Site Links & UK local listings: Improving your Google visibility
Thursday, March 15, 2007 13:13
Google have recently introduced some changes to their UK listings which allow websites to obtain better visibility at the top of the search results.
Google Site Links
These are expanded listings within the Google search results which provide a range of links to popular pages within a particular website. These were introduced in 2005 and last month there was a push to display these for a wider range of websites.
So how do you obtain a site link for your website? Google provides some information in their help centre, explaining that this is an automated process, but from our experience the criteria is:
The website must be the most relevant site available for a reasonably popular search. Typically this is for a brand name search.
In addition the website must be clearly structured – here it looks as though using html links, a hierarchy that promotes the most common pages, and using common naming conventions can help.
UK Google Local Listings
Google is now promoting it’s local listings heavily within it’s main search results by including a map alongside these listings – some examples of this include ‘solicitor in london’.
If your business targets local customers, or has a number of locations it is important to maximise your visibility here.
To get listed within the UK local listings there are two options, firstly if you are listed by Yell, then this information is syndicated to Google local. The second option is to list yourself directly through the Google Local Business Centre, which is free.
Once listed what can you do to improve your visibility? Currently the UK local listings are ranked by proximity to the centre of the location being searched for – so the top ranked website search ‘solicitors in london’ will be the one based right at the centre of London.
Unfortunately there is not a great deal that can be done here – bar moving your business! However there are still good opportunities to target the main Google search results or to use Google Ads (AdWords) for local terms, where in both cases you may find low competition and costs.
In the future we can probably expect more factors to be taken into account within Google Local, such as an assessment of the business’s website, and inbound links – in an attempt to improve the relevancy of these results – which should hopefully provide marketers with more opportunities.
This article was written by Web Search Workshop UK, a search engine optimisation and marketing consultancy for UK business websites. Contact us today for a free assessment of your website.