Why am I not showing up in the SERP's or Google Local?

[CWseo]

I have been trying to optimise the following site for both Google SERP's and Google Local - Pixel Primate

The URL has been around for around 3 years now but they just updated the website and launched it in December 2012. I did the on-page optimisation early in January 2013 and Google seems to have indexed the changes, for the home page at least. One major keyword I am targeting for the home page is 'Web Design Leicester'.

I understand that the DA is fairly low (24) so this is something I need to improve. However, I've experienced positive results fairly quickly from just on-page optimisation for other sites I have worked on. The site just doesn't seem to be ranking at all for any keywords.

Maybe the industry type is just extremely competitve but I find it very strange to not be visible anywhere in the SERPs. The site does not seem to have any penalties as it ranks for 'Pixel Primate' and all pages appear when doing a site: search.

Also what's strange is that I set up the Google Local listing years ago but it doesn't appear anywhere in the local listing, not even when I search for it manually.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi CWseo,

Yes, the 'in' search has always done that. Odd, isn't it? I've never understood why Google does that in that way, but it's been like that since 2010.

[CWseo]

Hi Miriam, I hadn't realised that, thanks for your response. When I type 'web design Leicester' no local listings come up but if I search 'web design in Leicester' the local listings do come up. But then, i guess not many people are going to be searching 'web design in Leicester'.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi CWSEO,

Just want to pop in to address the local side of this. Google has not shown local results for website design companies since early 2010, so no matter what efforts you make in that direction, you will not get true local results for your business. Everything, therefore, must be approached organically. If you do a search for 'Web Design Leicester', you'll see that there are only organic results..not local ones. I'll let others approach this from an organic perspective, because of this phenomenon specific to design and SEO firms.

[PaulRonin]

Google Local seems to be pretty finicky.  I can honestly say I haven't really figured out an exact reason for how they rank things.  I have found that the more interactivity there is a on the G+ page the more likely it will show up.  And not just posts by you, but also interactivity by other people on your page.

In addition make sure you filled out as much applicable information in your Google Local Profile as possible.  That always seems to make a difference.

[CWseo]

Hi Paul, Thanks for your reply. The title tag change was just a small tweak I did today, so just ignore that. The main changes I had done seem to have all been picked up ok. I appreciate you saying that the search topic is competitive, maybe that's why! I'm planning on getting some articles submitted to some higher authority sites to raise our DA, I'll monitor whether that helps. I'm still confused as to why we're just not being seen in Google Local?

[PaulRonin]

It doesn't appear to me that google has picked up o the latest changes you've put thru.  When I search for Pixel Primate the title tag I get is completely different from what is currently listed on the page:

In Google: Web Design for Leicester, London and UK | Pixel Primate

Whats in the Code: Web Design Leicester & London | Website design by Pixel Primate

Beyond just that it does appear that it's a pretty competitive search space, so some time and effort will most likely be needed to get any real first page results.

Good Luck!