Google Local Search - Free promotion of your local business at the top of Google

Google continues to strive to provide relevant search results for its users to maintain its 80% market share. A quick look at your Google Analytics accounts will confirm this market lead when you compare the number of visitors from Google with the other major Search Engines.

The latest hot topic to come off the Google production line is Google Local which uses Google Maps to display local businesses at the top of its search result pages. The intention is to ensure that small local businesses appear in a priority placement above larger companies that have the resources to maintain costly SEO campaigns.

Google assumes (quite rightly) that when a user searches for ‘web design in Essex’ it is very likely they are looking for web designers in Essex… clever. By confirming your address with Google your site can appear in a listing of sites with a map place holder at the top of the search results.

This throws open the doors to small businesses of every kind to gain exposure from the web. At the same time it reduces the visibility of sites that have enjoyed top rankings in the search engines traditional results. In all it is better for Googles users and thus better for Google and more importantly offers you the possibility of greater exposure.

Google does not charge for this premium placement as it directly benefits users of their search engine. This presents another opportunity for search engine placement and if history is anything to go by, will be open to abuse and highly competitive.

Currently Google is still developing and testing their Local results, so you may not always see the map appear. As soon as we have some reliable data we will be offering optimisation services for this new opportunity to our current and new clients.