Why your venue may not appear first in destination search results

This article explains how search ordering works on venuedirectory and why your venue may not always appear in the #1 position when a buyer searches for a destination (e.g. a city or postcode) rather than your specific venue name.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Overview
• 1. Listing type order
• 2. Distance from the destination centre
• 3. Buyer filters and criteria
• 4. What this means for your venue
• 5. How we can review a specific search

Overview

When a buyer searches for a destination such as a city, town, or postcode (for example, “[Destination]”), our system:

1. Groups venues by listing type in a set order
2. Orders venues within each group by distance from the central point of the destination searched
3. Applies any buyer filters (e.g. dates, delegate numbers) which can further affect the ordering

This is separate from your subscription status being active or your listing being correctly set up.

1. Listing type order

Venues are first grouped and ordered by listing type, in the following sequence:

1. Enhanced venues with Instant Book and availability loaded
2. Enhanced venues with Instant Book and no availability loaded
3. Enhanced venues (without Instant Book)
4. Basic venues with Instant Book and availability loaded
5. Basic venues with Instant Book and no availability loaded
6. Basic listings

This means:

• Enhanced listings are shown before Basic listings.
• Within each tier, Instant Book and availability can give additional prominence.

2. Distance from the destination centre

Within each of the groups above, venues are then ordered by distance from the central point of the destination searched. Examples:

• For a city search, this is the centre of that city.
• For a postcode search, this is the central point of that postcode area.

Venues that are calculated as closer to this central point may appear above others of the same listing type, even if all have Enhanced status.

3. Buyer filters and criteria

The buyer can apply various filters that further refine and reorder results. These may include:

• Dates
• Number of delegates
• Other preferences or requirements

Only venues that match these filters will appear in the results list for that search, and the match can influence ordering within the relevant group.

4. What this means for your venue

Because of how the above factors work together:

• Even with an Enhanced listing, your venue is not guaranteed to always appear in the #1 position for every search in your city or destination.
• Your Enhanced status does ensure you appear ahead of Basic listings.
• However, other Enhanced venuesthat are:
  • Calculated as closer to the centre of the searched destination, and
  • Match the buyer’s chosen filters
    may appear above your venue in that specific set of results.

5. How we can review a specific search

If you want to understand a particular case, gather the exact search criteria you are using, including:

• Destination (city / town / postcode)
• Dates
• Delegate numbers
• Any filters or preferences applied

With this information, Support can reproduce the search, show you where your venue appears, and identify which venues appear above you and why, for that specific search scenario.