5 Steps to Take Advantage of Google’s New Results

This is the second and final posting in a two part series that focused on changes Google is making with local search results. The first article explains Google's transition plans in greater detail. This article will focus on what you can do as a company to keep up with the change, improve your rankings, and achieve greater success online in the coming year.

In the last post, we discussed how Google, in an attempt to compete in the growing Local Search market share, is now targeting their efforts toward creating search result pages with a local emphasis. At the end of the last post, I left you with the teaser of what efforts you can make to ensure  your company is staying ahead of pace and not at risk of being lost in the abyss that is after page one...

At Gainesville Marketing, we highly recommend that you take a serious look at your current E-footprint and establish the best course of action as you navigate your online presence this year (free audit from Gainesville Marketing). These five tips will aide you in that process.

1. Register with Google Places – if you have not registered your business with Google places, do it now.  Simply visit places.google.com/business.  You will have the ability to add photos, special offers, videos and much more.  Google also provides valuable stats that will help you understand who is visiting your places listing and what they where searching for. If you are having trouble with this, feel free to leave a comment below or get in contact with us for assistance.
2. Get local links to your website – local search rankings are now putting more authority into links from local sources.  Sites such as the Chamber of Commerce and other local business directories should link to your business. Additionally,  be sure to verify that your business's address and contact information is current as well throughout all directory listings.
3. Get Local Reviews – this is not a new tip; reviews have played a role in ranking Google local listings for a long time.  Reviews equal credibility and building a list of reviews in your Google places listing will help prove your value to both your potential customers and Google.
4. Invest in SEO – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) remains vital to the success of your website.   SEO ensures that your website ranks well for local search terms such as “Accident Attorney North Florida” and Google will then be more likely to place prominence on your integrated local search listing.  At the very least, optimize your website’s title tags and descriptions.  While optimizing the content on your site is vital, off-site link building (outside of your local linking strategy from point #2) is a must.
5. Engage Social Media – it is obvious that Google considers social media usage in how they rank websites.  As sites like Facebook and Twitter continue to grow, this will only become a more important factor for Google search rankings.  As your number of followers and friends grows, so will the impact it has on your search rankings.  So by all means, create a Social Media presence for your company and start interacting with potential new customers! Oh, and we can help you get started with that too!

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Are you positioned to grow your business in 2011?  We want to help – get started with a free website audit that will help you identify key fixes, position your website to rank better, and generate more leads.