South West eCommerce

You may have noticed for some time now the new section in Google results called “Local Business Results”. This is the section of results for locality related searches that shows a map in the top left hand corner of results, along with listings of local businesses.

As an example, search for “perth accommodation”, or some other similar search that includes the name of a town or city. So how do you ensure that your business is listed in that section? Here’s a few tips:

1. First of all these results are taken from Google Maps and Google Local Business Centre. Therefore, to be included, you need to ensure that your business is listed in Google Maps and the Local Business Centre.To do this, you need to have a Google Account. If you don’t have one (it’s free), then visit www.google.com/accounts. Log into your Google Account, and on the home page click on Local Business Centre. Go through the process of adding a new listing (if your business is not already showing). This involves filling out your information and also receiving an automated phone call from the Google computer to confirm your details. Once this is done, your business will be added to Google Maps and the Local Business Center, although it can take up to 4 weeks
2. Once your business is in Google Maps and the Local Business Center, there are many factors which influence the rankings in that section. Google advise that the same factors involved in the general search results rankings apply to the Local Business listings too. So, if you have never had your website optimised for search engine ranking, you may want to consider doing that
3. Other factors that determine the rankings within the Local Business Listings include the relevancy of the business to the search term, and also the distance between the business location and the postcode of the town (the closer the better)
4. Apart from the above, there is some evidence that the more information you put into the Local Business Center, the more chance you have of ranking higher. So make sure you put in as much information as possible about your business, including opening hours, method of payment accepted, photos, and more.