By Katherine Andes
I’ve noticed a change in the way Google serves up local listings lately. If you type in, say, furniture stores + your city, you will find that the listings that correspond with the map (look for red balloons) are often taking up more of the valuable real estate of the search results page.
I say often because results were not consistent in various cities I tried. However, I’ve been noticing this in some cities for many weeks now, so I know something is up.
It used to be that these types of listings took up about one-quarter of the first page of search results. Now, I’ve seen it take up half to three-quarters of the page!
So that means if you are accustomed to being about #7 on a search results page, you might now be pushed back to the second page, if you don’t have a Places listing.
I’ve also noticed that they often, not always, blend your regular listing with your Places listing. Google used to always keep those separate, so you might have had a Places listing at the top of the page and a regular listing a little lower. Now it’s all mixed up.
More than ever, you need to claim your Google Places listing to ensure that your business has a chance of appearing in the top results.
To sign up, go to Google Places, and click on the button under the red balloon to claim your business listing.
Easy Furniture Web Tip #117: Map listings are taking up more of the local search results. Claim your Google business listing so you show up. Also claim listings on Yahoo and Bing.
Katherine Andes specializes in copywriting for SEO and search engine optimization — especially in the home improvement market, including page customization for storefront and franchise websites. You can phone her at 559.589.0379 or email at Kathy@AndesAndAssociates.com.