Every search includes the “what,” but a large number of searches also include the “where.” Local search occurs whenever keywords related to “where” appear in the search string, like “Seattle pizza,” “Flagstaff charter planes” or “antiques Vermont.” These geographic modifiers restrict the search to more relevant data from the search engines.
Local search can also occur when the search is for a product or service that’s typically purchased or consumed locally, even if no geographic modifier is used, for instance “restaurants,” “horseback riding” and “chiropractor.”
Search Engines Big and Small
Local search happens on the large search engines as well as on a variety of local search engines, like Yahoo! Local, Google Maps, Bing Maps, AskCity, AOL Local, and many others, including online Yellow Pages. These local search engines provide databases of local business listings, many of which are submitted by the business owners themselves, others of which are aggregated by each search engine.
Local Search Advertising
Local search engines give local businesses a less competitive paid advertising alternative to the larger search engines for targeting local traffic. A business can be listed on most local search engines for free, and paid advertising on these sites can cost as little as $10 per month.
On the Map
Map locations are increasingly working their way into local search results. In fact, Google folded Google Local into Google Maps, offering business search results, links to websites and location maps all in a single local search. Even its main search engine provides a list of “Local business results” complete with a map dotted with clickable pushpins. The techniques used by the different search engines vary, as do their sources of information, so the results vary as well.
Doing It
First, geo-optimize your website. Include geographic modifiers in the title and meta data for geographically sensitive areas of your website, and then create specific landing pages if necessary. Submit your business listing and website address to local search engines and conduct local pay-per-click campaigns on both local and large search engines.
If you operate locally, optimizing for local search is pretty much a no-brainer. But even if you don’t, local search still has its advantages. Optimizing parts of your site for specific locations gives you more opportunity in areas that show a particular concentration of interest in whatever it is you’re offering.
Check this out for more on Local Search and how to do it effectively.
