Business Website Advice

Local search has changed big time. Your business can now appear on Google’s first page for local searches whether you have a website or not. 

Searchers can enter just one-word - just one generic keyword query - and get offered back the new Google 10 Pack (sometimes 3, even 2, funny that) with a map, for their local area.  All that without querying for location.  Previously you had to enter the location (geo-modifier), no longer for local. 

It worked for every generic keyword I tried: barristers, web design, gifts, yacht. Go ahead, test it for you generic keyword.

It means you can compete locally against the big national websites. As with most things, local search with the Google 10 Pack has its pros and cons.  For instance…

Pros: revolutionises local ranking for the little guy.

Cons:  the 10 Pack appears a bit arbitrary by possibly ignoring some of the hard work some businesses have put into building a web presence and is inconsistent based on examples I’ll give below. 

I first noticed the Google 10 Pack for one word searches last week. I was researching national searches using just generic one-word keywords. Ha!  I didn’t get national results, I got local results.  

Sample query:  lawyers.  Below note the 10 Pack for lawyers near Whangarei (local for me) in 4th position.

Searchers are unlikely to go past the 10 Pack.  If they are looking for a local supplier, why would they.   Read below how to get on the list.

Change the location option, if you want to search in a different location (thanks Andy). This impacts businesses that have enjoyed high ranking nationally for several areas not in their own backyard. We will be watching to see what SEO adjustments will need to be made. 

Google has been tweaking their famous algorithm used to evaluate and rank web pages for locals. They say they look at 100 features which they keep secret to keep cheaters at bay.  My SEO Guidelines v10 gives you a good start on increasing your search engine visibility. Through 13 years of research and trial and error on countless websites, the guidelines keep getting revised. V11 coming soon.

It’s called a Google 10 Pack because it’s a list of 10 local results and a map! But it’s not always 10. Keep reading.

At present, you can can get different looking results. Try some searches. Notice sometimes you get a 10 Pack, sometimes a 3 Pack. Sometimes it’s different for singular than plural. Sometimes you get only a 1 pack for singular and no pack for plural.  Below:  singular barrister on the left yielded no 10 Pack, on the right the plural query for barristers yielded Google 10 Pack .

Google is bound to keep tweaking.  This we know for sure.  Remember Google is the most used search engine because they deliver great usable information. If we searchers don’t find what we’re looking for on the first page, WE change our query. Google is just too good for us to think it’s them who are wrong.  Yahoo searches supposedly are following suit with local search results.  I cannot coment on  Yahoo.

Their big assumption is that searchers want local results, not national, when searching for one word.  I’d agree for most of the time.

The downside to all this is that sometimes we’re looking nationally, or we have businesses focused on national markets and have websites successfully optimised for generic short tail phrases. Life has changed in SEO-land.

I recommend you try it yourself, now.  Google your keyword, no location.  If not on the list, read on.

If you need more motivation read my article encouraging you to register with Google Maps .

Register here. Google has a new Local Business Center page with a 2 minute video giving simple audio instructions on how to get your location authenticated with Google. Easy.

Previously, I’ve been a fan of the geo-modifier.   I’ve had great success  optimising web pages for a keyword search phrase plus the location.  Wedding caterer Whangarei, a first page winner.   Many small business websites find themselves within the first page of results this way using the geo-modifier as part of their search phrase.  This will continue.

Now one word generic search yields results.  Before the Google 10 Pack, small business owners (and me) would never think it possible to achieve a first page ranking for just caterer.  Now it’s possible.

For increasing conversion of lookers to buyers, I still advocate long phrases and the more specific phrases known for reaching the long-tail of the internet.

For those interested in the precise way this happens, read up on KML, , the markup language used for maps and authenticating your business.

What do you think?

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