Google has recently been putting a lot of effort in integrating its own tools (Google+, Google local / maps) together and display more listings in the main search engine results pages from these sources.
This makes it the perfect time for your business to look at these tools, especially if you’re competing in the local space.
So here are some tips on how to improve your business rankings for localised searches
A local search is a search done for a specific set of keywords with a location in the search query (dentist SW19 in the example below). Historically, this search would have returned websites using these keywords within their content, but Google Places changed all that. By registering (and verifying) their company with Google, local businesses could achieve high rankings in SERPs since Google displays local results above “other” natural results (see example below).
Since local/places results get displayed above other organic results, it is easy to understand why companies need to be thinking about local searches when implementing their SEO. It is not only a great way to get good rankings, but also a means of quality traffic to a site.
Google now also automatically identifies your location if you’re logged in to your Google account when doing a search, so even more generic searches may return local results based on google’s index. And with an even greater integration between all of Google’s tools (Google +, +1, Google + business pages…) the competiton to be at the top of local searches is going to increase further.
As more people browse the web use mobile devices (smarthpones / tablets), it is becoming increasingly important to be well established locally. Think how many users on smartphones may be looking for a restaurant near where they are for example. Google is taking location into account in the SERPs, so ensuring your local business shows in prime position can have a dramatic impact on your revenue.
These simple tips should help your business perform better for local searches, which is critical if you work in a locally competitive environment (think dentists, doctors, vets, local shops, charity shops, restaurants, garages, plumbers….). And this should hopefully increase the number of enquiries your get from your website and Google.
We help a lot of small and local businesses achieve good rankings on a regular basis, so get in touch if you’d like us to have a look at your website and current digital activities.
Etienne is the Head of SEO here at Mahon Digital and he’s been involved in the digital & search marketing industry for nearly 11 years now, working for small family owned businesses as well as international FTSE 500 companies. He’s passionate about all things digital, but more specifically about digital & search strategy and marketing analysis.