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A recent article at SearchEngineWatch.com makes the case that business addresses will soon rival web addresses in importance with respect to local search results. As usual, the search engine in question is Google — particularly Google Places, one of the search giant’s local search offerings. The author, Peter van der Graaf, asks “how does a link make you a local authority?” and answers “It doesn’t! Your address does. Your address is the new link!” The idea here is that Google, in its effort to evaluate and rank local search results in Google Places, will pay increasingly more attention to a business’ street address. The article suggests that the tactics previously used by webmasters to build links and increase exposure on the web will also work for addresses:
Just like a link, websites will list your company, including an address, as a vote of confidence — to let their visitors know they should visit your shop, hotel, restaurant or office. And just like a link, an address listing shows various signals of relevance for Google to pick up.
Van der Graaf promotes a link building strategy that will associate your business address with your web address as well as your key local search terms. Through this association — which should appear in ads, sponsorships, editorial reviews and other marketing pieces found on the web — Google will (hopefully) increase your business’ ranking in its Places results list, putting you at or near the top of its map. The key, van der Graaf insists, is to get a jump on the competition: “Your competition probably isn’t putting in a lot of effort into Google Places results yet. Create a clear advantage over them while you still can.”
More on the web:
Peter van der Graaf, “Local Search: Your Address is the New Link,” SearchEngineWatch.com (1/27/2011).
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