A few days ago I sent a shout out to my Local SEO Training Course customers. I received the email below and decided to post about it because it’s a common question.
The Email…
Hi Travis,
Thank you for returning my email. I really do appreciate your time.
My question is 2 part:
1. Once you get a map listing set up, and populate a bunch of local
directories, are there things you have found that can help continue to push
the listing up in the rankings? It doesn’t seem like anyone has figured the
algorithm on this. I know reviews help, but there doesn’t seem to be a
direct correlation between the listings that have reviews, or the most
reviews, and those that don’t. Does it help to continue building citations?
I would think it would help but if the difference is marginal at best, I am
not sure all the work is worth it.
2. What elements cause a listing to atrophy over time? I have a client that
we set up with a map listing about 9 months ago. For many months, it had
some solid rankings. But, especially over the last few months, their
listing has almost totally disappeared. This in spite of having additional
Google reviews.
Thanks in advance Travis for your insights.
P. McDaniel
My answers…
1. The algorithm is complicated, obviously. According to Matt Cutts, over
200 factors are taken into consideration for search results. Wow!
In my experience, the local and traditional organic algorithms are
becoming more similar than they were in the past. Specifically, getting
high quality external links and having good on-page SEO are becoming of
more importance in local search. Reviews and citations aren’t as much of a turbo boost as they once were. Not to say they aren’t still
greatly important.
If you get a chance, re-read my chapter called “Local Footprinting” where
I layout a holistic (and evergreen IMO) strategy for getting better ranks.
2. SEO, like most web strategies, isn’t a ’set it and forget it’
strategy. Freshness and frequency (with regard to content and links) have been
a part of the ranking algorithm for years. The more competitive the market, the
more difficult it is to maintain ranks with a presence that is stagnant or even
atrophied. The key here is to keep growing reviews, links, citations, fresh
content. You know the drill.
Talk soon,
Travis
