There are many ways for a site to appear on a search engine’s results page. While search users are probably most familiar with organic results, search engines are continually refining their search tools and offering results in new ways in order to offer their users the most relevant information. Recently, Google has been refining its local search product. Google+ Local now offers business listings to users based on the location where they perform a search and the keywords that they query.
The ad network Chikita tracks search result data and has recently released a report showing that local searches make up about one quarter of the searches made on the three largest search engines. Bing leads the way in the rate of local searches performed with its search tool with 28.81% of Bing searches. Yahoo came in second with 25.28% of searches performed querying a certain location, and Google rounds out the bunch with a local search rate of 24.24%.
Chitika also compared the number of local searches performed on mobile devices with the number performed on desktops. Google had the highest rate of local searches on mobile devices with 16.37%, 15.95% of Yahoo’s local searches were made on mobile devices, and 5.21% of Bing’s local searches were made with mobile.
All this data points to the fact that local search will continue to be a focus of search engines as they try to increase the number of local searches performed on their search engines. Local searches provide better results to qualified users, or users who are more likely to obtain the services of a business that they find through search engine. Listing and optimizing your business on a search engine’s local search product has always been important, and will prove to be essential for business who strive for visibility in the areas that they serve.
Optimizing for local results also requires providing information that will let customers in your service areas know what you can do for them. The first step in this process is identifying the areas where customers and clients are best served by your company and the areas where it makes most sense for your business to serve. Some areas will have customers that will be more fruitful for your company. This may be because you will have to travel a shorter distance in order to serve them or because your business is certified to work in some areas and not in others. Knowing where you would like to be found and optimizing to appear in specific areas will help you rank better in local search results and be seen by potential customers and clients who are more likely to bring you business.
Once you have identified the areas where your local search optimization will get your site seen by the right potential customers and clients, you are ready to start optimizing your site to be seen in these areas. The first step will be claiming your local business listing on Bing, Google, and Yahoo. This will allow you to post both your business contact information and content optimized to target products, services, and locations on a listing that search engines will verify with you. Verifying your listing will lead to search engines being guaranteed that the information being presented is correct, and as such they will be more likely to recommend your business to local search users in your areas.
If you are curious about the power of local search or have questions about the best ways to be optimized to rank well in local search listings, contact Boston Web Marketing to learn more about local search optimization and getting your website found by customers looking for your product or service in the areas that you serve.
-Andrew Wise
If you are interested in more SEO techniques or would like to hire us to manage your reputation online contact us at: sales@getfoundquick.com or call 857.526.0096.
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