Trying to Rank For an Area You’re on the Outskirts Of
This isn’t technically news for this week, but I came across this article which shows really well a problem a lot of our clients have when wanting to rank for an area they’re on the edge of.
This map shows the “border” of Guildford as far as Google is concerned:
If you’re outside of that border, you’re going to find it very hard to rank for “Guildford” searches. You could be in Jacob’s Well, just to the north, and rank poorly or not at all for “Guildford”, whereas you could be in Artington – to the south – and rank well for Guildford searches even though you may be further away from the searcher.
Putting Guildford on your GBP address and website isn’t going to fix this, Google will decide for itself where you are, and – it would seem – do so based on an overly-strict application of the geographical boundaries.
Of course not all SEO traffic comes from a location search (many people will type near me, for example, which won’t suffer the same issue) but it makes life tough for those on the outskirts, cutting off a potential SEO source.
Google Admits Misleading SEOs
SEOs are always saying you can’t trust Google’s advice, but I was surprised to come across the following Reddit post from Google’s own John Mueller, on this post. Note the last sentence, saying sometimes people are right when they tell you not to listen to Google’s advice.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that Google doesn’t always work that well anyway. Reviews going missing or classed as spam is a constant complaint of clients I speak to, and I’m also helping another company which can’t get Google to index most of their pages, despite Google Search Console saying they’re perfectly visible. When checking my own GSC earlier today, I found that Google have blocked my access and I need to reverify. Welcome to SEO!
Search Rankings Still Volatile – Update Predicted
Search ranking volatility remains very high this week, and many people are predicting a major Google update is about to be announced (or rather admitted – Google do the updates and then announce them some time later when the effects are already seen.
You can read more in this article.
Everyone Hates GA4
SEO forums are raging with hate over the new Google Analytics interface and delay lag in reporting, with one calling it “the Windows Vista of analytics”. If you’re struggling to get to grips with GA4 reporting or conversion from the old UA system, you’re not alone. Reach out if you’re looking for help.
