Cosmetic SERP Update For Local Listings?

[m_j_gregory]

Hey all,

Hope everyone is having a great week so far. Just wanted to share what our team believes to be a cosmetic update to the SERP's. More specifically, pertaining to how the local listing is displayed. This was discovered by a colleague of mine, Alex Cordes. I apologize if this has already been discussed or is old news.

Please reference the image here:



Some of the more noticeable changes are:

1. Showing one image from the listing (rather than multiple images) alongside of an image of the map. (A listing with no images will simply just show the map itself.)
2. A larger display of the business name.
3. More prominent buttons that call greater attention to directions and writing a review.

What is everyone's thought on this? Hope this was beneficial.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks so much for posting this Matt. I discovered yesterday and was discussing with someone at the Google forum but had not had time to post yet.

So thanks for doing it for me! Love that you and your team catch stuff so fast and always share it here with the community. You guys ROCK!

 

[m_j_gregory]

Thanks Linda, we appreciate that we can help out! I'm glad I spared you some posting time

 

[Linda Buquet]

FYI here's the G forum thread I was involved in yesterday. Not much new info and Matt's info is better due to screenshot. But posting so it's easier to find because you never know, someone could notice something new and post it there later. new google+local format?

 

[zurron]

Hey guys,

Found a similar result too except it's missing the photo and NAP details. Posted about it here:
http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local/1702-interesting-serp.html#post7447

This is also for a competitive search, not a business name!

 

[geoseo]

Hi,


interesting discussion.


About these SERPs: do you have ideas about what factors trigger the Local module in SERPs? Is that a characteristics of pages or is it the kind of queries?


thanks!

 

[Linda Buquet]

I think it's based on a local intent algo AND demand.

LOCAL INTENT: Certain keywords are a little hit and miss because Google is unsure if the query is really local. A good example is computer repair type KWs. Google is sometimes not sure if you are really looking for a local business or if that's the type of help you can just get online. So for example sometimes computer repair WON'T pull local, but if you change it to computer repair SERVICE then it will.

DEMAND: Certain lower volume keywords like Laser Dentistry, for example, WILL pull local in some bigger cities but smaller cities some show and some don't. So I think it depends on type of query.

DEMAND: Another example that proves my demand theory... A consultant hired me for help on a listing for a roofer. I checked and notice one of the KW in his cats was not pulling local and told him it was a waste of space and to find another. He said "but back in April when I checked I am positive it was pulling local." Well back in April was the rainy season so there were likely more searches for that type of roof repair. When the weather dried up so did the queries and the local results went bye bye.

 

[geoseo]

Great explanation Linda, thanks!


I was betting on the local intent and 'accuracy' of the keyword.


I think it also happens for business names where if a business has an unequivocal name the Local module is triggered, while if the business has a kind of generic name Google does not pull a Local module in the generated SERP.


Interesting how choosing a business name has these kind of implication nowadays.