Last week Google made significant changes to its local search service, now called Google Places Search. Google estimates that 40% of its US search traffic is now locally oriented (eWeek), and these new updates prove they are taking the local market very seriously. The changes will absolutely impact the way local businesses will get found in the future, so this is something you don’t want to miss. In a nutshell, here are some of the important differences in the new Google Places Search: - Hyrbid Listings. Up to now, all the local search results were clustered at the top of the first page (along with the map), typically in a pack of seven or three small listings. Each one displayed a click-able listing name, domain name, phone number, and a generic review summary. Now, however, content from each business’s web listing has been blended with data from the Places page, and the new larger, hybrid listings are featured across the whole search result page. Features which were previously unavailable on the first page are now right in the spotlight, such as photos from your Places listing and review data. The new hybrid model means the rules for ranking order have been totally redefined, because Google is now simultaneously weighing both the strength of your Places page, as well as the SEO of your website. - The New Floating Map. At first it looks like the map was booted out of its prime real estate position (center, top of first page); it’s been moved off to the upper right corner. The big deal, however, is that it stays in the upper right as you scroll down the page. Even covering up the paid ads as you scroll. Those ads make Google a lot of money. So that alone speaks volumes about what Google thinks of the local market now. - Social content is King. One of the most outstanding differences in the new layout is how much space Google is giving to reviews for each business. The review summary is far more prominent on the page, and now each local directory with reviews on your business is directly click-able from the front page. Often a sample review will be inserted right under the business address and phone number. The take home message here is that its time to start paying attention to what your customers are saying about you. Bottom line, Google’s new changes suggest that businesses that already have a good web presence AND local search listing will come out on top of the businesses that aren’t strong on both. That means if up to now you haven’t already optimized your Google Places profile, you should be doing this right away. At least claim your listing and fill it out, but really you should be optimizing the content in that listing too. If that’s not something you are already familiar with, its worth hiring someone else who knows how to do this. And secondly, its time to take a more active role in managing what your customers are saying about you, and even engaging their support to provide the social proof that Google is clearly now giving more weight to.
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