The Basics on Google Local Algorithm

by

15 August 2017

SEO

seo

Being at the top of Google search results page has been one of the goals of various businesses ever since the advent of the search engine giant. Landing the top ranking spot can help draw traffic to your page and increase the effectiveness of your website.

Many have tried to breakdown the factors that affect Google ranking and a study in 2016 has made an analysis of the various factors that Google use in its rankings. The study determined which of the different factors correlate either positively or negatively with local rankings in the Google search results page. This study is very helpful in guiding businesses when prioritizing for their local SEO plans.

Read also: Google Maps Marketing: Guides On How To Boost Brand Advantage

The Factors that Affect Google Rankings

1. Website

The use of keywords and the number of words on a page actually have a huge impact on the rankings. Location pages with a lot of information written have a tendency to fare better than those with less content. Put quality information on your website on different broad topics to help draw traffic towards your site. Crafting a quality small business website design is crucial from the start and best to hire a professional.

2. Links

Backlinks affect your local rankings. In fact, it has the most positive correlation with good rankings. The infamous Toolbar PageRank is no longer a current tool but there are many other tools similar to the toolbar that can gauge the quality of a site. The study has shown that sites with older links are doing better than the newer ones.

3. Google My Business

Having good reviews and verified information about your business, as well as photos of your location and products, all contributed to stronger rankings. It can be due to the reliable information that these sites have attracted more interaction with the searchers. Therefore, make sure that in every channel you have, you put in their the basic information about your business. Lastly, revamp your Google My Business pages because it also helps immensely in supplying information.

4. Citations

One of the surprising findings of the study is that citations did not seem to correlate with positive local rankings. However, the researchers have pointed out that citations do help if the business or website is at its foundation stage. But once the groundwork has been laid down and all the citations have been made, further citing will not make any difference.

5. Surprises

The study had a huge surprise when the researchers found out that the “City & State” information in the Google My Business page does not have any correlation with positive ranking. Therefore, geotargeting should not be all the craze. Keywords, however, do help.

Going Forward With Google & amp; The Search Engines 

Knowing what are the factors when Google ranks pages and which factor to prioritize will help you be more efficient and effective. In sum, if you are a new player in the business, lay down your citations as fast and as effectively as you can and then move on to getting backlinks, especially in competitive markets.

Having your business have a solid SEO mechanism will help you entice a larger audience, promote your products effectively, and open your business to new opportunities.

Read also:

I enjoy writing and I write quality guest posts on topics of my interest and passion. I have been doing this since my college days. My special interests are in health, fitness, food and following the latest trends in these areas. I am an editor at Content Rally.

