Did the Google 3 Pack Affect Your Business?

Sarasota SEO Google News – Last month Google made some major changes to its local search results by only showing the top 3 results instead of 7. It appears Google’s motivation to do this was partially driven by their mobile search improvements. Chances are, if you were showing up number 4 before the change, then it’s probable it hasn’t affected your local search engine traffic much. This may be why Google removed the 7 pack. The truth is, if the top 3 received the majority of traffic, then 4 – 7 positions weren’t generating much traffic anyway.

So if you recently got knocked off of page 1 because you didn’t make the top 3, then I suggest you position yourself as more of a specialist. To dominate a specialized niche in your industry, try to rank for “Emergency Plumber” instead of just plumber, or basement remodeling instead of just “remodeling”. The key to long term success is to not leave anything out. Share your posts on your Social Channels, write great content, and look at expanding on your keyword profile to include many search variations instead of just a few.

So what does this all mean? Well because Google has removed phone numbers and the exact addresses, we noticed that the starred reviews still remain. It’s now more important than ever to focus on obtaining and interacting with good reviews. Strive to get a high volume of REAL reviews, and you’ll stand the test of time!