Seem like an odd blog topic to you?
Surely it’s simple to find what you need on Google: you just type in your search term, click and hey presto.
But have you noticed that the results aren’t always what you were expecting?
If you are wanting to do a national search for a supplier or product, you have experienced the frustration of only getting local search results. That is also a problem for online retailers, especially those that market to a national rather than local audience.
So what can you do about it?
Well, if you want wider results to make sure you get the best possible product or service, all you have to do is go to the Google home page, click ‘settings’ (at the bottom of your screen), go to ‘location’ and enter UK (or whichever country or region you want).
Now when you conduct a Google search, your results will provide a far more comprehensive list of potential websites.
Business rankings and localised search
It’s easy enough for a user to get the results they want, but what about you as a business owner?
These subtle changes in the way Google operates is a complete pain, especially when you always play by Google’s rules.
You’ve spent hours perfecting your search engine optimisation strategy, build high quality links, written great content and in a flash, all your hard work is for nothing.
A lot of businesses need a national presence, so this change to local search results has a real impact on your bottom line.
I can see why Google have done it – mainly because they want to give the user the best possible search experience. That’s great, but not so great for the local businesses.
Other than creating a multitude of location-specific landing pages, there’s not a lot you can be doing.
But how about using this as an opportunity to hit the social world hard? Make sure you’re active on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and all the other social platforms that are right for your business. This will boost your reputation, visibility and get you out into the wider world because search is becoming more social.
If you want to be found online get social, publish great content and make sure you give your customers what they want.