Local Search and Small Businesses

What is local search?
Local search is often times indicated by the red flags in Google (orange markers in Yahoo, blue markers in Bing). These markers indicate that there is a physical location within in a certain radius of your search requirements. For example, if you type in “fast food,” Google might return the top 7 restaurants that have an address within 5 miles of your search location.

How Is Location Determined?
When searching for local businesses, people can type in a city or zip code to receive more accurate results. If no location is provided, search engines will rely on the location of the device used for the search – desktops have an IP address and mobile devices use GPS coordinates to gather accurate information.

What Does this Mean for My Business?
Most people only look at the local listings on page 1 of search results – they do not go beyond to page 2 or 3. For local businesses, this means that you need to be on page one! How does one go about getting onto page 1 of search results, you ask? Good question! Give us a call to learn how your business can start appearing in local search results!