Local Retailers Need to Understand Google Places

Google recently rolled out their new "Place Search". They have now combined their local and general search algorithms into Google.com's search results. When Google detects that the user is searching for some location they blend into the results Google Places local listings. It is obvious that Google sees a big upsurge of people using the search engines to find locations and local businesses.

The best way to demonstrate the change is through an example using two screen shots. The first screen shot I took a while ago using the search term "Green Bay plumber". Notice the Google Places 7 local listings all bundled together with 10 organic listings underneath them.

Now look at a screen shot for the same keyword search phrase (Green Bay plumber) taken today on Google. Notice the Google Place listings dominant the page area and the map is pushed to the upper right corner and can scroll down over sponsored listings. The 7 Google Places local listings are spread out more and may contain more information including links to reviews, as well as some 3rd party links to websites like Yelp, Insiderpages, Citysearch, TripAdvisor and more. Plus, now you see less Organic listings which are based on the web.

What is really important for local retailers to understand is the Google's local listings are not based off of your website, they are a result of Google Places. Organic listings are based off the web and your website. Optimizing your website has no impact on getting better placement in the Google Places.

The other thing to note is: Google Places weights very heavily the city or town your business is located in. So if you do business in surrounding areas but you don't have a location there you probably will not show up in the 7 Google Places listings. You best option is then turn to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, bidding on the other local geographic areas you service. Although many small businesses have stopped most of their Yellow Page print advertising and put that money into their website I see in the near future retailers may be putting that money into Pay-Per-Click advertising for their surrounding service areas.

To learn more about Google Places and to claim your Google Local Business listing go here... http://www.google.com/lbc