Should Businesses Rely On Scotland Local Search?
Local search is becoming more important as each day passes. Businesses in Scotland that are trying to compete in search results with other businesses from the UK often find it hard to gain top rankings. This is making local search all the more important.
Let me rephrase that with an analogy – would you rather compete for advertising space with half a dozen competitors, or would you like to compete against a couple of hundred – perhaps thousand. When it’s put like that, the obvious answer is to compete against half a dozen. That is the difference between local search and general search. Local search pits you against those in your area whilst general search pits you against everyone in that region’s data-centre.
If the latest move by Google moves across the Atlantic and finds its way into our local search culture then claiming your business and putting up a local business profile will become a must. What is this latest feature? It’s pretty cool, actually, to use a somewhat outdated term.
The Google feature is called ‘near me now’ and it does rely on people using iPhone or Android phones. Those that are using compatible phones can select the ‘near me now’ option and, using GPS, the phone will display those business groups that are near that person at the time. It may show restaurants or theatres, as an example. By clicking on one of the groups, it will open up to show those are listed in local search.
Mobile technology is booming when it comes to internet access and I sense it will be the next big thing to hit Great Britain. Having sites set up to display effectively on mobile screens is becoming a must. Claiming your business and having it listed in local search is also a must.
Like social marketing, you should be encouraging your shoppers to rate and leave comments related to their shopping experience. This is another area that is being overlooked at present by most small businesses – however, when it comes to local search results displaying in a general search results screen,those comments and ratings do appear to have some effect on the order in which local businesses are displayed.
Should we work hard on optimizing for Scotland local search? Most definitely – it’s here to stay and growing daily.
Recent Entries
- Why A Search Engine Googopoly Is Bad For The Internet
- Blogging For The Sake Of Blogging Is Not Blogging
- How To Create An Effective Social Marketing Tweet
- Internal Linking – Don’t Be Afraid Of The Long Tail
- Adding Your Scotland Based Local Business To AOL
- Don’t Be Too Quick To Dismiss Google Buzz
- Are Guest Posts A Bad Link Building Strategy?
- Can You Overdo SEO?
- Review Sites And SEO For Scotland Local Businesses
- What Effect Will HTML5 Have On Web Design And SEO