View all posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

web hosting

Top Web Hosting Trends for 2020

Every industry has its own set of trends and the web hosting industry is no exception. Every year, new trends and developments are discovered to help keep with the ever-changing demands of the industry, and web hosting providers struggle to be among the first to offer these experiences to their customers. If you already own a website, it is certain that you already host one web hosting company or another, and if you intend to build one in the coming year, you will also require the hosting services of a web hosting company. This article focuses on some of the top trends you should be on the lookout for from your web host, as they will help optimize your website’s performance, while significantly impacting the internet landscape. Top Web Hosting Trends for 2020: 1. Green Hosting: Running a website, blog, or internet application on an eco-friendly and energy-efficient server is bound to appeal to a lot of people, particularly now that more people are becoming increasingly aware of their environment and are conscious of reducing their carbon footprints. In 2020, we will be seeing lots of web hosting companies invest in eco-friendly schemes and participating more in eco-friendly initiatives that aim to minimize damage to the ecosystem. Green web hosting here means running hosting infrastructure on servers, routers, and equipment that runs on low energy, while at the same time implementing policies that encourage recyclable energy. This trend will greatly contribute to the recovery of the environment and as a website owner; you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are indirectly contributing to a healthier and better environment. 2. Cloud Hosting: Cloud computing is not a new concept and is a technology that has come a long way in recent years. However, not many people understand what cloud computing is, and even fewer people make use of it. However, this state of affairs is bound to change in 2020 going forward. In the first place, cloud technology has already entered into the web hosting industry, providing better site performance than website owners are used to. Unlike other forms of hosting that relies on a physical server, cloud hosting stores data on a cluster of servers, making it virtually impossible to experience downtime, server errors, or any of the other problems experienced with traditional web hosting. The beauty of this system is that you only get to pay for the resources you use, meaning that you can scale up down your website resources to fit your immediate website needs. Suffice it to say that the benefits of cloud hosting mean that a lot of websites will take advantage of this trend in the coming year. 3. Better Authentication Protocols: Security has always been one of the major concerns of website owners, with the recent rise in the level of cybercrimes, particularly those targeted at small businesses. As a website owner, one of your primary responsibilities is to make sure that the personal and financial details of your users are safe and secure. But this can be a difficult assignment if your web hosting provider is not up to the task. Thankfully, the coming year will see more in the areas of website security. Already, Google has made it compulsory for websites to have an SSL certificate installed if they want to get the search visibility they deserve, but 2020 will bring with it improvements in how websites are accessed and secured. For example, two-factor authentication (2FA) will become a popular feature for website owners as more and more web hosting companies will integrate this feature into their security systems. Other security features to look out for include compliance checks for common CMS vulnerabilities and encrypted storage. 4. Website Builders: Not too long ago, WYSISYG website tools were popular on the internet, giving anyone with an idea the opportunity to design their website without any technical or coding experience. But the rise of content management systems relegated these tools to the background until they all but disappeared. Thankfully, web hosting companies are again seeing the benefits of these tools and have developed a better version. Enter online website builders. Just like the WYSIWYG of old, website builders allow you to design, publish, and promote your website in just a few clicks and with no coding experience or technical skills. But this time around, these online tools can build even advanced websites. For small businesses nursing their finances, this means that they too can develop and run a website without spending scarce financial resources on a website designer. If the signs on the ground are anything to go by, we should expect to see highly developed website builders from almost all web hosting providers by 2020. 5. Domain research tools: Domain research tools have been available for years, with Nameboy being one of the oldest on the internet. But these days, it is becoming increasingly difficult to come up with the perfect domain name, especially because almost all the good.COM domain names are taken. Of course, if the.COM of the domain name you are searching for is taken and your website is a target at a country like New Zealand, you can always opt for the .CO.NZ alternative and immediately register it with a registrar like Domain Names From Freeparking NZ but in the coming year, finding your ideal domain name will no longer be a difficult thing. To ease the process of creating and registering domain names, domain name registrars, most of which also double as web-hosting providers will integrate domain research function in their domain search tools. With this system, if the domain name you want is already taken, you will have hundreds of similar suggestions to choose from across a variety of popular and not so popular domain name extensions. 6. Automated Backups: Already, many web hosting providers offer automated backup to their customers, but for most of these providers, this feature is an extra add-on feature that attracts an extra fee. With the increasing popularity of CMS applications like WordPress, automated backups will soon become a common feature in web hosting. Not only as backups on CMSs easy to run, but they also tend not to take up lots of space as only the files needed to run the site will be backed up, meaning that you will be able to get your site up and running in no time, should your site suffer damage for any reason. This automated backup system can be configured to run monthly, weekly, daily, or at any interval the site owner prefers. Conclusion: While it is true that some of these developments are already available today, they are not as common as they should be, but in the coming year, these and many more developments will come up in the web hosting industry and lots of site owners will be able to take advantage of them. And best of all, this change will significantly improve how you run your website. Read More: Top 9 Factors To Keep In Mind Before Choosing A Web Host 6 Things To Consider Before Choosing Web Hosting For Your Ecommerce Website Things You Should Know About Web Host Providers What Makes A Web Hosting Good?

