SEARCHENGINES
Whitespark Releases Local Ranking Study For 2023

The folks over at Whitespark has published there 2023 local ranking factors study, where they asked dozens of local SEO experts to rank what they think are the most important ranking signals for local pack and organic local search rankings.
Of course, most SEOs know by now that these ranking studies are controversial, but I love reading them, so maybe you like reading them too?
The top factors according to this study and the experts, specific to local pack rankings, are:
- Primary Google Business Profile category
- The keywords in your business name/title
- Proximity to searcher
- Physical address in the city of search
- Removal of spam listings through spam fighting
There is a whole list of data you can expand and see more.
And for the top factors for organic local rankings in general:
- Dedicated pagr for each service
- Internal linking across website
- Quality/authority of inbound links to domain
- Geographic keyword relevancy of content
- Keywords in Google Business Profile landing page title
You can check out the full study over here.
Forum discussion at Local Search Forum.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Search Featured Snippets Tests Define Option On Words

Google is testing the ability to click on a word in a featured snippet within Google Search and define that word. You can also copy the word, if you want. I think this is a Google Search test and maybe not a Chrome test.
This was spotted by Punit who posted a video of this in action on Twitter, here is a screenshot of this video:
Here is the video embed:
Google added “define” option to know definition of selected Term (popup)
CC: @rustybrick pic.twitter.com/X2ungN8EeW— Punit (@Punit6008) May 30, 2023
The reason I think this is a Google Search test and not a Chrome test is because he lost his Google session and was not able to trigger it again. I can be wrong and this might be a Chrome test and not a Google Search test.
Google is also testing this in other areas of the search results:
Google SERP is testing define options for the definition of limited search terms. Define options are shown in featured snippets, people also ask, Sponsored ads, organic results description & Local business. Have you seen this.
cc- @rustybrick @JohnMu
For referance video- pic.twitter.com/4mKuZ7csRa
— Anuj thaker (@Anuj_Thaker03) May 31, 2023
🧵 cc- @rustybrick pic.twitter.com/RRsLsbgVhJ
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) June 1, 2023
Here Sharing with you some example including wikipedia pages, I doubt for chroma features, asking for Ctrl+Shift+X for select pic.twitter.com/JOx9DhLoJF
— Punit (@Punit6008) June 1, 2023
Forum discussion at Twitter.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Says Don’t Pick Cheap Domain On TLDs Overrun With Spam

Google’s John Mueller said on Reddit, when it comes to SEO, do not pick a cheap domain on a TLD that is overrun with spam.
The question on Reddit was, “Does it matter for SEO if my site is .com / .site /or any other?” The individual added, “I still have the feeling that my site is not well indexed and wondering if the domain address can be the issue.”
John’s response makes it sound like the .site TLD is a spammy TLD that is a bit overrun by spammy sites.
So be careful which TLD you buy your new domain on, not all are equal.
How do you know which TLDs are spammy? Well, Spamhaus.org has a lot.
Forum discussion at Reddit.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Working On AdSense & Google Analytics 4 Connector

Google posted an update that it is currently working on linking your Google AdSense account with your Google Analytics 4 property as it offers with Universal Analytics 3.
The update was posted in this AdSense help document at the top and reads, “Google Analytics 4 update: We’re currently working on an update to allow you to link your AdSense account with Google Analytics 4. We’ll let you know when it’s ready. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue making the switch to GA4.”
This was spotted by Charles Farina on Friday who posted this screenshot of it on Twitter:
Well, we got less than 30 days Google…
Forum discussion at Twitter.
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