Google Showing Local Results on Non-local Searches

April 1, 2009 - "Google launched a new algorithm and search query results system that has increased the importance of local listings on regular search results. Prior to the change, users were required to use a city and/ or state qualifier to find a local business (for example "pizza Salt Lake City Ut"). With the new change a user in Salt Lake City only needs to type the initial phrase (ie "pizza"). The impact of this change is enormous. Google Local Listings now can easily rank well above standard web sites for multiple keywords and keyword phrases. The change will result in increased traffic to the Maps section of Google and Local Listings in general." ListedFirst

"With this change, small/local businesses will now be getting exposure on at least hundreds, and probably thousands of prime keywords. As search marketers, we often tell our small business clients that they don’t want to rank for terms like “lawyer” or “doctor” because they’re too generic, and the competition for those prime terms would be beyond their reach. But, with Google showing local results on this prime real estate, a big door of opportunity has just opened up. A doctor in Topeka can get visibility on the term “doctor,” but only when local folks type it in." Search Engine Land

Local SEO Waxes as Yellow Pages Wanes

Thousand Oaks, CA – October 8, 2009 – Do you find yourself letting your fingers “do the walking” on your keyboard rather than your local Yellow Page directory? If so, you are not alone. Recent studies confirm that more people are now searching online for local products and services than their Yellow Pages book. Tracy Coenen sums it up, “I’d much rather use Google to find a business, knowing that I’m likely to find more than just the phone number and address. I’ll probably get a map to the business, a link to its site so I can find out more before calling, maybe some reviews of the company, and other bits of information.”

Herein lies the opportunity for local businesses. Businesses listed on the first page of Google or Yahoo local search results for a keyword search such as “carpet cleaner Los Angeles” or “accountant Charlotte” get the benefit of qualified prospects interested in doing business with them without any advertising expense–a boon to business. But wait. What if a business is not one of the lucky ones to be listed on the search engine first page results? After all, there are over 100 accountants in Charlotte for example and only 7 are listed on the first page of Google and 3 for Yahoo.

“Businesses are recognizing that more people are going online now to find local products and services,” says Ken Higgins, CEO of Top of Search™, a local search engine optimization company. “Since Google and Yahoo implemented local search results, the demand for our services has grown throughout the U.S. as more companies seek affordable first page results in the search engines.” Top of Search™ provides what is called “local search engine optimization” or (local SEO) services. Local SEO is different from traditional SEO because it helps businesses to rank well specifically for the Google and Yahoo local search results rather than global (non-local) search results. Search engine ranking factors (what search engines such as Google and Yahoo place importance on for the ranking they give to websites) are much different for local SEO vs. traditional SEO, making local SEO services a specialized area of expertise.

As Yellow Page usage continues to decline, this online opportunity for local businesses is likely to increase. Media research and consulting firm, Borrell Associates, adds, “Within the next four years, ad spending will fall 39% in print directories alone — the steepest projected decline across all local-media categories.” If local businesses can grasp this trend and simply “go where the consumer is going” (searching locally online for products and services), they just might find a bright spot for their business in an otherwise sluggish economy.