What are the Coming Changes?
Google is preparing to reconsider hundreds of factors in their local search results. They are making these changes to give their customers the search results that better reflect what they were initially searching for. The changes primarily stem from gaining a better understanding of what people are using google to search for locally. Some of the most prominent features they’ve disclosed changing are:
- Boosting Local Directories
A few weeks back, the directory and customer review service Yelp complained to google about how even when customers included the word Yelp in their search, google prioritized their own google + listing of a business over the Yelp listing. Google has remedied that issue in the Pigeon update and now boosts Yelp and other local search directories as well in its results. If you’re looking to receive the best SEO service, it’s important for you to certify that the company you hire lists you on a variety of local search directories because it’s very likely that those directories will come up when a potential customer searches for your business.
- Reformatting Search Results
Let’s assume your business is a local business like a doctor’s office, law firm, or restaurant. People will probably find you on Google by searching for “law firm (or your specific type of business) in Washington, DC (or wherever your business is located).” Before the Pigeon update, specific businesses would come up in the list of results relevant to someone’s search. Now Google lists specific businesses in a “carousel,” while providing links on the first few pages to other local directories. These changes mean that unless people are searching for your business by name, they will only find it if it’s prominently featured on google’s carousel (example below) or in other local directories.
Other Factors Google is Continuing to Reconfigure in Penguin
- Knowledge Graph
- Spelling Correction in search inquiries
- Synonyms for search terms
- “Hundreds of other factors” that Google has yet to disclose but which are nonetheless included in their search algorithm
In order to do good SEO, you’ll need to pay attention as google continues to update its algorithm. As a DC SEO Company, Matador Solutions is continuing to prepare for the different ways that our clients might be better discovered in google’s search results. Ensuring that your company comes up on the first page of a google search is part of our commitment to offering the best SEO service.
