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Hi Marty, I've seen a few reports like yours recently and was going to share a couple theories.  But then it occurred to me I should check to be sure you are talking about local pack rankings, the pinned results? Because that's what my theories relate to. The ranking fluctuations you are talking about, is that in pure organic or in the local pack results?

I agree with both posters before me. I find many times digital agencies use their homepage to grab attention, and to build a strong sense of branding, but typically build strong internal pages loaded with content to help drive organic search results.

Hi Julio! Local search rankings are made up of many, many factors. To start learning about these, please make use of our free Local Learning Center: http://moz.com/learn/local I also highly recommend Matthew Hunt's post on local website optimization - it's really good: http://www.smallbusinessonlinecoach.com/blog/seo/onpage-optimization-local-seo-perfectly-optimized-local-page/ When you feel like you're getting these basics down, start diving into 2014's Local Search Ranking Factors survey: http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors Hope these are helpful resources!

Google's Geo Sitemaps were retired in 2012, in XML format, but there's still KML support in Google Maps: https://developers.google.com/kml/documentation/mapsSupport Here's a post discussing that as well: http://www.searchoptions.com.au/how-to-submit-kml-files-in-location-sitemap-for-your-local-business/

Great! I will work to clean this up. I'm hoping that since there is no Manual Action that the algorithm will take care of itself without needing a Manual Reconsideration.

Hello Monica, Many thanks for your response. We currently don't have any user generated content on these pages. It is something we are looking at doing but being a tool rental business , reviews is something, I have found that the industry (my competitors etc) have previously stayed aways from. Thoughts, being that most people who give a review with regards to this, would tend to give a negative review as opposed to saying the carpet cleaner they rented was ace !.. We are currently spending alot of money on the location content writting, it's just with over 100 categories and so many locations, the cost of doing this for everything would be way beyond our budgets. We have like you said, picked our most  valuable locations depending on category (where we rent more of a certain product) and have written unique content for these pages. If we Rel Canonical Tag the remaining location pages with the duplicate content, is this not going to cause problems as the main location varies category to category and these duplicate location pages still have their own NAP etc etc so , in effect I am pointing one branch page to another branch page at a different location which gets more rentals ?.. Would the location pages with the duplicate content still get affected by panda ?... There's nothing really on the web I can find about this specific problem but I am sure , there must be loads of multiple location business who have done similar to us. I will take a read and research on your suggestion and probably try it out for a few of them to see what happens in the rankings. Many thanks Pete

Thanks! Wish we had something as catchy as the Triangle out this way, but we don't. It looks like county-related keywords have enough traffic to make it worthwhile to make pages for them. And I hate messy menus, so they'll help in that regard, too.

Hey There, This post should help you become conversant with the ins and outs of local landing pages: http://moz.com/blog/local-landing-pages-guide You can definitely optimize each city landing page you build for the city in question. The main pitfall to avoid with this practice is developing thin or duplicative pages. Be sure if you're embarking on this content development project that you have the resources to devote to making unique pages of the highest possible quality. Hope this helps!

Excellent idea regarding the sub-domain.  While not perfect it helps tie the two sites together rather than there being 2 completely separate domains. Thank you very much Samuel and have a great day.

Hi Rob, One strategy I didn't see mentioned was the use of Case Studies. Case studies can be used to help convert clients with similar goals - they add a lot of confidence in the ability of the service provider and provide a direct example of success. I also suggest getting on the phone as often as possible with potential clients. I've found it much easier to convert a client when speaking to the client's needs directly over the phone. Sometimes, the goals and needs can get lost in email and speaking with them directly allows me to align both parties; and a sense of unity is a great conversion tactic.

Many thanks for your help Laura. That's what I was thinking so will do as you suggest. thanks Peter

David, Great to hear that your rankings are improving - I was looking at the above comments with Hutch and I noticed you mentioning that your competitors are creating backlinks on their clients' sites even after services have been rendered. It's a tactic I have come across before and while it technically isn't "illegal" I do believe there is something "unethical" about it. That being said, with new algorithm updates coming from Google I expect this will backfire on them within a year or so - having multiple links from a single domain is not as powerful as a diverse link profile. In regards to future link-building endeavors, definitely try out Link Prospector - with some dedication and focus I can create about 10-15 links to relevant websites within an hour. Remember not to over do it, as forming too many links (I put the number as higher than 15/month although some would argue higher or lower). It is a paid tool, but if you are only handling a few websites there aren't many better in-depth link search tools I have used for the cost. In terms of forum access, I believe you have access to the forums regardless of if you have a subscription. However, you are only allowed to read which I find isn't as powerful as being able to address specific questions directly to knowledgeable individuals. I treat it a bit like a consultation firm for SEO services - if there is something I need a specific answer to, this forums beats simple Google searches any day of the week. Hope your SEO endeavors continue to bear fruit! Best, Rob

A point of clarification here related to the first part of your answer. Google does not use PA and DA, those are Moz metrics. They're not looking at the Moz metrics for a site when they use their algorithms.

Hi Jacob! Okay, great. So, you can have 1 Google+ Local page per physical location. You cannot have them for towns you serve where you are not physically located - that would be a guideline violation. It's perfectly fine to link from a Google+ Local page to a respective landing page on the website instead of to a homepage. In fact, this is generally considered a good practice when you have multiple locations as it may reduce the risk of Google accidentally merging your listings. Hope this helps!

Yes, doing that is cheating, though not inherently "black-hat". However, it's also foolish to do that for a number of reasons: one of which is that you're putting an entire website in a sub-folder of the actual website. Another is that even with the canonization, they're forcing competition between these pages/sites. Even if they're not being penalized for it now, Google, Bing, and Yahoo will all eventually catch it and that'll be the end for them. A general rule: if you have to question the morality of something, it's probably wrong.

Cheers Egol I will let you know... Best Alan

Google has indicated that they don't use Schema data for ranking purposes.  Adding the schema will not make it less likely for you to rank for "Autism Alternative Treatment Arizona" than you are now. Do you provide any services to clients in California, or is your website more of a resource site with information about autism? If it's the latter, you really don't need to worry about queries with a local intent. Focus instead on making your site a topical authority with high-quality content.

I agree with Miriam and Ray. Additionally it does depend on the query/industry. For instance "indy plumbers" does pull a 3 pack, so Google does realize I was searching for Indianapolis. But in your industry I'd search to be sure a local pack comes up. I'd include the full city spelled out in all the relevant SEO places on your site though to help you rank for the majority of searches that will include full city name. But with Indy as part of your business name and URL you should find it fairly easy to rank for Indy searches, though the search volume will likely be less.

Hi Greenstone! Great questions from everyone in the community here! I will add, from a purely local perspective, you might want to be sure you've got all these ducks in a row: http://moz.com/blog/troubleshooting-local-ranking-failures Hope you'll come back with further details, based on the the questions the community has put forth!