With most local business searches happening online through local search engines and local search directories, local search marketing and local search advertising are more important than ever. A huge part of local search optimization is the local search directory. There are now dozens of places online to find local businesses, so knowing the best local directories for local search and how to submit to and get listed with all of these local search engines and directories is extremely important to today’s local business.
What is GOOGLE Local?
Most people know of Google Maps, especially their excellent app for the iPhone. Google Local takes Maps and makes a place for business, offering people like you and me the chance to add details about our businesses, like opening times, the payment methods we accept, as well as the services we offer.
How Does GOOGLE Local Work?
Say you’re looking for a plumber. Google knows roughly where you are and will find all of the plumbers close to where you are. If they have a listing on Google Local, you’ll have the option to view more details about them.
How can GOOGLE Local help your business?
Google Local has come a long way in the past year. Now more tightly integrated with Maps than ever before, there’s plenty of reasons to get your business on the map. Reviews – what customers think about your business As the web becomes an ever more social place to be, customer reviews are playing a major role in the trust people place in the businesses they use. If someone writes a damning review of your business, that might not be the end of the world if it‘s just one against ten others that are filled with glowing praise. People rely heavily on the say-so of others, for things like consumer goods and especially food. And because things are much more open and publicly available than ever before, the emphasis has to be on quality.
Your LOCAL Business Listing:
According to Google, 20 percent of all searches are related to location. Since ComScore.com reports that 14.3 billion searches were conducted through Google in March, this means nearly 3 billion Google search queries contained local terms.
Your SMART PHONE Business Listing:
Now that 8 out of 10 Americans own Smart Phones the demand for mobile searches is increasing on a daily basis. According to our case studies more than 20 million people in the U.S. searched online for products or services using a mobile device in 2009. These numbers are expected to quadruple over the next three years.
Prospects who are searching from mobile devices are looking to answer their local needs immediately. What this means for local business owners’ is that there are now higher quality prospects searching for your products and services. As the competition grows it will become more difficult to get listed in Google Local, NOW is the time to lock in your spot!
The technology that search engines use to determine the ranking of your business listing on phones is extremely complex. The most important factors are the searchers location, search query, and competition. In order to maximize exposure, our experts periodically analyze the traffic and ranking of your business listing across different smart phones.