In this article I would like to focus on such issues as local searches and the potential to use Google for their promotion.
As the Google search engine developed, its capabilities have evolved not only in terms of the algorithms it uses, but also in terms of the data displayed in response to a user’s search query (SERP).
Universal Search
At first such search engines as Google used to display the web pages alone, but this developed into a vertical search, where a user has the chance to browse specific themes, i.e. News, Books, Images, Products, Maps etc.
Universal search is the latest step in this development of the Google search engine. The main idea behind it is to offer the user a mix of different types of searches in response to his query.
It can be represented visually as follows:
Vertical search (c) Elliance
Universal search (c) Elliance
From these illustrations it is evident that Google, wishing to provide the most detailed responses to its users’ searches, tries not to limit itselt to webpages alone, providing different types of information, including news, videos, maps and so forth.
This is what it looks like on a page:
Universal SERP in Google
This examples shows a response to a search for “new york bank”, which includes a map and some news items alongside the usual data. This is precisely what the “universal search” entails.
As we can see, the map displaying the locations occupies a significant space on the page, collecting a sizeable amount of traffic from the search. Here I think it is necessary to provide a heatmap for a local search. Have a look at the zone of increased focus – it is clearly marked on the map below.
Google Local Search Heatmap
Geographical searches
There are several types of search queries based on the geographical coverage:
Type of Queiry Example
Global Business Schools
National Business School USA
Regional Business School East
Local Business School Pittsburgh
Types of local search queries (c) Elliance.com
Note that there has been an increase in the total number of local searches, so their proportion in the total number of searches has grown.
Growth dynamics for local searches 2007-2008 (ComScore)
Growth dynamics of the "specific gravity" of local searches
At the moment Western analysts estimate local searches to comprise around 20% of all queries. In other words, every fifth search contains a geographic modifier.
Google Local Business
The first thing that you must do if you want to be included in the list of map objects is register with Google Local Business.
Adding a company to Google Local Business
The next step is to set the office hours and accepted means of payment, download up to 10 photos and up to 5 videos, and enter any other additional information (parking availability, for example). All of this information will be displayed on the company’s local business listing page.
The final step is to verify your account by phone, text message or e-mail.
After verification is complete you gain access to your account, which you can use to promote your business through local searches.
Google Local Business user interface
Ranking Factors in Google Local Business
A search for “lawyers in Moscow” returns over 1800 results on Google Maps. So which factors determine these results? Below are the most significant of them in order of decreasing importance:
- Company Address – it has to fit the city from which the search has been initiated and the geographic modifier present in the user’s search.
- Company Citations – the mention of the company (not necessarily with a hyperlink) by major data providers and large projects (such as the Yellow Pages). Google (just like Bing and Yahoo Local) comprises information not only from data downloaded by the companies themselves, but also from data obtained from outside sources. The following list is useful for companies in the Western regions: Infobel.com
Kompass.com
Leonardo.com
Hotfrog.com
Tupalo.com
TripAdvisor.com (For travel agencies) and so on. - Categories indicated during registration – it is important to choose categories containing the relevant key words, which fit the main subject as a whole.
- Actual registration of a company on Google Local Business – many of the results have actually appeared on the map “naturally”, in other words Google has found the address of the company by itself. Yet it’s still very important to create an account and to verify it, since the search engine considers this to be the best indicator of trustworthiness.
- The presence of key words in the Business Listing Title – for example, calling a company “Pizza “Celentano” will be much more effective than just “Celentano “.
- Traditional SEO – the presence of key words in the meta-title of the landing page, backlinks and their anchors, the geography of sites with links or mentions of the company – these are all extremely important.
- the number of reviews on Google Maps – a very significant factor, possibly even more important than the traditional SEO or citation of a company by data providers. In fact, the total number of reviews is actually more important than how positive or negative the evaluation itself is. It is also important how quickly the number of reviews increases: the faster, the better. Interestingly, there is currently no protection available for “spam reviews”, which many companies successfully use to their advantage, writing reviews on themselves under various nicknames.
- The address on the landing page – the presence of an indexed address on the landing page which corresponds to the search region and the modifier of the enquiry.
You can read more about these factors here:
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
Analysis of effectiveness
Naturally, having dedicated some time to Google Local, we want to see tangible results. You can find how often your listings on Google Maps are being viewed as well as the search dynamics in your Google Local account. You can also view the number of transfers to your site from Google Local.
Google doesn’t recommend using the 301st redirect or reduced url-addresses (the so called vanity urls of the type site.com/TV), often employed by analysts to track the efficiency of offline sites advertising.
«The URL-address must refer directly to the landing page of your web site and the URL it displays. Using the pages that direct users to another domain or are “intermediaries” is forbidden.”
Nevertheless, all these methods are widely used by marketers. A link can also always be marked with the Google URL Builder – this is in accordance with the rules, but it will not look aesthetically acceptable on a business linking page of a company.
Practical example
Let’s take the case discussed at the “Search Marketing Expo 2009” conference in Stockholm as a practical example.
Initial data
The company Lovers.nl provides boat tours in Amsterdam. This is the second most popular tourist activity in the Netherlands. It attracts around 3,2 million clients a year and ticket prices range from 12 to 70 euros. The total value of the market is estimated at 130 million euros, so there is relatively serious competition in place.
Tracking
The 301st redirect was used by a linker following a link from a URL. For example http://www.lovers.nl/hendrikkade25 lead to the page http://twe.ly/0Tpb
Technicalities
Apart from the traditional promotional factors a number of addresses were verified, which allowed to firm to gain a number of results positions:
Built listing
Results
Following all these actions, the following results were obtained:
Google Local Promotion results
Today, traffic from Google Maps comprises around 10% of the total search traffic. Curiously, it has much more attractive quality indicators than other site traffic. Thus, the refusals indicator is around 60% lower and time spent on the site is around 35% longer, among other things. The report also noted very good convertibility of this traffic, which is not a factor to be ignored.
Conclusion
Google Local Business represents another very promising and completely free tool that can be used to receive traffic that is targeted and pretty easily convertible. Of course, this option is not applicable to each and every company, but if your business has local representation it is worth considering using this tool for promotional work.
