Local Search Clinics are back! In each session, we’ll be joined by expert guests to answer your questions. Our first session will take place on Thursday, 14 April at 9am PT/ 12pm ET/ 5pm BST. In this session, host Claire Carlile will be joined by Joy Hawkins (Sterling Sky) to answer your burning questions on Google Business Profile. Register now, and submit your questions using the ‘Ask a Question’ feature, either beforehand, or live during the event. RecordingResourcesvia BrightLocal https://ift.tt/byvhxtT Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/
0 Comments
Back in 2011, we decided to launch the Local Search Industry Survey—a large-scale analysis of the local marketing landscape. Now into its eleventh year, this survey aims to compile the thoughts and opinions of those working in local search, helping to illustrate what the world of local SEO currently looks like. We recognize that the chopping and changing nature of local search can make it difficult to know not only how to implement appropriate strategies, but also to understand how to keep up to date with your potential competitors. So, we thought we’d try to help. In this year’s survey, we questioned 400 local marketers around the world, gathering valuable insights. From agency workers to freelancers to employees in local businesses, we aim to provide a useful measure of life as a local marketer on a year-by-year basis, assessing the attitudes, experiences and finances of people working within the world of local SEO. So, without any further ado, let’s see what 2022 has to offer. Publishers are welcome to use the following charts and data, crediting BrightLocal and linking to this article’s URL. If you have any questions about the report, please get in touch with the content team, or leave a comment below. Information about the demographics of the survey can be found at the end of this post. The Outlook for 2022As we speed on through the first quarter of the year, it appears that many local marketers are hopeful about what the rest of 2022 has to hold—albeit not to the same extent as in 2021. As the chart above shows, 23% of respondents believe that it will be easier to achieve local SEO success in 2021—down from 26% in last year’s Local Search Industry Survey. However, with the majority of respondents saying it will be neither easier or harder (42%, up from 37% last year), this means that, overall, more local marketers are expecting this year to be almost as difficult as last year (36%, down from 37%). Local SEO SalariesThe Average Salaries for Local Marketers in the UK, USA, & CanadaN.b. More than two-thirds of this year’s respondents were self-described as being a senior level local marketer, which could have had a bearing on the average salaries calculated above. Salaries can vary pretty drastically within the world of local marketing but, we wondered, could you earn more for doing the same job in a different country? Well, according to our data, yes you can. We discovered that the median salary in the USA ($75,800 per year) was significantly higher than the median salaries in both the UK ($59,218 per year when converted into USD) and Canada ($66,275 per year when converted into USD). This correlated with the trend that we found in last year’s Local Search Industry Survey, with US-based local marketers bringing in a higher average salary overall ($90,664 per year). UK local marketers were also seen to have a higher average salary this year than in 2021, bringing home an average of £47,130 per year—a £1,416 increase on last year’s data. The findings appear not to be so rosy for Canadian local marketers, though, with the average salary declining by $5,267 between 2021 and 2022. So, why do you think this might be the case? We’d love to hear your thoughts so please let us know your theories in the comments section below. Local Marketer Salaries in the USA, UK, & Canada by GenderDelving into the salary data a bit further, disparities were also found between the average and median salaries earned by male and female local marketers across the USA, UK, and Canada. In the US, male local marketers received approximately $20,500 more per year than their female counterparts while, in the UK, there was a £7,500 difference between men and women. However, Canadian local marketers were shown to have the largest gender disparity, with a $25,000 difference in median salaries, according to the data above. Overall, women were shown to earn around 26% less than the men in this survey—though there were fewer women defined as working in ‘senior’ positions. So, this makes us question whether women in SEO are getting the opportunities they need to grow into the highest-paying and most senior roles? Our recent blog, entitled ‘How We Can Support Women in SEO: Advice for Women, from Women’, offers some great insights into this area, so let us know what you think! The Average Salaries for US-based Local Marketers by Business Type
N.b. This analysis was only performed for US-based local marketers due to currency discrepancies with other countries. Since this year’s respondents came from a whole host of different backgrounds—local search agencies, national marketing agencies, local businesses, multinational businesses—we decided to question how the average salaries may differ between each type of local marketer. Looking at the data above for just US-based local marketers, we can see that respondents who worked for either a local business with a single location or a multi-location business earned around $10,028 more than the combined average salary. However, since many in-business marketers will have SEO and digital marketing tasks as just one of their many responsibilities, this news should be taken with a pinch of salt; the salary they receive won’t necessarily be a true reflection of the specific local search duties that they are expected to perform. At $68,000 per year, freelance local marketers were found to bring in the lowest average salary, overall; approximately 26% less than agency workers, 62% less than single or multi-location business employees and 27% less than they were earning on average in 2021. As a result, this finding could be representative of the transition away from the pandemic, with it now becoming increasingly harder for freelancers to obtain new work. Unfortunately, the news wasn’t all good for local marketing agency workers, either. Last year, the average salary for this type of local marketer was estimated to be $91,468 per year, meaning that this year’s figure has declined by approximately 4% on average. Local Marketer’s Satisfaction with SalariesIn light of the various salary disparities seen in the data above, you might be wondering how local marketers actually feel about the money they receive for their efforts. We were too and, interestingly, we found that the majority (39%) appear to still be satisfied with the salary they receive. That said, this percentage has decreased by almost 10% since last year’s survey, with a higher proportion of respondents (46%) now feeling only ‘somewhat satisfied’ with their salary. Looking into the difference between male and female local marketers, we also noticed that a higher proportion of female local marketers (18%) were less satisfied with their salaries than their male counterparts (10%). This is, of course, to be expected when you consider the significant differences in income between male and female local marketers outlined in the salary comparison above. However, what’s not to be expected is the ratio of male and female respondents who said they were either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ satisfied with their salaries—found to be the same at 38% each. This accordingly makes us wonder whether female marketers’ salary expectations are therefore lower than male marketers’, resulting in an increased salary satisfaction despite earning less than their male counterparts. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Working in Local SEOAnnual Revenues for Local Marketing Agencies & FreelancersN.b Respondents were asked to provide their annual revenue data in their local currency. Only converted currency data from US, UK, Canada and Australia-based respondents was used within the analysis. Looking at the revenues of local marketing agencies and freelancers, there was a small rise in the number of combined businesses earning up to $100,000 this year (27%) than in 2021 (23%). There was also a slight decline in the number of businesses earning between $500,000 and $5 million this year (28%) compared to last year (35%). But, when you break down the data individually, how did each type of local marketing business fare on a year-by-year basis? N.b Respondents were asked to provide their annual revenue data in their local currency. Only converted currency data from US, UK, Canada and Australia-based respondents was used within the analysis. According to the data above, we found that freelance local marketers generally had the lowest amount of annual revenue, with many (84%) earning less than $250,000—a 7% decline on last year’s data. That said, however, more freelancers were also found to earn more than double this figure, with 9% earning more than $500,000 in annual revenue compared to just 5% last year. The majority of web design agencies (52%) were also shown to have annual revenues around the lower end but—with the remaining 48% of respondents earning $250,000 or more—this represented a 27% increase on last year’s data. However, since the web design respondents from this year’s survey differed from last year in both numbers and seniority, this finding may simply be due to the change of audience. However, the same trend was also true of national marketing agencies, which were found to be the most profitable type of local marketing business; 22% earned more than $5 million in revenue this year compared to just 13% last year. This corresponded with a 19% drop in the number of respondents earning between $1 million and $5 million, effectively demonstrating that national marketing agencies are now earning significantly more this year compared to last. Local marketing agencies weren’t too far behind, though. Approximately 25% earned more than $1 million in revenue in 2021, while 75% earned at least $100,000. But there was a 21% decline in the number of local marketing agencies earning more than $500,000 this year, perhaps suggesting that the bigger, national agencies are picking up more clients from these smaller types of marketing agencies. Overall, when combining the data together, our results show that there has been a 9% decline in the number of freelancers and agencies earning more than $500,000 in revenue each year: 41% this year, down from 50% last year. Taking the average from the data listed above, the same trends quickly become apparent. At just over $2.5 million, national marketing agencies earned approximately 58% more than local marketing agencies, while the average annual revenue for freelancers was found to be less than $500,000. How many clients do Local Marketers personally work with?
