Why Aren’t You Ranking in the Search Engines?

Why Aren’t You Ranking in the Search Engines?
The first question we ask anyone looking to rank on Google, why do you deserve to rank? The reason we ask is because search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising a web property for an algorithm’s scoring signals. Modern search algorithms require a combination of technical SEO and branding. That means optimizing to score better for search engines, and optimizing to convert better for customers.

Google’s explains improving rank for Local SEO on its website as optimising for relevance, distance, and prominence. What does that mean? In the good old days, that meant optimising for somewhere around 200+ scoring signals. Now with Google & Bing using machine learning in their algorithms, there are thousands of scoring signals. If you aren’t ranking, it is because you do not have the right mixture of those signals.

Local Scoring Signals
There are thousands of rank signals; some are more important than others. There are two major studies that dive deep into what rank signals matter most for Local SEO.

Moz- 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors: Moz divides the rank signals into two categories: Local Pack/Finder Ranking & Localized Organic Ranking Factors. This study also has input from several industry experts.

Local SEO Guide- 2017 Local SEO Ranking Factors: Andrew Shotland & Co. analyze 200+ factors across 100,000 local businesses looking for patterns in rank.

The primary difference between the two: the Moz study is largely based on opinion by industry experts, the SEO Guide study looks at raw data. Both are very useful in their own ways.