BlogWorks: How choosing a physical location can influence Google rank

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April 14, 2008

How choosing a physical location can influence Google rank

Google street map

By Kai Blum

Seventy-four percent of U.S. consumers use search engines to look for local business information, according to Nielsen.

When they use a specific keyword, let’s say “massage” and combine it with a city name, for example “Ann Arbor,” Google will not only display the organic search results and the pay-per-click ads, but also ten “Local Business Results” near the top of the page and “number” them A-J.

The businesses with the most central physical address are usually listed first. I say “usually,” because there’s always a stray.

Google explains:

“As with all other Google search results, Local listings ranks results based on relevance. Distance is one factor that goes into our relevancy ranking, but there are many factors as well. Sometimes our search technology will decide that a business that's farther away is more likely to have what you're looking for than a business that's closer.”

There’s no doubt in my mind that distance is the most important factor and therefore you should not only use the right keywords when naming your small business, but also choose a central mailing address.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at April 14, 2008 09:48 AM