Google just changed the way it searches for anything local, and if you've got a small business that depends on local customers this is a huge development. If you haven't used Google Places you should start. If you have, take another look to make sure your'e doing everything you can to get a leg up on the competition.
In general, here's the gist of the new approach which is now called Google Place Search - and here's the article from the Google blog. If Google senses that a web search is about anything tied to a particular geographic area it returns listings specific to that location. You won't see something from far flung locales that might be sort of connected to the search term and you won't see those aggregated pages of results for similar terms that show you every storefront on the web. You also won't see other web publishers who banked on jumping to the top of search results via a high page rank.
It's all about local. Which is terrific. It's more convenient for shoppers who are actively looking for a product or service in their own back yard. And it's great for local businesses because chances are you're going to be right up front.
Listings in Google Places are free. You can list your business in up to five categories of products and services, and you can add lots of details about what you sell or do. Add photos and videos, even coupons. It's hard to beat.
We've done this for a number of clients and they've experienced great results in search. It could work for you, too, and we'll be happy to help.
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