When I think of local search, I think of the old fashioned Yellow Pages Directory, but less turning of those thin pages that stick together and more of instant results. Many businesses feel that putting all of their marketing expenditure and effort into their website only will be enough to sell their products and services. They do know, however, that they are not the only Laundromat/butcher/toy store in the area, and this can prove problematic. Bigger brands that wish to sell their products and services to not only their own country but other continents will also face problems when approaching local listings of their business. Whether your business is big or small, local search will place you on the map, literally.

The key to local search is to stay competitive, think laterally and prioritise. Below are a few recourses on how to rank within local search in the countries you would like to target. These articles, written by industry experts, show how you can improve your local rankings.

In the first week of April, Google announced changes to search results for local queries, such as restaurants and dentists, etc that would use a location based search such as dentists in Bristol. To make searches easier results are tailored to match the users IP address without having to type the location within the search query. Traditionally, search queries that include a location would turn up results displayed on a map; however, with this new update the need to use locations within your search queries should no longer be necessary, in theory.

This update has been rolled out worldwide (it has not affected Google South Africa, which has yet to display map listings for any location based search) and also includes results for street addresses and stores without the location.

Now, this is not completely accurate, as the location results are based on IP addresses and you are able to use the “change location” option from within the results to fine tune your search query.

An interesting deviation from Google Trends is turning out to be an early warning system for Flu outbreaks. When millions of people start searching for “Flu symptoms” this collective data results in an accurate regional picture of impending flu outbreak, so much so that early tests by Googles philanthropic unit Google.org suggest being able to detect outbreaks up to 10 days before they are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Data collected this way can help forecast the imminent future, and reflects the world’s collective desires and needs, its likes and dislikes. A spike in “repossession” may signal an increase in the numbers of people not able to pay their mortgages. “Retrenchment law” an indication that companies are in trouble and are considering redundancies.

In May, Google launched a new feature to Google Map called Street View. This option allows the average user to see in virtual and “real time” shots of most of the United States, from a street perspective. These options includes features, such as taking virtual walks or tours through your favourite US city, for example New York or San Diego, as well as find restaurants, shops and see interesting landmarks.

When Google was approached about Privacy Violations that their new feature might violate, Google`s spokesperson, Megan Quinn allegedly reported: “This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street. Imagery of this kind is available in a wide variety of formats for cities around the world.”

Google reports that their street view feature does not violate any privacy rights, because Google, as anyone, has the right to capture street views. The director of a privacy advocates group in San Diego, CA, Pam Dixon disagrees with Google.