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    Local SEO Rankings Factors (survey republished)

    • ByDaniel Ducloux

    • Monday, October 22, 2012

    The Survey

    Participants were asked to rank 90 possible positive factors and 18 possible negative factors that drive Google’s Local Search algorithms. Participants were asked to rank the positive factors based on the following question:

    “When Google ranks a business in its Local Search results, I believe this is the ____ overall most important factor in those rankings.”

    Results were then tabulated via inverse scoring, where the #1 ranked factor received the most “points” for that question, and the lowest-ranked factor received the fewest points. Thus, the more factors deemed irrelevant by a particular respondent, the heavier the weight given to the factors that they did rank.

    The first number listed to the right of each factor indicates the relative change in importance as compared to last year’s position. A positive number means the factor became more important this year; a negative number means it became less important. You’ll note that these numbers include fractional values as I tried to normalize the change in ranking based on a substantially-increased number of factors that I asked about this year.

    The second number listed is the average position of that factor in respondents’ rankings. The higher the number, the more important it was considered.

    The third number listed to the right indicates the standard deviation of the responses. The lower that number, the higher the agreement of the panel. The higher the number, the more the experts’ responses varied.

    Overall results are presented below, as well as results within each grouping of factors (i.e. on-page, website, off-place/off-page, and reviews).

    Negative ranking factors are presented in order of most damaging to most benign.

     

    The Results

    MAX POSSIBLE SCORE → MIN POSSIBLE SCORE LOWEST STD DEV → HIGHEST STD DEV +/- CHANGE FROM 2011

    GENERAL SIGNALS

    5 → 1 0.52 → 1.17 ▲

    1. Place Page Criteria
      4.46 0.97 ↑1
    2. Off-Place Page/Off-Site Criteria
      4.03 0.79 ↑1
    3. Website Criteria
      3.72 1.17 ↓2
    4. Review Criteria
      2.33 0.74 NC
    5. Social/Mobile Criteria
      1.18 0.52 ––

    Place Page Factors

    1. Physical Address in City of Search (PLACE PAGE)
      82.5117.870
    2. Proper Category Associations (PLACE PAGE)
      77.6119.770.87
    3. Proximity of Address to Centroid (PLACE PAGE)
      68.128.23↑
      15.8
    4. Local Area Code on Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      58.9728.76↑
      14.04
    5. Individually Owner-verified Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      55.8935.46↓
      4.38
    6. Product / Service Keyword in Business Title (PLACE PAGE)
      54.3835.03↑
      4.38
    7. Location Keyword in Business Title (PLACE PAGE)
      43.6637↑
      14.92
    8. Association of Photos with Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      36.0530.790.87
    9. Product / Service Keyword in Place Page Description (PLACE PAGE)
      34.134.26↓
      1.75
    10. Location Keyword in Place Page Description (PLACE PAGE)
      33.8934.240.87
    11. Age of Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      33.8231.68↑
      20.18
    12. Product / Service Keywords in Place Page Custom Attributes (PLACE PAGE)
      29.8429.450.87
    13. Number of Actions Taken by Searchers on a Place Page (e.g. Driving Directions, Mobile Phone Calls) (PLACE PAGE)
      26.9426.94↑
      1.75
    14. Numerical Percentage of Place Page Completeness (PLACE PAGE)
      26.6130.95↑
      7.9
    15. Marginal Category Associations (PLACE PAGE)
      26.2530.29↓
      0.87
    16. Bulk Owner-verified Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      25.1232.82↓
      6.14
    17. Matching Google Account Domain to Places Landing Page Domain (PLACE PAGE)
      2530.66↓
      3.51
    18. Association of Videos with Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      23.0228.53↑
      3.51
    19. Location Keywords in Place Page Custom Attributes (PLACE PAGE)
      16.7924.06↓
      15.8
    20. Inclusion of Offer on Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      6.6914.49↓
      5.26

