Australian Google Local Business Results

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09.20.07

Australian Google Local Business Results

By Christine Parfitt

A month ago I noticed local business results appearing in Google Australia.

I've been keeping a close eye on it and doing some analysis of the results to get a feel for when these results are coming up and clues to how they are ranked. It's still unpredictable. For the same industry type the local business results appear for some locations and not others. What you see one day is often different from the next.

I saw local business results for a regional area as opposed to one postcode for the first time yesterday. The area was "Sunshine Coast" and for a variety of business types.

The first three results are clearly very advantageous for businesses. It usually means a spot right at the top of the organic listings with the added advantage of information such as the business phone number on display on the first page and more information such as reviews and images one click away.

Businesses that have detailed, consistent information in a variety of places are given prominence. Information types consist of an overview, details, reviews, photos and web pages. In all the examples I looked at, businesses that have a spread of information across these data types did the best. So businesses that have listings in several of the sources used by Google and also have photos and reviews are ranked highly.

Common reasons for not being present at all in the local business results are:

•The business details are not included in Google Maps Australia. The listings in Google Maps are currently provided by Truelocal so this generally means that the business isn't listed in Truelocal.

• The business is in Truelocal but the business category is incorrect or the business isn't listed in all relevant categories.

•There are inconsistencies with the business name and/or the address across multiple sources

I spoke with Truelocal today and was told that they have a data team currently cleaning up the categories and fixing errors. Individual businesses can call and get their listings updated and corrected where necessary. Businesses can also put their details into Google Maps Australia but there is a verification process and a 4 week time span to see the full details.

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About the Author:
Christine Parfitt is a search marketing strategist and the founder of Semfire, a search marketing company based in Australia. She specialises in paid search and shares news and best practices at Semfire Search Engine Marketing Blog.

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