Google Local Search And The Impact On Natural Optimization

With the advent of Google Local, a service that helps Web users find local businesses by typing in a search term and a city name, many questions arise concerning its impact on Natural Optimization.

Google Local tracks down local stores and businesses by searching billions of pages across the Web, and then cross-checking these findings with Yellow Pages information to locate the local resources Web users wish to access. In addition to local business listings and related Web links, Google Local also provides maps of the desired region and directions made available by MapQuest. This makes Google Local convenient for Web searchers and extremely useful for local businesses, if their sites are optimized for local-searches. If not, some businesses could be missing out on a tremendous increase in local site visibility and traffic.

Case-in-point: The Home Depot, whose Web site features its own Store Finder with zip code-accessed location listings. Type "Home Depot" into Google Local and while a list of local stores appears, no related local landing pages come up. In fact, none of the related Web links even direct Web users to Home Depot's home page. Most large sites that have retail stores have a search feature or "enter your zip" option. Google and other Search Engines will never be able to index this content. For retailers looking to increase sales and traffic from their Web sites, this could prove to be a big problem.

The Home Depot is not alone. Countless other large and small businesses alike do not have city-oriented pages accessible through local search sites. Many are not listed in the top 15 return results for related keywords for Google Local, despite their location in the immediate proximity to the search location. Google Local ranks listings based on their relevance to the search terms the user enters, not solely by geographic distance. This means that unless your site has a city and/or county-oriented landing page for each location, Google will not be able to access your contact page, no matter how relevant your site is to a search term, or how close you are in geographic distance.

Natural Optimization specialists never really focused on the optimization of contact and location pages on websites, but now it's becoming a vital tool to drive more qualified traffic to the sites. In order to make sites local search-ready, they should start creating sitemaps that include every store location and then build individual landing pages for each specific location with a brief overview of the store along with a map and detailed directions. Without this, Google does not have a path to index the pages and information. Doing this small step will increase your qualified traffic as well as increase sales in your retail store or business.

By making your keywords city-specific and including more location-specific information on your site, Google Local can access your contact information and, as a result, drive more related traffic to your site.

Take Hard Rock Café. Their Web site is an ideal example of a site that is perfectly optimized for local Search Engines like Google Local. When entered in as a search term, Hard Rock Café's number one listing links to their home page's restaurant location page. Search users can instantly access information on Hard Rock Café in general, as well as learn more about location and contacts.

Local search is one of the most hyped areas of development in the Search industry today. Other Search engines including Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, MSN and CitySearch are hot on Google's tail to perfect their own versions of local Search Engines. Soon, not having your site optimized for local Search Engines will make your business's site obsolete. The impact of local search is already apparent, and it is still only in its infancy.

About The Author

Rob Young, Manager of Natural Optimization and Creative Director of full-service interactive marketing and advertising agency UnREAL Marketing Solutions, has been with the company since its inception in 1999. Young oversees the Natural Optimization and Creative departments. www.unrealmarketing.com

rob@unrealmarketing.com

---

Why SEO (as we know it) is Doomed to Failure and How You Can Avoid the Trap

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become one of the biggest... Read More

Commonly SEO terms and Jargon used by Search Engine Gurus

What does all this SEO jargon mean.Have you ever been... Read More

The Role of the Robots.txt File to Improve Site Ranking!

Not many web master take the time to use a... Read More

Search Engine Copywriting: Focus on One Topic

Perhaps the simplest of all the lessons I have learned... Read More

More Hits are Good for My Website - A Myth You Should Avoid

I hear this all the time. "I can get you... Read More

Earn with Fun by simple SEO (search engine optimization)

It all happened 3 months back, I have a blog... Read More

SEO Facts

The internet is the largest market place on earth. It... Read More

Analyzing Googles Backlinks Is Close To Worthless

... Read More

Does Javascript Affect Ranking?

Almost all SEO's agree that using too much javascript can... Read More

Optimizing For Visitors Not Search Engines

Most people feel that optimizing is to target the search... Read More

See No Google, Hear No Google, Speak No Google

That's right - I dreamt of a World Wide Web... Read More

KEI Concerns and CID Alternative

Like many folks, I have been using KEI for some... Read More

Search Engine Optimization: What Is It?

Search Engine Optimization is the creation of a web page,... Read More

Search Engines Are Doomed to Fail

A very provocative title, isn't it? Based on the latest... Read More

Dont Focus Too Much on Your Internet Business Website Ranking

No doubt, having a high search engine ranking is very... Read More

Internet Marketing and Search Engine Indexing.

The world of internet marketing is a highly competitive place.... Read More

Do Not Ever Link to a Site Without Doing This First!

Links are a crucial part of attaining high search rankings,... Read More

Understanding Google - What You Need To Know To Conquer This Search Engine Giant

Use a keyword density of about 1 to 2%. Use... Read More

These 7 Back Link Strategies Will Get You a Top Ranking on Google Guaranteed

Google use a very complex function to determine which search... Read More

Search Engine Optimization for Dummies

Lets face it. Search Engines rule the World Wide Web... Read More

The Unethical SEO Myth

"The use of black hat SEO techniques are completely unethical."... Read More

Keywords: The First Step To Recognition

Open Wordtracker [ http://www.wordtracker.com/ ] and you'll see... Read More

The Power of Topic Specific Search

What are Topical Search Engines?Simply put, topical search engines are... Read More

Link Exchange Tips, No Tricks

Use text links, avoid image links. Anyhow, if you... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Free Site Promotion (PR) (part 6/10)

In parts 1 - 5 you learnt how to develop... Read More

How to Top Google by Writing Articles

Search engines determine their rankings based on two things: ... Read More

How To Get Your Web Site Banned ? or Search Engine Promotion, How Not to do it!

Search engines constantly strive to advance their technology and algorithms... Read More

SEO - Get Your Site Out of the Google Sandbox Fast!

Is your new site sitting in the infamous Google "sandbox"?... Read More

Search Engines from a Webmaster Perspective

By now, virtually every webmaster has heard or read that... Read More

You Have More Web Sites Than You Think You Have: The Importance of Deep Submission

If I ask you how many web sites do you... Read More

The Modern Day Search Engine

The first task most netizens do when they log on... Read More

The Smart Way To Get Listed On Google!

So you want to get listed on Google? And you... Read More

META Tags Explained and How To Use Them For Ranking

The META tags are used to provide extra information about... Read More