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This feature is far too new to know the effect of using service areas and local setting in Google Places (Google Maps). Service area is a very important factor, but I believe there are some issues with the option to select area by radius. So far, there is no positive report on using service areas and local setting in Google Maps.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
One of the local search ranking factors that comes into play is how close the business is to the city centroid (the exact middle of the city). If you’re business serves a greater city area, but happens to be physically located on the city outskirts on or in a suburb, you’re already losing points toward ranking well in the local search algorithm. The Centroid Factor use to be weighed really heavy. However today, the Centroid Factor in local search including Google Maps / Google Places plays more of a minor role, except for very competitive terms. For example, terms like Detroit DUI Lawyer or Detroit DUI Attorney. We have found that when all things are equal, the Centroid Factor is highly weighted. The search engines realize it’s more important to determine where you are at than where the center of a city is. Therefore, this city centroid factor will continue to decline.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
User generated content (UGC), as you have seen in MyMaps, KML files, geotagged images and videos, appear to be giving a big boost in Google Maps (Google Places) Rankings. UGC such as MyMaps does appear to correlate with ranking position.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
WHOIS Record Associated with Your Domain may not be a major factor, but definitely is a trust factor that affect your ranking in Google Maps. When the WHOIS address matches the Place Page address of a business, it provides Google with more trusted information and backs up the business as being a true local provider.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
Rankings that are at least 6 months old seem to be more stable. New listings may rank quickly but don’t stay longer unless you keep doing Google Maps Optimization. the age of the Google Maps listing is a general factor, as is the age of reviews, how many reviews, citations, etc. Basic principle. Google tends to trust businesses that stay longer. Typically, businesses that have been around longer will have more citations and reviews etc. It boils down to the fact that you should list your business information in your Google Maps as soon as possible, and you will get better results after 6 months or one year.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
The Google PageRank (PR) of the landing page URL doesn’t seem to be e a factor. It makes sense to give weight to the top level domain; in another word, if your home page has a high PageRank, you get better rankings in Google Maps, but the PageRank of the landing page URL doesn’t have any effect on ranking in Google Maps.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
Website rankings in Google Maps (Google Places) seem to increase from verifying a KML file. Providing a KML file on your domain is definitely recommended for a business with numerous locations in order to provide search engines with trusted and accurate information. Fortunately, the Google whitelist bulk upload has also proven to be very effective in getting locations verified and rank well in local results.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
Including Local Area Code Phone Number on your contact page will help boosting up your ranking in Google Maps (Google Places). Local phone numbers seem to work better than toll free numbers. In addition, Google Places guidelines promote the usage of a local phone number for each service location. Customers also prefer dealing with a local service which results in more conversions than with an 800 number. Google checks your “contact us” page to find your local phone number, which is associated with your service location.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
Having a geographic keyword (location keyword) in your URL can slightly help improve local rankings as it further emphasizes the local nature of the business. If the target city is competitive such as “Los Angels” or “Detroit”, I would include a location keyword in the URL.
For other local search, visit our Google Maps Algorithm page, Google Maps Optimization (Google Maps SEO) page, Live Search Map and Yahoo Local page.
Google Instant is simply people searching at warp speed. Rather than getting their search results during a search session that might take several minutes, now they might get their answers within a minute.
Now, how Google Instant impact SEO? In my opinion, Google Instant will change user behaviors. Online users will narrow down the keyword search query, which means that they will use small keyword phrases than bigger keyword phrases, because they will learn “how to search” from Google Instant. For example, a Google user searching the keyword “Bichon Frise” will see suggested results for “Bichon Frise puppies” and “Bichon Frise for sale”, as they type the word “Bichon Frise.” In this case, the big keyword phrase is “Bichon Frise” and the small keyword phrases are “Bichon Frise puppies” and “Bichon Frise for sale”. Therefore, choosing more small keyword phrases for optimization will be beneficial for SEO in the future. In another word, you won’t be able to depend on the big keyword phrases that currently bring traffic to your website. Google Instant will lead a webmaster to add more specific keyword phrases for SEO than before.
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