David vs. Goliath in the World of SEO

Are local businesses getting squeezed out of search results by larger websites?

When it comes to search, many local businesses rely on “generic” keywords such as “plumber”, “dentist”, and “attorney”, or “service” keywords such as “radiator repair”, “teeth whitening”, and “divorce lawyer”. But while these keywords are critical for local businesses, many of them are getting shut out of search results by larger websites. These larger websites include news or publisher sites, national business directories, large national advertisers, and national or local government sites.

At the heart of the issue is the searcher’s intent. When someone enters “teeth whitening” into Google, the search engine must determine what the person wants. Do they want to know what’s involved in the process, do they want to find a product that will whiten their teeth, or do they want a local dentist? Without a clear understanding of what the searcher wants, Google will respond with more generic results, squeezing local businesses out. For these generic terms, all three major search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) show an average of just two to three local results, with the large websites dominating the rankings.

The best hope for local businesses lie with “long tail” search terms. These include “emergency 24hr plumber”, “private cosmetic dentist”, “top DUI attorney”. When using these terms, local businesses get an average of 50% or more visibility in the search results. And when combined with “geo-modified” terms the results are even better.

For example, the term “cosmetic dentist phoenix az” will give the searcher almost an entire page of local results in all three search engines. And with mobile search now outranking all other search platforms, search engines now base many of their results on your location, further providing local businesses with an advantage over the larger websites.

So what conclusion can we gather from this? Long tail terms offer the best organic ranking opportunity, so local businesses need a solid content and SEO strategy that delivers results for these long tail terms.

Have questions about the current state of your SEO? Contact us and we can give you the answers you are looking for 1-800-888-4084.