Google 411 - Optimizing For Local Voice
By Craig Danuloff
The stakes in local search engine optimization went up today, as Google announced their free 411 service. Now anyone call dial 1-800-GOOG-411 and get not only the phone number but also connected for free to local businesses - or a list of available businesses in a category.
And guess what - the listing results are provided in the exact sequence of the results for the same search at local.google.com. Local search has been growing, and I know in some cases having huge impacts for very small businesses smart enough to optimize.
But as rank-based free-411 catches on the benefits of a #1 ranking for a category in local are going to skyrocket. And so will the efforts made to win the local search race.
Bonus: Tips for the service below.
When you are asked for city and state, you can:
* say the city and state like "beverly hills california".
* say the zip, e.g. "nine-oh-two-one-oh".
* type the zip code using the key pad, e.g. "9-0-2-1-0".
When you are asked for a business name or category, you can:
* say a business name, like "Giovanni's pizzeria".
* say a category name, like "hardware stores".
* say "go back" to change city and state.
When browsing through results, you can:
* say the listing number (e.g. "number two") or press the corresponding key (e.g. "2") to choose a listing or navigate between results.
* say "text message" or press "9" to receive a text message, when you are calling from a mobile phone.
* say "details" to get more information about the current listing.
* say "start over" or press "*" to start from the main menu.
* say "go back" to change business or category.
