Roughly
a year ago, local search engine optimization was all the rage – the new
frontier in search engine marketing. For
a while, it seemed that everyone was interested in the local search angle –
even multi-national companies. However,
for many companies selling products or services to the entire United States, or
even globally, it seemed like a non-starter. Companies that counted on people
looking for certain products or services that did not require close proximity
to the company's location were unaffected. As far as local search engine
optimization goes, things have changed a bit since then – at least for some.
Some time ago, Google introduced a "geographic box" at the top of its
search results. This is tied in to its mapping
feature, and, when it was first introduced, the engine would display three
results at the top of its search results whenever somebody entered a geographic
modifier into the search box ("Atlanta widgets," for example). The Google algorithm then has the
intelligence to determine whether the query calls for results that are
primarily local in scope.
Since that initial trial, Google has obviously found that its users appreciate
the feature. The engine now displays ten
local search results at the top of the listings for certain queries, provided
that they have a geographic modifier attached. For example, if you type in "Atlanta gyms" in Google, you will
see ten results alongside a map that shows the location of ten gyms in Atlanta.
It should be noted that you will not see local search results for all queries
that contain a local modifier. In
certain instances, it almost seems as if Google somehow "knows" when
a geographic modifier really means that you only offer services in a particular
area. Yeah, those guys are pretty good.
There are many resources on the Internet to turn to if you are looking for
local search engine optimization for your regional website. However, many companies have client bases
that cater primarily to a national or international field. Can they benefit from local search?
Yes, they can – in two ways (with a caveat for the first).
First, many customers prefer to deal with people that are local, even if the
business is national, or even global. A
businessperson that is looking for, say, marketing consulting, may be inclined
to work with someone with an address in close proximity found through local
search. It just feels more comfortable –
if something goes wrong, he or she can request a meeting, rather than calling
an 800 number.
Here's the caveat – you may not want people showing up at your doorstep. Some companies invite people to show up at
the headquarters and voice concerns or sing praises, but others would prefer to
keep things at a distance. This is not a
value judgment by any means. With many
companies that deal with thousands, or even millions, of customers, it would be
impossible to service every complaint with a human smile.
The second way, which seems more customer friendly (but actually isn't),
applies when a large company has many locations. This doesn't mean that your
company has "walk-in" locations that are open to the public. If you have locations in many cities, each
serving a different function, you can still benefit from local search engine
optimization.
Say, for example, you are headquartered in Toledo. You have distribution centers in several
cities across the United States. Each of
your physical locations is eligible to show up in local search results on
Google, provided that you supply the engine with the proper information.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, not all searches with regional modifiers
attached will bring up regional results. But based on recent happenings, it's a good idea to make your regional
presence known and consider the effects of local search engine optimization. After the years of talk about it, local
search might finally turn out to be something that most companies can take
advantage of.