What is the 3-pack?
The 3-pack is the list of results that appear when someone is searching online for a local business. If you are a local business you need to be in the 3-pack, especially if someone is searching on a smartphone. Why? Because research has shown that a very high percentage of these local searches end up in a purchase decision.
What factors affect how to get into the 3-pack?
Relevance, Prominence and Proximity.
In 2014 Google added Proximity as the 3rd leg to its search algorithm, joining the previous two legs which predate “local” searches:
- Proximity - Describes the physical distance of a business from the origin point of a search.
- Relevance - The degree to which a listing’s website content matches the search inquiry.
- Prominence - The strength of the business in terms of its domain authority calculated by traffic, backlinks, etc.
Following that move Google My Business was launched, giving local businesses the opportunity to be found even if they didn’t have a website.
The Proximity Factor
Proximity became the most powerful factor influencing which businesses appeared in the 3-pack. What this means is that if your business is located close to the location of the search, then it is more likely to be in the 3-pack. The further away from the location of the search that your business appears in the 3-pack the better it is for attracting customers. Local SEO is all about trying to push the boundaries of the location for the purpose of appearing in the 3-pack.
Here is a client that has been following our advice for over a year:-
Here is another client that has been ignoring our advice:-
This grid view plots the results of local searches performed in each of the grids getting further away from the actual location of the business concerned. Where the colour is green the business will be in the 3-pack for that search term. Any other colour and it will not be.
The property letting agency is Belvoir Lettings King’s Lynn and I have their permission to mention their name. I will not mention the name of the Restaurant but will say that it is one of the best in Norwich.
The grids illustrate very clearly that having a strong local SEO programme in place results in a far wider reach for appearing in the 3-pack based on the location of the search. This results in far more customer enquiries and revenue. Local SEO has proven to be better value for money than most other forms of marketing.
About MyLocal
We work with your website designer to improve your ability to be found in Google and other search engines. Also, to look good wherever you may appear online. We specialise in local SEO and most of our work is off-site. But there may need to be some on-site work undertaken by your webmaster to complement what we do. If you would be interested in finding out more, please use the Contact Form on our website.
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