Chicago Local SEO & Digital Marketing
I’m usually late to the “SEO’s break the news” game. Sometimes because I don’t see the tests (changes) happening right away, but mostly because I don’t blog about changes right away. I’ve got other shit going on. There are plenty of articles and whiteboards out there already about what an increase in meta descriptions means. I’ll break it down quickly, but I’m more interested in how Digital Marketers can take advantage of this change.
Updated July 25th, 2016
It has been over 2 months since Google reduced the Local results from 7 down to 3. Since the change, I’ve been attempting to analyze various items in the Pack – picture sizes, who is ranking, why they are ranking and what factors are keeping the businesses in the Local Stack. I’ve written several posts on how terrible the results are and what a poor experience the Local Stack has been so far. I think Google is doing some things to better the user experience but it still has a ways to go.
I have been noticing more and more small business, “mom and pop” shops, located in the Local Stack since the change and decided to test my theory that big Brands are being pushed out of the Local results.
As reported by Mike Blumenthal earlier this week, Google Local has shifted from the 7 Pack to a 3 pack. The shift was first reported as a possible test in various markets, is now rolled out to even more markets and should be nationwide soon.
The shift from a Local 7 Pack to a Local 3 Pack is a horrible user experience for several reasons. Instead of seeing 5 or 7 local results, there are now only 3. Those three local results:
The Search Engine Result Page (SERP) didn’t always look like this.
It used to look much, much different.