As of August 7, 2015, Google updated their search results pages (SERPs) with a new local 3 pack. This area has changed throughout the years, however, this recent local 3 pack update may have the most significant impact. What was seven is now three, and if you made the cut like one of our partners, Fulmer & Fulmer, PA, that is great news for you. However, if you did not make the cut, you may not really know how your website traffic will be impacted. That is ok, and there is no need to panic. It is simply time to modify your strategy if you have not done so already. I’ll get into all of that in a minute, but first, let us see what has changed.
How Google’s Local 3 Pack Impacted Our Partner
As most of us do, we target as many keywords that are relevant to our business, products or services. Some of our rankings for certain keywords may have made it into Google’s Local 3 Pack while others did not. In our case with Fulmer & Fulmer, we have divorce attorney showing as making it:
We also have divorce lawyer at #2:
However, for family attorney and lawyer we have one making it into Google’s Local 3 Pack:
While the other one did not:
Even though we rank at #4 for family lawyer, it will take a user’s interaction on the first page to click More family lawyer as Fulmer & Fulmer, PA are now hidden on the next page. You can see it here at #4:
Did Google’s Local 3 Pack Impact Traffic to the Site?
Well, so far so good for a small sample size:
We really will not know the immediate impact until a few more weeks, and we’ve collected enough data. It will be interesting to see user behavior between Google’s Local 3 Pack on their first page, and the new Google Map listing once the user clicks More [insert your favorite search terms here].
What is Cyberlicious, Inc. Going to Do About It?
This is definitely an indicator on the importance of staying on top of platform enhancements. If you have not realized it by now, Google just knocked four of Fulmer and Fulmer, PA’s competitors off the first page. They have also been knocked out for some of their keywords so what are we going to do about it?
The first thing we are going to do is educate our partners on the current situation. The second thing we are going to do is improve our strategy, and increase their authority naturally. Plenty of opportunities to assist us include:
- Email Marketing
- Social Media Branding
- Pay-Per-Click (Impression)
- Blog Strategy
