Accurate Rank Checking for Local SEO
-
Hi all,
I am wondering if anyone out there has cracked the enigma of figuring out how to accurately find local rankings for multi-location businesses.
I do understand that "accuracy" should be used loosely given the numerous factors that come into play for local such as distance from searcher and business location being located directly in the city of the search. So I definitely get that nothing will be entirely accurate but the programs I have used and the incognito browser approach just seems so far off. Moz tells me something different than the Google Adword Preview Tool which is different than SEMRush which is different than serps.com and so on.
I have done the appending to search strings with near=city as well. I unfortunately do not trust any of them at this point. I would LOVE if my company flew me out to every single city we are in so I could do local searches but that is probably not going to happen
Any thoughts or recommendations for how I can get the most accurate local rank, even if it is an incredibly manual process? Is there an easy way for me to change my location anymore since Google stripped that option away awhile back? That was the ONLY time I felt I was getting somewhat accurate results.
Thanks!
-Ben
-
Hi Ben - Chad here from Moz. Kudos to Joy and Nigel for the great tool suggestions. I checked those out myself!
You make a good call out that there is no perfect method for tracking rankings given proximity and geographic location - I'd also add personalization as the other big factor. I was recently in the same room with 4-5 members of my client's digital team in Texas. We all ran the same keyword search on laptops and mobiles, and nearly all saw variations in the local results. So, there's that. : )
Moz has put a ton of thought and testing into how to get the most directionally accurate results, but personalization in particular challenges any method. It may go without saying, but I tell my clients to pick one method or tracker (maybe two at the most) then look at the directional changes in rankings vs. the absolute rankings themselves. It takes the pressure off small changes in rankings and allows them to become a useful confirmation that all is well or an alerting system that something has gone/is going in the wrong direction. This is in contrast to metrics like traffic (online and off), GMB insights data, and conversions/sales that tend be better indicators of success in your digital efforts. Best of luck! -Chad
-
Thanks Nigel and Joy!
I am playing around with both tools now!
-Ben
-
Use this tool in an incognito tab: https://www.brightlocal.com/local-search-results-checker/
To get the most accurate results you need to search from a zip code, not a city name.
I've honestly always found it to be extremely accurate and is almost always the same thing the person I'm talking to is seeing.
-
Hi Davey
Whilst you can change your version of Google to any country you can't do it by city.
Check out this nifty tool which seems to do the job really well:
Regards
Nigel
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
This page should be ranking but it's not even in top 50
Please help! Ive been trying to rank this page https://www.visitmanchester.com/where-to-stay/hotels It appeared on age 2 for a day and disappeared again. It's like it's being algorithmically kicked out. Can anyone see why?
Local Listings | | Andrew-SEO0 -
Trouble Ranking 1st
We are having trouble ranking. We seem to do well for lower competitive words but we are really want to rank for "web design" in our local area. Which is Tyler, Texas. Can anyone advise on what we need to differently? We use Moz Local, have a reviews and are using Yoast SEO. The only thing I can think of is on page optimization. Any advice?
Local Listings | | spadedesign0 -
Local Profile Struggling
Hi guys, we have a client that we are having some issues with. We have done extensive directory work for them, so this is unusual. Their Google My Business profile isn't ranking hardly at all, although they have decent organic rankings. Here is the company: https://plus.google.com/+ComfortAireHeatingCoolingPlumbingWisconsinRapids/about We have two possible reasons, but before we spend the time fixing these we were hoping for some reassurance from the Moz community. 1)Name in GMB looks spammy. This truly is their name, but we thought it may be an issue due to the keywords. 2)Address inconsistency: The client wanted us to use 880 Highway 73 South, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494 so that is how we submitted it to aggregators and directory sites. Google didn't accept that, they changed it to: 880 WI-73 Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494. The USPS Zip code checker didn't accept either of these, they use 880 STATE HIGHWAY 73 S, WISCONSIN RAPIDS WI 54494. Do you guys think one of these is our issue, or could it be something else. Thanks in advance for your insights!
Local Listings | | JohnWeb120 -
Will local optimization effect international ranking?
Lets say a company serves Canada and US customers regularly, but they are based in Canada. They currently have no local optimization or confirmation of their location on their website. If I were to begin local optimization (google my business, local content, link building, schema etc), would Google recognize this website as a Canadian business and remove rankings in the US that it is currently appearing in now without any locational information?
Local Listings | | aaronleven0 -
Does SEO work?
Hello, I have a question which I really want to get to the bottom of. We are carrying out some SEO for a client. Im currently using the tools in Moz to help me with this. Im currently trying to target "Dentist Balham". We are following all the "rules" creating content, created a mobile friendly site etc. However the site that is coming top is www.balhamdentalcare.co.uk which carries non of the things we are doing, in fact a lot of the content is PDF downloads. They don't do well in the SERP Report compared to other sites. Its basically not a great site but its coming up first. Does any one think this can be beaten or does it just come down to the fact that they use "Balham" in the domain name? Thanks for your advice.
Local Listings | | popcreativeltd
Ade0 -
How to do Local SEO for few cities in US while client is in Canada
Hi, How i can do the local SEO for few cities of US however client is Canada based. Client want to promote his business in US ( specific cities). Kindly suggest how it will be posible as client do not have address in US. Cheers!!
Local Listings | | 1akal0 -
Brain Teaser - Dead Link Ranking in SERP's
Hello Moz Brains. Came across a site that is coming up for "caliber signs and imaging" which is a brand I'm working with, and a few things have me baffled: 1. The link in the SERP takes you to an error page (you can manually access it by dropping the www.)
Local Listings | | VanadiumInteractive
2. The entire site is setup with iFrams (header frame, body frame, and footer frame) navigating throughout the site keeps the single url and only swaps the body content.
3. The site if for a sign company but the blog area served in the iFrame is in Indonesian and seems to about some soccer matches.
4. The business associated with this site is in AZ, but they are coming in local (Irvine, CA) results with a dead page and no locally relevant content. I'm I missing something or is Google missing something? The site is "http://calibersigns.com/" and it belongs to a company in AZ. -- it comes up for "caliber signs and imaging" (in my case on the 3rd spot) or even worse "caliber signs and graphics" where it seems to be at the top, with all the surrounding content being the true brand -- which makes it look like my clients Google+ reviews and other endorsements belong to them. I have my local setting set to "92618", Irvine CA Would love some feedback on this and your opinion on how we should proceed? thanks in advance0