Google is so popular it has become a verb rather than a noun — people now ‘Google’ local business rather than searching for them! Because of its popularity, Google is great for businesses, but in order for it to work for you, you need to be found and ranked highly.

Being ranked by Google means that when people Google local business or other keywords that are applicable to your company, your webpage shows up high in the results, meaning more people are likely to click on your link and find out about your business and what you have to offer.

When people Google a local business, they may end up on Google Local, which collects information about a geographic area and puts it together with user recommendations and rankings. If someone tries to Google a local business, they will see a list of relevant places nearby. You definitely want your business to show up on Google Local as well as the basic search engine results page.

SEO

Using search engine optimization helps get your business ranked by Google. Think about what keywords are applicable to your business, which are likely to be popular with users but not so overused that your page will get lost in the noise.

Add those keywords anywhere you can — in the meta description tag of your website, within title tags and content, in image filenames and descriptions, and in URLs. Blogging is a good way to introduce search engine optimization that will allow you to show up when people Google local business, as you can use several keywords in a lengthy article, preferable for higher search engine results page positions.

Update your page frequently to show up in Google local results. If you allow your site to stagnate it will fall down in search results, and it’s a good idea to keep things relevant for your customers anyway. This includes making sure your links are not broken.

Google graph search has changed some aspects of SEO, as some users are finding all of their needed information without having to click. However, overall, in order to rank in Google results, you should focus on relevant, popular, and high quality content.

Google itself shares lots of information about the Google graph search, Google Local, and how to rank, so if you find yourself lost, use Google’s tools to delve into Google graph and beyond.