    Off-Site Factors

    1. Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators) (OFF-SITE)
      65.7129.910.87
    2. Quality/Authority of Structured Citations (OFF-SITE)
      62.233.08n/a
    3. Consistency of Structured Citations (OFF-SITE)
      56.7435.11n/a
    4. Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) (OFF-SITE)
      55.2831.28n/a
    5. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      55.2530.28↓
      3.51
    6. Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains (OFF-SITE)
      51.5630.88n/a
    7. Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) (OFF-SITE)
      50.8932.26↑
      1.75
    8. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      44.4335.28↓
      3.51
    9. Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains (OFF-SITE)
      42.333.52n/a
    10. Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      40.8732.22↓
      7.9
    11. Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      40.1531.13↓
      5.26
    12. GeoTagged Media Associated with Business (e.g. Panoramio, Flickr, YouTube) (OFF-SITE)
      39.4328.03↑
      11.41
    13. Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      37.8230.390.87
    14. Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      37.1233.010.87
    15. Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      37.0232.38↓
      8.77
    16. Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      35.3829.02↓
      21.06
    17. Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      35.2830.58↓
      16.67
    18. Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      33.6930.99↓
      13.16
    19. Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      33.5631.78↓
      22.82
    20. Diversity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      31.7132.94↓
      19.31
    21. Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      24.4325.08↓
      10.53
    22. Velocity of New Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      22.9225.91↓
      12.28
    23. Quantity of MyMaps References to Business (OFF-SITE)
      22.1226.13↓
      2.63
    24. Popularity (# of Views) of MyMaps References to Business (OFF-SITE)
      18.323.34↓
      3.51
    25. Matching, Public WHOIS Information (OFF-SITE)
      16.123.76↓
      8.77
    26. Participation in Adwords Express or Google Offers (OFF-SITE)
      4.0714.04↓
      2.63

    On-Site Factors

    1. Domain Authority of Website (WEBSITE)
      66.5626.38↓
      1.75
    2. City, State in Places Landing Page Title (WEBSITE)
      62.4629.4↓
      1.75
    3. HTML NAP Matching Place Page NAP (WEBSITE)
      58.3831.78↑
      11.41
    4. Page Authority of Landing Page Specified in Places (WEBSITE)
      44.8737.01↓
      4.38
    5. Product / Service Keyword in Website URL (WEBSITE)
      44.2835.53↓
      7.02
    6. Geographic Keyword in Website URL (WEBSITE)
      40.0734.4↓
      4.38
    7. NAP in hCard / Schema.org (WEBSITE)
      39.8732.13↑
      22.82
    8. City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags (WEBSITE)
      38.7435.370
    9. City, State in Places Landing Page H1/H2 Tags (WEBSITE)
      35.231.36↓
      7.9
    10. City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags (WEBSITE)
      31.8232.25↓
      3.51
    11. KML File on Domain Name (WEBSITE)
      22.3827.03↓
      14.92
    12. Loadtime of Places Landing Page (WEBSITE)
      19.0724.47↓
      6.14
    13. High Numerical Rating of hReview/Schema Testimonials (WEBSITE)
      11.5321.98n/a
    14. Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org (WEBSITE)
      9.8419.39↓
      2.63
    15. Volume of HTML Testimonials (WEBSITE)
      8.6919.55↓
      1.75

    Review Factors

    1. Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text) (REVIEWS)
      62.4325.85↑
      16.67
    2. Product/Service Keywords in Reviews (REVIEWS)
      45.7630.25↑
      17.55
    3. Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (REVIEWS)
      41.0233.34↑
      23.7
    4. Location Keywords in Reviews (REVIEWS)
      40.2331.22↑
      8.77
    5. Velocity of Native Google Places Reviews (REVIEWS)
      39.1231.81↑
      31.6
    6. Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) (REVIEWS)
      37.4131.91n/a
    7. High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) (REVIEWS)
      33.0531.19n/a
    8. Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party) (REVIEWS)
      31.2530.16↑
      11.41
    9. Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (REVIEWS)
      30.3528.52↓
      13.16
    10. Quantity of Native Google Places Ratings (no text) (REVIEWS)
      29.8430.16↓
      2.63
    11. High Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 4-5) (REVIEWS)
      29.4628.96↑
      4.38
    12. Velocity of Third-Party Reviews (REVIEWS)
      23.6627.9↑
      5.26
    13. High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5) (REVIEWS)
      21.5125.25↑
      2.63
    14. Positive Sentiment in Reviews (REVIEWS)
      17.7626.72↑
      1.75

    Social/Mobile Factors

    1. Number of +1’s on Website (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      25.5825.74n/a
    2. Number of Adds/Shares on Google+ (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      23.8923.69n/a
    3. Click-Through Rate from Search Results (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      23.3527.44n/a
    4. Authority of +1’s on Website (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      23.2324.57n/a
    5. Velocity of Adds/Shares on Google+ (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      19.125.32n/a
    6. Authority of Adds/Shares on Google+ (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      17.8723.77n/a
    7. Velocity of +1’s on Website (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      15.1723.01n/a
    8. Volume of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter) (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      14.4120.560
    9. Number of Shares/Likes on Facebook (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      14.1522.160.87
    10. Number of Followers/Mentions on Twitter (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      12.6920.47↑
      6.14
    11. Authority of Followers/Mentions on Twitter (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      11.5619.43↑
      2.63
    12. Velocity of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter) (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      8.9415.810
    13. Velocity of Followers/Mentions on Twitter (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      8.6417.1↑
      2.63
    14. Velocity of Shares/Likes on Facebook (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      8.3519.420
    15. Authority of Shares/Likes on Facebook (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      6.1213.08n/a

