Ratings are the New Rankings in Local Search

Rankings are used to gauge progress in search engine optimization, as higher rankings translate into more traffic and opportunities for conversion. Simply put, the higher up on the search engine results page your website is, the more clicks you get.

In local search engines, the same general rule applies. The higher you are on the list of local businesses, the more clicks you get…with one caveat. What if there were a visual element that distracted you from your natural top to bottom glance? Enter customer review ratings:

Local 3 Pack Ratings new Rankings

Immediately your eyes are drawn to the red stars. This is a Yahoo! Local 3-Pack that shows up in the typical Yahoo! web search. Instead of the number one listing getting all the attention, number 2 and 3 get the attention and probably the first phone call.

The rating has the same influence in Yahoo! Local, even when there are several more local businesses on top.

Local Full Ratings new Rankings

The moral of the story? Get online customer reviews, and do your best to get reviews with high ratings. The other step is you’ve got to get into the top 10 as well to be even considered a player.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Local SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Ratings are the New Rankings in Local Search”

Teddy Garcia Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 10:58 pm

Mike,

Great presentation at SMX.
Glad we finally got to meet offline. I’m always curious what Twitter friends turn out to be like in the real world but you’re the real deal.

Talk soon..
-Teddy

Mihmorandum | 5 Steps for 5 Stars: Reputation Management for Small Businesses | Local SEO Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

[…] It’s not entirely clear whether ratings have any effect on ranking within Local search algorithms. Nonetheless, ratings draw additional eyeballs, even to sites ranked towards the bottom of a ten-pack or three-pack (Michael Jensen, CityMarketer)… […]

Go Google Yourself | Website Promotion is not Voodoo Says:
September 18th, 2008 at 8:50 pm

[…] may be the most critical issue for small businesses for the next few years.  There have been some great writings from friends of mine on the value of ratings and reviews for small business but I’m telling […]

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