Google Local gets even better

It had to happen!Yellow Pages has been terrible for a long time, but Google hasn’t been great at finding those local search results. Well that’s about to change…

Google will now ask you for a location the first time you search for a local service – it will also ask if you want that location remembered (default is yes).

What does this mean for us?

For us as Google users it means no more daft results from a location far far away (I know more about the businesses in Melbourne Florida & Richmond Virginia that any normal person should)

For us as Google advertisers, it means the Google Local results are now more important than ever. That little map that you used to see for an occasional search (melbourne hotels for instance) will now be appearing more & more often as Google starts to learn more about the local areas in which we live.

It also means people might start using different phrases to find you & that trusty ‘Melbourne xxxxxxx’ that has worked so well for the last year, might start to lose it’s effectiveness… probably not for a while – but it’s good to know in advance what might happen!

And it means your SEO guys had better know about citations, reviews, proximity and authority.

You need to claim your Local Business Listing in Google – so that you control the information shown & not Yellow Pages.. that’s right, until you claim your own listing, Google will display whatever Yellow knows about you – which might not be all that much.

We’re putting together a new Local Business Listing Service, so contact us today if you’d like to know more.