Last month, Google released their newest algorithm, Pigeon, which focuses primarily on boosting local search efforts. For businesses in the hotel and restaurant industries, there was a significant drop in positions on search engine result pages. This was due to the rise of information on local directory websites like Yelp!, Yellow Pages, and more taking over local search results. Fortunately, the storage industry hasn’t seen the same issues that other industries have in local search; however, Google is still rolling out Pigeon, which means drops in results for storage websites could be coming. To combat this update, Search Engine Land has some simple steps you can follow to optimize your business for local search. Here are the biggest takeaways to help you achieve better local rank. Which Local Directories Show Up for Storage Facilities? Every search query’s results are going to be different depending on the industry. In order to find out if certain directories are more beneficial than others, you’ll need to perform your own online search. If you search for “Chicago Self Storage,” for example, you will still see website results, but fewer than before. However, you should see more results with Chicago self storage listings on local directories. The directories that come up first are the ones you’ll want to be listed on, if you’re not already. Is It Easy to Find Your Facility’s Contact Information? Your name, address, and phone number (sometimes referred to as NAP) plays a large role in local search. Most of local search visibility is based on how often your business’s name, phone number, and address are found on the web—and consistently, too. This might mean you’ll need to go through each of your current local listings and update them so they’re all the same. While this is time-consuming, you’ll be thankful you did, as the more consistent your listings are, the higher they’ll rank in search engine results when people search for storage. For storage facility owners, it’s time to take advantage of easy opportunities to be found online (like being listed on directory websites) and begin boosting overall search rank.]]>