Understanding Local Search

A lot of businesses aren’t aware of the importance of search engines as a way of producing long term traffic. They also aren’t aware of the changing landscape of how search engines work which has placed a greater emphasis on local and personalised search results. This change has implications for the way that businesses market online but it can also present opportunities for those that take advantage before their competitors.

People are probably now aware that Google is the most popular search engine used in nearly every country of the world. It handles more searches than all other search engines combined. As a result, it is vitally important to be aware of how Google operates and in particular how it determines it’s rankings. Where your website is located in the search results will have a significant impact on how many people see it (and therefore the potential number of customers that it can bring to you).

Google has continued to refine the way that it determines it’s results and is now placing greater emphasis on results that are personalised based on the location or preferences of the user. One of the ways that it does this is by now showing a list of seven “local business listings” above the normal search results when people search for something in a specific location. These “Top 7” businesses have their website address and phone number displayed. They are also shown on an adjacent map. These businesses are not sponsored listings, in fact they are taken by Google from their local business listings which are free to setup. Being one of these 7 businesses can obviously be a major competitive advantage and will provide more customers to your business or website.

Google does not fully disclose how it determines this Top 7 list, although the potential to make this list will depend on factors like:

• Accuracy and quality of information contained in your local listing
• Your physical location relative to the specific search location or town
• Customer review and ratings
• Your involvement or links with social media
• The current level of competition for your particular product or service
• How well optimised your website is
• Your organic search results

The importance of local search listings and results is still something that most businesses are not aware of. This is a shame really as the opportunity currently exists to take advantage of your competitors who might be slow to realise the significant increase in leads that could come from appearing in these local results. Make an effort to position your business now so that it can take advantage of the changing search landscape.