Raising your Local-Search Visibility

Virtually any merchant would love to appear at the top of the neighborhood local-search results that appear in the top block of major search engines. Showing up first when people are searching for a local product or service gives you a much better chance of getting their attention. After all, people are impatient. They’re not likely to click through to a second page of results to find your business.

The problem is, if you don’t know how local search works, it’s hard to understand how to make that happen. Just try searching for "florist (your city, state)" on any of the major search engines. On the surface, it's hard to see why Rosa’s Flowers appeared above Amy’s FTD Shop and below Andy’s Gifts.

Fortunately, you don’t have to learn some mysterious secret to get a handle on increasing you local search visibility. Let’s look at some pointers that will give you a much better understanding of how local-search optimization at the business listing level works.

Key Factors That Determine Your Local Search Position

While each search engine and local online directory has its own formula for determining what order in which to present results, Virtually all engines weigh the following factors when determining the frequency and order in which to present local-search results. Below, I’ve listed those factors are and explained how they work.

* Alphabetical order

As you’ve probably noticed, when business listings appear in print Yellow Pages or other directories, companies with names at the beginning of the alphabet have a definite advantage, because they appear on the initial pages of the book. (That’s why you’ll still see some plumbing services named "AAAAAAA Plumbing Company" — it’s a form of search optimization that pre-dates the Web!)

On the Web, of course, things are different. Online, alphabetical order is only one of a handful of criteria that dictate how high up on the search results page your business appears in local-search results. But it does have some impact on how your business shows up in search results.

* Distance to center of ZIP code or city name queried

Though the search engines do give some weight to alphabetical order, they also consider how far a business is located from the area a consumer is searching. When the search engine presents its results, businesses whose name starts with "B" might appear much lower on the search results page than one starting with "Z" if business "Z" is closer to area where the consumer is searching. The engines can do this because they “know” where the center of the city is, thanks to the databases they use for mapping and directions. They use this detailed data to estimate how far you’d have to drive to visit the businesses they find for you. . 

If you think about it, this makes sense. From a consumer’s perspective, you don’t just want the right type of business, you want the most accessible one too.  Unfortunately, you can’t control whether this works in your favor or not—you can’t move your business each time someone searches!—but know this is still part of understanding how local searches work.

* Consumer ratings and reviews

Virtually all search engines give consumers a chance to rate businesses (usually on a one to five star scale) when the consumer clicks on a business listing.  And of course, good ratings are a plus for your local business. But did you know that even negative ratings will cause a business to show up closer to the top in local search results pages than those without ratings or reviews?

The truth is, the search engines like listings that have reviews or ratings attached to them. Why? When consumers have rated or reviewed your business, it makes your listing more informative to other consumers (and interesting) — so search engines give added weight to that input. After all, like any other business, search engines always want to put their best foot forward. Since even a negative review can offer valuable information to other consumers, the search engines are going to spotlight reviews if someone takes the trouble to write one.

* Keyword content

If you have a Web site, and you’ve tried to get it near the top of search engine page results, you probably already know that using the right keywords is a critical part of search marketing . So you won’t be surprised to hear local-business listings do better when they include the right keywords, too.

Keywords help search engines decide whether your content is relevant and important to the consumer who’s making a search. However, few businesses realize that their business listings will appear more frequently and higher in the results of local searches if they include the right keywords in their listing. For example, if a consumer searches using the keywords "anniversary flowers in Chicago," florists that included the keyword "anniversary" in their online listing will rank more highly than those that just include themselves in a general "florist" category.

Make Local Search Rules Work For You

So, as you’ve seen above, it's possible to change your local search engine ranking significantly—and attract the interest of countless local buyers--if you know the rules.

So take advantage of what you know! Go out there and get customers to rate and write reviews of your business (remember, they don't have to be long). And when it comes to links, keywords and other tools to make sure you connect with motivated, ready-to-buy online consumers, Localeze can help. We're here for you when you're ready to enrich your listings with keywords that uniquely identify your business and what it offers. 

Ultimately, you'll find that it's easy, and well worth the effort, to improve your local-search visibility. After all, local consumers are searching because they're ready to buy. Make sure you’re there when they come looking for you.