The rollout of blended and universal search results offers phenomenal opportunities. Today, businesses can capture top and multiple page listings to saturate the golden triangle. In this article, we will talk about why universal search has changed the search landscape and how news results, local results, maps, videos, and products search results are displayed with normal web results. We will primarily focus on ranking tactics that businesses can deploy to ensure higher saturation within the local search results.

Google announced recently that you may now see up to 10 Local results on Google’s organic results page. Typically a user used to see anywhere from 1 - 3 results.

Google states that the reason that they are showing more links is that during usability testing, it was revealed that many people did not realize there are additional local searches beyond the 3 listings. Despite the “more results…” prompt, it was still not obvious to many users that more results could be found. Google hopes that listing 10 links will be a clearer indicator that more local content is a click away.

According to Google - the ranking of those ten results is based on a range of factors, including the query, proximity, availability of ratings/reviews and their quality and several other variables.

With Google now displaying up to 10 local results, it becomes more and more apparent that adding your business to Google Local is a crucial step.

For more information: http://searchengineland.com/080123-085354.php

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Contributed by: Karen Lo, Milestone Internet Marketing

As Search Engines think of ways to evolve and innovate, they are increasingly turning towards local markets to make their systems easier and better to use from a “surfer’s” perspective. In the quest to make searches more personalized and targeted for specific needs, Search Engines have come up with “Local Search.”

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The power and profitability of local online marketing are more apparent every day. We have seen that if you want to sell/purchase goods or services via a print ad in a local newspaper, you may get 10 calls. However, when you place your ad online in a local online community directory, such as Craigslist.com, you will undoubtedly receive 100+ calls. Whether you are looking for plumbers or restaurants and everything in between, the first place people look is on a local search engine, such as Yahoo!, Google, or MSN. In our modern, fast response world, more and more people are using online yellow pages to research and plan travel, therefore, if you want to align your hotel services with local activities you must participate in local online mediums that are relevant to the travel industry. Here’s what’s new in the realm of online local search tools . . .

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Google Local

You can also add and edit your local listing on Google Local using their Local Business Center. Once logged in, you can edit and update your business name, address, contact information, payment types, hours, and business description and categories.
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What’s Nice About Yahoo Local
Yahoo givers you the option of a Free Basic Listing or Enhanced Listings for $9.95 a month, which include a company tagline, a business description, two links to offers on your website, and up to ten photos. What’s especially nice about the Yahoo local listings is that you can update them as often as you like.