So as you may or may not be aware, Google made a huge change to how local search looks on this past Wednesday, October 27th.

You may not have seen the new layout until Thursday because they were rolling it out in phases but I’m pretty sure every area has it now. If your area still looks the same then be patient, it’s coming your way.

Below is a screenshot of the “old” look:

This is the look we were all familiar with. The 7-box at the top and then the organic search results below that.

If you had done some SEO to your website and you followed our How To Dominate Google Places Special Report then most likely you were benefiting from a listing on the maps and a high organic result below.

Now here’s the new look:

With this new look, the map is now on the right hand side of the screen. It is no longer taking up the valuable real estate called “Above The Fold” or in other words the top of the page visible immediately on the user’s monitor.

Another major change is that “Local Listings” are now merged with “Organic Results”.

So what does this new look and ranking algorithm mean for us as carpet cleaners?

Here’s what I’ve noticed after analyzing the results in all the areas that I currently have clients in:

• Businesses that had a strong organic presence along with a local listing in that area before this change are the ones that are benefiting the most because their local listing is now associated with their high-ranking website.
• One of my clients that had a number 1 website but a non-ranking Google Places listing still has the number 1 website but his Google Places listing is now in the A position.
• Businesses without a website or a poor ranking one are suffering because they are now pushed off the first page.
• Google is now displaying the first image in your Google Places listing right below your website, so make sure the first image you upload is the one you want shown.
• Reviews are more important than ever because clients can now make their buying decision right from that first page without even visiting your website.

To summarize, if you have fallen behind the times and you don’t have a website now is the time to get one developed (make sure your webmaster knows and understands SEO) and while that is being done, make sure you follow our report on setting up Google Places so that they can both rank together.

Related posts:

1. How to dominate Google Places for carpet cleaners – step by step!
2. Move your Carpet Cleaning website to the top of Google’s Local Listings
3. Attention all cleaners- Go beyond Google Places
4. How Carpet Cleaners Can Improve Their Natural Search Engine Rankings
5. How many listings can a cleaning operation set up in Google Places?