Google is looking to help users find more local information by placing local search results in non-local search queries.

Instead of having to search “Dentists in Delano, MN”, you can just type “Dentists” and get local results on page one. Google is using the location of your Internet provider (ISP) to determine where you are, so there will be some variables and inaccurate results, but local search results are there.  Google is trying to improve your search results, feeling that your search probably has local intent.

Local search blogger Paul Jahn weighed in on the new local search feature and the change location ability.  Having an ISP that is local is one hurdle, but Paul points out the “change location” feature to help correct that.  As my example above shows, my results are for Maple Plain which is 10 miles from where we actually office in Delano.  There are still a few Delano results though.

Matt McGee also put together a great post over at Search Engine Land on this and gave some examples, the positives and the challenges.

Local Search Is Important & Improving
The biggest takeaway here is that local search is getting easier for the user.  Google is working to understand what you want.  It is also going to become even more important for the small business to make sure they are represented in the Google 10 pack of local results.

Small business now have the chance to compete for popular one keyword or two keyword searches.  This opportunity shouldn’t be ignored.  This addition is great on many levels and I’m sure we’ll be posting on it more in the coming months.

Local search & web design gurus Pat Sexton and David Mihm delivered simplicity and value in the launch of their new small business tool GetListed.Org. The website allows a business or their marketing partner to verify their main local search listings in Google, Yahoo, Best of the Web (BOTW) and MSN Live in one easy step. Just type in your business name and zip code to get your local search listing report.

The press release for the GetListed.org site offers a great quote from co-creator David Mihm.

“The search engines rely on so many different providers for their Local business data, it’s hard even for experts to keep track of where it’s all coming from,” said Mihm. “This tool really puts the power in the hands of the business owners and helps make sure the engines provide correct data to people searching for these businesses.”

Mihm shared with me that the site has already done over 10,000 business look-ups in just the first two weeks of being launched. They’ve also received very favorable feedback from users and other SEO consultants using the site.

Making the complexity of search a bit easier and empowering the root of correct business information, now thats a great thing.

As an Internet marketing professional this alleviates the multiple site checking and verifying we would normally do for a client. The site also offers tools to make our job easier with a Local Dashboard to track clients data.

Below I ran a report for one of my favorite Minneapolis pizza joints, Pizza Luce. As you can see they have not correctly completed their info in Google and Best of the Web.

The screenshot above shows you get the direct links to get your business listed if you are missing from any of them.

When you add on the value of their local search resource center and even a trusted listing of Local SEO professionals (we’re proud to be listed), the site offers so much more then just the tool.

The future for GetListed looks strong with improvements and additions coming for the site.

“We’re also going to be making it easier for small businesses to understand the transition between SEEING what search engines are returning about their business and actually CHANGING or VERIFYING that information–a couple of small, but important usability tweaks that we hope will solve that.” offered Mihm when asked on the next step for the tool.

Small businesses, I suggested you “get smart” for 2009 and work GetListed.org to the top of your websites to utilize.

If you want to follow David and Pat on Twitter you can find them at @davidmihm and @yummyman .

Yeah, a lot going on in the title here, but I promise it’s all related and of value.

Clean & Simple Web Design
Stuart Atkinson of Bulletproof Box, a blog offering web design techniques, recently highlighted the Five Technology website as one of his 7 Fantastically Simple Web Designs. If you’ve peaked around our portfolio and read a few of our posts on web design then it’s no secret we’re fans of clean, simple and usable web design techniques. We’re proud that others appreciate and recognize our style and it’s fantastic elements. Clean and simple web design is a great way to produce results rather than confusion.

In addition to our feature, Bulletproofbox offers some great posts on CSS and other web design resources, so you might want to check it out.

Dashboard Design
I’ve been working on some concepts for a dashboard design on a in-house project we are rolling out and I’ve learned a few things in the process. Designing a dashboard is like putting together an airplane cockpit. The user is your pilot and needs all the right controls and gauges within reach and view. Clean and simple again wins out here as you need to build a clear structure and layout for the user. Below is a sample concept of our start.

The New Google Browser: Chrome
Obviously a lot of buzz is in the air with yesterdays leak by Google in comic book form. I, like many other net junkies are waiting to put it through the paces to see if Google Chrome is something completely new … or just a few tweaks to what we already use. I literally downloaded it while writing this post, so you can bet I”ll be giving my two cents as well as linking to others comments as they appear.

Form first glance, I think the clean and simple thing is part of Chrome’s push as well, not only in the interface, but in the inner workings.

USA Today’s Jefferson Graham recently did a video segment on Google by interviewing Google’s Matt Cutts for their Tech Talk section. The video is great to get a base understanding of Google’s search results and and search engine optimization basics.

The biggest takeaways I found:

+ It’s tough to be found for a term being searched if that text isn’t on your website somehere, listen to Matt’s example for a San Diego Chiropractor.

+ The importance of title tags and meta desciption tags, not only for Google in understanding the page, but for users deciding on what search results to click on.

+ Blogs! Blogs are a great way to acquire inbound links and put out engaging and valuable content. Hello small businesses!?!?!

+ Submit your site map, or have your web person or firm do it for you. It’s an easy way to get Google to crawl your site and index pages.

Make sure you check out the video.

Side note to USA Today Tech Talk: Put your videos into a player that others can embed to better promote you on their blogs and websites. Be a bit more social!

After reading a story about the top newspaper websites (thanks to Ed Kohler’s Tweet), I wanted to view the San Francisco Chronicle website since it received an “A” grade. Upon typing in “San Fransisco Chronicle” into my Google search field (bad article, no links!) I saw something I had never came across before. A search feature to search the SF Chronicle site, right from Google.

As you can see, Google is providing a search within a search result. Great feature, especially if you’ve ever used a site search on a content heavy website that sucks (See StarTribune.com’s). My first thought was that the SF Chronicle’s site was using Google site search internally, but they are actually using Yahoo for that.

So I typed in Giants, the hometown baseball team and got over 400,000 results and a mix of types from the SF Chronicle website. Very cool.

So I’m left wondering, how long has this feature been there and are there other sites Google is using this for? I get it for many large newspaper sites, but not when searching for the University of Minnesota or Walmart. Imagine if Google offered this as a “product search” when you search Besy Buy or Walmart, they could then serve up many more PPC ads and probably increase some revenue. It would also irk those being searched … who probably spend big bucks with the G.

Anyway, does anyone have anything else to offer or add on this?