It’s been a busy updating season for Google and SEO. In late September, it released an update to its Panda algorithm, which may not affect you very much if you’ve been playing by Google rules and not trying to get away with black hat or spammy practices. Moreover, Panda gives local businesses a good reason to revisit their content because it came after another update, Pigeon, which focuses on searches for local businesses.
Pigeon Coos For Local Search
If you weren’t looking up, you might not have noticed the Google pigeon, which brought good news if you own a local business or service.
Pigeon, which updated back in late July, provides better results for local searches. It helps businesses that discuss their locations, not just by attaching a Google Map to the landing page (a good practice in general), but in their content as well.
Search Engine Land reports that location is, in fact, more important than ever for local search rankings. (But remember, it’s not the only factor.) Businesses that publish their address and are near city centers will at least show up more often in searches that specify a location. City centers and locations just outside urban centers have benefitted the most so far.
Searches for types of businesses in less populated areas won’t return as many results as they did before, but those that show up won’t be as distant.
Boost your content by adding a couple of lines about where you’re located—the neighborhood, your proximity to the local transit stop (and include its name), and the name of the business center you’re in. The last piece can be very helpful if the center shows up on Google Maps; if you’re located on a busy street, that little bit of information can be very helpful for drivers.
Be sure to update your information on Google, Yahoo, Yelp, and other directories.
Did Pigeon Deface Law Firms?
Search Engine Land investigated complaints from law firms that Google hurt them most. It found that Google initially limited paid ads listings from law firms to three, but later changed it back to seven.
But many firms did see lowered rankings. Why? Search Engine Land speculates that firms that try to look larger by listing fake locations ran into spam issues.
Small Business SEO Got A Boost From Panda
Of course, the big Google news this month has been the Panda update, which reinforced a lot of the Hummingbird game-changer that came out last year. Panda goes after bad content: anything that’s weak, too thin, looks like it was created by a computer, and is spammy or uses links to spam sites.
How does this help small businesses? Original, “organic” content about the business will help it get better ranking, particularly in local search. You may have noticed how websites controlled by corporate interests, like franchises, say the same darn thing on all their sites. There’s very little about what goes on in any particular location. This won’t fly so well anymore; those local franchises or offices will have to put out unique content. If they’re smart, they will emphasize they are a local business.
Panda disappointed some businesses which rely on directories to help with their rankings. But not all directories did poorly; WebProNews notes hotelguides.com, for example, did quite well, giving it a chance against the well-advertised hotels.com.
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