Local Search Ranking Factors Survey 2020

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SECTION I: THEMATIC SIGNALS

In your opinion, to what extent do each of the following thematic clusters (rows) contribute to rankings across result types at Google (columns)?

Please place a % number in EACH BOX representing the percentage of the algorithm you think that theme contributes to for each result type. The example below would work if you felt that each theme represented exactly 1/8th of the algorithm.
The total of each column should add up to 100.

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LOCALIZED ORGANIC RESULTS
LOCAL PACK RESULTS
My Business Signals

(Proximity, Categories, Keyword in Business Title, etc.)

Citation Signals

(IYP/aggregator NAP consistency, Citation Volume, etc.)

On-page Signals

(Presence of NAP, Keywords in Titles, Domain authority, etc.)

Link Signals

(Inbound anchor text, Linking domain authority, Linking domain quantity, etc.)

Review Signals

(Review quantity, Review velocity, Review diversity, etc.)

Behavioral Signals

(Clickthrough rate, Mobile clicks to call, dwell time, etc.)

Personalization

LOCALIZED ORGANIC EXAMPLES



LOCAL PACK EXAMPLE

See which factors were added and removed for the 2020 survey

SECTION II A: SPECIFIC FACTORS IN LOCAL PACK/FINDER RANKINGS

Which individual factors do you think have the biggest impact on local pack/finder rankings?

Please drag and drop the top 20 individual ranking factors in order of importance, from the lefthand columns to the righthand column.
Only the factors included in the top 20 of this list will count in your response.

Section progress: 0% completed
Please note: only the top 20 factors you have dragged to the right side will count in your response.
Your top 20:
  • GMB [0]
  • Links [0]
  • Citations [0]
  • Reviews [0]
  • On-page [0]
  • Behavioral [0]
Expand All
  • GMB LISTING FACTORS
  • *NEW* Additional GMB Categories
  • *NEW* Comprehensive Google Q&A Section with Owner-Seeded FAQs
  • *NEW* Frequency of Google Posts Posted
  • *NEW* GMB Booking Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* GMB Messaging Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Business Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Description
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Products
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Services
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Posts
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Q&A
  • *NEW* Presence of GMB Services
  • *NEW* Primary GMB Category
  • *NEW* Proper Hours Set on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quality/Relevance of Photos
  • *NEW* Quantity of Photos on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quantity of Products on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Removal of spam listings through spam fighting
  • *NEW* Setting Service Areas in GMB
  • Age of GMB Listing
  • Completeness of GMB Listing
  • Local Area Code on GMB Listing
  • Matching Google Account Domain to GMB Landing Page Domain
  • Number of Bookings Through GMB Booking Feature
  • Physical Address in City of Search
  • Presence of Appointment URL
  • Presence of Crowd Sourced Attributes
  • Proximity of Address to Centroid
  • Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
  • Quantity of Google Posts Posted
  • Quantity of Messages Sent Through Messaging Feature
  • Quantity of Questions Asked in Google Q&A
  • Quantity of Videos on GMB Listing
  • Trusted Photographer / Google Business View Photography
  • User Added Attributes in GMB
  • Verified GMB Listing
  • LINK FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to Domain
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Domain Authority of Website
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • CITATION FACTORS
  • BBB Accredited
