Image courtesy of Aaron Weiche
I don’t have the chance to attend SMX Advanced in Seattle which is rolling right now. However, I am following everything that is happening via a number of sources – live bloggers, Twitter streams, Google+, recap posts, etc. The event that I am most interested in is the Local University Advanced, and particularly David Mihm‘s announcement of the Vol. 5 of the Local Search Ranking Factors in which I also took part (w00t).
David Mihm is focusing primarily on the evolution of Google’s local algorithm from the perspective of the changes in the rankings of the ranking factors over the years. Here is what he shares:
- The ranking factors haven’t really changed that much over the years (2008-2012) Tweet
- The factors haven’t changed even after the launch of Google+ Local Tweet
- Importance of the “distance to city centroid” ranking factor depends on the industry Tweet, but nevertheless, it is still a ranking factor Tweet
- SMB websites matter a lot in local search rankings and in building authority Tweet
- Ratings are not as important as reviews currently (but this might change); in future a trust factor will be added to reviews, so the more trustworthy the reviewer, the higher the value of the review Tweet
- The most negative ranking factor is inconsistent N.A.P. data, and especially an inconsistent (tracking) phone number Tweet
- Other negative ranking factors include multiple Places pages (Google+ Pages) with similar/same business names and addresses, as well as the inclusion of location keyword in the categories in a Google business listing Tweet
- David Mihm mentions me (second w00t) in relation to getting the Local University to Bulgaria? Hm :) Tweet
- Social circles will be a very important factor in local search in (the not very distant) future Tweet
- Quantity of reviews is more important than quality in the local search rankings Tweet
- According to people in the audience there is no way for a small business to do local SEO on their own Tweet
- Getting more reviews might help in overcoming the problematic “distance to city centroid” ranking factor Tweet
- There are cases in which the centroid isn’t really being taken into account Tweet
- Personalization and socialization of the local search results is going to be the trend Tweet
- Branded anchor texts is now more important than keyword anchor text (Hi, @Penguin) Tweet
And that’s pretty much everything I managed to get from the 30-minute presentation. This is really just a snapshot, so I am really looking forward to the next week’s official online announcement of the Local Search Ranking Factors, edition 2012!