Google and Universal Search

One thing that has become a much bigger part of SEO in the last year is Universal Search. Now almost any 'location' keyword will trigger a Google Local Business listing. These are now such a big part of the SERPs that the 'normal' organic listings are pushed down.  There's lots of speculation whether Google will monetize Local results. This will make a lot of people upset if Local Business listings are positioned within organic results. MSN's Bing search engine is gaining a little ground because of the quality of returned search results. Google's experiments with paid search in the middle of organic listings based on 'universal search' or other new criteria could slowly degrade their user base. Paid search is a risky investment and takes a fair amount of testing, figure half your ad budget gets thrown away just testing to find bid levels and keywords that return a profit. Social media advertising is easily a safer bet because there is more emphasis on contributing content and less on ad dollars.

Do businesses need to get on a land grab for their local listings? In a word, yes. If your online business has a location, use it in your keyword phrases. For example, a business sells car covers online which can be shipped anywhere. To gain a possible listing advantage, use the location of your business in the keyword phrases: Chicago car covers. Those searches may be fewer, but the person searching that uses 'Chicago' car covers is more likely looking to buy rather than just doing research. Add a page to your site that runs the keyword phrase as the title and be sure to include in the description and keyword tags as well.