Local search coming to a place near you!

Just as online marketeers begin to get a handle on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) it seems the goal posts are about to move again. The current trend towards local and personalised search means that 'Geo-targeting' techniques are beginning to appear more and more.

In short, this means users will recieve results based on their location and could mean that some of the large brand names will find it difficult to compete with highly optimised local or regional business's. A good example of this trend in practice, is the ubiquitous Gmail account which displays personalised and local paid search items based on your email content. Other big players such as AOL and Microsoft are developing similar capabilities along with emerging companies such as BooRah and Oodle, the latter launching in the UK last year.

In order to address the changing landscape, marketeers need to firstly ensure their sites are fully optimised for 'Geo-targeting content such as name, address and contact details - 'ON EVERY PAGE'.

Next step is to ensure you site is listed correctly on services such as Google Maps, Yahoo Local and MSN Live Local. In the case of Google Maps, you firstly have to sign-up for an account at their Google Local Business centre after which Google sends you a postcard with a unique pin to activate your account. You need to keep the details updated and can manage multiple branches from the one account.

You can see Edgeworks listing here.

A small step admittedly - but every journey begins with......