  • Consistency of Citations on Data Aggregators (Infogroup, Localeze, Foursquare/Factual)
  • Consistency of Citations on Key Sites (Yellowpages, Yelp, D&B, CityGrid)
  • Consistency of Citations on Other Citation Sources
  • Consistency of Citations on Primary Search Engines (Google Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps)
  • Enhancement/Completeness of Citations
  • Presence of Business on Expert Curated "Best of" and Similar Lists
  • Prominence on Key Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Proper Category Associations on Aggregators and Tier 1 Citation Sources
  • Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
  • Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts, Gov Sites, Industry Associations)
  • Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
  • Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
  • Unlinked Brand Mentions
  • REVIEW FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Native Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Keywords in Third-Party Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of "Services Performed" in Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of Positive Google Review Attributes
  • Authority of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • Diversity of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • Positive Sentiment in Review Text
  • Quantity of Native Google Ratings (no text)
  • Quantity of Native Google Reviews (w/text)
  • Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g. Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellowpages, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (e.g. blogs, newspapers, magazines)
  • ON-PAGE FACTORS
  • *NEW* Dedicated Service Page for Each Category in GMB
  • *NEW* Internal Links to GMB Landing Page From Other Pages of Website
  • *NEW* Internal Links to Service Pages from GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page URL
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image ALT attributes on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image Filenames on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Presence of Outbound Links to Authority Topically Relevant Sites
  • *NEW* Presence of XML Sitemap
  • Embedded Google Map for Location on GMB Landing Page
  • Geographic (City/Neighborhood) Keyword Relevance of Domain Content
  • HTML NAP Matching GMB Listing NAP
  • Loadtime of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Mobile-friendly/Responsive Website
  • NAP in Schema/JSON-LD on GMB Landing Page URL
  • Page Authority of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Reference to Location Specific Entities on GMB Landing Page
  • Topical (Product/Service) Keyword Relevance Across Entire Website
  • Volume of Content on GMB Landing Page
  • Volume of Quality Content on Entire Website
  • Volume of Quality Content on Service Pages
  • Website Uses HTTPS by default
  • BEHAVIORAL FACTORS
  • Click-Through Rate from Search Results
  • Clicks to Call Business
  • Driving Directions to Business Clicks
  • In-store visits tracked by Android or Google Maps Mobile app location detection
  • In-store visits tracked by third-party beacon or location detection technology
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Landing Page
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Listing
  • Participation in Adwords, Adwords Express, Hotel Finder, or other paid Google products
  • Quantity of Bookings Through Google Booking Partners
  • Quantity of Engagement Signals on GMB Listing (scrolling through listing, clicking photos, reading reviews, reading Q&A, clicking on Posts, etc)
  • Quantity of Messages Through Google My Business Messaging
  • Quantity of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Sum of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Volume of Searches for Business Name

