Hello again. In local SEO there are two important ways to get your site noticed outside of organic search. Your site can be displayed in the local box, based on organic searches, or it can be listed as an ad at the top of the results page. Appearing as an ad requires that the business pay for advertising and preferential ranking. In this module we'll take a close look at this paid option for gaining visibility. How can we use paid search to improve the chances that customers will locate our business? We'll look at how Google incorporates AdWords and other paid features into local organic searches. And we'll examine the features of paid listings. An example of how Google incorporates AdWords and other paid features into local organic search is with hotel reservations. Another feature of local search is the ability to make reservations or view available hotel rooms straight from Google search pages. For example, this hotel search for hotels in Davis, CA allows me to select the dates I'm seeking a room. I can also sort by price, rating, and hotel class. If I click on one of these results I will be brought to the map page with an option to make a reservation through one of these sites. The small Ad button near, Book a room, shows me that these partner choices are pay to play. In the past, Google tested a method of booking rooms through Google directly. But this was highly controversial and has since been changed to send users directly to a third party booking site. Chances are likely Google will do more testing of this in the future. Keep in mind that Google is a for-profit business. So a lot of changes they make to local search results end up driving local businesses to utilize Google's paid ad services. For example, as of this filming, Google is currently testing a new feature called, the home services marketplace. This testing is currently only taking place in San Francisco. And this may be out of testing by the time you're taking this class. The home services marketplace is a pay for play type of local search result that has the goal of turning queries about home service solutions into engagement with related providers. This area works for businesses that offer home service contractors such as plumbers, carpenters, and more. The local results service for these business types is very similar in appearance to the new three pack. If you click on one of these results you are taken to a page displaying that company's qualifications and services, along with a button to send a request. It isn't hard to imagine other functionality, like click to call or bookings, as a part of this in the future. If you would like, you can read about Google's instructions for being included in these results in Google's ad support forum. Basically, licensing, background, and insurance checks are required. If a business doesn't have a contractor's license Google will add a note letting users know that the business is only qualified to perform services which cost less than $500. As you can see, there are less and less opportunities for local businesses to gain organic visibility in search. A local SEO strategy should involve optimizing your business to appear in the three pack, as well as ranking highly in organic search. Even if you are able to obtain a three pack ranking, you should constantly focus your efforts on improving your organic ranking as well. Google has been known to shake things up a bit and cause businesses in these results to lose traffic. It's never a good idea to place all of your eggs in one basket and rely on Google to keep sending you the same traffic month over month. A good idea is to broaden your focus and also look at how you can effectively compete on sites outside of Google, like Facebook or Yelp. However, in this course, we will be discussing a local SEO strategy for Google in particular. Let's move on to some local SEO strategies you can focus on, starting with opening a Google business page. That completes the video portion of this lesson.
