Local Search Ranking Factors 2017 Report: Implications for Home Performance & HVAC Energy Circle Webinar Series Peter Troast, Energy Circle May 24, 2017
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Local Search Ranking Factors 2017 Report: Implications for Home Performance & HVAC Energy Circle Webinar Series Peter Troast, Energy Circle May 24, 2017
What We ll Discuss 1 2 3 4 Why We re So Focused on Local Search 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors Report Specific Takeaways for HP/HVAC/Insulation Where Local May Be Headed in 2017 5/24/17 4
WHY ALL THIS FOCUS ON LOCAL SEARCH?
Pre-August 2015 Google Paid Organic Google Paid Google Local 7 Pack
Post-August 2015 Google Paid Google Local 3 Pack Google Paid Organic
Post-February 22, 2016 Google Paid @ 4 Nada Google Local 3 Pack Organic
Worse in Mobile
Google Local 3 Pack Organic
2017 LOCAL SEARCH RANKING FACTORS REPORT
Wisdom of Experts Methodology 5/24/17 12
Local Pack Ranking Factors Social Signals Personalization My Business Signals Behavioral Signals Review Signals Link Signals Citation Signals On-Page Signals 5/24/17 13
Google Local 3 Pack Organic
Localized Organic Ranking Factors Review Signals Social Signals My Business Signals Citation Signals Link Signals Personalization On-Page Signals Behavioral Signals 5/24/17 15
2015 to 2017 Changes 5/24/17 16
Links Continue to Rule 5/24/17 17
The Proximity Problem z 5/24/17 20
The Proximity Problem 5/24/17 21
Proximity to Searcher 5/24/17 22
1 A STRONG, TRUSTED WEBSITE VIA LINKS (aka high Domain Authority)
Moz Domain Authority Authority An approximation of your website s quality in the eyes of Google 40 Factors (links, citations, reviews) 0-100 scale & logarithmic Proven by correlation 5/24/17 24
What Drives Website Performance? DOMAIN AUTHORITY Measure of Trust Age Popularity (links) Size (# Pages) Freshness (recency) 5/24/17 25
Domain Authority/Links Correlation Links Domain Authority ~400 HVAC, Insulation, HP, High Performance Build/Remod, Auditors, March 2017 5/24/17 26
Domain Authorities in HP ~400 HVAC, Insulation, HP, High Performance Build/Remod, Auditors, March 2017 5/24/17 27
The Formula Strong Domain Authority 30+ Healthy Incoming Links 40+ Pages to Match Service Search 20+ Sustainable Fresh Content 1/week 5/24/17 28
Other On-Page Factors Local data wrapped in Schema NAP on every page Strong Meta Titles & Descriptions Responsive Design for Mobile 5/24/17 30
2 ACCURATE, CONSISTENT GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PAGE DATA (formerly Google+, Google Places)
Well-Tuned Google My Business Data Categories Data Accuracy Reviews (1 for Stars, 10 to Rank) Review Velocity Directions? Open Hours* 5/24/17 33
Threshold for Stars: Formerly 5, Now 1 5/24/17 34
Google My Business Category Expansion PRIOR CATEGORIES Air Conditioning Contractor Air Conditioning Repair Service Air Duct Cleaning Service Bathroom Remodeler Building Restoration Service Custom Home Builder Deck Builder Electrician Environmental Consultant Environmental Engineer Furnace Repair Service Garage Builder Handyman Heating Contractor Home Builder Home Inspector HVAC Contractor Insulation Contractor Kitchen Remodeler Siding Contractor Solar Energy Equipment Supplier Utility Contractor Window Installation Service Window Tinting Service NEW CATEGORIES General Contractor Solar Energy Company Solar Energy Contractor Solar Hot Water System Supplier Air Conditioning System Supplier Air Conditioning Store Furnace Store Heating Equipment Supplier Log Home Builder Roofing Contractor Window SupplierWindow Tinting Service 5/24/17 35
3 QUALITY, CONSISTENCY, AUTHORITY OF CITATIONS (your listings on the interwebs)
Citations: Your Online Fingerprint 3 Separate Pieces of Data Name + Address + Phone Number (+ Website) = NAP Consistency is Critical 5/24/17 38
Major Data Aggregators 5/24/17 40
Citation Priorities (Tiers) Core Search Engines Google Bing Apple Maps Primary Data Sources InfoGroup Acxiom Localeze Factual Tier 1 Generic Yelp Facebook YellowPages BBB Etc. Tier 1 Niche BPI Program Directory RESNET Tier 1 Local Chamber of Commerce City of Etc. 5/24/17 41
4 QUANTITY, VELOCITY, DIVERSITY OF REVIEWS (stars, stars, more stars)
Review Priorities 1. Clout of Google, Ranking Factors, Presence in Search 5 for Stars, 10 for Ranking 2. Dominance with Google Knowledge Graph 3. Strength in organic listings, Growing fast in Service Biz categories; more critical in tone 4. Your Specific Priorities Based on Research. 5/24/17 44
5 THE FACTOR OF THE FUTURE? ENTITY AUTHORITY (it s all about engagement)
The Future: Engagement 5/24/17 47
What s an Entity? The entity that Google is actually ranking is the virtual one in their Knowledge Graph, not necessarily the website as a proxy for that entity, as we previously thought. Mike Blumenthal, Local Search Guru, Feb 2017 5/24/17 48
Engagement Signals Google Might Track Reviews in Google Photo velocity on GMB page Click to Call from GMB page Chat from GMB page* Gmail addresses on newsletter list Gmail user click throughs Anything else Google can track from Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, Waze, Android, Google Home 5/24/17 49
QUESTIONS? peter@energycircle.com
30,000 Local Businesses; 2016
Getting Into the 3 Pack 30,000 Local Businesses; 2016 5/24/17 52