Local Listings are Changing as Google Evolves Once More
ANy business owner who has been online for any length of time will be all too familiar with the way that Google’s results can suddenly change and present a completely new mixture of results for the same question or search. This isn’t something that should surprise anyone and it is also no good listening to the supposed “gurus” bleating and bitching about it. This is Google’s stated purpose. To provide the most relevant results for any search query string that gets typed in.
Local listings are no different. Previously, it was only necessary to have your Google places listing to have a very good chance of showing up in the first page map results. In the short time I have been involved in the local search ranking business, even my old brain has seen several reshuffles in just the Carlisle UK listings. Google is acutely sensitive to the nuances in keywords and the relevance of the wannabe ranking websites. As time goes on Google learns the tricks and techniques that all of us develop for gaming the ranking algorithm and we will more and more have to make sure that our websites are actually RELEVANT to the real meaning of the keywords you are targetting.
I picked up this email from Caro McCourtie, the Australian lady who is developing an excellent training course for the local listing industry.
Have you seen the changes for small business owners lately? Google not only changed the way Google Places/Maps are displayed but they also changed the algorithm for displaying the listings.
Before the changes, business owners didn’t even have to have a website to show in the top ten of the local listings. Now there isn’t even a top 10! It’s only the top 7 that are being displayed currently and Google has added in the business owners website ranking into the mix. So it’s a combination of SEO, local citations and a properly filled out listing that get’s folks to the top now.
The result? Business owners are DESPERATE for help in fixing their ranking situation. They are floundering – they don’t understand why they are no longer at the top!
This is the perfect opportunity for you to help business owners while creating a profitable, sustainable business for yourself.
Join me this Wednesday, Nov 17th from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST (that’s 4pm PST, 5pm MST and 6pm CST) to learn how to help business owners during this critical time of change. You have a chance to help others and yourself – I’ll show you how
Caro and others have been flagging this change up for a while now and I for one am taking notice. All business owners with a local customer base either on or off line need to wake up and smell this particular jar of coffee. If you can get signed up for Caro’s website it is well worth getting in on her webinars. Hunt for the Offline Hero Method – I’m not spoon feeding today 😉