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Imagine this scenario: You’ve witnessed an accident in an unfamiliar place, and you are the only person who can help the victim. Luckily, you have your trusty phone with you and searched Google the keyword “hospital”. Thanks to Google’s Pigeon, you need not to specify where you are at— the point, Google provides answers the quickest way possible.

Google believes that closer searches are more appropriate to the user. To continuously improve user experience, the tech giant initiated the search algorithm for searchers seeking for local results, which Search Engine Land named “Pigeon”– because of its homing instinct.

While the Panda and Penguin algorithms are designed to penalize websites that viciously perform bad SEO, this one’s busy roving around and sorting local searches. Hummingbird algorithm, on the other hand, helps Pigeon in improving appropriateness of search results by relating search history and semantics in queuing websites in search engine results page (SERP).

How does Penguin work?

When you search, pigeon fetches your IP (Internet Protocol) whenever you access internet. Then, Pigeon uses it to relate the relevant websites in your search, optimizing the nearby establishments in the local level.

Since its first fly by, it has drastically changed rankings and favored the local level and directory sites. In the words of Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge in his article in Search Engine Watch, hospitality, food and education are the top website niches that greatly benefitted in Pigeon’s update.

How Pigeon modify SERP display

Local SEO and mobile optimization caused changes in SERP’s results display through panels and packs. These are listings that easily give location, contact information and ratings for easy local search, most especially for business websites. The following are some of the local listings in SERPs brought by Pigeon.

• Local Top 3 Packs Results

These are the top three visible searches in the full seven-pack listing. It contains Google maps and pins, directions, product descriptions, ratings, and contacts. It usually covers half of SERP’s upper fold.

• Local knowledge panel

Usually flashed in the left side, local knowledge panel is an authoritative one-box feature that is composed of map pins, photos, descriptions, service prices, reviews, and other related searches (or your competitors).

• Local Maps and Pins

Maps and Pins are used to used to give varied and more specific locations in organic SERP.

• Directories

Directories and website listings are now a thing for businesses. Aside from getting backlinks, directories commonly appear on the first page of search display. Therefore, every business website must consider getting listed in directories.

Conclusion:
Google continually strives to give the best answers to our queries. Algorithms may update infinitely, but there is a probability that it can give the best timing and chance to make your business be the top-flight website. Moreover, Google Penguin had been a great influence on how Google displays its results. Local SEO, indeed, plays a dire and heavier function in search marketing, more than you’ve thought.
Is Pigeon your friend or foe? Let us know how Pigeon affected your rankings in the comments.

Tags: google, google maps, google pigeon, maps, SEO, SEO localization, SEO Philippines, Web Outsourcing