See which factors were added and removed for the 2020 survey

SECTION II B: SPECIFIC FACTORS IN LOCALIZED ORGANIC RANKINGS

Which individual factors do you think have the biggest impact on localized organic rankings?

Please drag and drop the top 20 individual ranking factors in order of importance, from the lefthand columns to the righthand column.
Only the factors included in the top 20 of this list will count in your response.

Section progress: 0% completed
Please note: only the top 20 factors you have dragged to the right side will count in your response.
Your top 20:
  • GMB [0]
  • Links [0]
  • Citations [0]
  • Reviews [0]
  • On-page [0]
  • Behavioral [0]
Expand All
  • GMB LISTING FACTORS
  • *NEW* Additional GMB Categories
  • *NEW* Comprehensive Google Q&A Section with Owner-Seeded FAQs
  • *NEW* Frequency of Google Posts Posted
  • *NEW* GMB Booking Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* GMB Messaging Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Business Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Description
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Products
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Services
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Posts
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Q&A
  • *NEW* Presence of GMB Services
  • *NEW* Primary GMB Category
  • *NEW* Proper Hours Set on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quality/Relevance of Photos
  • *NEW* Quantity of Photos on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quantity of Products on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Removal of spam listings through spam fighting
  • *NEW* Setting Service Areas in GMB
  • Age of GMB Listing
  • Completeness of GMB Listing
  • Local Area Code on GMB Listing
  • Matching Google Account Domain to GMB Landing Page Domain
  • Number of Bookings Through GMB Booking Feature
  • Physical Address in City of Search
  • Presence of Appointment URL
  • Presence of Crowd Sourced Attributes
  • Proximity of Address to Centroid
  • Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
  • Quantity of Google Posts Posted
  • Quantity of Messages Sent Through Messaging Feature
  • Quantity of Questions Asked in Google Q&A
  • Quantity of Videos on GMB Listing
  • Trusted Photographer / Google Business View Photography
  • User Added Attributes in GMB
  • Verified GMB Listing
  • LINK FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to Domain
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Domain Authority of Website
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • CITATION FACTORS
  • BBB Accredited
  • Consistency of Citations on Data Aggregators (Infogroup, Localeze, Foursquare/Factual)
  • Consistency of Citations on Key Sites (Yellowpages, Yelp, D&B, CityGrid)
  • Consistency of Citations on Other Citation Sources
  • Consistency of Citations on Primary Search Engines (Google Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps)
  • Enhancement/Completeness of Citations
  • Presence of Business on Expert Curated "Best of" and Similar Lists
  • Prominence on Key Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Proper Category Associations on Aggregators and Tier 1 Citation Sources
  • Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
  • Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts, Gov Sites, Industry Associations)
  • Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
  • Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
  • Unlinked Brand Mentions
  • REVIEW FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Native Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Keywords in Third-Party Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of "Services Performed" in Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of Positive Google Review Attributes
  • Authority of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • Diversity of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • Positive Sentiment in Review Text
  • Quantity of Native Google Ratings (no text)
  • Quantity of Native Google Reviews (w/text)
  • Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g. Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellowpages, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (e.g. blogs, newspapers, magazines)
  • ON-PAGE FACTORS
  • *NEW* Dedicated Service Page for Each Category in GMB
  • *NEW* Internal Links to GMB Landing Page From Other Pages of Website
  • *NEW* Internal Links to Service Pages from GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page URL
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image ALT attributes on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image Filenames on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Presence of Outbound Links to Authority Topically Relevant Sites
  • *NEW* Presence of XML Sitemap
  • Embedded Google Map for Location on GMB Landing Page
  • Geographic (City/Neighborhood) Keyword Relevance of Domain Content
  • HTML NAP Matching GMB Listing NAP
  • Loadtime of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Mobile-friendly/Responsive Website
  • NAP in Schema/JSON-LD on GMB Landing Page URL
  • Page Authority of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Reference to Location Specific Entities on GMB Landing Page
  • Topical (Product/Service) Keyword Relevance Across Entire Website
  • Volume of Content on GMB Landing Page
  • Volume of Quality Content on Entire Website
  • Volume of Quality Content on Service Pages
  • Website Uses HTTPS by default
  • BEHAVIORAL FACTORS
  • Click-Through Rate from Search Results
  • Clicks to Call Business
  • Driving Directions to Business Clicks
  • In-store visits tracked by Android or Google Maps Mobile app location detection
  • In-store visits tracked by third-party beacon or location detection technology
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Landing Page
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Listing
  • Participation in Adwords, Adwords Express, Hotel Finder, or other paid Google products
  • Quantity of Bookings Through Google Booking Partners
  • Quantity of Engagement Signals on GMB Listing (scrolling through listing, clicking photos, reading reviews, reading Q&A, clicking on Posts, etc)
  • Quantity of Messages Through Google My Business Messaging
  • Quantity of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Sum of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Volume of Searches for Business Name

See which factors were added and removed for the 2020 survey

SECTION III A: FOCUSING ON MORE IN THE PAST YEAR

For local pack results, what factors have you been focusing on MORE in the past year?

Please drag and drop your top 5 individual ranking factors in order of importance, from the lefthand column to the righthand column. Only the factors included in the top 5 of this list will count in your response.