    OVERALL RANKINGS:
    SPECIFIC FACTORS

    79 → 1 3.11 → 32.34 ▲

    1. Physical Address in City of Search (PLACE PAGE)
      82.5117.87–
    2. Proper Category Associations (PLACE PAGE)
      77.6119.77–
    3. Proximity of Address to Centroid (PLACE PAGE)
      68.128.23↑
      15.8
    4. Domain Authority of Website (WEBSITE)
      66.5626.38↓
      1.75
    5. Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators) (OFF-SITE)
      65.7129.91–
    6. City, State in Places Landing Page Title (WEBSITE)
      62.4629.4↓
      1.75
    7. Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text) (REVIEWS)
      62.4325.85↑
      16.67
    8. Quality/Authority of Structured Citations (OFF-SITE)
      62.233.08–
    9. Local Area Code on Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      58.9728.76↑
      14.04
    10. HTML NAP Matching Place Page NAP (WEBSITE)
      58.3831.78↑
      11.41
    11. Consistency of Structured Citations (OFF-SITE)
      56.7435.11–
    12. Individually Owner-verified Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      55.8935.46↓
      4.38
    13. Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) (OFF-SITE)
      55.2831.28–
    14. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      55.2530.28↓
      3.51
    15. Product / Service Keyword in Business Title (PLACE PAGE)
      54.3835.03↑
      4.38
    16. Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains (OFF-SITE)
      51.5630.88–
    17. Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) (OFF-SITE)
      50.8932.26↑
      1.75
    18. Product/Service Keywords in Reviews (REVIEWS)
      45.7630.25↑
      17.55
    19. Page Authority of Landing Page Specified in Places (WEBSITE)
      44.8737.01↓
      4.38
    20. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      44.4335.28↓
      3.51
    21. Product / Service Keyword in Website URL (WEBSITE)
      44.2835.53↓
      7.02
    22. Location Keyword in Business Title (PLACE PAGE)
      43.6637↑
      14.92
    23. Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains (OFF-SITE)
      42.333.52–
    24. Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (REVIEWS)
      41.0233.34↑
      23.7
    25. Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      40.8732.22↓
      7.9
    26. Location Keywords in Reviews (REVIEWS)
      40.2331.22↑
      8.77
    27. Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      40.1531.13↓
      5.26
    28. Geographic Keyword in Website URL (WEBSITE)
      40.0734.4↓
      4.38
    29. NAP in hCard / Schema.org (WEBSITE)
      39.8732.13↑
      22.82
    30. GeoTagged Media Associated with Business (e.g. Panoramio, Flickr, YouTube) (OFF-SITE)
      39.4328.03↑
      11.41
    31. Velocity of Native Google Places Reviews (REVIEWS)
      39.1231.81↑
      31.6
    32. City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags (WEBSITE)
      38.7435.37–
    33. Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      37.8230.39–
    34. Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) (REVIEWS)
      37.4131.91–
    35. Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      37.1233.01–
    36. Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      37.0232.38↓
      8.77
    37. Association of Photos with Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      36.0530.79–
    38. Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      35.3829.02↓
      21.06
    39. Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      35.2830.58↓
      16.67
    40. City, State in Places Landing Page H1/H2 Tags (WEBSITE)
      35.231.36↓
      7.9
    41. Product / Service Keyword in Place Page Description (PLACE PAGE)
      34.134.26↓
      1.75
    42. Location Keyword in Place Page Description (PLACE PAGE)
      33.8934.24–
    43. Age of Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      33.8231.68↑
      20.18
    44. Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      33.6930.99↓
      13.16
    45. Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      33.5631.78↓
      22.82
    46. High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) (REVIEWS)
      33.0531.19–
    47. City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags (WEBSITE)
      31.8232.25↓
      3.51
    48. Diversity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      31.7132.94↓
      19.31
    49. Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party) (REVIEWS)
      31.2530.16↑
      11.41
    50. Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (REVIEWS)
      30.3528.52↓
      13.16
    51. Product / Service Keywords in Place Page Custom Attributes (PLACE PAGE)
      29.8429.45–
    52. Quantity of Native Google Places Ratings (no text) (REVIEWS)
      29.8430.16↓
      2.63
    53. High Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 4-5) (REVIEWS)
      29.4628.96↑
