David Mihm reports on his annual survey of Google local search ranking factors at Moz, based on a poll of leading local SEO experts....
2014 Local Search Ranking Factors David Mihm - October 13th, 2014 http://moz.com/blog/local-search-ranking-factors-2014 [moz.com]
There's much to read in this one, as Google is just coming off a major local algorithm update called Pigeon...
I've thus far just scratched the surface in the article, but notable among David's interpretations of the results this year are...
- user behavorial signals on the site now appear to count higher than previously.
- proximity to the searcher has been significantly cranked up, even on the desktop. As David puts it: "The user is the new Centroid."
- following the Pigeon changes, domain authority plays a larger part in local rankings.
- consistency of unlinked citations in authoritative sources appear to affect even localized organic results.
Google has not yet been able to get rid of local spam taking advantage of the Pigeon update, and Pigeon is very likely still a work in progress.
WebmasterWorld references about Pigeon...
Google "Pigeon" Updates Local Search Algorithm July-Aug 2014 http://www.webmasterworld.com/local_search/4690773.htm [webmasterworld.com]
Pigeon Update Or Rollback Happening Now? July-Aug 2014 http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4692003.htm [webmasterworld.com]