Section progress: 0% completed
Please note: only the top 5 factors you have dragged to the right side will count in your response.
Your top 5:
  • GMB [0]
  • Links [0]
  • Citations [0]
  • Reviews [0]
  • On-page [0]
  • Behavioral [0]
Expand All
  • GMB LISTING FACTORS
  • *NEW* Additional GMB Categories
  • *NEW* Comprehensive Google Q&A Section with Owner-Seeded FAQs
  • *NEW* Frequency of Google Posts Posted
  • *NEW* GMB Booking Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* GMB Messaging Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Business Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Description
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Products
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Services
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Posts
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Q&A
  • *NEW* Presence of GMB Services
  • *NEW* Primary GMB Category
  • *NEW* Proper Hours Set on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quality/Relevance of Photos
  • *NEW* Quantity of Photos on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quantity of Products on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Removal of spam listings through spam fighting
  • *NEW* Setting Service Areas in GMB
  • Age of GMB Listing
  • Completeness of GMB Listing
  • Local Area Code on GMB Listing
  • Matching Google Account Domain to GMB Landing Page Domain
  • Number of Bookings Through GMB Booking Feature
  • Physical Address in City of Search
  • Presence of Appointment URL
  • Presence of Crowd Sourced Attributes
  • Proximity of Address to Centroid
  • Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
  • Quantity of Google Posts Posted
  • Quantity of Messages Sent Through Messaging Feature
  • Quantity of Questions Asked in Google Q&A
  • Quantity of Videos on GMB Listing
  • Trusted Photographer / Google Business View Photography
  • User Added Attributes in GMB
  • Verified GMB Listing
  • LINK FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to Domain
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Domain Authority of Website
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • CITATION FACTORS
  • BBB Accredited
  • Consistency of Citations on Data Aggregators (Infogroup, Localeze, Foursquare/Factual)
  • Consistency of Citations on Key Sites (Yellowpages, Yelp, D&B, CityGrid)
  • Consistency of Citations on Other Citation Sources
  • Consistency of Citations on Primary Search Engines (Google Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps)
  • Enhancement/Completeness of Citations
  • Presence of Business on Expert Curated "Best of" and Similar Lists
  • Prominence on Key Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Proper Category Associations on Aggregators and Tier 1 Citation Sources
  • Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
  • Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts, Gov Sites, Industry Associations)
  • Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
  • Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
  • Unlinked Brand Mentions
  • REVIEW FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Native Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Keywords in Third-Party Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of "Services Performed" in Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of Positive Google Review Attributes
  • Authority of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • Diversity of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • Positive Sentiment in Review Text
  • Quantity of Native Google Ratings (no text)
  • Quantity of Native Google Reviews (w/text)
  • Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g. Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellowpages, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (e.g. blogs, newspapers, magazines)
  • ON-PAGE FACTORS
  • *NEW* Dedicated Service Page for Each Category in GMB
  • *NEW* Internal Links to GMB Landing Page From Other Pages of Website
  • *NEW* Internal Links to Service Pages from GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page URL
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image ALT attributes on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image Filenames on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Presence of Outbound Links to Authority Topically Relevant Sites
  • *NEW* Presence of XML Sitemap
  • Embedded Google Map for Location on GMB Landing Page
  • Geographic (City/Neighborhood) Keyword Relevance of Domain Content
  • HTML NAP Matching GMB Listing NAP
  • Loadtime of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Mobile-friendly/Responsive Website
  • NAP in Schema/JSON-LD on GMB Landing Page URL
  • Page Authority of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Reference to Location Specific Entities on GMB Landing Page
  • Topical (Product/Service) Keyword Relevance Across Entire Website
  • Volume of Content on GMB Landing Page
  • Volume of Quality Content on Entire Website
  • Volume of Quality Content on Service Pages
  • Website Uses HTTPS by default
  • BEHAVIORAL FACTORS
  • Click-Through Rate from Search Results
  • Clicks to Call Business
  • Driving Directions to Business Clicks
  • In-store visits tracked by Android or Google Maps Mobile app location detection
  • In-store visits tracked by third-party beacon or location detection technology
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Landing Page
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Listing
  • Participation in Adwords, Adwords Express, Hotel Finder, or other paid Google products
  • Quantity of Bookings Through Google Booking Partners
  • Quantity of Engagement Signals on GMB Listing (scrolling through listing, clicking photos, reading reviews, reading Q&A, clicking on Posts, etc)
  • Quantity of Messages Through Google My Business Messaging
  • Quantity of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Sum of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Volume of Searches for Business Name

See which factors were added and removed for the 2020 survey

SECTION III B: FOCUSING ON LESS IN THE PAST YEAR

For local pack results, what factors have you been focusing on LESS in the past year?

