Often when we try to explain the importance of local SEO and how it all works – links, rankings, algorithms, citations, social reach, keywords- we see people drifting off, their eyes glaze over and we understand it’s not the most exciting topic in the world, but if you’re a small business you do need to pay attention to this.
Just one thing – the roll out of the Pidgeon Google update since July 2014 has changed the local SEO game –even if you have been ranking well, that might be able to change, particularly for businesses located within a metropolitan area. Now we’ll make easy, all using simple maths.
Let’s use a local electrician in a suburb of a larger metro area as our example:
Assumption 1: There are 20 electricians in your suburb.
Assumption 2: There used to be 17 spots of Google’s page one if you count both organic results and the map pack. With the recent Google Update there are many directories showing up on page one so if we take those out, we are left with about 12 possible positions.
20 electricians-12 positions = 8 electricians just in your suburb WILL miss out on page one ranking
But you’re probably not going to want to target just your suburb…
Assumption 3: Your area contains 7 suburbs.
20 electricians x 7 suburbs = 140 electricians
You want to reach further than that…
Assumption 4: There are another 5 suburbs within easy access to your area
20 electricians x 12 suburbs = 240 electricians
So, we end up with 240 electricians battling it out for the same 12 positions on page one of Google search results – 228 are going to miss out. With the recent update it will be practically impossible for businesses not located in the area to show up in the map pack for queries relating to that geographical area.
If you want to stand a chance at beating those other hundreds of businesses fighting for those few top positions – you need to give Google what it wants:
- Fantastic content that is fresh, regular and reader-friendly
- Great user experience on your website – easy navigation, strong calls to action
- Content which is optimised for local searches
- Engagement on social media platforms
- Be receiving great online reviews – Yelp, Facebook etc.
Even if you are currently ranking well it would be worth your while to consider local SEO to ensure you maintain that ranking as the Pidgeon update rolls out. If local SEO is not something you have considered yet, contact the team at Website Design Centre to get it sorted.
