The local search opportunity
According to Google, 20 per cent of all searches performed on this site are related to location. This equates to billions of searches each month with local intent, meaning the search either contained geographic modifiers like a city, region, or area code, or the search term displayed an inherent local desire (e.g. Italian restaurants, jewellery store, watch repair shop, etc.).
Every day, people across the world use Internet search more than any other channel to find addresses, phone numbers, products, and services. Consumers are referring to the web more frequently. However, most of the time, they’re looking for information beyond simply a phone number or address. Specifically, they want to know who has the best service, largest selection, friendliest employees, and lowest prices. Further, they want to validate all this with other people’s experiences via comments, ratings, complaints, ‘likes,’ tweets, and photos.
Historically, if you needed a plumber, electrician, mechanic, or jeweller, for instance, you simply asked family and friends who they’ve dealt with—it was the only way to know for sure who you could trust. While word of mouth is still the best form of free advertising, Internet search is a close second. The overabundance of information on the web makes this possible. It’s often easier to Google search a business name or service type and locate 10 legitimate reviews than it is to call people for a recommendation. Each day, more and more people are realizing this. Now is your chance as a business owner to use this to your advantage.
Ranking is everything
Unless you operate in a very small community, you likely have dozens or even hundreds of local competitors. This competition exists in every aspect of your advertising and marketing—search is no different. The typical Google result for a local search features the top seven names or companies, with a handy map of the local geographic area blanketed with red dots that are indicators for the total number of results in the area. If your business does not appear in this list, the odds of anyone finding you diminish greatly. Thankfully, there are many things you can do to get your business listing to appear at or near the top of these results, and it is not as difficult as you might think.
