In the last month of 2021, we got to see some new updates to Google Local Search Results. An algorithm update has begun rolling out from the end of November and concluded on December 8th.
It is one of their most significant local search algorithm updates in the last five years. Many local businesses have experienced massive fluctuations in their local search rankings in the past few weeks.
Google confirmed this Google Local Search Results update on December 16th on their Google Search Central Twitter page.
Although local businesses have seen fluctuations in their ranking, Google’s guidance for businesses remains the same even after this update. That means you need to keep following the local SEO best practices, and Google has even provided a link to the guidelines in the tweet above.
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Factors Influencing Google Local Search Results:
Here are the ranking factors for Google’s local search results:
a. Relevance: How well your business profile matches what a person is looking for.
b. Distance: The distance between the potential search result and the location term used in the search.
c. Prominence: How many people know about this business.
What’s Google Local Search Results Update All About?
This update mainly targets proximity as a ranking factor for the local businesses. Even though proximity has been a factor for a long time, many companies optimize their sites to get better ranks in other locations.
Through this update, it seems Google wants to check on this practice, making Google local search results several times more relevant to the user. This also allows local businesses to rank up in the search engine since they won’t have to compete with companies located far away.
Google never reveals the exact details about their updates, and we can’t know the precise weight of each ranking factor. So, if you see that your rankings have gone down, the best way to respond to this is to rebalance your efforts and shift your priorities.
Say, previously, you used to optimize the relevance of your businesses by filling up your Google Business Profile with information. Now, you may split your priorities and put some time and effort into the prominence of your website/business.
It is pretty easy to determine whether this update impacted your business. This update has only affected the ranking of Google Business Profiles in the local pack. If you see that there are no changes to your business profile’s orders, that means you weren’t affected by this update.
What Do Local Businesses Have To Do?
Since there have been no changes to Google’s guidelines for businesses, the best way to improve visibility in local search results is to
– Enter more and more information about your business so that users have a better idea about your business. This enhances the relevance of your business.
– Verify your business’s location. This way, your business will be shown on top of the local search results.
– Make sure that you are opening your shop on accurate hours.
– A lot of people write reviews about a business in Google reviews. Managing and responding to those reviews will help you boost prominence.
– Add more photos so that people can identify your office or store better.
Conclusion
Here was all you need to know about the recent updates to Google Local Search Results. Keep following for more of such informative posts.