I Cant Be Found In My Neighborhood?!?

It seems Google is taking a further step in the domination of information and resources as they build and roll out the latest neighborhood algorithm.   This is particularly of interest to small-medium size businesses (especially those in rural or densely populated areas & cities).

Google’s local search product and the use of citations were built out so that searchers could discover local businesses, many of which don’t have websites and many of which don’t get links regularly.   The key to new Local SEO is a combination of great social profiles with excellent reviews supported by a surprisingly good citation profile.

In the local search-data world, neighborhoods are known as “informal space,” meaning there are no standard boundaries. So the definition of where a neighborhood starts and stops can be different for everyone. This makes it hard for services like Google to get the neighborhood thing right.

But what do you do when the local algorithm can’t use the “citation graph” to properly rank a successful local business? As we all go mobile, wearable and trackable, Google is clearly trying to get more granular with its localized results, and neighborhood is most likely going to be an important local SEO battleground. So what can you do when the algorithm kicks you out of your own neighborhood?

How To Get Ranked In Your Neighborhood

The good news is there are some pretty basic things you can do to make sure that your business screams a particular neighborhood to Google:

1. Add your neighborhood name as a descriptor at the end of your business name on your Google My Business page (e.g., “Cabo Grill East Side”)
2. Add your neighborhood name to the description on your Google My Business page.
3. Add your neighborhood name in text to your website (if you have one). Cabo Grill may need to suck it up on this one.
4. Add your neighborhood name to title tags on your website. Perhaps even create a page on your site to target specific neighborhood queries. This should also help you rank in the non-local pack organic results.
5. Make sure Google Maps has your neighborhood defined correctly. If not, go into Google MapMaker and submit an update.
6. Add your neighborhood to all of your local citation profiles.

It’s pretty clear that local search is on a rapidly-evolving path to hyperlocal search. Staying on top of your neighborhood is one way to make sure you stay in the game.

Happy Local SEO-ing! 

About the Author: Graham Ware is a recognized #SEO expert with over 6 years of digital marketing experience. Naturally this article is connected to Grahams Google+ profile. It also links to Twitter but that has nothing to do with authorship.