READ MOREDetails

Mastering SEO: Tips And Techniques For Improved Search Rankings

In the highly competitive digital landscape, search engine optimization (SEO) has become essential for businesses looking to improve their online visibility and attract organic traffic. SEO techniques focus on optimizing websites and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and reach the target audience effectively. Mastering SEO requires a combination of technical expertise, content optimization, and staying up-to-date with search engine algorithms. Here are some tips and techniques to help you improve your search rankings and dominate the SEO game. Keyword Research Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the terms and phrases your target audience is searching for. Use keyword research tools to find relevant and high-volume keywords with moderate competition. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your website content, including titles, headings, meta descriptions, and body text. Aim for a balance between relevancy and user intent to attract qualified traffic. Do you know? You can build your SEO even with email marketing! It is always a great marketing strategy that doesn’t require much investment, yet you get greater results. Finding the right email addresses and connecting to your target audience is the key. How do you find the correct email address, you ask? Simple - GetEmail.io. This AI-powered tool helps you how to lookup an email address with ease. You can use its extension even on platforms like LinkedIn, Gmail, and Salesforce too! Quality Content Creation Creating high-quality and valuable content is paramount for SEO success. Develop content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. Use a mix of formats such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and guides to engage users. Focus on creating long-form content that thoroughly covers the topic, providing comprehensive information and insights. Ensure your content is well-structured, easy to read, and optimized for relevant keywords. Ideally, the audience must find your content comprehensive because comprehensive pages help search engines bring authority to the same topic. We all know how evergreen content has a prolonged value which makes it relevant for a long time.  On-Page Optimization Optimize your website's on-page elements to improve search rankings. Pay attention to title tags, meta descriptions, headings (H1, H2, etc.), and URL structures. Incorporate target keywords naturally in these elements while maintaining clarity and relevance. Optimize image alt tags and file names, as search engines also consider visual content. Improve website loading speed by compressing images, magnifying code, and leveraging browser caching. On-page SEO is the measures that one can take directly within the site for improving its place in the search rankings. Examples of on-page site optimization are content optimization or including the title tags and meta description. Technical SEO Technical aspects of SEO play a crucial role in search rankings. Ensure your website has proper crawl ability and index ability. Submit an XML sitemap to search engines to help them understand your website's structure. Optimize your website for mobile devices, as mobile-friendliness is a significant ranking factor. Ensure your website has a secure HTTPS protocol implemented, as it provides a secure browsing experience and is favored by search engines. Technical SEO is largely responsible for a website’s performance on search engines like Google. A Website’s page speed and mobile responsiveness are confirmed banking factors by Google.  Regular Monitoring And Analysis Continuously monitor your website's performance using analytics tools like Google Analytics. Track important metrics such as organic traffic, search rankings, bounce rates, and conversions. Analyze the data to identify trends, strengths, and areas for improvement. Use this information to refine your SEO strategies and adapt to changing algorithms. Backlink Building Building high-quality backlinks from reputable and relevant websites is crucial for SEO success. Focus on earning backlinks naturally through compelling content, guest blogging, influencer partnerships, and outreach efforts. Quality over quantity is key when it comes to backlinks. Avoid questionable link-building practices that may lead to penalties from search engines. Backlinks are inbound links that are links generated from a particular website to another with the help of an anchor text. Google and other search engines regard backlinks as “votes” for a desired page, thereby denoting the quality and relevance of the web page.  User Experience Optimization User experience (UX) is a critical factor in search rankings. Make sure your website is intuitive, easy to navigate, and visually appealing. Optimize for mobile devices, as the majority of searches now occur on mobile. Improve page load times, as slow-loading pages can negatively impact user experience and search rankings. Focus on reducing bounce rates and increasing engagement metrics, such as time spent on site and pages per session. In order to boost retention, it is significant to optimize the user experience of a website page. When you keep improving user satisfaction, there will be fewer risks of users navigating to other websites. Local SEO If you have a local business, optimizing for local search is crucial. Ensure your website includes location-specific keywords, and register your business on Google My Business and other relevant directories. Encourage positive online reviews from satisfied customers, as they can enhance your local search visibility. In simple terms, Local SEO is a strategy that makes your business more visible in Google’s local search results.  Stay Up-To-Date With Algorithm Changes Search engine algorithms evolve regularly, and staying informed is crucial. Follow industry experts, blogs, and official search engine announcements to keep up with the latest trends and algorithm updates. Adapt your SEO strategies accordingly to maintain or improve your search rankings. Google’s Algorithm keeps changing consistently. Thus, you need to be on par with those to make your website page a big hit.  Patience and Persistence: SEO is a long-term game. It takes time to see significant results, and search rankings can fluctuate. Be patient, persistent, and consistent with your efforts. Continuously improve your website, create valuable content, and adapt to changes in the SEO landscape. Over time, your efforts will pay off with improved search rankings and increased organic traffic. In conclusion mastering SEO requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses technical optimization, quality content creation, and a focus on user experience. Stay informed, adapt to changes, and consistently refine your SEO strategies to stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape Read Also: 3 Major SEO Predictions for 2020 How to Monitor the SEO Health of Your Website Improve Your Domain Using These SEO tips 5 Things You Are Not Checking In SEO But You Should!

