DBS Interactive Blog

Search engine optimization is a particularly challenging concept for businesses to comprehend. SEO’s inherent nature can contribute to the confusion. Search engine optimization is an ever changing science with best and worst practices being based somewhat on speculation. The search engines go to extreme lengths to protect the significance of variables used in their page rank algorithms. It is only through shared knowledge and combined experience that we as Internet Marketers can attempt to decipher the importance of ranking factors. Local search optimization best practices are continually changing, but I think it is fairly safe to assume that worst practices will remain fairly constant. So without further adieu, I present the 7 factors SEO experts agree are most detrimental to your local search ranking (1 being least harmful…7 being most harmful).

1) Multiple Locations on Company’s Contact Webpage

This practice has the potential to seriously confuse the search engines. Search engines use your company’s contact page on your website and compares it to their local business listing, as well as other web pages crawled from across the Internet. Multiple addresses on one contact page will prevent the spyders from creating a correct business profile. Best practices would indicate that businesses should create an individual landing page for each location on their own website. Each location’s unique local business listing should then link to the specific landing page that it is associated with.

2) Negative Ratings

I’d have to disagree with the experts on this one. Negative ratings give local business listings a hint of credibility. I become suspicious when browsing business or product reviews with no apparent negative reviews. No matter how well the product is made or how stellar your business’s service is, chances are someone has had a bad experience. I would argue that reviews, regardless of being positive or negative, are beneficial and help your listing stand out over listings without any reviews. In the end, there doesn’t appear to be any harmful effect of negative ratings on local rankings, but an abundance could certainly hurt your conversion rates.

3) Local Business Listing without Local Phone Number

Local phone numbers should always be included in local business listings. (800) or toll-free numbers don’t hurt, in fact, there is actually some indication that they may benefit you as the primary phone number in the local business center, but there should always be a local phone number listed. Without one, you will likely not rank as high as your potential.

4) Multiple Listings with Same Business Name

This is a factor that will cause the search engines to identify you as a spammer. As a spam listing, the search engines will merge the individual listings into one. In the event the search engines overlook the duplicate business names, you will likely experience a negative effect where the strength of your business ranking is spread between multiple listings, effectively chopping your local search optimization efforts down at the knees.

5) P.O. Box without Local Address

A P.O. Box in and of itself is not harmful to local rankings, but a P.O. BOX without a local address can be detrimental. Think about the purpose of local search. The idea is to provide local solutions to individuals searching for information. A listing without a physical location does little to help these individuals resolve their needs. If you are not of any help to these individuals, than why should you be included in the top local listings?

6) Multiple Local Business Listings with Same Phone Number

This is similar to #7 and may even rival it for potential harm to your local search optimization efforts. Imagine you are managing the local search optimization for a restaurant chain that happens to have 5 locations around the Louisville Metropolitan area. You create a listing for each restaurant, but use one common phone number for all 5 listings. The search engines will likely at some point become aware of the duplicate phone numbers (either through a competitor reporting you as spam or just by routine database pruning) and will attempt to merge all 5 listings. After merging, customers who seek information about your business will only see the 1 listing in the local search results, meaning the chance of someone finding your business has in an instant decreased by 500%.

7) Multiple Local Business Listings with Same Address

If the search engines discover two records with the same address your listing(s) are at risk of being deleted. Duplicate listings are defined by Google as spam and go directly against their guidelines. Spammers commonly abuse this feature, associating their business’s name with SEO friendly keywords. Spammers know that having a popular search term in their business name will get them top priority in the local directories for that term. Google, as of recently, has been on a mission to rid their listings of duplicate content. It is likely Google may simply merge the listings, but the possibility exists that they may delete both listings entirely, leaving your business high and dry in local search.

Original Study found at http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml