A Google ranking factor you may not have heard about

Quick quiz: how does Google decide how to rank web pages in search results? Write down as many things as you can think of. You have one minute. Go!

(One minute passes.)

How did you go? If you know a bit about SEO, you probably came up with some of the following answers: Read more

The importance of local search

by Angus Gordon

Google has just announced that its local business directory, formerly called the Local Business Center, is now going to be called “Google Places”. You can see all the details here, but I thought this was a good opportunity to talk about why local search is important.

Google’s local business directory is used for two main things:

1. It gives your business a “pin” that people can see when they search on Google Maps
2. It provides the “local business results” that come up in regular Google searches

For both those reasons, you really need to make sure you have an up-to-date listing in Google Places. The good news is that it’s easy and free to create one. Read more