This thread was closed:
https://wpgeodirectory.com/support/topic/show-paid-listing-first-in-all-searches/
But I think the topic needs to be reopened, because a) you’ve effectively killed the value in paid listings for a site that’s larger than 1 location, and b) it’s possible to solve this problem with reasonable effectiveness for all parties.
Near as I can tell, the reasoning seemed to go that if the system were to sort by featured, and then distance, you’d wind up with featured listings thousands of miles away, and a poor user experience. If this were the only option, I’d agree. But it sounds like you’re trying to do all of the searching and ordering in your SQL statement. There’s another way. You can find all of the listings in the max search radius (40mi I think is the default), and then do your sorting within that subset. This would let you sort by ratings, relevance, featured, etc. Most people aren’t searching on highly precise locations anyway. If they’re searching by city or zip code, then they’re implicitly telling you that they’re comfortable traveling ~130% (I just made that number up) of the ‘radius’ of that geo anyway.
What do you think?
Guust 7 years, 10 months ago.