Pigeon Update Passport Needed

Updated January 13, 2023

Flight to Other English-Speaking Countries

Last Summer Google launched an algorithm change affecting local SEO. Now there’s another Pigeon update… where it’s rolled out to other English-speaking countries. In this post I’ll recap what the update means and who is affected.

Localised (typo intended) Search Terms

The Pigeon update has crossed the pond to the UK and down under to Australia. You can also find it up north to our Canadian friends. The algorithm was first noticed near the end of December. Google confirmed the rumor with Search Engine Land.

Pigeon Update Affects Accuracy for Local Searches

U.S.-based SEOs noted that the Pigeon update had an effect on both rankings and map results. Both positives and negatives were reported. It looks like business within a city-center or more urban areas reaped the benefit — depending upon the industry — while those on the outskirts didn’t fare as well. StrategyDigital has great before and after pictures of Pigeon for UK searches.

Local SEO Tips for Pigeon

Rather than trying to categorize the nuances of the Pigeon algorithm update, I suggest looking at your website’s content with a keen eye on your audience. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you draw in a localized audience? Check your Analytics if you’re not sure.
• Are you using rationalized search phrases in your web content? Use Google Trends to find geographical data on your most popular keywords that your audience is actually using.
• Is your location clear? If you have a limited service area, where does that information show up on your website? If it’s only on your contact page, you’ve got some more local SEO optimization to do. We find that pages specifically written for a local audience convert better than more general pages. Pepper in regional terminology (e.g., we refer to San Francisco as “The City” here in the Bay Area) as your readers can tell the difference.

What are you thoughts about the delay of this algorithm rollout?