2015 Local Search Ranking Factors

Overall Ranking Factors

My Business Signals (14.7%)
(Categories, Keyword in Business Title, Proximity, etc.)

External Loc. Signals (15.5%)
(IYP/aggregator NAP consistency, Citation Volume, etc.)

On-page Signals (21.0%)
(Presence of NAP, Keywords in Titles, Domain authority, etc.)

Link Signals (18.3%)
(Inbound anchor text, Linking domain authority, Linking domain quantity, etc.)

Review Signals (9.8%)
(Review quantity, Review velocity, Review diversity, etc.)

Social Signals (5.8%)
(Google+ authority, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, etc.) – for additional social signals through paid Facebook marketing you may want to check out our Shopify kit review.

Behavioral/Mob. Signals (6.9%)
(Clickthrough rate, Mobile clicks to call, Check-ins, Offers, etc.)

Personalization (8.4%)

 

Top 50 Localized Organic Factors

1 City, State in Landing Page Title
2 Domain Authority of Website
3 Page Authority of Landing Page URL
4 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
5 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
6 Physical Address in City of Search
7 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
8 Product / Service Keyword in Website URL
9 Click-Through Rate from Search Results
10 City, State in Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
11 Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
12 Consistency of Structured Citations
13 City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags
14 HTML NAP Matching My Business Page NAP
15 Geographic Keyword in Website URL
16 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
17 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
18 Diversity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
19 Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
20 Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
21 Proper Category Associations
22 Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
23 Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
24 Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
25 Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
26 NAP in hCard / Schema.org
27 Product / Service Keyword in Business Title
28 Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
29 Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
30 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
31 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
32 Individually Owner-verified My Business Page
33 Loadtime of Landing Page URL
34 Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
35 Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
36 Proximity of Address to Centroid
37 Location Keyword in Business Title or Title Modifier
38 City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags
39 Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
40 Velocity of New Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
41 Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews
42 Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present
43 Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party)
44 Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
45 Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain
46 Authority of Shares on Google+
47 Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org
48 Bulk Owner-verified My Business Page
49 Quantity of Native Google Maps Reviews (w/text)
50 Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present

Top 50 Pack/Carousel Factors

1 Physical Address in City of Search
2 Proper Category Associations
3 Consistency of Structured Citations
4 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
5 HTML NAP Matching My Business Page NAP
6 Product / Service Keyword in Business Title
7 Domain Authority of Website
8 Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
9 Individually Owner-verified My Business Page
10 Proximity of Address to Centroid
11 Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
12 City, State in Landing Page Title
13 Quantity of Native Google Maps Reviews (w/text)
14 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
15 Location Keyword in Business Title or Title Modifier
16 Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
17 Proximity of Address to Centroid of Other Businesses in Industry
18 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
19 Click-Through Rate from Search Results
20 Local Area Code on My Business Page
21 Page Authority of Landing Page URL
22 Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews
23 Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
24 Age of My Business Page
25 Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
26 Product / Service Keyword in Website URL
27 Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party)
28 Primary category matches a broader category of the search category (e.g. primary category=restaurant & search=pizza)
29 City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags
30 Product/Service Keywords in Reviews
31 Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Maps Reviewers, etc)
32 NAP in hCard / Schema.org
33 Geographic Keyword in Website URL
34 High Numerical Ratings of Business by Google Users (e.g. 4-5)
35 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
36 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
37 Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
38 Association of Photos with My Business Page
39 Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present
40 Matching Google Account Domain to Landing Page Domain
41 City, State in Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
42 Numerical Percentage of My Business Page Completeness
43 Clicks to Call Business
44 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
45 Product / Service Keyword in My Business Page Description
46 Velocity of Native Google Maps Reviews
47 Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
48 Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present
49 Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
50 Driving Directions to Business Clicks

 

 

Top 30 Difference-Making Factors in Competitive Markets

1 Domain Authority of Website
2 Consistency of Structured Citations
3 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
4 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
5 Proper Category Associations
6 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
7 City, State in Landing Page Title
8 Physical Address in City of Search
9 Quantity of Native Google Maps Reviews (w/text)
10 Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
11 Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
12 HTML NAP Matching My Business Page NAP
13 Page Authority of Landing Page URL
14 Product / Service Keyword in Business Title
15 Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
16 Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
17 Click-Through Rate from Search Results
18 Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews
19 Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party)
20 Individually Owner-verified My Business Page
21 NAP in hCard / Schema.org
22 Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Maps Reviewers, etc)
23 Product/Service Keywords in Reviews
24 Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
25 Location Keyword in Business Title or Title Modifier
26 Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
27 Local Area Code on My Business Page
28 Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
29 Product / Service Keyword in Website URL
30 Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain

10 Factors That Have Increased in Importance Since Pigeon

1 Domain Authority of Website
2 Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
3 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
4 Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL
5 Physical Address in City of Search
6 Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Maps Reviewers, etc)
7 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
8 City, State in Landing Page Title
9 Click-Through Rate from Search Results
10 Page Authority of Landing Page URL