Local search: none above Google

Imagine that you want to buy a wedding dress and buying that perfect dress has been your headache since the day you decided to get married. Let’s finish with the bad news first: nothing less than perfect would do if you don’t get married every day. Now for the good news: you don’t have to go from store to store looking for the dress you want. Because that’s what local online search is for. It brings you the latest in wedding dress designs and styles from your local stores without you having to leave home.

And this is not just the case for wedding dresses. Whether it’s real estate, herbal spas, health clubs or dental clinics, the importance of local search has been around for some time. Of course, one of the main reasons for this is that users have gotten smarter, using keyword phrases that include three or four words instead of just one or two. However, from a sales and conversion perspective, local search has seen tremendous growth compared to traditional search. In fact, it has helped online marketing so much to transition to offline shopping that many companies have found their business target through their internet marketing tactics more than anything else.

This brings us to the next point: which search engine helps the most in local search? However, let’s put it another way. Which search engine is preferred by the most searchers? You may have already guessed it: Google. A recent study on the popularity of search engines has shown that Google is chosen by more than 90% of users in most countries except a few like China and Russia.

Why do so many users prefer Google to others? Well, the answer lies in the search engine itself, especially in its new Jazz interface. When you search for, say, “London restaurant”, along with the local search results, you get another “Nearby” option that gives you refinement options where you can add a custom location or choose the location provided by Google. This allows you to find a result in the exact place you want.

However, this is not the only support from Google. Google local business search and Google Maps are not new to you. Google can pull links and information that are connected to a particular location and display them along with your map. Creating your own local business center account ensures that your website is placed in search results when searched for by place name.

As search activity becomes more convenient and easy with applications such as mobile phones and iPads, searches for daily tasks are increasingly carried out from these applications than from a desktop or even a laptop. To ensure that your business and website appear at the top of local search results, Google plays a critical role. In fact, with Google, the entire business world is right next door.