What is a Local Listing?

In the broad definition, Local Listings are ‘mini-websites’ defined by a search engine or directories for the Consumer to find local services or products and reviews. Each mini-website constitutes the local business being represented on the Internet. The Search Engines ‘Local listings are typically displayed on the first page, along with being display in maps. The directory listing are scattered according to the search relevancy. Examples of these are:
  • Google places
  • Yahoo local
  • Yellow pages
  • Yelp
  • Judy’s place
  • and Hundreds more …… (Directories) link to Directories

When a consumer searches for a specific phrase or ‘keyword’, the search engines automatically know their geographic location and present the most relevant websites/information to the keywords entered. All Search Engine have the intent to maximize the relevancy and minimize the query time. This is an important fact, as it relates to, “Content is King”. A relevant and completed Local Listing will rank higher.  The most valuable listing is Google, as it gets 80% of all searches, whereas Yahoo has 4% and Bing 1%. Google is continually interpreting local intent to deliver local search results to the consumer. This is an example of a Google Places Listing for a Houston printer:

Google may deliver local search results in several ways. Google is continuously changing it algorythm to supply the best seach experience for the consumer. This is one of the ‘tricks’ to getting a top ranking, is keeping up with the continuous changes to Local Listings. Consumers may also go directly to Google Maps to search. When they do, Google Maps displays local business results and a map with pinpointed locations.