I interrupt my series of blogs on Twitter for a most important news flash about Google and the effects that 'smart phones' are going to have on the Search Market Place over the course of 2010.
In the USA, the effects are already being felt, and as ever, we in the UK are going to start feeling the same wind of change sooner or later. But what is this change and what does the business owner need to do right now if they are to benefit / not lose out?
The change is being caused by the way that people (especially the younger elements of society) use their mobile phones. Now I use the term 'phone' loosely here as these 'smart phones' are hardly phones at all, no they are powerful computers and are being used as such (did you know that more than 80% of Tweets come from phones!).
This use of the phone to 'to do it all' means that many (most) people will / are using their phones to SEARCH for things, especially for those things that are local to them at that time e.g Italian restaurant or pet shop. This so that they can quickly satisfy their needs then and there (we do after all now live in a society that almost demands 'instant satisfaction'). Google helps them here as it 'knows' where they are, so they don't even have to tell it that, just what they want.
Google then serves up a list based on it's Local Listings and hey presto they have all the info they need (even down to reviews on the businesses listed).
What does this mean for the business owner? Simple, that they MUST:-
1. Get listed in all of the relevant directories
2. Claim & verify their listings,
3. Get some customer reviews,
4. And thus secure your position on Google Maps.
If they cannot do this themselves, they should contact a Search Engine Marketing company that they trust and get it set up asap, before the rules change and the 'claim jumpers' get to work.
The clock is ticking here and time is running out fast..
More on Twitter and Search Engine Marketing soon...
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