Google seems to have rolled out a new look and layout for local listings and cut the 7 pack down to a 3 pack.
The last few months or so I’ve noticed Google has been experimenting with a different look and layout for local listings. It now seems they have rolled this out across the board. 
This morning I noticed a big big change in a particular Local Business market I would monitor fairly regularly.
Something has happened to the Google My Business local rankings for ‘web design’ related businesses. These have always been a law unto themselves and only recently started to show again after Google had pulled them.
I keep a close eye on the local rankings for ‘web design Belfast’ terms and the 7 pack seems to have changed overnight.
So from these results here’s how to rank locally:
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Which drops a suspended site quicker? Google My Business or Google Organic?
This time last year I was asked to do some web development work on a website that needed a bit of TLC, the budget wasn’t there for SEO and the client wasn’t interested. The website had no links, and the on site SEO was poor with the page titles lacking any keywords or regional terms.
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Well Google look to be constantly tweaking things just to keep people on their toes, and here’s another one. On certain local searchs, Google Places and Google Organic Listings appear to merge. So if you had a Google Places/Google Local listing that appeared on the first page without being on the page 1 organic results, that source of traffic might just have been wiped out completely!
When local businesses want to get noticed, what’s the best method? SEO, Social Media, Adwords? Other platforms such as Yelp and Yellow Pages have also shown promise and been generating a substantial amount of traffic. So much so, Google recently decided to take its local results one-step further and attempt to take a chunk out of the Yellow Pages’ profits at the same time.
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Local Search well and truly arrived with the introduction of the ’10 pack’ listing. At Search Engine Strategies at the start of this year (2009) it was the anniversary of the rollout of this feature in the UK.
The recent addition of a dashboard highlighted Google’s commitment to local search and it’s ever increasing importance.
The screenshot below is from a short article I wrote on the adding your business to Local Business center.
Michael Wall is an experienced SEO based in Belfast N.Ireland currently running his own SEO Agency.
Michael Wall is available for Internet Marketing, Google Adwords PPC and SEO work. Please call Belfast 02890 923383 or use the contact form.