Having assessed which type of local marketing business is typically the most fruitful, we were keen to determine whether the total amount of revenue earned was a reflection of the amount of effort put in per marketer in the business. So, we decided to investigate. We can see that, on average, each local search employee will work with an average of 16 clients on an individual basis. But, when looking into the data further, our findings show that local marketing agency and web design agency workers tend to work with a higher average number of personal clients (19 and 18 clients, respectively) when compared to freelancers (14 clients) or national marketing agency workers (16 clients). These findings effectively show that working in a national marketing agency will provide employees with fewer clients to work with on a personal basis, while rewarding them with an improved salary and a higher total annual revenue—as per the data above. However, this goes against the general idea that national marketing agencies tend to work with fewer, but bigger, clients, with our data suggesting that each affiliated employee works with almost as many personal clients as smaller local marketing agency workers. On the other hand—and perhaps as expected—freelancers will typically earn a lower amount of income despite working with a similar number of personal clients to other types of local marketers. The Average Lifespan of a Local SEO ClientAlmost half of this year’s respondents (49%) said that their average client lifespan was approximately three years or more—the same percentage as found in last year’s survey. This is welcome news to hear, especially considering the tumultuous past couple of years the industry has faced in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Winning new clients can take up a lot of time and energy, after all, so being able to retain them over a longer period is crucial to getting the best results—especially from an ROI perspective. As such, it’s great to see so many long-standing relationships between local marketers and their clients despite the economic difficulties faced in recent times. But, how exactly have local marketers been able to retain these clients over such a long period? ServicesThe Local SEO Services Most Commonly Offered by Local MarketersN.b. Respondents were asked to share all of the local marketing services that they offered. Due to the varied jobs that local SEO can entail, not every agency or freelancer will be able to—or even want to—offer every type of service to their clients. As such, many local businesses wanting to choose a consultant will often have to think carefully about the specialities they really desire. According to our data, the local SEO services most commonly offered by local marketers in 2022 were found to be:
As you might expect, Google Business Profile optimization—the biggest factor that affects local rankings—takes the crown as the most commonly-offered service, corresponding with our finding that almost two-thirds of local marketers believe the platform has improved over the past year. Meanwhile, 5% more respondents are now offering content creation and on-site optimization compared to last year, while the rest of the top five results have more or less stayed the same as last year’s survey. However, there have been a number of other interesting areas of growth and decline this year, some of which appear to go against what many expert local marketers may have predicted. As you can see, 6% more local marketing agencies and freelancers are doing competitor research this year compared to last year, while video marketing services were shown to grow by the same percentage. More interestingly, however, GBP spam fighting and Google Local Services Ads (LSA) management have both dropped in offering, by 6% and 13% respectively. This is a little surprising, especially when you consider the overall value many local marketing experts say they get from LSA. Sterling Sky’s Joy Hawkins, for example, mentioned during our ‘The State of Local Search 2022’ webinar that Google is now showing photos in more results, including LSAs. This, coupled with the fact that LSA has now expanded to cover a wider range of industries, means that many local marketers could be potentially missing out on a big opportunity within this area this year by failing to recognize its importance. After analyzing each individual respondent, we set out to determine which local marketing techniques were the most valued by those with a minimum client retention rate of five years or more, in an attempt to learn the habits and tactics of the most successful local SEOs. N.b. Respondents were asked to share what they felt were the five most valuable services used within local marketing. As seen in the data above, more than two-thirds cited GBP optimization as the most valued local marketing technique—albeit at 6% lower than other local marketers. Services like content creation (a 6% increase), on-site optimization (a 5% increase) and website design (a 4% increase) were also shown to hold more value by this type of respondent, while other local marketing services like online reviews management, email marketing, PR, link building and outreach showed decreases in value, at 13%, 6% and 6% respectively. As such, this data appears to suggest that—while GBP optimization may be important to all marketers—those that successfully retain their clients often look beyond it, advocating the value and implementation of other types of local marketing services. Therefore, new agencies and consultants should strive to follow the same model, delivering a range of highly valued services that—along with GBP optimization—should include:
How Clients’ Understanding of Google Business Profile has ChangedGoogle Business Profile optimization is not only the most commonly offered local marketing service but it is the most valued as well. In simple terms, it is an essential component to local SEO success. However, with the vast number of changes Google consistently makes to its platform--such as the recent Vicinity Update—it can be difficult for local marketers to keep up to date with their level of understanding, let alone educate the clients they work on behalf of. So, with this in mind, and after another year of updates and changes, we thought we’d take a look at how clients currently perceive and understand the software. In last year’s survey, we found that approximately 56% of respondents actually understood GBP better than before, with only 10% understanding it less. However, this time around, that same trend has massively slowed, with only 41% of respondents understanding GBP better in 2022 than they did in 2021. Similarly, a higher percentage of respondents (17%) now understand GBP even less than last year, with the remaining 42% staying at the same level of understanding. As such, this makes us hypothesize: is it good for local marketing agencies and businesses to have clients with less of an understanding of GBP? Or should there be more of a push to educate clients on how to use it effectively? Let us know what you think in the comments below. And, if you think that clients should be better educated on GBP, make sure to check out our complete guide dedicated to doing exactly that. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/jDrVSUq Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ Live events give businesses a valuable opportunity to engage with their audience in real life. This kind of interaction makes it easier to understand customer needs, generate leads, and build relationships. Moreover, offline events tend to attract the attention of local media. This can provide even more interest in the business hosting the event. Not only does this boost brand awareness and reputation, but it can also serve as a local search engine optimization (SEO) technique. This is because it provides an opportunity for media outlets to link to the business’s website from their own. Promoting Events for SuccessA business will naturally enjoy the most benefits if they host a successful event. Thankfully, Google helps businesses to promote local events through a rich result carousel. If you do an event-based search right now, the results should look something like this: As you can see, the event carousel puts events at the top of the organic search results—thereby increasing the discoverability of those events. If you’re marketing an event for a local business client, then you can boost awareness—and potentially attendance—by optimizing the listing for the event carousel, as well as enhancing the visibility of the event in other places online. How exactly do you achieve that? Well, here are five tips on how to do local SEO for events! 