READ MOREDetails
Content Optimization

Content Optimization: What It Is and How To Do It

Content is the soul of the online world. Online business approaches the optimum heights when it contains a high level of uniqueness. People love to read the creative content as it helps them to learn more about the topic. Your website can approach a massive audience and target lots more when it has innovation. Check plagiarism of your website content within no time through effective use of a plagiarism checker. What is Content Optimization? Content optimization is the most excellent and rational method to adopt. It includes the process of ensuring that the content is able enough to approach the wider audience. Content optimization comprises a variety of steps that combine to boost the SEO of the content. Get excellent scoring and ranking of the website through ensuring content optimization of all web pages. The major benefit of content optimization is that it increases user engagement on the website. Ultimate benefits include the enhanced website visibility and enhanced CTRs. Content optimization depends mainly on checking plagiarism. How to Do Content Optimization? Content optimization is not rocket science. The better the research will be, the better the implementation would become. You can optimize your website content on your own. Keep a close eye on your website content and check plagiarism of all to avoid consequences. There are multiple ways to do so: Appropriate Use of Backlinks: It is optimally necessary to link the most reputed and top-rated websites for linking to your content. Backlink has the power to extend your reach to the targeted audience.  The wisest method to get the benefit of backlink is the use of keywords. Keywords are the necessary part of the content that must be used to reap the benefits. Backlinks are meant to be used on the keywords. You can use multiple backlinks in the web content to reap optimum outcomes in the least possible time. However, the notorious and broken backlinks must be avoided. Unique Content: A plagiarism check has the power to reveal the similarity index of the content. A plagiarism detector would not disappoint you in terms of performance. It helps in offering quality content without the similarity index. Check Duplication with the use of the most reliable online plagiarism checker which is none other than Duplichecker. It is a reliable similarity checker which is well known for its excellent features. Check plagiarism at your earliest and avoid uploading content without passing the content through it. In the case of a high similarity index, you can make use of a paraphrasing tool. Avoid spelling and grammatical errors from all the web pages. SEO-friendly content will let you cast a spell on the masses and develop a connection with them. Use SEO online tools that are available free of cost for your convenience. Say goodbye to the issues to Check plagiarism and use online tools for it! Meta Title and Meta Description: The main catching elements that ensure generating a click on the article are the meta title and meta description. A plagiarism check is necessary for the meta title and meta description. The title must be appealing and should contain numeric and other keywords. Both meta title and met description are the ones having their visibility at the search engine. Do not exceed form the word count limit and craft the impressive one through creativity. Check plagiarism of these, too, as crawlers can find it out to decline your website rating. Image Alt Attribute: Images are the element that is used in the content to improve the engagement of the users. These visually appealing elements provide more worth to the content. People comprehend the concept of the article when they go through the relevant images in it. Do not use random images but ensure to grab the ones having high resolution and relevancy to the topic. Optimize these with the use of image alt attribute and must incorporate the keyword in it. Targeted Keywords: Keywords work magically to bring success to you. Exploring the keywords is not that tough, especially when you go through the right tactic. Use SEO tools that are available online to relish the outcomes. Keyword finder is the online tool that will let you have a huge list of relevant keywords. Rather than using simple keywords, it is beneficial to use long keywords. Consider using multiple keywords rather than the single one. Spread it all over the content! Proper Formatting and Alignment: People love to read the content which is organized. Use the most reliable and professional formatting tactics. Avoid being so fancy and complex with the font style and rely on the one which is easy to read. Keep the passage of few lines and ensure to have 3 to 5 sentences in each passage. Take the best use of bullets to make it easier for the users to go through the content in the wink of an eye. Keep content perfectly aligned and format it with the use of headings and subheadings. Read Also: Understanding Search Engine Optimization Content Marketing Mistakes You Shouldn’t Be Making Things to consider while doing SEO 5 Ways Marketing Strategies Will Change Post COVID-19

READ MOREDetails