SUCCESS FACTORS FOR LOCAL SEARCH
Companies that do business in their local area benefit from being found in local searches. ?Customers who are looking to solve problems requiring a certain product, service or profession go to the search engines to find the best solution. ?Those companies with a web presence that is visible to the customer when they are searching have a good chance at landing a new customer or interested prospect. ?That means that a business needs to take advantage of every available method of visibility to place themselves in a position to capture their local clients prior to their search.
Google Universal Search
In 2007, Google redesigned their search results based what they called universal results. ?Basically, the default setting for search engine users was set so that the first page results included the following elements based on the keyword typed in:
1) Relevant News stories
2) Relevant Videos
3) Relevant Web Pages
4) Relevant Images
5) Relevant Local Business Directory Listings (called Google Places)
This did not mean that all five elements always showed up on the first page of results. ?In some cases, there were only web pages and videos. In other cases, there were web pages and directory listings. ?What Google did with universal search was to produce for users the most relevant content in various forms of media?so that they could solve problems and find answers.
Google?s goal was always to give users the best possible experience in a search that they could receive, by always being able to find the information they truly wanted very quickly. ?By providing multiple ways for users to find the answers?Google?s search experience became a more reliable one. ?In the estimation of its management, this would keep Google in the forefront of people?s minds when they were seeking information.
Local Companies and Universal Search
In recent years, what Google?s?focus on providing universal results to users has done is to provide local businesses several opportunities to become part of the search listings for a given keyword. ?Prior to 2007, everything depended on what could be done to make a business?s website, product offerings and service offerings available for a user?s search. ?This meant that local SEO involved knowing the search patterns of local area residents and getting the most relevant content from their static website into the view of the search engine user. ?Companies basically hoped to have one of the ten visible listings for a local product or service search.
However, universal search brought new elements?to what companies could hope to accomplish. ?First, in some cases, a local search could have more than ten possibilities for companies to occupy a position on Google?s first page. ?No longer were they limited to taking one of ten web positions. ?If Google displayed all of the elements of universal search for a keyword, a company could hope to have the following on Page One of the results:
- A relevant web page, as part of the organic results
- A relevant YouTube video as part of the organic results
- A relevant story from Google News
- A business directory listing in Google Places
- A relevant entry from Google Blog search
- A relevant image from Google Image search
It was made possible then for a company to have one of 15 positions on page one if all were displayed for a given keyword. ? However, in most cases a local product or service oriented search returns three of these elements: ?1) the relevant web page, 2) the relevant video and 3) the Google Business Directory listing from what?s called ?Google Places.? ?Companies who master these three elements with respect to a given keyword search, can excel in reaching customers using local SEO.
Mastering Keyword Research and Relevant Web Pages
Companies can pick up the maximum amount of search traffic by creating web page content around individual products or service based keywords and their city modifiers. For example, a company doing business in Chicago that retails vacuum cleaners will want to optimize their web pages, videos, images and other web properties (and permutations) for:
?Chicago vacuum cleaners?
?Chicago vacuum cleaner?
?Chicago vacuums?
?Chicago vacuum?
This will require a very steady and detailed effort, but one that is worth the time for the seller. ?In most cases, many of the local based keywords will not display their proper volume in the various search engine information tools (Google Adwords Keyword Tool); therefore some of the work that an SEO analyst do will require testing, tracking and adjustment. Companies and their consultants should carefully monitor website traffic patterns to attain the pulse on where people are searching.
It is important to note that Google has been making adjustments in the way that the search engine brings back local results in recent years. ?A search engine user can type in the word ?vacuum? without city modifiers into the Google Search Engine and get many of the same results as those who do use the city name. ?So, for instance, a search with:
?vacuum?
Can bring back the same results as,
?Chicago vacuum?
...If the user conducting their search is located in the Chicago area. ?This is a challenging scenario for local marketers, because there is no way to create content to target this kind of search. ? However, companies should still work to target their web pages? content with the city modifier, as about 54% of all local searches done with a local city/town name.
Mastering Relevant Videos
Once a company has factored in how to target its?relevant local keywords with its?company website, it is important to work toward securing a second position on page one. This can be done with some additional optimization work with YouTube videos. ?Because YouTube is owned by Google, videos from the site are often favored in the search results. ?This means that a well placed video can increase visibility for the company and strengthen its brand.
Mastering Google Places
In addition to the company?s webpage, Google provides local businesses the opportunity to be part of its?free directory. ?Called Google Places, this directory listing requires filling out the full profile and making sure its contents are optimized for search. ?There is only one Google Places listing; therefore, it may be difficult to make it relevant across a significant number of local areas.
However, its presence is necessary to anyone who does business locally. Due to its easy and friendly integration with mobile devices, consumers are using it to locate things. ?Businesses should make optimizing the list for search a top priority either working with a consultant or doing it themselves.
The Future of Local Search
Like the rest of the web, online activity is becoming more social. ?As a result Google has been integrating their social network?into their web properties. ?The company?s management has also made it a prominent part of the Google Places experience. ?Companies that are active socially and demonstrating their interactions will be favored by the search engines in the future. ?That doesn?t mean that social activity will replace the other ranking factors, but it will influence them. ?Therefore, companies should be adding a social component to their local activity.
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Source: http://www.name.com/blog/contentmarketing/2013/01/success-factors-for-local-search/
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