Please drag and drop your top 5 individual ranking factors in order of importance, from the lefthand column to the righthand column. Only the factors included in the top 5 of this list will count in your response.

Section progress: 0% completed
Please note: only the top 5 factors you have dragged to the right side will count in your response.
Your top 5:
  • GMB [0]
  • Links [0]
  • Citations [0]
  • Reviews [0]
  • On-page [0]
  • Behavioral [0]
Expand All
  • GMB LISTING FACTORS
  • *NEW* Additional GMB Categories
  • *NEW* Comprehensive Google Q&A Section with Owner-Seeded FAQs
  • *NEW* Frequency of Google Posts Posted
  • *NEW* GMB Booking Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* GMB Messaging Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Business Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Description
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Products
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Services
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Posts
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Q&A
  • *NEW* Presence of GMB Services
  • *NEW* Primary GMB Category
  • *NEW* Proper Hours Set on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quality/Relevance of Photos
  • *NEW* Quantity of Photos on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quantity of Products on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Removal of spam listings through spam fighting
  • *NEW* Setting Service Areas in GMB
  • Age of GMB Listing
  • Completeness of GMB Listing
  • Local Area Code on GMB Listing
  • Matching Google Account Domain to GMB Landing Page Domain
  • Number of Bookings Through GMB Booking Feature
  • Physical Address in City of Search
  • Presence of Appointment URL
  • Presence of Crowd Sourced Attributes
  • Proximity of Address to Centroid
  • Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
  • Quantity of Google Posts Posted
  • Quantity of Messages Sent Through Messaging Feature
  • Quantity of Questions Asked in Google Q&A
  • Quantity of Videos on GMB Listing
  • Trusted Photographer / Google Business View Photography
  • User Added Attributes in GMB
  • Verified GMB Listing
  • LINK FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to Domain
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Domain Authority of Website
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • CITATION FACTORS
  • BBB Accredited
  • Consistency of Citations on Data Aggregators (Infogroup, Localeze, Foursquare/Factual)
  • Consistency of Citations on Key Sites (Yellowpages, Yelp, D&B, CityGrid)
  • Consistency of Citations on Other Citation Sources
  • Consistency of Citations on Primary Search Engines (Google Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps)
  • Enhancement/Completeness of Citations
  • Presence of Business on Expert Curated "Best of" and Similar Lists
  • Prominence on Key Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Proper Category Associations on Aggregators and Tier 1 Citation Sources
  • Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
  • Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts, Gov Sites, Industry Associations)
  • Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
  • Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
  • Unlinked Brand Mentions
  • REVIEW FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Native Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Keywords in Third-Party Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of "Services Performed" in Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of Positive Google Review Attributes
  • Authority of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • Diversity of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • Positive Sentiment in Review Text
  • Quantity of Native Google Ratings (no text)
  • Quantity of Native Google Reviews (w/text)
  • Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g. Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellowpages, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (e.g. blogs, newspapers, magazines)
  • ON-PAGE FACTORS
  • *NEW* Dedicated Service Page for Each Category in GMB
  • *NEW* Internal Links to GMB Landing Page From Other Pages of Website
  • *NEW* Internal Links to Service Pages from GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page URL
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image ALT attributes on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image Filenames on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Presence of Outbound Links to Authority Topically Relevant Sites
  • *NEW* Presence of XML Sitemap
  • Embedded Google Map for Location on GMB Landing Page
  • Geographic (City/Neighborhood) Keyword Relevance of Domain Content
  • HTML NAP Matching GMB Listing NAP
  • Loadtime of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Mobile-friendly/Responsive Website
  • NAP in Schema/JSON-LD on GMB Landing Page URL
  • Page Authority of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Reference to Location Specific Entities on GMB Landing Page
  • Topical (Product/Service) Keyword Relevance Across Entire Website
  • Volume of Content on GMB Landing Page
  • Volume of Quality Content on Entire Website
  • Volume of Quality Content on Service Pages
  • Website Uses HTTPS by default
  • BEHAVIORAL FACTORS
  • Click-Through Rate from Search Results
  • Clicks to Call Business
  • Driving Directions to Business Clicks
  • In-store visits tracked by Android or Google Maps Mobile app location detection
  • In-store visits tracked by third-party beacon or location detection technology
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Landing Page
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Listing
  • Participation in Adwords, Adwords Express, Hotel Finder, or other paid Google products
  • Quantity of Bookings Through Google Booking Partners
  • Quantity of Engagement Signals on GMB Listing (scrolling through listing, clicking photos, reading reviews, reading Q&A, clicking on Posts, etc)
  • Quantity of Messages Through Google My Business Messaging
  • Quantity of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Sum of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Volume of Searches for Business Name