1. Include the Right KeywordsYour first assignment is to make it easy for search engines to know what your event is about. To do that, you must use the right keywords strategically. Start by finding out what keywords are relevant to your client’s event. The first (and most obvious) keywords to target are location-related. For example, if the event is taking place in Los Angeles, mention the city multiple times in the event description. You can mention the city in the title of the event and in the description. Doing so will help search engines crawl, index, and show the event for both ‘events in Los Angeles’ and ‘near me’ search queries. Next, put yourself in the attendee’s shoes and ask yourself what terms and phrases you would use when searching for the event. This is the part where you need to do adequate keyword research to ensure your client’s event shows up for the correct search queries. After all, you don’t just want to attract any traffic; you want relevant traffic that your client can benefit from. Use keyword research tools to find relevant search terms for the event. These tools can improve your keyword strategy by showing suitable keywords that you might have overlooked. Google can also help you find alternative keywords that you can use to optimize the event description. For example, if you’re creating a listing for a wine tasting, you can search ‘wine events’ on Google, and then look at the ‘related searches’ section at the bottom of the page. This will give you an idea of possible additional keywords to target. Next, think about the customer persona for the client’s event. Doing so can help you to make decisions about the keywords used. As an example, instead of optimizing the event for ‘wine festival’ alone, you may want to target terms such as ‘couples events’ or ‘events for singles over 40’. Additionally, you can target terms such as ‘outdoor events’ if this is relevant. Using a range of keywords can help to engage your target demographic and increase attention in the event. Where should you use these keywords?Use your main keywords in the page title and event title. From there, you can use alternative keywords or variations of the main keywords throughout the event description and in the meta description. Check out the meta description below from an art event listed on Eventbrite. From ‘immersive art’ to ‘film in 360’ and ‘VR’—the meta description contains some major buzzwords that would trigger the interest of any art enthusiast. You should know that it usually takes time for SEO results to become apparent. Therefore, optimize the event listing early on and ensure the web page is indexed. 2. Use Event SchemaEvent schema encourages rich results that improve the event experience on Google. This type of structured data makes it easier for the search engine crawlers to know what a particular web page is about. Indexing for relevant keywords increases the likelihood of the event getting featured in the local search results and event carousel. The event schema allows you to add critical information about the event. For example, you can mark up the location, name, startDate, endDate, event status, event image, offers, availability, performer name, organizer, and so on. Google refers to these details as event schema properties. Google can use these properties to provide rich snippets in the search results. This means interested attendees will see more details about the event without having to click through to the listing. Eventbrite uses structured data to present results with rich snippets. For example, if you search ‘Jazz Events LA’ on Google, you may see a result similar to the one seen below: In this example, the search result has multiple links showing different jazz events and dates. You can even see additional links to view the menu and free events. Add Context with Event SchemaAdding event schema properties can add context to search queries. For example, the location property provides additional information about where the event is held. Meanwhile, the startDate property might appear for time-based search queries such as ‘events today’, ‘events tomorrow’, ‘events this weekend’, and ‘events this month’. You can add event schema to an event web page using a WordPress plugin. You can also copy the structured data HTML code from Google if WordPress isn’t being used. Edit the code to reflect the event’s properties before adding it to the page. You can test the schema using the Rich Results Test to ensure it is implemented correctly. 3. Tap into Ticketing SitesAnother easy way to ensure your client’s local event gets maximum exposure is to use reputable ticketing sites, such as Eventbrite. The site has a vast audience and it also performs exceptionally well in the search results. You can search for top events in almost any location and an Eventbrite listing will likely appear somewhere at the top of the results. Therefore, there’s much to gain by listing the event here. Besides Eventbrite, you should consider other ticketing sites, such as LiveNation, StubHub, and TicketMaster. Check the guidelines for each site to ensure your event complies before making the listing. 4. Add Timings (Especially for Multi-date Events)It is imperative that you add accurate timing information to your event listing—both for the benefit of the search engines and the people browsing for tickets. Google uses startDate and endDate to serve users with accurate and relevant results. Google also added a new property called previousStartDate. This property helps the organizers alert attendees when events are rescheduled. Take full advantage of these event schema properties to help your client’s event rank higher in the search results. As discussed earlier, these properties will also help your listing rank for time-based search queries. Rankings aside, these properties are also beneficial to the attendees. You wouldn’t want your client’s potential customers to show up for an event that was rescheduled, right? Also, adding times and dates makes life easier for the attendees. They won’t have to look through additional places on the web for this information. What if you have an event with different performances taking place on different days under different tickets? In this instance, Google recommends adding a separate event for each performance. For example, you can create the first event for artist X taking place on a particular date. Then add another event for artist Y scheduled for another date. Basically, you’ll treat the two performances as separate events. 5. Track and Modify Your ListingsFinally, make sure to track and modify your event listings just like you would with any other SEO task. Tracking your event listing will show you whether your local SEO efforts are paying off or not. You can then use that information to modify your SEO techniques for better results. For example, you can modify the keywords used in the event title, H1, H2s, and meta description. See if the adjustment will help the event listing rise higher in the search results. Besides rankings, you should also look at the click-through rate (CTR). If the event ranks reasonably well, but the CTR is pretty low, consider shaking up a few things. For example, you can add event schema markup properties like offers, availability, and price to your listing. Maybe this will incentivize more people to click through and make a booking. Additionally, it’s a good idea to use Google Search Console to track the performance of event listings. You can monitor key metrics like ranking, clicks, and impressions. To access these metrics, go to Search Appearance. In ClosingThe Google event experience makes it easier for event organizers and marketers to promote their events. You don’t have to struggle to rank number one anymore—you can bypass that hassle and strive for ‘position zero’ by optimizing the event listing correctly. From this article, you’ve seen that there are five ways to go about promoting an event with local SEO in mind. With these tips at your disposal, you should be able to execute successful marketing of local events. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/bPMdtAr Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ In 2021, 51% of local businesses paid for content creation and optimization, which is up from 28% in 2020. Even with an improved design, ranking in the Local Pack is no longer enough—more local businesses want to appear in the organic search results. This is because local search is emerging as a powerful marketing channel for driving traffic and improving customer acquisition. With this in mind, the next logical step for your clients would be choosing relevant blog topic ideas, then publishing content around these topics, right? It sounds good on paper, but in reality, without data to decide what topics to choose, you’re flying blind. At the core of choosing what topics to publish is this formula: What people are searching for online + the level of interest = the topics you choose to write about So publishing ‘better content’ than what your clients’ competitors are publishing, without understanding the logic behind their approach, won’t give you a huge tactical advantage. So if you’re looking to have a constant stream of blog topic ideas that move the needle for your clients’ businesses, here are five of my favorite data-driven ways to do so. 1. Use Google Trends To Find Trending Local TopicsData from Google Trends shows you the level of interest for a particular topic—that people are searching Google for—on on a scale of 1-100. For the best results, use Google Trends to compare interest levels for different topics over a particular time range. If your client’s business has branches in different regions, compare the level of interest for the topic in each of these locations to help you decide which topics to focus on. To show you how to derive insights from the data you collect on a specific topic, I’ll plug in three topics; front-yard landscaping, landscaping, and lawn care, into Google Trends for a landscaping design and maintenance business: Notice the spikes in interest for landscaping in March and April. With this information, you can do two things:
If you’re not sure about the second point above, let’s filter our data to see trends and interest levels over time, and also compare how different regions search for each topic. Here’s a snapshot showing you interest levels from 2018 – 2021: Further down the search results, you’re going to find a breakdown for different metropolitan areas—this can help you decide which topics are relevant in specific locations: You’ll also find long-tail keywords that prospects use in their searches. These help to reveal the search intent and context when a user is looking for information about landscaping: Bringing it all together, there’s more interest around ‘landscaping’ compared to ‘lawn care’ and ‘front yard landscaping’. Most searchers in metropolitan areas are looking for content about landscaping rocks and garden design landscaping. The common search terms used also show that these users are familiar with landscaping, so they could be in the consideration or decision stage of their buying journey. In this case, our blog topics will be based on terms such as ‘river rock landscaping’, ‘garden design landscaping’, and places where they can find landscaping rocks in their location. 2. Mine Customer Feedback For Pain PointsWhen starting out with content creation for your clients, you’re more likely to get results faster by paying attention to a specific topic until you’re ready to scale. This is important if your client wants to establish themselves as a thought leader by ranking for a set of specific high-value local search terms. This tactic allows them to drive traffic and to build an email list from scratch. However, when you’re scaling, listen to customer feedback in the form of reviews, sales call recordings, and customer support emails to identify additional blog topics. A customer complaint in reviews or support emails means that there’s an unmet expectation. Your client’s customer could be unhappy with the service or doesn’t understand how the service works. Address negative reviews and complaints by choosing blog topics related to how the client’s services work and answer frequently asked questions from customers. A sales call recording will reveal the objections they have and alternatives they consider. Turn the sales call transcript into a comprehensive list of alternatives for your client’s audience, talking about different service providers, their pricing, and pros and cons. Take this review, from Top Choice Lawn Care as an example: While customers share how Top Choice Lawn Care solved their problems, they also highlight underlying issues in their irrigation system. If you look at one of Top Choice Lawn Care’s recent blog posts, here’s what you will find: Positive reviews may also reveal a customer’s primary motivations and different use cases of a service. Turn these into case studies and optimize them for relevant long-tail keywords to help this content rank and show up in search results. The idea here is to identify patterns in the issues that customers raise in their emails and calls to the customer service department. 3. Run Surveys Asking Your Audience about Their Favorite TopicsAn equally important part of your client’s audience is the prospects who make up a sizeable chunk of their email list. Running a survey with relevant questions reveals their needs, challenges, and pain points while multiplying the number of blog topic ideas you get. A section of subscribers who respond to your survey will provide a list of general blog topics that they want you to talk about, while another section will provide specific types of topics you need to talk about. Cumulatively, you have content to create for a general audience and content for different segments. These additional segments will suggest specific topics according to their needs, challenges, and pain points. The challenge with surveys, however, is survey fatigue. More than half of your respondents won’t spend more than three minutes responding to your questions. In addition to reducing the number of questions in your survey and asking fewer open-ended questions, timing is important. Rather than sending surveys every quarter, include a survey at the tail end of your welcome email series when your client’s brand is still fresh in the subscriber’s mind. Given that a new subscriber signed up for because they’re interested in your client’s brand, what would prevent them from telling you the kind of content they want to read? 4. Fill in Content Gaps in the Buyer’s JourneyA content gap analysis allows you to create content around topics that your clients’ prospects want during their buying journey. While your search audits reveal content gaps, you also need to look at the critical touchpoints in the buying journey of your client’s prospects. You can then align your blog topics by answering the questions they have. For example, if your client provides pest control services, you may have content that only targets web visitors who are looking for help eliminating bugs and rodents in their homes. If a prospect isn’t yet looking to pay for a service, here are a couple of questions they may have on their buying journey that reveal potential content gaps:
Here’s an example from Orkin, a pest control service provider showing their competitors: When I plug these competitors into the keyword gap tool and compare it with Orkin’s competitors, it reveals the shared keywords and missing opportunities that I can focus on. These keywords are related to the questions we asked earlier: So a content gap analysis is more than just plugging a competitor’s keyword into SEMrush—or any other SEO software you’re using—and creating content on the keywords your competitors are ranking for. The topics you write about need to be relevant to a prospect’s buying journey by meeting their search intent. 5. Collect Feedback on the Content You’re Already PublishingAnalytics data will tell you about how your client’s audience behaves, but won’t explain the reasons behind their behavior. If your client’s web pages have a high bounce rate, would you attribute that to content relevance, low quality content, and a bad user experience on their website? You won’t be able to connect the dots until you ask web visitors for feedback about the content you’ve published. With this feedback, you’ll be better informed regarding the content ideas you need to focus on, and in some cases, the topics you need to simplify for your audience to understand. Here’s a good example of a website poll that pops up after a user finishes reading a blog post: You should also consider tying your questions to different use cases of your client’s products or services to help you collect content creation ideas. Here’s how GatherContent does it: The responses will tell you if the topics you cover are too advanced for your audience, and whether you need to localize your content to help you meet the needs of different segments. The responses will also help inform what you include in your content calendar and even give you an idea about the level of awareness a web visitor has about your client’s business. Ready to Get Started?Using data to choose blog topics is one of the most impactful things you can do for your client’s local business. However, it pays to be aware that relying on content to drive traffic and improve customer acquisition for local businesses is a long game. The ways we just discussed above will sustain you by providing you with a constant stream of valuable topics, even when you feel like your creative well is running dry. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/Q06ClnT Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ There are a number of different technologies that utilize visual search. This article will give examples of a few implementations of visual search technology with a focus on Google’s ‘computer vision’. As business owners and search marketers, we know that images are important to our customers and potential customers. We also know that today’s consumers are much more likely to make searches using images. Fortunately, Google’s technology for understanding images has progressed in leaps and bounds over the last few years. In order to make best use of the images that we upload to our Google Business Profiles and our websites, it’s helpful to understand how Google uses technology to interpret our images. In the following guide we’ll:
