Google seaerch for "Thai food nearby" from Columbus Ohio website design firm

Have you ever looked for someplace by searching with the word "nearby"? For example, searching for "Thai restaurants nearby."

Well, that type of search is becoming a whole lot more popular, which tells us two things:

  • people think it just takes too many seconds to type in street intersections, and
  • just how smart Google's algorithms are: they know where you're searching from.

This has relevance for every business

Whether you're a pizza place or a plastic surgeon, you never know if someone is searching using a geo-targeted term or not (ie: including the name of the city along with whatever other search terms they use). However, even if they don't use the name of a city, Google will still return relevant local results. It shows how smart Google is, that it can triangulate your position when you;re on a mobile device. Another way it tells is by your IP address (that address that is unique to your desktop computer).

It shows us that someone living in Chicago searching for "gummy bear breast implants" without putting the word Chicago in it, will still get results from a Google search for surgeons in Chicago.

As a Columbus Ohio website design firm, we used to be diligent about using geo-targeted terms in every website (ie: using "Nashville plastic surgeons," not just "plastic surgeons" for a Nashville, TN client) it is becoming less important.

That said, we like to cover our (and our client's) bases and still use geo-targeted words in addition to generic terms such as "liposuction in Orange Country" vs just "liposuction" with no location attached to it.

Check out this expert on local search marketing, and his take on how you can take over some of the responsibilities of your local search marketing without the help of an outside resource.