Ranking Above the Map in Local Search Results

[malcolmcroucher]

When you search for a term on google . Google localised gives a map and loads of sites on the right of the map which are in the district.

No how does an international site (that is not so large focussing on a niche area) get a ranking above the map ?

I have seen it being done for some searches ?

Question :

1. Would an international site be able to beat google localised ?

Regards

Malcolm

[tedster]

Malclom, are you talking about being in the Adwords position that sometimes appears at the top of the SERPs? Or in a "natural" #1 position that would still be below a paid ad? I'll assume the second, for now.

Just as with other areas of Universal Search, Google chooses where to put the Google Maps results. I'm not sure we can call that a ranking, in the truest sense of the word. Rather, on a local query they "force" the Map to appear where they want it to. So Google might experiment with the #2 position for the Map on some searches.

[malcolmcroucher]

a natural #1 or #2 position above the map , but sometimes the natural # 1 position is below the map .

I am wondering how you get above the map ?

Regards

Malcolm

[Robert Charlton]

I am wondering how you get above the map?

malcom - Again, that is a choice that Google makes.

Google seems to be constantly experimenting with where it puts its "natural" results in relation to where it puts its "Universal" results. Universal results are results like video, news, shopping, images, and local map results.

So, for a geo-targeted phrase, once you do well enough to rank in the top non-map organic position, Google will put you either above or below the map, depending on where it is in what I'd call its "normalization evaluation cycle," which seems to be a perpetually ongoing thing.