David Mihm has released his annual Local Search Ranking Factors list. This is the best resource for local search marketers like myself online. Of particular interest in this edition is:
- The breakdown between “Pure” Local results (Places only, the traditional “7-pack”) and “Blended” Local results (where Places listings are blended with other search engine results).
- The ranking factors for “pure” and “blended” are similar but not identical.
- The statement that there is no substantial difference between optimizing for Google and optimizing for Yahoo and Bing. With Google dominating search (a 65.4% share of all search as of February 2011), the local search experts saw no discernible benefit in trying to optimize specifically for Yahoo or Bing.
- The importance of maintaining NAP integrity throughout your listings and citations. 9 of the 19 negative ranking factors involved a mismatch between the Place Page and website or the placement of information for multiple locations on one page. What I take away from this is that there is a one-to-one correlation between your Place Page and the website that your Place Page links to.
- The importance of associating your website with your Place Page.
What stands out to you in the report?