What is visual search?A search made using images rather than text or voice is commonly referred to as a ‘visual search’, and the technology employed to make sense of an image search is called ‘computer vision’ (more on this below). Visual search is not to be confused with image search. When you make an image search you use words to search for images relevant to your query, whereas with visual search the image itself is the query. Early versions of visual search relied on computers making sense of images using the text embedded in image metadata. Later on, visual search was commonly based around matching images online. If you’ve ever been involved in link building activities, you might remember using reverse image search to find instances of your own or your clients images online that had been used without the appropriate credit. These days, visual search is much more nuanced in terms of both the image input and the types of results that are returned. Why are images so important to us?Much has been written about the rise of our visual internet culture, and we’re all very familiar with websites that emphasize visual media, such as Pinterest and Instagram. But why are images so important and powerful? Well, approximately 50% of the surface of the human brain is devoted to processing visual information—visuals are much more powerful and easier to understand than just text, as well as being easier to recall. At least 65% of people are thought to be visual learners, plus humans have a remarkable ability to remember pictures (you can find all the science stuff behind this here). As web users, visual search gives us the opportunity to search in a way that isn’t possible using words alone. And, as marketers, visual search gives us an opportunity to attract and convert customers. In a BrightLocal study, 60% of consumers said local search results with good images encourage them to make a decision. As marketers and business owners, we need to make sure that our images are relevant, high quality, and compelling in order to appeal to our visually-oriented potential customers! Throughout the years, Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) have become increasingly visual and we’re used to seeing search results—on both desktop and mobile—that brim with images. In this search for ‘oak furniture near me’, Google has pulled what it believes are the most relevant images from the ranking GBPs and websites into the SERP itself. In the example below, we can see images appearing in the Local Pack and organic results on desktop: As local marketers, we know that our image content and the way that it appears in the SERPs is likely to make a big difference to our potential customers in terms of consideration and conversion. Marketers and local businesses have often thought of their GBP cover photo as being the most important image on their profile—this is often (but not always) the case for a branded search. When businesses are competing for a spot in the Local Pack, Google will choose the image from the ranking GBPs that it understands as the most relevant for the query, and this is often NOT the cover photo. Google’s Visual Search TechnologyIn the same way that Google has developed in terms of understanding web pages based on the text content (read this for an excellent overview of how search works), Google has also made great progress in evolving its computer vision technology. This has been achieved by creating a system that can increasingly process, analyze, and make sense of visual data in a similar way to how humans do. For many, one of the most familiar new technologies in visual search is Google’s Cloud Vision API, which can detect objects and faces, read printed and handwritten text, and assign labels to images in order to classify them into millions of predefined categories. To see an example of this, upload one of your business images into the Cloud Vision API demo and note what Google is ‘seeing’ when it processes your image. In the example below, I’ve uploaded an image of a customer enjoying a ‘sloth feeding experience’. Does Google ‘see’ the image the way that I’d like it to be understood? Face DetectionFace Detection detects multiple faces within an image along with the associated key facial attributes, such as emotional state or if a person is wearing headwear. In this image, both of the people are wearing face masks and this will hinder Google’s ability to process their faces. Google has identified two faces here but sadly isn’t assigning ‘joy’ to either of them! ObjectsThe Vision API can detect and extract multiple objects in an image. Here it appears to be identifying the sloth as a cat. This would suggest that additional photos need to be uploaded in which Google can better recognise the sloth and perhaps the carrot that it is being fed with. LabelsThe Vision API can detect and extract information about entities in an image, across a broad group of categories. Labels can identify general objects, locations, activities, animal species, products, and more. Google is assigning multiple labels to this business, and not necessarily the ones that the business would want assigned. SafeSearchSafeSearch Detection detects explicit content such as adult content or violent content within an image. This feature uses five categories (adult, spoof, medical, violence, and racy) and returns the likelihood that each is present in a given image. In the image above, Google is classing the content as possibly ‘racy’, so the business would do well to reshoot versions of this image. This could help Google to class each of these categories as ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’. TOP TIP: If you’re having an issue with rejection of GBP posts then run the image in question through the free API test to see if Google is reading your image as containing adult content. Understanding Google AIUnderstanding how Google uses Vision AI to identify and process images reminds us that the images we use as organizations are our opportunity to feed Google with information about our businesses, products, and services via the visual medium. If Google isn’t ‘seeing’ what we want it to see when it processes our images via computer vision technology, then we need to think about how we can update and add to our images so Google ‘reads’ them as we’d like. Source: MomentFeed Visual Search and User IntentJust like when someone makes a text search or a voice search, Google needs to serve results based on what it thinks is the user intent of that search. The intent is the primary goal the user has when making a search. Search intent can be implied from many contextual elements of the search, including the device used, the location of the searcher, elements such as time of day, world events, time of year etc, and the actual content of that search query itself (be it via text, voice, or visuals). Textual queries when entered into a search engine are considered by many to fall into five broad intent buckets:
At present, it’s likely that visual searches most likely fall into the informational (“what’s the name of this wild flower?”) and transactional (“where can I buy a bag like this?”) categories. You can learn more about search intent through the BrightLocal Academy course--How to Master Local Keyword Research. Examples of Visual Search in ActionLet’s take a quick look at some of the ways that websites and apps are incorporating visual search. On the Pinterest platform, Pinterest Lens allows users to use their smartphone or existing pinned images to suggest related shoppable products, which enables users to ‘shop with their camera’: The search intent on the ‘shop’ tab is unsurprisingly ‘transactional’—users can browse the results and go ahead and buy any of the available products. Online RetailersMany online retailers have incorporated visual search into their websites in order to surface relevant products for their users. IKEA is doing so through its app and website to allow users to search IKEA products using a photo: Here the implied intent is purely transactional. Users can browse and buy any number of IKEA products that the computer vision technology has matched to a visual search. Google LensGoogle Lens exists as an app in its own right, and is also available via the Google app and the Google Photos app. Google Lens is also built into the camera app of many Android devices. I use this feature when I’m out and about walking, such as to take photos of flowers and plants to find out their names. The possible intent of a search using Google Lens is much broader than say that of Pinterest, or the IKEA site, so Google groups search results across a number of tabs, including:
When an image includes text, Google will often include a ‘Search’ button. Clicking this button will prompt Google to use text pulled from the image to make a textual search: Unlike Pinterest and visual search on retailers websites, it’s interesting to note that Google Lens is far from location agnostic. Google makes it clear that when you agree to let Lens use your location, it uses that information to return more accurate results—for example, when identifying places and landmarks. So if you’re in Paris, Google Lens will know that it’s more likely you’re looking at the Eiffel Tower rather than a similar-looking structure somewhere else in the world. It’s not a huge leap to assume that Google Lens might use your location to help populate your visual search results for local businesses. With this in mind, I did some light investigation into Google’s visual search capability for understanding the possible implications for local businesses when it comes to local search. When Google Lens processed the text in an image of a product, I found examples of Google using elements of that copy to populate a SERP that included a 3-Pack: Of the businesses that appear in the 3-Pack for this search, my eyes are immediately drawn to the third listing, which includes a photo taken at that location of headphones for sale. Is visual search just the new voice search?You might now be asking yourself, “Is visual search just the new voice search and therefore I don’t really need to do anything?” We’re all familiar with the 2016 article speculating that voice search would account for 50% of searches by 2020. Of course, this didn’t happen, and we use voice search mostly to make simple commands for our digital assistants (“Hey Google, set an alarm for 6am”). As marketers, we tend to think that visual search is going to make much more of an impact than voice search, especially when it comes to the types of results we can expect to see. One of the reasons for this is Google’s new technology—the ‘Multitask Unified Model’ (or Google MUM for short). Google MUM is multimodal, which means it understands information across text and images. In the future, this will likely expand to more modalities like audio and video. Google gives this example: Google explains that eventually you might be able to take a photo of your hiking boots and ask, “can I use these to hike Mt. Fuji?”, MUM would understand the image and connect it with your question to let you know your boots would work just fine. It could then even point you to a blog with a list of recommended gear. What are the implications for local business marketers?Even though the technology can sound complicated and futuristic, the implications for local business marketers are actually pretty simple. It’s likely that more and more of our customers and potential customers will begin their journey with a visual image search. This means that images will become prominent and influential in these journeys, and that Google will increasingly be evaluating the content of our images in order to present the user with the most relevant results. So, we’ll need to make sure that the images we use on our websites and in our GBPs appeal to, and are understood by, both humans AND the technologies employed by search engines. 10 things you can do now:
via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/ViNaq4u Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ Local search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential tool for local businesses and the marketers working with them. SEO is key to establishing and boosting the online presence of a business, which will naturally lead to greater interest and potentially more sales, too. The simple truth is, if you want your business to be discovered by local customers, then you’ll need to utilize local SEO to enhance your discoverability on Google. With 8.5 billion Google searches being made every day—and nearly half of them having local intent—it’s easy to see just how important this is. So, if your business isn’t using local SEO to get a piece of the action, then it should be! Our new BrightLocal Academy course--A Beginner’s Guide to Local SEO—will teach you all you need to know about local SEO, and you’ll also learn exactly what to do to get started. We’ve created this course in collaboration with SEO Specialist, Greg Gifford, and we’ve covered everything from website content, inbound links, and citations, to reviews and Google Business Profile (GBP). During the twelve videos, Greg will teach you:
You’ll also gain access to a workbook to keep track of optimization tasks for your website and GBP, plus much more! Here’s Greg with an overview of the course: Who is this course for?This course has been created for agency professionals and business owners who are new to local SEO and want to learn more. How can I join?Whether you’re a BrightLocal customer or not, you can get access to this course. By enrolling for free, you’ll also be among the first to find out when new courses drop. Here’s how… If you’re a BrightLocal customer, you can access the academy via your BrightLocal account. Simply log in, click ‘Learning Resources’ at the top of the screen and select ‘BrightLocal Academy’ from the dropdown menu. You’ll be taken straight to your BrightLocal Academy account page, where you can enroll in ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Local SEO’. If you’re not a BrightLocal customer, you can join BrightLocal Academy for free here and follow the same steps above to enroll in the course. Want to know more about BrightLocal Academy? Check out the official BrightLocal Academy FAQs here: What is BrightLocal Academy, how does it work, and how can I enroll? What courses does BrightLocal Academy offer and how long do they take? If you have any further questions, feel free to get in touch with us or leave a comment below. We hope you find this fresh new course useful, and we can’t wait to hear how it’s helped you improve your local SEO skills. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/mICWROP Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ Reports of a new Google Business Profile (GBP) verification label are currently circulating within the local SEO community. Select GBPs have received the new ‘confirmed’ label from Google to show that the associated business has had its details verified recently. Although not all GBPs have received this label, searchers can see that certain profiles have had their business details verified by Google—likely through an automated phone call.
Boosting Trust and Tackling FraudAs Claire Carlile points out in her tweet above, this new label could be valuable as a trust signal. The label states how long ago the business was contacted by Google to confirm its details, so this small but helpful feature will allow searchers to see which businesses definitely have up-to-date information. This could naturally influence which businesses people choose to engage with. The additional confirmation also has the potential to expose fraudulent accounts as they may be unable to pass the additional verification steps required during the call. How to Get Confirmed by PhoneUnfortunately, there’s currently no way to request that Google contacts you to confirm your details. It appears that the only way to influence this label appearing on your GBP is ensuring you answer the phone call if you do receive one, and, of course, appropriately confirming your details during the call. However, whether the label is then assigned to you or not is still naturally at Google’s discretion. Updating Your Business DetailsIt’s not yet clear if this is a test or a permanent addition to GBP. However, should it become permanent, it may see profiles with the label elevated above the rest in terms of consumer trust. This makes it all the more important that your contact details—especially your phone number—are always kept up to date. Similarly, you should make sure calls to your business phone number are always answered when possible. If you’re lucky enough to receive a confirmation phone call but you miss it, there’s no telling when you might be chosen again! Double Verification for Google Business ProfilesAround the same time as rolling out the ‘confirmed’ label, Google also updated the verification help document to state that additional verification methods may now be required. The updated version of the document now reads: Some experts have theorized that this strengthening of the verification process could be an attempt to combat fraudulent profiles. Google Business Profile Verification MethodsThe original way to verify GBP was to receive a postcard to the registered business address. Although this method is still in use, there are now a number of other options available, these are:
The video recording verification option has been available to a small number of businesses in the past, but is now available to all. The Impact for Local BusinessesIf you’re a legitimate business, then you’ve no reason to be concerned about the potential for double verification. Should this be asked of you, all you need to do is follow the instructions provided and submit the required information. A more stringent verification process could help to reduce fake listings in the Local Pack, Local Finder, and Google Maps—which is great news for authentic businesses. If you’re a marketer working with local businesses, then you’ll want to make your clients aware that additional verification may be required. Ensuring that their contact details and other information is accurate now could help to avoid problems with this in the future. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/tBmflQo Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ We recently sponsored and attended the 2022 Women in Tech SEO Fest, a full-day conference with speakers from all corners of the SEO industry. The session covered four important topics: analyze, advance, innovate, and empower. Every session gave attendees a huge amount of information and inspiration to support their work in SEO. Not to mention motivation for them to progress in their careers and find their own personal successes both in and out of the workplace. Although the event helped celebrate the achievements of women in SEO, the work still isn’t done. Women in Local SEOIn our recent Local Search Industry Survey, just 35% of people who identified as women completed the survey, compared to 62% of those who identified as men (3% identified as ‘Other’ or preferred not to say). A survey from Moz also found that “men outnumber women by more than 2 to 1 in SEO”. The gender imbalance also means it’s often harder for a woman to progress their careers in SEO too. Results from our Local Search Industry Survey tell us that nearly 80% of male respondents described their roles as Senior-level, compared to just 60.7% of women. On average, a higher proportion of females described their SEO-based positions as Junior (8.6%) or Mid-Level (30.7%) than men (2.9% and 19.3%, respectively). In this typically male-dominated industry, amplifying women’s voices is much needed and one woman working hard to do this is Areej AbuAli. Women in Tech SEOAreej founded Women in Tech SEO back in 2019 to champion women in the tech SEO industry. “Women in Tech SEO is a global community for women in the Technical SEO field, to discuss, share and learn from one another. The aim is to empower each other in a positive, inspiring, and beneficial way, and to help build our network and accelerate our careers. In less than 3 years, we’ve grown to over 4,000 brilliant members and we host a number of initiatives throughout the year; including our newsletter, podcast, mentorship program, virtual workshops, and more.” Advice for women, from womenTo celebrate Women in Tech SEO Fest and meet more marvelous experts within the community, we spoke to women within the Women In Tech SEO online community. We encouraged members to share their advice with those looking to start their career in SEO and invited them to discuss their biggest learnings to date whilst working in the industry. Kari DePhillips“The biggest piece of advice I’d give my younger self: get started sooner. Plus, when others on your team can’t brag about themselves, brag for them.” Sigþrúður Dóra Jónsdóttir“The best advice I ever got was to DO SEO. Just start using your knowledge to audit websites and create a website to optimize. You learn so much!” Jess Joyce“I had a boss once who told me that the way I speak wasn’t ‘professional’ enough for the clients we had. So I took that away and tried to change the way I speak. I tried until one client called me out on it and told me they specifically call me because I talk like a human being. That honestly made me feel better and stuck with me. It’s helped me continue to be myself and feel more confident about finding clients for whom I won’t have to change the way I talk.” Jen PenalunaSenior SEO Strategist, Evoluted “You can get started in SEO at any point in your life; it doesn’t have to be fresh out of school/college/university. Try a bit of everything in SEO and you’ll find what you enjoy most, then find a role that focuses more on that and you’ll have a happier working day.” Sara Smith“One of the biggest things I learned is just to be less afraid of breaking things! I was so overly cautious that it was limiting. Things will break. This leads me to the second-best piece of advice I’ve received: befriend your development team. When it comes to technical fixes, they can really help you become more efficient and knowledgeable.” Dhriti ShashikanthSEO Account Manager, Mindshare “I would advise anyone who is starting out in SEO to make use of all the amazing resources available online to help you learn. It’s important to take one step at a time and not overwhelm yourself with too much at once. The SEO community is really a lot more friendly and approachable than it may seem. It’s just a matter of reaching out! The most valuable advice I was given was that it was totally OK to not have all the answers right away. If a client asks you a question that you can’t answer, it’s completely acceptable to let them know that you will either ask the wider team for their opinion or research further before getting back to them. Taking time to give a well-researched answer is always better than rushing to respond at the moment.” Erika AustinEcommerce and Digital Marketing Consultant “The best advice I’ve received was, you can’t beat yourself up about what you didn’t know at the time if you learned from it – you succeeded!” Martina GrossiFounder, Joyful SEO “SEO is a craft! Staying up to date and upskilling is very important but the fundamentals still prevail. SEO bridges the gap between what someone is looking for and what you offer, hence those providing great user experiences on-site (and off-site!) are rewarded by Google.” Linda HogenesHead of SEO, coolblue “Go to conferences, talk to others, learn from them and realize what you already know. Believe you’re not an imposter, even though it feels like that.” Connie ChenSEO Specialist, Moving Traffic Media “Real knowledge and expertise grow while you do the everyday ‘grunt tasks’. No matter what the task is, whether it’s boring, grueling, or hard, never turn down the opportunity to learn. It’s in these menial moments where you learn tactical skills that build your level of expertise.” Annette Vest ChotiPresident, Law Quill “The most important thing I’ve learned is that I absolutely deserve to be in the room with the “big boys” and know just as much (if not more) than them.” Kimberly Alycia VogelFounder, Adenine Design “The most important thing I’ve learned is everything; all the tutorials, certifications, and opportunities to use platforms go way beyond anything I could budget for personally.” Ellie CleggSEO Account Manager, boxChilli “Find a company culture that champions growth because you have to feel comfortable asking questions. When I moved [roles] and was able to ask questions, I would panic about asking them in case they were silly. Once I got over my fear, I learned so much because I always asked for help.” Janet BartoliCEO and Founder, The Bartoli Consulting Group “Always remain educated in SEO. Always learning = the fastest path to growth. Keep educating others in your company about SEO including developers, product teams, & especially C-level. Keep challenging yourself to take on more ambitious SEO work including technical, strategy, etc. – that’s what makes you the best and most diversified SEO.” Estrella AlvaradoSEO Assistant, Brafton “For years I was afraid of all technical stuff. Having zero background in tech made me feel that I wasn’t qualified enough for SEO-related tasks. I even restrained myself from applying to way too many amazing jobs. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that my expertise in content marketing gives me a great head-start on SEO. There’s more to SEO than all that ‘scary tech stuff’. If you understand user intent, buyer’s journey, and UX, and have amazing writing skills, you’re already halfway through a terrific on-site SEO strategy.” Shannon McCraw“SEO is always changing and it is important to stay updated on those changes. Consider it to be a revolving business. Clients will always come and go and you should never take it personally or give up.” Katherine Watier OngFounder, WO Strategies LLC “Your network in SEO is everything. Connect and stay connected with others in the industry as they will help you more than you will know. Start giving back to that community as soon as you can.” Breaking the biasEvents and organizations such as Women in Tech SEO mean we can continue celebrating women’s achievements at work. They create opportunities to engage others to move into the industry and empower everyone to succeed in their SEO career. But there’s more to be done. It’s up to all of us to break the bias in our communities and our workplaces. By amplifying women’s voices and hearing their experiences, we can make a change towards a more equal and balanced world. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/taMyUYh Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ Towards the back end of 2021, Google made a few changes to its local search and map pack algorithm in an update now known as Vicinity. Focused on impacting proximity, the Vicinity update was seemingly designed to not only make it harder for businesses to rank when searches took place far away from their office but also to crack down on businesses with a heavy reliance on keywords in their Google Business Profile (GBP) names. Google, in essence, appeared to make it so that less-established businesses located closer to the user would now have the potential to rank higher than the more overpowered businesses located further away. It dialed proximity up as a ranking factor, causing a wide variety of local businesses to either benefit or lose out as a result. But, who exactly were the real winners and losers of the Vicinity update? And what impact did the use of keywords in GBP names have on local search performance? Were GBP names rich in genuine keywords, spam keywords or no keywords favored by the update? We decided to find out. Venturing into VicinityAfter announcing in December that it had concluded its local search update, Google released a relatively vague Tweet stating it had ‘rebalanced various factors’ that its algorithm considers when generating local search results.