      4.38
    54. Number of Actions Taken by Searchers on a Place Page (e.g. Driving Directions, Mobile Phone Calls) (PLACE PAGE)
      26.9426.94↑
      1.75
    55. Numerical Percentage of Place Page Completeness (PLACE PAGE)
      26.6130.95↑
      7.9
    56. Marginal Category Associations (PLACE PAGE)
      26.2530.29↓
      0.87
    57. Number of +1’s on Website (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      25.5825.74–
    58. Bulk Owner-verified Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      25.1232.82↓
      6.14
    59. Matching Google Account Domain to Places Landing Page Domain (PLACE PAGE)
      2530.66↓
      3.51
    60. Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain (OFF-SITE)
      24.4325.08↓
      10.53
    61. Number of Adds/Shares on Google+ (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      23.8923.69–
    62. Velocity of Third-Party Reviews (REVIEWS)
      23.6627.9↑
      5.26
    63. Click-Through Rate from Search Results (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      23.3527.44–
    64. Authority of +1’s on Website (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      23.2324.57–
    65. Association of Videos with Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      23.0228.53↑
      3.51
    66. Velocity of New Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL (OFF-SITE)
      22.9225.91↓
      12.28
    67. KML File on Domain Name (WEBSITE)
      22.3827.03↓
      14.92
    68. Quantity of MyMaps References to Business (OFF-SITE)
      22.1226.13↓
      2.63
    69. High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5) (REVIEWS)
      21.5125.25↑
      2.63
    70. Velocity of Adds/Shares on Google+ (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      19.125.32–
    71. Loadtime of Places Landing Page (WEBSITE)
      19.0724.47↓
      6.14
    72. Popularity (# of Views) of MyMaps References to Business (OFF-SITE)
      18.323.34↓
      3.51
    73. Authority of Adds/Shares on Google+ (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      17.8723.77–
    74. Positive Sentiment in Reviews (REVIEWS)
      17.7626.72↑
      1.75
    75. Location Keywords in Place Page Custom Attributes (PLACE PAGE)
      16.7924.06↓
      15.8
    76. Matching, Public WHOIS Information (OFF-SITE)
      16.123.76↓
      8.77
    77. Velocity of +1’s on Website (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      15.1723.01–
    78. Volume of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter) (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      14.4120.56–
    79. Number of Shares/Likes on Facebook (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      14.1522.16–
    80. Number of Followers/Mentions on Twitter (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      12.6920.47↑
      6.14
    81. Authority of Followers/Mentions on Twitter (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      11.5619.43↑
      2.63
    82. High Numerical Rating of hReview/Schema Testimonials (WEBSITE)
      11.5321.98–
    83. Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org (WEBSITE)
      9.8419.39↓
      2.63
    84. Velocity of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter) (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      8.9415.81–
    85. Volume of HTML Testimonials (WEBSITE)
      8.6919.55↓
      1.75
    86. Velocity of Followers/Mentions on Twitter (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      8.6417.1↑
      2.63
    87. Velocity of Shares/Likes on Facebook (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      8.3519.42–
    88. Inclusion of Offer on Place Page (PLACE PAGE)
      6.6914.49↓
      5.26
    89. Authority of Shares/Likes on Facebook (SOCIAL/MOBILE)
      6.1213.08–
    90. Participation in Adwords Express or Google Offers (OFF-SITE)
      4.0714.04↓
      2.63

    Additional Factors Suggested

    • Diversity of sites on which third-party reviews are present(REVIEWS)
    • Primary category matches a broader category of the search category (e.g. primary category=restaurant & search=pizza)(PLACE PAGE)
    • Proximity of Physical Location to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance) (PLACE PAGE)
    • Product/Service in Places Landing Page URL (WEBSITE)
    • Product/Service Keyword(s) in Places Landing Page Title(WEBSITE)
    • Driving Directions to Physical Address(PLACE PAGE)
    • Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains (OFF-SITE)
    • Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains (OFF-SITE)
    • Product / Service Keyword in Landing Page URL (PLACE PAGE)
    • Geographic Keyword in Landing Page URL (PLACE PAGE)

     

     

     

     

    source: http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

     

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