen if I built one new page, and listed all the locations clearly on that page, and then 301 redirect the existing location landing pages to the new, single page. Would I fall of the cliff?
SEO Tactics | | blitzna1010 -
Should local businesses focus exclusively on a local SEO strategy (and forget traditional SEO)?
Hello Friends! I work at a small, local company. We definitely want to rank high for local search , so we see the value of having a local SEO strategy. But does it make sense for us to also invest in a traditional SEO strategy? My understanding is that a traditional SEO strategy is focused on improving your site's visibility on a national or international scale. Does this make sense for my company if only local customers convert? If we had unlimited time and resources, I'd be all for a traditional SEO strategy. I understand that the more traffic, backlinks, etc. my site generates from producing relevant content, the higher my ranking. But my company has to be very strategic about where we spend our time since our resources are limited. So...How much can or does a traditional SEO strategy impact local search results? I'd hate to spend the time writing a beautiful SEO-optimized blog on dog grooming, for example, if that effort won't impact my SERP ranking when someone in my area searches for "dog grooming near me." I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Local SEO | | annav0520 -
Outbound Links for Local SEO
I am working on building an area guide page for a local hotel website. The hotel itself has a lot to offer in forms of on-site entertainment and they are concerned about sending people away from their website (and their business). However, it's also important to write about the area and local attractions in close proximity to their hotel for many reasons, including building local authority. Is there any benefit to adding links to the Google My Business/map listing of the local attractions? Or can we just simply not include external links?
Local SEO | | triveraseo2 -
Links for Local Search: Relevance or Proximity?
Hi Mozzers, In the best situation links for a local business should be relevant and come from a local organization, but this is not always possible. In cases where you have to choose between relevance and proximity which is more important?
Local SEO | | waynekolenchuk0 -
Moz Rank Tracker - Local Rankings?
My question is about local SEO rankings. How does the Moz Rank Tracker track local results, meaning I do not see a place to tell the tool what local market to show results for.If I have a dentist in Denver and I enter the keyword “dentist” into the tracker, is it looking for how my site ranks locally in Denver or how it ranks for “dentist” on a national level.Thanks in advance for the help!
Local SEO | | ifuseurbiz1