Everyone knows that texting while driving is dangerous. New from Google Labs is a way to essentially type without taking your eyes off the road. Expected to roll out later today, this app, originally for the iPhone could eventually expand to other phones or mobile devices.This is not Google’s first crack at voice recognition software and appears to be a more refined version of Google 411 (GOOG-411). However, instead of providing only local results for specific businesses in your area, you can use the voice recognition software to search for everything from sports scores to the gallons of water that flow over Niagara Falls every day.

The software will translate your voice into a data file which is then sent to the Google servers. Depending on the strength of your signal, your search result can be returned in a matter of seconds. For anyone who has ever sent a text message or performed a search on your mobile phone, you can understand the laborious process of typing on the small keys, pushing the wrong button, backspacing, etc. Although not perfect, Google’s new voice search will significantly reduce the time needed to perform a search while providing a safer medium for obtaining results while behind the wheel.

I have experimented with other voice recognition apps such as Jott which often take minutes to translate a block of text. Google’s claim that this can be done in seconds is something that I am intrigued by, and if they can actually pull it off, they would set themselves apart as the leader in the voice recognition industry. This service is expected to be free which can make you question what benefit it has to Google. I will tell you what it means. Google will now have a near monopoly on mobile search once this application expands to other phones and devices giving them a significant advantage at the onset of data collection for a new demographic of searchers.

This could be almost uncharted territory for Google, who started as a competitor to other search engines when it first began. Google now has first crack at this new market, and if they display any of the dominance with mobile search that they have with regular search, it will be very difficult to compete. As for the impact it might have on search engine optimization, users will be more likely to use longer tailed, more descriptive phrases now that they don’t have to type the whole thing out on their keyboards. I would look for a slight shift towards increased use of longer tail searches in mobile search, a market until now dominated by 1 or 2 keyword phrases.

Once I download the app, I will let you know how it works out!

Local search is a tricky beast to understand, let alone tame.  This is evidenced by the fact that it is possible to achieve a number one ranking for a local search term without even owning a domain name for your store or office.  While there are many ways to optimize your website that can help you improve your local search rankings, many of the factors that can help or hurt you lie in your local business listing.The local business listing, more often than not, is created by a representative of the company for whom the listing will appear.  Local business listings can be tailored to a variety of industries, offerings and specific details such as acceptable forms of payment, hours of operation, and much more.  The local business center can allow you to enter in your choice of phone number (local or toll free), coupon offerings, and website information (if applicable).Last month I talked about the emerging trend of using mobile technology to access local business results.  I also offered up a few easy ways to optimize your website or local business listing for the local search engines.  This time around, I will discuss a few things that your local business listing might be doing that could hinder your local search engine rankings.

1.       Inaccurate Information - In some cases, a company will have a local business listing that they did not create.  This occurs because different local search engines pull information from different sources.  If a company has created a local business account, this will be the primary source of information.  However, many local search engines pull information from review sites such as “Insider Pages” or “Yelp.”  If the data contained in these reviews is inaccurate, (i.e. wrong phone number, address, etc.) it can create a conflict within the local search engines.  If you see that your company has multiple business listings within a local search engine, there are options to verify your listing, if you hold a local business account.  Unfortunately, the search engines view multiple listings as spam, so great care should be taken to make sure that all mentions of your business refer back to the local business listing that was created by you.

2.       Lack of Reviews - The importance of reviews to your Local Search Rankings are very debatable.  If they factored too high into the algorithm, competitors would write bad reviews for your company and owners/operators would write millions of great reviews on their own business.  The review, in my opinion, exists to confirm the information about your business that has been submitted.  The Local Search Engines use the information contained in your review to verify factors such as service offerings and location.  The more reviews you have, the more refined your listing will become, making you more credible.  The Local Search Engines base their success on providing credible search results.

3.        Misleading Information - This can include a variety of different aspects such as having multiple businesses with the same phone number or multiple addresses for the same business.  Many times, even if this is legitimate, the search engines will view them as spam.  If you have multiple businesses across the city, they should each have a unique phone number, even if calls are all directed to the same location.  If you have multiple locations across the same city, great care should be taken to ensure that each listing remains unique or else the search engines will eventually merge the listings into one location.  This can be done by having unique reviews written about each location, and even opening up separate Local Business Accounts for each one, even if they are all managed by the same individual.

Often times, the optimization of a website or Local Business Listing can take a significant amount of tedious effort.  This is essential to seeing an increase in rankings.  If you are serious about optimizing your listing and ensuring that you are ranking as high as possible for your local services, you will take the time to ensure that your business listings are verified and that the reviews contain accurate information.  By paying close attention to what could be hindering your listing from achieving first page rankings, you can make careful steps to avoid these pitfalls and you should see your listings improve.

Aaron Garcia
SEO Analyst

Every day, the number of consumers that use their cell phone for browsing the web grows by leaps and bounds. Research is showing that a growing amount of cell phone internet usage is dedicated to local search and is second only to searching for sports scores or sports news. While the technology is advancing, it is still, often times, impractical to browse the internet on your cell phone for any extended period of time. Pages take longer to load than on a laptop or desktop and as a result, cell phone users don’t dig as deep into search results as the casual user at home. What does all this mean for local search? It means that if your listing isn’t located on the first or second page, it might as well not exist to a mobile browser. To capture this growing market, you must work to improve your search engine ranking or risk losing thousands of dollars in potential revenue.

You might be asking yourself, “What can I do to optimize my website and increase traffic?” Search engine optimization is a big part of the equation. Just as you would optimize your website for regular search results, there are also website optimization practices that can help you improve your rankings in local search. Below are 3 questions you should ask yourself about your website and how it relates to your ranking in the local search engines.

1. How would a user get to my store? First and foremost, make sure that your store’s address clearly labeled on every page of your website to ensure that the local search engines index as many pages as possible. A good way to do this is to embed your address into your site’s header or footer. Also, including a “Map Page” or a page with driving directions will help the search engines accurately locate your business, increasing the chances of a top ranking in the search engines.

2. Would a user want to come to my store? Do not underestimate the power of a positive review, or even a review in general. Search engines like Google and Yahoo! have reputations on the line and they want the best possible matches at the top of their listings. If the local search engines see that customers are talking about your store in a positive way, they will be more likely to move your listing up to the top of the search results.

3. Do the Search Engines know that I exist? Make sure that you sign up for a Google business account or online yellow pages listings like Info USA or NavTeq, which is where Yahoo! gathers its information from. This is an excellent opportunity to basically knock on the door of the local search engines and say “Here I am!”

Answering these 3 questions and taking steps to optimize your website is the first step towards better local search engine rankings. There are also search engine optimization companies out there who can assist you with some of the finer points of website optimization. Do not take local search for granted, especially in this day and age with mobile browsing becoming increasingly popular.