Google Suspends Local Listing Ads
Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on December 4, 2009
Well folks I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Google announced on the very day we made our last post, A few Considerations for Ranking Well in Google Maps Local Search, that it is suspending the Local Listing Ads option available in the Local Business Center that was integrated with Google Maps (see post by Greg Sterling Google Suspends Local Listing Ads). They are pointing local businesses to use geo-targeting within AdWords (not a free service). Oh well! It was fun while it lasted!
The same principles for ranking organically outlined in the previous post still apply. Keep your web page content highly focused on the one to two search terms you learned through extensive research are used by your target audience to search for what you offer: for example, ‘water jet cutting brooklyn.’
I will quote myself: Google desires to present its users with legitimate search results that represent the most relevant match to their query. And they want users to get to what they want in the shortest time possible. Keep your website content – text, images, video, blogs, whitepapers, case studies, product catalogs, product listings, meta data and title tags – focused on the information that corresponds to and supports the location and audience you are targeting.
Continue to list with reputable online directories, search engines, and web pages (like professional organizations or partner businesses) that allow you to include a link to your website. The idea is to provide your local audience with many channels through which they can reach your web pages. The more clicks that come to you from those third party sources the greater your popularity score will be, thereby increasing your chances for high organic rankings in Google.
Local business web pages that help Google to do what they do better, which is to provide fast, relevant, and high quality search results, are likely to be rewarded with the highest rankings.
If you need help preparing your site for local search call us at (800) 399-9859.
Definitely sorry to see it go. I had some very excited clients in San Diego. I just posted an interesting analysis of the Local Listing Ads for data that I found in San Diego. Check it out at: holmesonlocal.wordpress.com