See which factors were added and removed for the 2020 survey

SECTION IV: NOT-RANKING FACTORS (MYTH-BUSTING)

Which individual factors do you think absolutely do NOT impact rankings? (keywords in GMB Description, for example).

Please drag and drop any individual not-ranking factors from the lefthand column to the righthand column. Select many as you like.

Section progress: 0% completed
Please note: only the top 1 factors you have dragged to the right side will count in your response.
Your top 1:
  • GMB [0]
  • Links [0]
  • Citations [0]
  • Reviews [0]
  • On-page [0]
  • Behavioral [0]
Expand All
  • GMB LISTING FACTORS
  • *NEW* Additional GMB Categories
  • *NEW* Comprehensive Google Q&A Section with Owner-Seeded FAQs
  • *NEW* Frequency of Google Posts Posted
  • *NEW* GMB Booking Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* GMB Messaging Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Business Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Description
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Products
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Services
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Posts
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Q&A
  • *NEW* Presence of GMB Services
  • *NEW* Primary GMB Category
  • *NEW* Proper Hours Set on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quality/Relevance of Photos
  • *NEW* Quantity of Photos on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quantity of Products on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Removal of spam listings through spam fighting
  • *NEW* Setting Service Areas in GMB
  • Age of GMB Listing
  • Completeness of GMB Listing
  • Local Area Code on GMB Listing
  • Matching Google Account Domain to GMB Landing Page Domain
  • Number of Bookings Through GMB Booking Feature
  • Physical Address in City of Search
  • Presence of Appointment URL
  • Presence of Crowd Sourced Attributes
  • Proximity of Address to Centroid
  • Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
  • Quantity of Google Posts Posted
  • Quantity of Messages Sent Through Messaging Feature
  • Quantity of Questions Asked in Google Q&A
  • Quantity of Videos on GMB Listing
  • Trusted Photographer / Google Business View Photography
  • User Added Attributes in GMB
  • Verified GMB Listing
  • LINK FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to Domain
  • Diversity of Anchor Text to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Diversity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Domain Authority of Website
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • CITATION FACTORS
  • BBB Accredited
  • Consistency of Citations on Data Aggregators (Infogroup, Localeze, Foursquare/Factual)
  • Consistency of Citations on Key Sites (Yellowpages, Yelp, D&B, CityGrid)
  • Consistency of Citations on Other Citation Sources
  • Consistency of Citations on Primary Search Engines (Google Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps)
  • Enhancement/Completeness of Citations
  • Presence of Business on Expert Curated "Best of" and Similar Lists
  • Prominence on Key Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Proper Category Associations on Aggregators and Tier 1 Citation Sources
  • Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
  • Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts, Gov Sites, Industry Associations)
  • Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains
  • Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)
  • Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)
  • Unlinked Brand Mentions
  • REVIEW FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Native Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Keywords in Third-Party Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of "Services Performed" in Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of Positive Google Review Attributes
  • Authority of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • Diversity of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • Positive Sentiment in Review Text
  • Quantity of Native Google Ratings (no text)
  • Quantity of Native Google Reviews (w/text)
  • Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g. Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellowpages, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (e.g. blogs, newspapers, magazines)
  • ON-PAGE FACTORS
  • *NEW* Dedicated Service Page for Each Category in GMB
  • *NEW* Internal Links to GMB Landing Page From Other Pages of Website
  • *NEW* Internal Links to Service Pages from GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Domain
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page H1/H2 Tags
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Landing Page URL
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image ALT attributes on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Keywords in Image Filenames on GMB Landing Page
  • *NEW* Presence of Outbound Links to Authority Topically Relevant Sites
  • *NEW* Presence of XML Sitemap
  • Embedded Google Map for Location on GMB Landing Page
  • Geographic (City/Neighborhood) Keyword Relevance of Domain Content
  • HTML NAP Matching GMB Listing NAP
  • Loadtime of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Mobile-friendly/Responsive Website
  • NAP in Schema/JSON-LD on GMB Landing Page URL
  • Page Authority of GMB Landing Page URL
  • Reference to Location Specific Entities on GMB Landing Page
  • Topical (Product/Service) Keyword Relevance Across Entire Website
  • Volume of Content on GMB Landing Page
  • Volume of Quality Content on Entire Website
  • Volume of Quality Content on Service Pages
  • Website Uses HTTPS by default
  • BEHAVIORAL FACTORS
  • Click-Through Rate from Search Results
  • Clicks to Call Business
  • Driving Directions to Business Clicks
  • In-store visits tracked by Android or Google Maps Mobile app location detection
  • In-store visits tracked by third-party beacon or location detection technology
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Landing Page
  • Length of Dwell Time on GMB Listing
  • Participation in Adwords, Adwords Express, Hotel Finder, or other paid Google products
  • Quantity of Bookings Through Google Booking Partners
  • Quantity of Engagement Signals on GMB Listing (scrolling through listing, clicking photos, reading reviews, reading Q&A, clicking on Posts, etc)
  • Quantity of Messages Through Google My Business Messaging
  • Quantity of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Sum of Transactions Identified Through Credit Card Partners
  • Volume of Searches for Business Name

