Google Place Search: Emphasizing on Local Businesses

The next time you search anything by name and place then do not be surprised if Google presents a combination of local and organic listings. This new version of search is known as “Place Search”. It will prioritize the results of local businesses if the person queries for anything based on location.

The new results will have longer description and it will also have reviews. The map will scroll upwards or downwards in sync with the user’s upward or downward movements. The “Place Search” will result in escalating the competition for local rankings. Earlier, if business listing could not find its place in the sevens results for local searches, i.e. in the Google’s Seven Pack for the local results then also a relevant query led the business’ listing to rank in the Web Results around the map. So what could not be achieved through map SEO was easily achievable through web SEO.

This would imply that non-local organic listings will be pushed down the page. Businesses that had the map listings and also showed in organic searches will now find booth these listings combined into one. This also implies that websites not having a local address would now be pushed down in the search results.

Now, this asks for some change in the strategies and extra works for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) professionals. First, they will have to focus on the extensions of the websites like .com .ca .co.uk .co.in etc. Secondly, they will have to focus on information in the “contact us” page of the website and in the footer.

The “Place Search” is all slated to give tough times to the current competitors like Yelp, CitySearch and other local directories and provide users with a refined local result.