I am creating a website for a “local” farmer’s market, but what exactly does that mean? Local to one person might be clear across the country for another. So how are we supposed to go about this in SEO?
Taking advice from this link: https://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2013/11/04/the-one-truth-about-local-seo-i-wish-everyone-understood/ here is what I found:
You can’t define what “local” is, in terms of where you rank.
The local” algorithm looks at 3 overarching factors
- relevance
- prominence
- distance
Your “relevance” depends on things like which business categories you’ve chosen for your Google listing and your citations, and how much info your site has on your specific services, and that your “prominence” depends on your citation, reviews and (in some cases) links.
You can’t fool Google as to what city you’re in. For instance, don’t put your “target” city in the address field on your Google listing if that’s not the city you’re technically located in. As the density of local competitors increases, the amount of “map” you’re visible in decreases.
Make sure Google understands your “distance” – that is, exactly where your business is located. You may not like the maximum amount of local turf Google gives you, but at least make sure they have enough information to give you some turf.
3 Responses
Interesting Blog post. The 3 overarching factors are new to me. It is interesting that you cannot fool google with your location but it makes sense.
Your blog post was super interesting! It just goes to show how we have to be more intentional with our search intentions. You want to make sure your site is seen by the correct audience and can maximize the customers and views you get. The three overarching factors are important aspects to remember and to keep in mind! We have to use Google to our advantage! Great job!
This was a super interesting blog post, and I think it definitely highlights the importance of having a Google Business account. A lot of local businesses I know think that they can just survive on word of mouth, but as you pointed out, having a formal Google Business account is crucial to making your relevance and prominence noticed by Google. I had never heard about those three key points, but knowing those points helps to explain local SEO well and I think could easily be taught to others.