Google AdWords has always been an excellent resource for those who want to push traffic to a website, but for a long time after the release of the program, that was about all it was good for. If you had an ecommerce site or a well-constructed web page for your business, great! But, local businesses looking to further their business through Google search were out of luck. Well, the name of the game has changed, with search for local businesses rising in both mobile and desktop environments. To help meet and encourage this growing demand, Google has released two heaping scoops of features, including the recent location extension enhancement that lets businesses highlight their business on the Google Map.
Google launched its “location extension” feature in AdWords back in 2009, and since then several key features have been integrated — most prominently the inclusion of a phone number with “Click-to-Call” functionality (released a year ago). Now, Google is allowing local advertisers to highlight their business on the Google Map, integrated into the search engine results page on local searches.
The Google post announces the specific features, which includes all the standard extension information in the central SERP and a “distinctive blue pin” in the map located in the right column. And how can you get this blue highlight for your business? Good news for those who already signed up for the location extension: it’s an automatic feature that won’t require any additional effort or investment.
The SERP map presentation itself is new, presenting local maps and business addresses side-by-side rather than giving diverse location information in a single stack. “Rather than seeing multiple addresses and maps on the page,” read the Google announcement, “your customers can see all relevant, nearby locations in one place with quick links to get directions on Google Maps.”
