If you have done a search on Google lately that included a city or city/state location such as "limousines minneapolis", you will notice what is called the local one box results above the organic results (see screen shot below) with the Google map and top 3 results listed as A, B and C.  This has definitely stirred the pot a little for us.  Google Local results trump the organic results.

Lets take a look at how it has effected us as a company and result.  We had achieved the #1 organic (free) result on Google for "web design maple grove mn" but when the Google Map and Local results started appearing, we were not in the top 3 listings (A,B,C) … so instantly our competitors dropped us to 4th. 

One could argue that the one box results are a stronger visual pull as they tie in with the map and also clearly show the companies web address, physical address and phone, marked with a big red callout.  Something also tells me that if these local results didn’t have a stronger pull, Google would tweak them until they did.  View the screen shot below or the Google page here.

So as you can see, we are now the #2 result and #1 if you change up the search order to "maple grove, mn web design".  How did we gain traction with the Google Local one box?  The first step is making sure you have your information correctly housed in the Google Local Business Center.  Many businesses are listed, but most haven’t tagged their info correctly. After that, it appears that you can strengthen your position through:

• Links from other local sites (Chambers, Organizations, Local Directories)
• Listings and links from directories and online yellow pages
• Content that states services and location
• Reviews from users on Google, Yahoo local, Yelp and other sites

Those are just a few we are speculating on and testing as well as others.  Matt McGee, a local search expert, gave his thoughts on the 10 Likely Elements of Google’s Local Search and you should read that as well.

I met with a customer yesterday that is sitting at position J … so we’ll be applying some theories and efforts to move them into the A-B-C range.  Stay tuned for the findings.

Posted on June 20th, 2007 by Aaron
Filed under: seo, small business, search, local search

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