See which factors were added and removed for the 2020 survey

SECTION V: GMB CONVERSION FACTORS

Which individual factors do you think have the biggest impact on conversions from GMB?

Please drag and drop your top 5 individual conversion factors in order of importance, FROM THE GMB SECTION on the lefthand column to the righthand column. Only the factors included in the top 5 of this list will count in your response.

Section progress: 0% completed
Please note: only the top 5 factors you have dragged to the right side will count in your response.
Your top 5:
  • GMB [0]
  • Reviews [0]
Expand All
  • GMB LISTING FACTORS
  • *NEW* Additional GMB Categories
  • *NEW* Comprehensive Google Q&A Section with Owner-Seeded FAQs
  • *NEW* Frequency of Google Posts Posted
  • *NEW* GMB Booking Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* GMB Messaging Feature is Enabled
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Business Title
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Description
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Products
  • *NEW* Keywords in GMB Services
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Posts
  • *NEW* Keywords in Google Q&A
  • *NEW* Presence of GMB Services
  • *NEW* Primary GMB Category
  • *NEW* Proper Hours Set on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quality/Relevance of Photos
  • *NEW* Quantity of Photos on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Quantity of Products on GMB Listing
  • *NEW* Removal of spam listings through spam fighting
  • *NEW* Setting Service Areas in GMB
  • Age of GMB Listing
  • Completeness of GMB Listing
  • Local Area Code on GMB Listing
  • Matching Google Account Domain to GMB Landing Page Domain
  • Number of Bookings Through GMB Booking Feature
  • Physical Address in City of Search
  • Presence of Appointment URL
  • Presence of Crowd Sourced Attributes
  • Proximity of Address to Centroid
  • Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)
  • Quantity of Google Posts Posted
  • Quantity of Messages Sent Through Messaging Feature
  • Quantity of Questions Asked in Google Q&A
  • Quantity of Videos on GMB Listing
  • Trusted Photographer / Google Business View Photography
  • User Added Attributes in GMB
  • Verified GMB Listing
  • REVIEW FACTORS
  • *NEW* Keywords in Native Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Keywords in Third-Party Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of "Services Performed" in Google Reviews
  • *NEW* Quantity of Positive Google Review Attributes
  • Authority of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • Diversity of Third-Party Sites on Which Reviews are Present
  • High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5)
  • Positive Sentiment in Review Text
  • Quantity of Native Google Ratings (no text)
  • Quantity of Native Google Reviews (w/text)
  • Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g. Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellowpages, etc)
  • Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (e.g. blogs, newspapers, magazines)

