Tag Archives: local seo

Google Changes Review Interface – Puts Less Emphasis on Zagat

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Organic SEO, , , , , ,

Google recently made changes to its review interface to put less of a focus on the Zagat review system. The new interface allows review authors to choose words or phrases like “Excellent,” “Very Good,” “Good,” and “Poor-Fair” rather than Zagat’s 0-3 number system.

Zagat’s 0-3 numbering system may have been too confusing to users because it is a unique, unusual system compared to what many people are used to. Many ratings are based on a 1-5 scale, with 3 being the rating for an “okay” or “so-so” experience. However, on Zagat’s rating scale, 3 is the highest score you can give. Google has done away with this Zagat scale. The reviews interface now looks like this:

googlesreviewinterface

Google is still displaying the overall Zagat score on each business’s Google+ Local page. This score is a number between 0-30. However, the fact that Google has done away with the initial 0-3 Zagat scoring scale may show that it’s taking steps towards completely eliminating the Zagat scoring system. What do you think? Do you like Google’s Zagat scoring system or should Google do away with it?

newreviewinterface

Time Watched is Now a Factor in YouTube Video Ranking

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local Video Ads, , , , , , ,

youtube time watchedAccording to the YouTube Blog, YouTube is now rewarding videos that keep users’ attention longer with higher search rankings. This means if your video is engaging and people watch the entire thing, (rather than watching only a few seconds then jumping to the next one); search rankings for that video will increase.

“This is a continuation of ongoing efforts to focus our video discovery features on watch time, and follows changes we made to Suggested Videos in March and recent improvements to YouTube Analytics,” says YouTube in the blog post.

During the experimental phase of this new algorithm change, YouTube noticed there was less clicking and more watching going on. The company expects the amount of time spent watching videos to increase. A new “Time Watched” reporting tool was added to YouTube Analytics so now you can check out how long your viewers are staying on your videos in order to better understand what your audience enjoys and is more likely to share.

New Study Shows 43% of All Google Searches Are Local

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local SEO, , , , , , ,

A new study from Chitika showed that 43% of total Google search queries (both mobile and PC) have local intent. The study also showed that 25% of Yahoo and Bing searches are local. Two years ago, Google reported that 20% of all Google searches (on PC) were local. Since then, Google has improved its local search and Map applications, resulting in a 23% growth in local search queries.

SE local search

According to Screenwerk, Google recently announced that 50% of mobile search is now local, an increase from 40% in 2011. However, Chitika’s breakdown of Mobile vs. Non-Mobile results shows that 74% of local search on Google is mobile and 26% is from a PC.

mobile vs nonmobile

Consumers searching for local businesses from their mobile phones have clearly made an impact on the amount of local queries. It is more important now than ever for businesses to focus on getting ranked in the local search results.