How do I rank higher in search results?
Hey guys,
When I check out nearby sitters in my area, I find I am all the way on the 6th page. Now I know why I've been on this site for so long but never get hired. I'm sure people find someone they like by the time they get to the 5th page.
I have 1 testimonial so far and 3 badges. But I see people on the second page with one testimonial and only one badge. I completely filled out my profile, answered all the questions fully, and have 14 photos. My price is only $5 more than the minimum.
Also the area of the zip code I entered is completely empty and the search shows sitters in other zip codes, until I got to later pages, where it then began showing the sitters in the area I was searching for. So it shows people farther away before it shows my profile when I'm closer to the zip code entered, if that makes sense.
Is there anything else that could put you higher in search results? Does anyone else have this issue too?
Update: thanks everyone, for replying! It was really hard for me to choose the "correct answer" - you all helped me. Good luck to you guys and I hope you get many happy bookings :)
Good luck! However, I'm not sure there's any rhyme or reason to Rover's search algorithm. I did a search on my zipcode and found myself, with 29 five-star reviews, number 6 on the second page of sitters. The very first sitter had no badges and no reviews and was, naturally, not even in the zipcode. Over the holidays, my nephew asked about the service for a friend of his with two dogs. When I told him that the search function pretty much ignored zipcodes, he was in total disbelief that any business could operate this way. Rover are you listening?
I think it might partly have to do with how quickly you respond. Do you respond within seconds? Minutes? Hours? If you take longer to respond that might be the issue.
Unfortunately, all search algorithms are extremely flawed and based on the parameters as programmed by the company that uses them. They will not tell you how they have their algorithms set, so do not waste your time asking. Has nothing to do with "reviews". It's the search function that is flawed
I very much agree. Moreover, you would think a company would tailor the search function to meet its customers' needs. Have they done focus groups to ask customers how they want to search or what attributes are most important? Doubtful.