Bill S. delivers a glossary of Google Local Search terms
In the comments to my 10 Likely Elements of Google’s Local Search Algorithm post last month, Bill Slawski mentioned that he should write a glossary of terms related to Google local search (Google Maps).
As promised, he did: Google Local Search Glossary
Grab your favorite beverage and get comfortable in your chair, because there’s a lot of terrific local search information in that post.
Bill says the glossary is taken from various Google patent filings on local search, and in the comments there I suggested it would help some of us (ahem, me!) if some of the legal/technical jargon were put in layman’s terms. And I just had another thought come to my mind: It should probably be noted that we don’t know for sure if the stuff described in patent filings is actually being used in algorithms, so some of the concepts in the glossary may have no bearing on what we see on Google Maps.
But all that aside, this is a terrific resource that will only serve to make future local search conversations that much more intelligent.
[tags]local search, google, google maps, bill slawski[/tags]
Hi Matt,
I blogged about this, too! Isn’t it great Bill has done this? I’m really pleased.
Local Search really is becoming a resource for me, and today I had an interesting experience where a new brick-and-mortar business owner asked if I thought if they could improve their business with a website.
The answer was certainly yes, but with their present budget, and the saturation of their market globally, I advised them that they don’t presently have the funds to build an e-commerce site that would have a very positive impact on their profits.
However, a geotargeted informational site with a blog about their subject could present calls to action that would get more people in our region to pick up the phone or walk in their door who otherwise might not know this little business exists. And this, I do believe, they can budget for.
Thanks Local Search:)!
Miriam
Hey Miriam – sounds like good advice you shared with that client. It’s tough with small biz when their ideas and desires are bigger than their budgets. That blog should be especially helpful, as long as they can give it the attention it needs. The engines love blogs, so they can be great traffic drivers. Good luck with that client!