Google has recently released a new feature that makes its search engine results page (SERPs) more interactive, and concerns the local pack.
What is the local pack?
The local pack is shown when searchers are searching for businesses in their local area. It refers to the top part of the search results, which shows a map of the location with related businesses to the search. It also lists what Google considers to be the top three businesses to show searchers.
Changes to the pack map
As pictured above, the map in the local pack has now been updated within search to become an interactive, letting you zoom, pan, hover and click on businesses that are related to your local search. Previously, the local pack map had been static and did not allow users to interact with it to see more related businesses.
Hovering over a business that is listed within the map enables you to see its name and reviews, which helps searchers to find businesses that have been honestly reviewed – meaning that having honest reviews on your Google Business Listing is becoming even more important to help increase the number of visitors from search results to your website.
What impact does this have on local searches?
Currently, the local pack only shows the top three businesses that are related to the searcher’s query. However, with the introduction of the interactive map, this means that more businesses can be shown within the search results so that searchers can see businesses that are local to them and sell the product or service they are looking for.
The new interactive map can be useful if the searcher lives in a large area – for example, in a big city – as they can zoom into the specific area in which they live and see businesses that are closer to their location.
Your Google Business Listing is a fantastic way for your business to get in front of your target market, and making sure your listing is optimised and is kept up to date is key. At Engage Web, we offer search engine optimisation (SEO) services that can help your website’s performance increase within search results, and we can also optimise your Google Business Listing to make sure that it is getting as much visibility in local searches as it can. To find out more, have a chat with our team today.
- Key takeaways from Google’s latest search reviews update - November 10, 2023
- Mobile-first indexing: what is it, and why has it taken so long? - November 3, 2023
- Google updates structured data understanding - October 31, 2023