What these factors were exactly remains somewhat of a mystery but, inspired by Sterling Sky’s own experiences of what this update did to spam, we sought to determine the impact of Vicinity on businesses with various types of GBP business name. Had Google finally decided to push back on businesses that were using an abundance of spammy keywords within their GBP name? And, if so, did the Vicinity update achieve what it was set up to do in combatting these commonplace tactics? Let’s find out. Our MethodologyUsing data from Google’s Local Finder, we recorded and analyzed 5,019 keyword data points from 391 US-based Google Business Profiles (GBP), assessing the impact of the Vicinity update both before and after it took place. These GBPs were taken from a wide range of businesses across multiple industries—from plumbers and dentists to lawyers and pest control services—before being cross-compared with the relevant registered business name. These registered business names were taken from each business’s individual website, using information from the ‘About Us’ webpage, website footer and the main logo to determine how they each referred to themselves away from their GBP profile. This process closely matches Google’s own requirements for a GBP business name:
The business names from the GBP profiles were then individually assessed to determine whether they contained relevant keywords, spammy keywords or no keywords, using the following definitions:
Of the 391 GBP listings used within the study, 85 were identified as having ‘Keyword Spam’ in their GBP name, 149 as having ‘Keyword-Rich’ GBP names and 157 as having ‘No Keywords’ in their GBP name. As a result of the varying sample numbers for each type of GBP name, 255 GBP listings were used within the data analysis (i.e. 85 ‘Keyword Spam’ GBP listings, 85 ‘Keyword Rich’ GBP listings and 85 ‘No Keywords’ GBP listings) to ensure fairness across the results. We then cross-compared each type of GBP name with one another, using the relevant keyword data points to assess three key areas:
So, without any further ado, what did our data show us? Let’s take it one question at a time. Vicinity vs. Local Search RankingsAs the chart below shows, GBP profiles rich in keywords or containing spam in their name were the hardest hit in local search rankings. Keyword rich GBP names were seen to move down an average of 7.9 places in search results after the Vicinity update, whereas spammy GBP names decreased an average of 5.5 places. On the flipside, GBP names with no keywords in their name ranked an average of 4.1 places higher in local search results. As such, the data clearly suggests that the Vicinity update favored businesses that didn’t have any type of keywords in its GBP name—whether genuine or spammy. This, therefore, shows that, while Google’s update may have intended to crack down on keyword spammers, it also appears to have unfairly punished GBP businesses with legitimate keywords in their names. But could the same be said of keyword performance? Did the number of keywords that GBP businesses were ranking for prior to the update fluctuate depending on their GBP name? Vicinity vs. Keyword PerformanceWell, after analyzing the movement of keywords that each individual GBP profile ranked for both before and after the Vicinity update, we decided to investigate the extent of the impact on each type of GBP name. As the data above shows, a similar trend was seen to that of the local search rankings, with both keyword rich and keyword spam-filled GBP names seeing small decreases in their overall number of ranking keywords, compared to GBP names which contained no keywords. Keyword rich GBP names, on the other hand, were not only found to be the most negatively impacted by the overall change of ranking keywords, but they were also shown to rank for fewer new keywords after the update as well. As the data above demonstrates, keyword rich GBP names ranked for fewer new keywords than GBP names with spammy keywords or no keywords at all. This, again, suggests that GBP names without keywords were favored by Google’s Vicinity update, ranking for two more new keywords on average while also improving the performance of the keywords that they had already been ranking for prior to the update. Meanwhile, it appears that the update has tarnished genuine keyword rich GBP names with the same brush as spammy GBP names, with Google seemingly unable to identify between the two. But is this really the case? And, if so, why? Vicinity vs. GBP Name LengthSince our data seems to suggest that Google struggles to tell the difference between keyword spam-filled GBP names and keyword rich GBP names, we hypothesized that this could be due to the overall length of the GBP name itself. So, we decided to investigate. Firstly, by looking at the overall data for all three types of GBP names, we can see that GBP profiles which featured 31 or more characters in their business names suffered significantly bigger drops in rankings than businesses with shorter GBP names. In fact, GBP names with 10 characters or fewer were found to actually move up in rankings following the Vicinity update, again suggesting that Google’s update focused on favoring shorter GBP names with few to no keywords. This finding was then further merited while delving further into the data, assessing the number of characters in each individual type of GBP name against its ranking performance. But, that wasn’t the only interesting discovery to catch our eye. As you can see in the chart above, GBP names that were both without keywords and less than 20 characters in length showed a steady increase in rankings. Interestingly, however, GBP names that included spammy keywords and ranged between 21 and 30 characters in length actually showed the biggest increase in rankings, moving an average of 16 places up in search rankings. On the flipside, spam-filled GBP names more than 30 characters in length were the hardest hit in terms of search rankings, moving down an average of 25.2 places. So, what does this all mean? Well, for starters, it appears to suggest once again that Google struggles to decipher between keyword rich GBP names and spam-filled GBP names, punishing genuine businesses that feature a natural abundance of keywords within their GBP names. That said, however, the data also appears to show that the Vicinity update may be using GBP character length as a proxy for spam, assessing GBP names as ‘spammy’ because of their overall length rather than their contents. This was hypothesized because GBP names of 31 characters or more were seen to show significant declines in their ranking performance when compared to GBP names under 20 characters in length. Moreover, the research appears to suggest that Google has started to crack down on businesses that have used—and still use—keyword-stuffing techniques within their local search strategies. Instead, it appears to now be prioritizing businesses that abide by its representation guidelines, reflecting their real-world business name on their GBP listing. What did the Vicinity update teach us?Generally speaking, the Vicinity update appears to have favored smaller, less established businesses in local search results while punishing competitor businesses that use underhand non-Google-friendly marketing tactics. But, as our data shows, the changes have not been entirely flawless. As such, you may now find yourself asking what all of the information we have gathered actually means—so, how can you use our findings to ensure you stand out in local search results? Well, we’ve got you covered. Listed below are a few key lessons we think you should take away from our research into the recent Vicinity update, using the expert advice and insights from our very own Local Search Expert, Claire Carlile. Consider Removing Keywords From Your GBP Name
Unless they are absolutely necessary and a part of your registered business name, Google appears to be cracking down on GBP names that contain keywords—whether they be spam or actually relevant to your business. Since our data found that GBP names without keywords outperformed spam-filled GBP names and keyword rich GBP names in both local search rankings and keyword ranking performance, this appears to suggest that having a huge array of keywords in your GBP name might not be as beneficial as it once was. Keep Your GBP Name Short
Our data suggests that GBP names featuring more than 30 characters in length are becoming more frequently recognized as spam by Google, with many longer GBP names showing a poorer ranking performance following the Vicinity update. Therefore, you should try to keep your GBP name as short and as succinct as possible to help improve your ranking performance. Continually Monitor & Optimize Your GBP Listing
Since the benefit of using keywords in your GBP name appears to have been dialed down by Google, you should now put more effort into monitoring, optimizing and improving your GBP listing via alternative tried and tested strategies. From gaining reviews to building citations, you can find out more about how to do exactly that in our detailed guide here. Focus On Your Primary LocationWhile we didn’t research this area ourselves, data from Search Engine Land discovered that primary business locations took a greater hit after the Vicinity update than those with secondary office locations. As such, try to prioritize proximity by improving your local search performance in the locations that are most relevant to your business. Are there any other lessons you are going to take from our research into the Vicinity update? We’d love to hear your ideas, so please join the discussion by sharing your thoughts in the comments section. via BrightLocal https://ift.tt/qY2SodB Check out more SEO posts onhttps://seouk41.blogspot.com/ |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2023
Categories |