We’ve seen Google re-brand its Local Business Center as Google Places, begin to show an incredible number of Local-related results for nonspecific search phrases, a handful of review controversies involving Yelp (an increasingly important search engine for business owners to pay attention to), signals from Facebook that they’re about to get involved in Local in a major way,Google Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local remain critical places for search visibility, though–and if anything, the increasing complexity of the space makes it even more important to get the opinions of the practitioners who follow Local most closely about what can improve one’s ranking in the Google, Bing, and Yahoo Local algorithms, as well as techniques to be avoided.Here are 58 Local Search Ranking Factors.
1.General Importance of Claiming Place Page / Local Listing
2.Business Address in City of Search
3.Associating Place Page with Proper Categories
4.Volume of Citations from Major Data Providers + IYP Portals
5.General Importance of Off-Page / Off-Listing Criteria
6.General Importance of Customer Reviews
7.Quality of Citations from Major Data Providers + IYP Portals
8.Product / Service Keyword in Place Page Business Title
9.Volume of Customer Reviews associated with Your Business
10.Quality of Unstructured Citations
11.Volume of Unstructured Citations
12.Proximity of Address to City Centroid
13.Customer Reviews Left on Third-Party Websites
14.Product / Service Keywords in Place Page Description
15.General Importance of On-Page Criteria
16.Quality of Inbound Links to Website
17.Velocity of Customer Reviews Associated with Your Business
18.Volume of MyMaps on which Your Business Is Included
19.Associating Photos with Your Place Page
20.Associating Local Area Code as Primary Place Page Phone Number
21.Associating Place Page with Marginally-Related Categories
22.Customer Reviews Left Directly at the Search Engine (Google/Bing/Yahoo)
23.Inclusion of Product/Service Keywords in Reviews Associated with Your Business
24.Product / Service Keywords in Inbound Links to Website
25.Including City + State in Most/All Website Title Tags
26.Location Keywords in Inbound Links to Website
27.Quantity of Inbound Links to Website
28.GeoTagged Photos + Videos Associated with Your Business
29.Location Keyword in Place Page Business Title
30.Including Full Address on Places Landing Page
31.Location Keyword in Place Page Description
32.Including City + State in Places Landing Page Title Tags
33.Product / Service in Place Page Custom Fields
34.Places Business Title in Inbound Links to Website
35.Associating Video(s) with Your Place Page
36.Inclusion of Location Keywords in Reviews Associated with Your Business
37.Including Local Area Code Phone Number on Places Landing Page
38.Having a URL that contains a Product/Service Keyword
39.Having a URL that contains a Location Keyword
40.PageRank of Homepage/Highest-Ranked Page
41.Popularity of MyMaps on which Your Business Is Included
42.Positive Ratings associated with Reviews of Your Business
43.Age of Place Page
44.Positive Sentiment associated with Reviews of Your Business
45.Providing a KML File of Your Location(s)
46.Matching Google account / URL
47.Unstructured Reviews of Your Business
48.PageRank of Places Landing Page
49.Choosing List of Areas Served for Your Place Page
50.Coding Address on Website in hCard Microformat
51.hReview-Formatted Reviews of your Business
52.Including Coupons with Your Place Page
53.Location(s) in Place Page Custom Fields
54.Volume of Location Service Check-ins
55.Velocity of Location Service Check-ins
56.WHOIS Record Associated with Your Domain
57.Defining a Service Area for Your Place Page
58.Participation in Local PPC or Place Page Advertising
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