Approximately four years ago, Google made a major change in their search
engine results page by introducing a "Universal Search" system that blended
listings with video, images and news results along with the sites it
gathered from crawling web pages. Universal Search also accommodated the
increase in searches for location-specific information. Instead of just
searching "restaurants", many people were searching "restaurants Louisville
KY." Search engines tested this new interest trend by placing a map and
local listings at the top of the results page. Heat map reports showing how
users absorb a search results page implied that users paid a good deal of
attention to the map listings at the top of the page.
This research also indicates that users interact with map listings and
organic search results more frequently than the paid ads. This change
prompted Google to prioritize local search to the top of the search results
page, and in time most engines followed suit.
Before the rise of local search, users had to enter a search term plus a
geo-modifier (e.g., Louisville, Kentucky, 40299) in order to get
location-specific search results. Today's search algorithms take into
account the IP address of the user, showing location-targeted results
without the searcher requesting it. A search for just "dentists" from a
computer in Louisville will pull up dental offices in the Louisville, KY
area along with the general information pages.
Google experimented with how many local search listings to display in order
to maximize user experience. Originally, only three local search listing
results were displayed as flags next to the area map. Google tried
increasing local map listings to a 10-pack, but found that searchers did not
like how far down the page that moved organic search results. Research
indicated that local searchers wanted a selection of map listings, but also
valued the organic search listings. This led to the 7-pack format, which
presented seven listings at the top of the search page.
The most recent iteration of Google's local search display is called "Place
Search." This format combines the organic listings with local map listings
and positions the map on the right panel. There is also an option to see
only local listings by clicking the "Places" link in the left-hand panel.
The latest iteration personalizes local search by allowing users to select
their location to see local listings in any area, not just their current
location. This change puts even more emphasis on local search results by
showing more robust listings with pictures, meta descriptions and review
quotes.
Bing and Yahoo have followed Google into local search marketing. However,
all local search does not work the same and they have different algorithms
to determine business rank. Obviously, you get more traffic if you are
ranked on the first page of local search. To obtain a high ranking, you must
build out your business listing using geotags, reviews, citations, product
and service keywords and additional information.
my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that can
be done today."
If you have any questions or comments please contact me.
Regards Gerald
Website: http://www.webcraft.ws
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
Twitter: WebcraftGuru
Facebook: Webcraft Guru
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