Top Takeaways From Google’s Pigeon Update
Adam Dorfman, SIM Partners
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Download This: http://bit.do/pigeon
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@phixed h.p://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
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Sample Size: 5,000 Location Pages
Image: h.p://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/pigeons.jpg
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• Pre Pigeon: 7/11 - 7/23
Image: h.p://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/pigeons.jpg
Data Collection Timeline
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• Pre Pigeon: 7/11 - 7/23
• Pigeon: 7/24
Image: h.p://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/pigeons.jpg
Data Collection Timeline
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• Pre Pigeon: 7/11 - 7/23
• Pigeon: 7/24
• Post Pigeon: 7/25 - 8/7
Image: h.p://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/pigeons.jpg
Data Collection Timeline
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INTRODUCING
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P
Image: h.p://blogs-‐images.forbes.com/peterubel/files/2013/01/pigeon.png
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“The goal of many of our ranking changes is to help searchers find sites that provide a great user
experience and fulfill their information needs. We also want the “good guys” making great sites for users, not just algorithms, to see their effort rewarded.”
Matt Cutts http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-
reward-high-quality.html
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Traffic -5.71%
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Traffic -5.71%
Conversions -5.97%
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What to Measure?
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1. Business Detail
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1. Business Detail 2. Offsite Factor
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1. Business Detail 2. Offsite Factor 3. Onsite Factor
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-‐8%
-‐5%
-‐3%
0%
3%
5%
8%
0 5
Y Axis = Performance Change Post Pigeon
X Axis = Metric Being Measured
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Here’s What We Weren’t Looking For
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-‐23%
-‐11%
0%
11%
23%
800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000
Number of Words on a Location Page
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“Google said that this new algorithm improves their distance and location ranking parameters.”
Barry Schwartz http://searchengineland.com/google-makes-significant-changes-local-
search-ranking-algorithm-197778
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-‐16%
-‐11%
-‐5%
0%
5%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Small Markets Medium Markets Large Markets
Distance From City Center - All
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RESULTS
-‐18%
-‐14%
-‐11%
-‐7%
-‐4%
0%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Distance from City Center - Population < 10,000
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RESULTS
-‐18%
-‐14%
-‐11%
-‐7%
-‐4%
0%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Distance from City Center - Population < 10,000
More Single Packs, Less 7
Packs
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RESULTS
-‐5%
-‐3%
0%
3%
5%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Distance from City Center - Population 10,001-100,000
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RESULTS
-‐5%
-‐3%
0%
3%
5%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Distance from City Center - Population 10,001-100,000
Narrowing of search radius in suburban areas
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RESULTS
-‐13%
-‐9%
-‐6%
-‐3%
0%
3%
0 5 10 15 20 25
Distance from City Center - Population > 100,000
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RESULTS
-‐13%
-‐9%
-‐6%
-‐3%
0%
3%
0 5 10 15 20 25
Distance from City Center - Population > 100,000
Distance from centroid matters less in large
markets… until it does
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Locations in small towns were hit hardest, possibly due to a decrease in local packs and/or a shift to 1 & 3 packs
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Locations in small towns were hit hardest, possibly due to a decrease in local packs and/or a shift to 1 & 3 packs Google is pushing the urbanization of suburbs
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Locations in small towns were hit hardest, possibly due to a decrease in local packs and/or a shift to 1 & 3 packs Google is pushing the urbanization of suburbs A slight preference for locations just outside of urban centers in large markets, but a sharp drop for any past 20 miles
@phixed Source: h.p://blogs-‐images.forbes.com/peterubel/files/2013/01/pigeon.png
@phixed Source: h.p://blogs-‐images.forbes.com/peterubel/files/2013/01/pigeon.png
“Thus far the big fix we are seeing to defeating spammy results in the local packs is to get links,
which unfortunately is going to lead to a whole new wave of local link SPAM, because it appears to be
working, for the moment.” Andrew Shotland
http://moz.com/blog/pigeon-advice-from-local-seos
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-‐79%
-‐53%
-‐26%
0%
26%
0.875 1.375 1.125 1.625 2.125 2.625 3.125 3.625 4.125 4.625 5.125 5.625
Moz External Equity
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-‐26%
-‐13%
0%
13%
26%
36.5 38.5 40.5 42.5 44.5 46.5 48.5 50.5 52.5 54.5 56.5 58.5 60.5
Moz Page Authority
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Page authority matters
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Page authority matters Internal >>> External
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Page authority matters Internal >>> External Domain strength is growing in importance
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“Don’t underestimate how powerful on-page optimization can be for local and local-organic
results.” Adam Dorfman (Post Venice Update to Current Day)
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-‐8%
-‐4%
0%
4%
8%
12%
1 2 3 4 5
Number of Zip Codes Displayed
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-‐12%
-‐8%
-‐4%
0%
4%
8%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Number of Areas Served
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On page optimization still matters
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On page optimization still matters Over-optimization is being targeted
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On page optimization still matters Over-optimization is being targeted Keep experimenting
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Takeaways
Pigeon update ≠ Improved SERPs
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Takeaways
Pigeon update ≠ Improved SERPs Where your business is still matters
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Takeaways
Pigeon update ≠ Improved SERPs Where your business is still matters Attach your business to strong domains
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Takeaways
Pigeon update ≠ Improved SERPs Where your business is still matters Attach your business to strong domains Don’t over optimize your website