See which factors were added and removed for the 2020 survey

SECTION VI: NEGATIVE FACTORS

Please drag and drop the top 10 negative ranking factors from MOST HARMFUL (top) to MOST BENIGN (bottom), from the lefthand columns to the righthand column. Only the factors included in the top 10 of this list will count in your response.

Section progress: 0% completed
Please note: only the top 10 factors you have dragged to the right side will count in your response.
  • *NEW* Quantity of Negative Google Review Attributes
  • Absence of Crawlable NAP on GMB Landing Page
  • Absence of Crawlable NAP on Website
  • Address is a PO Box, UPS Mail Store, or Other False Address
  • Association of GMB account with other suppressed listings
  • Category Dilution
  • Choosing Service Area for Business in GMB (as opposed to in-location visits)
  • Choosing to Hide GMB Address
  • GMB Listings with Same Address/Phone Marked as “Permanently Closed”
  • Incomplete/Missing Data on the Primary data Sources
  • Incorrect Business Category
  • Incorrectly-placed Map Marker in GMB
  • Keyword Stuffing in GMB Business Name
  • Keyword Stuffing in GMB Description
  • Keyword Stuffing in GMB Q&A
  • Keyword Stuffing in Title Tag of GMB Landing Page
  • Listing 800 Number as Only Phone Number in GMB
  • Listing Detected at False Business Address
  • Low Numerical Ratings of Google Reviews (e.g. 1-2)
  • Low Numerical Ratings of Third-party Reviews (e.g. 1-2)
  • Malformed Phone Number on Website (dots or spaces instead of dashes)
  • Mis-match Address on GMB Landing Page
  • Mis-match NAP / Tracking Phone Number on GMB Landing Page
  • Mis-match NAP / Tracking Phone Numbers Across Data Ecosystem
  • Mis-Matched or Private WHOIS Information
  • Multi-lingual GMB Listings For the Same Place
  • Negative Sentiment in Google Reviews
  • Negative Sentiment in Third-Party Reviews
  • No Hours of Operation on GMB Listing
  • Presence of 3rd Party Reviews in Schema/JSON
  • Presence of Businesses in the Same Category at the Same Address
  • Presence of Multiple Crawlable NAP on GMB Landing Page
  • Presence of Multiple GMB Listings in the Same Category with Same/Similar Business Title and Address
  • Presence of Multiple GMB Listings with Same Phone Number
  • Receiving Too Many Google Reviews Too Fast
  • Reports of Fake Reviews on your GMB Listing
  • Reports of Review Gating
  • Reports of Violations on your GMB Listing
  • Reviews Copied from Third Party Sites as Testimonials in Schema/JSON-LD on Website
  • Site Hacked / Presence of Malware

SECTION VII: COMMENTARY

Section progress: 0% completed
Nothing to note, really
What are some strategies/tactics that are working particularly well for you at the moment?
What are some strategies/tactics that used to work well, but don’t seem to work anymore?
What are some methods you’re using to try to influence behavioral factors, if any?
Are there any ranking factors not included in this survey that you think should be added?
Comments about where you see Google is headed in the future:
Comments about anything else you’d like the readers of this survey to know:
Please let us know how we should attribute you when we publish the survey results: (copy/paste these fields into the box below)
Full Name:
Company Name:
Website URL:
Location (City, State, Country)
Twitter Handle:

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