ID3AS Blog
Google Advisory
When dealing with Google and SEO strategies, it is important to know one thing: they’re always changing. For this reason, D3 is staying on top things for our clients such as new updates and features.
Higher Ranking and Visibility
Before we dive into the features and what to keep an eye out for, we need to understand the factors that play a role in Google visibility. Google continues to change its algorithms, and now local search results are more important than ever. There are three parts to this: proximity, relevance, and prominence.
- Proximity is the distance between searchers and businesses. Just as it sounds - how far is each potential result from the location term used in a search?
- Relevance refers to how well a local listing matches what someone is searching for. Google is looking to find out what your business does base on category, the content of the website, link anchor text, etc.
- Prominence deals with how well-known a business is or how popular you are in the context of that particular search.
Out of these three parts, winning in one specific area will not guarantee that your business will be ranked in the local 3-pack. In any given city or location, Google might look at one or another of these when deciding who to rank so it is best practice for your business to stay accurate and consistent with all information about your business online.
Business owners should be aware that the local 3-pack results are in rotation - depending on the searcher's location. This will encourage many searchers to navigate to the map view with 20 businesses listed. While your business might not have shown on the search engine results pages (SERP), you now have a high chance of being noticed on the map view.
Google also looks at a lot of ‘invisible’ signals (e.g. high performing listing, web page strength, third-party reviews) so there are a lot of aspects to this search process. In fact, these ‘invisible’ signals that Google takes into consideration with rankings can be very important for your business to acquire.
To achieve higher ranking and more visibility, businesses should focus on enhancing the three parts previously explained. Businesses can do this by the following:
- Claim/verify business listing
- Create a solid description
- Add complete details (local phone number, business hours, category, payment types accepted, etc.)
- Use google posts (NEW)
- Use google maps on your website
- Ask customers for online reviews & respond
- Have articles written
- Use online directories
- Add photos
- Blog on your website
- Use citations
- Google+ Posts (ex: add hashtags of different cities or zip codes you service to influence relevance in search)
Google My Business Posts
Take advantage of Google Posts and Home Service Ads (HSA).
Google Posts appear right in your GMB listing and provides your client quick access to important information about your business right within Google search results. Keep in mind, Google Posts expire in 1 week and will be removed from your GMB listing (don’t worry, Google sends an email when a post is about to expire). This feature is perfect for businesses to use for the following:
- Share daily specials or current promotions
- Post updated business hours
- Promote events or upcoming happenings
- Showcase your top products or new arrivals
- Give customers a one-click path to make reservations, sign up for newsletters, learn more about offers, buy a special product, etc.
If you have any questions or concerns on this new and free GMB feature, do not hesitate to contact us.
D3 is staying on top of things! If you have any questions or concerns about these new changes, do not hesitate to contact us, we are always happy to help.