Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Hey Jake!

My pleasure, and I hear you on trying to compare one client to another. With geography/competition both playing such major factors in how well any given business ranks, it can be like comparing apples to oranges. Wishing you good luck!

Hey Jake!

First, I need to apologize. I misread the # hash bangs in your URLs as skip links and mistook your website for a single page. I'm sorry about that. We've had some good debate on Moz about the pros and cons of Wix sites you might like to look through (https://moz.com/community/q/wix-is-it-any-good-for-seo) to decide whether there are any SEO drawbacks to your platform, but as I've never worked with a Wix site, I can't say first-hand.

That's great that your citations are in such good shape. Super!

No, I'm not suggesting that you make a page for every service/city combo. While that is an approach that can be taken, it's one I'd only recommend if the company has really significant resources for differentiating all of the content this would require. In most cases, small-to-medium businesses will be better off with a unique page for each city and a unique page for each service, rather than trying to make pages for every combo of the two.

Hope those links will be useful to you in auditing your scenario!

Hey Jake!
I'm so sorry to hear you're feeling discouraged. That can be tough, when you work hard but aren't seeing results. Now, my main advice to you here is that you're going to want to consider having a really good Local SEO firm audit your entire situation, but in the meantime, I'm going to give you some cursory feedback on this.

1. I am really not a fan of the one-page website approach. I know, these have been trendy for the past couple of years, but given the SEO limitations inherent in them (no title tags, fewer link opportunities, difficult to grow content, etc.), they are simply not an approach I would recommend to my own clients.

2. My preferred approach would be to go with a more traditional structure, with an excellent, unique page on the website for each service you offer an each city you serve.

3. Yes, the core of your Local SEO will be anchored to your physical location and you'll put a major focus on this on the website, understanding that it's for your physical location that you'll be trying to rank in the local packs, but as mentioned in point 2, you can also build out great pages for your additional service cities. Here are 2 links that should help you get the gist of this approach:

https://moz.com/blog/local-seo-checklist

https://moz.com/blog/overcoming-your-fear-of-local-landing-pages

4. I know, it can be tough when you've put a lot of effort into a website to reevaluate whether it's the right vehicle for success or is holding you back. In this case, I'd start with very careful consideration of all of the above.

5. From there, you're going to want to move on to the other things covered in the above checklist. It's believed that several hundred factors contribute to local rank (see: https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors). And you'll definitely want to audit your citations. Our free Check Listing tool (moz.com/local/search) is a good place to start.

I hope this feedback is helpful. It's just at-a-glance and can't replace a professional audit, but I hope it provides some good context for evaluating the efforts you are making to meet your goals.

Nice! Thanks for confirming, Andy.

Hey James,

I'm afraid I don't know enough about this, either. It's my understanding that local reviews play a part in Siri results. How is your client doing on Yelp? I find it odd that Siri can find zero results for your query in a large city like Denver.

Hey Andy!

Another very cool suggestion. Is the voice recorder something that came out-of-the-box with your phone, or is it an app you installed? I like your method very much!

Recommended reading on call tracking: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/11/25/guide-to-using-call-tracking-for-local-search/

Hey There,

Like Andy said - oh, dear! Just want to confirm:

1. No, you do not want more than 1 website for the business

2. Call tracking numbers, if utilized improperly, can really harm a business

3. Never give GMB access to anyone you don't trust

I have never worked with Yodle, but I do recommended reading and sharing these with your client:

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/11/25/guide-to-using-call-tracking-for-local-search/

https://moz.com/community/q/yodel-anyone-have-insights-into-their-process

Hey Bas!

This is definitely the kind of thing I'm hoping our community will contribute to the discussion. Sounds like Todoist is really working well for you, and I like you point about how you can jot this stuff down quickly enough that it's not then distracting you from the work at hand, knowing you can return to it later. Cool!

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your strategy.

Hey There!
If you're just offering 1 service in 1 city, I do not see the point of having a 'driveway cleaning' page and a 'driveway cleaning glasgow' page. Rather, I'd make the homepage strong about your customers + city + service and then I'd build out content about various aspects of driveway cleaning that would also mention your geography. I'd fire up something like http://answerthepublic.com/seeds/290501 and start developing additional pages like:

Should you use caustic soda for driveway cleaning?

Should driveways be cleaned with chlorine?

The pros and cons of pressure washing driveways.

Research both via online tools and direct interviews with your customers + staff to discovers what common customer questions are and start developing the best content in your city around these topics.

Highlight your trust metrics via testimonials, reviews and guarantees. Show your before-and-after work. Seek out opportunities for community involvement and publicize them.

With just one service in one city, you'll have to take a granular approach to grow beyond being a 5 page website to being the most informative and useful local brand. Hope these ideas get you going.

Hey There!

Kudos to you for revisiting how important a well-optimized web presence can be for any local business. You have 2 options here, in terms of site structure:

1. Build a unique page for each service you offer, optimized for that service + build a unique page for each city you serve.

or

2. Build pages for each possible combo of keywords+city

Unless you have really considerable resources, approach number 1 is typically best. I'd like to point you to 2 resources here on Moz that should be a big help both with structure and landing pages:

Check out the big graphic at the beginning of this post: https://moz.com/blog/local-seo-checklist

Then, check out this article on landing pages: https://moz.com/blog/overcoming-your-fear-of-local-landing-pages

Hope these will get you going with your strategy!

Nice, Jordan. And funny how good old pen-and-paper can still sometimes be easier than opening .docs, typing things, etc. I like your common sense approach.

Good Afternoon Moz Friends!

This week, one of my favorite bloggers in the Local SEO industry wrote a post to celebrate his 5 year blogging anniversary. Phil Rozek has brought an incredible level of knowledge to the industry and one of the things I've most admired about his writing is the consistency with which he tackles common, important problems everyone involved is facing. The tip from Phil's anniversary post that I'd like to discuss with you all this this one, about practicing awareness of the obstacles you encounter in your daily work, for the purpose of investigation and possible public sharing of the solutions you discover:

"Jot down every idea you have, every question you ask yourself that stumps you, and every question someone asks you that stumps you. Those are yourraw materials.  You probably won’t write on all of them, but you’ll want the ability to cherry-pick."

As a Moz staffer and a marketer, I can testify to the fact that my brain exists in a whirl of possibilities, questions and a never-ending search for relevant solutions. Never a day goes by in which I don't say to myself, at least once,"I wonder why that's like that? Why doesn't this work? How do I do that? What is that? Why don't I get that?" or something similar about a new product, new technology, Google issue, customer issue, industry issue or what have you.

What I've learned is that if I have a question about something that I can't instantly resolve, chances are, I'm not the only one who has that question. If you're a blogger, a copywriter, an email marketer, a social marketer, if you can solve a common problem, you have just discovered something to share.

_But,_if you're not practicing mindfulness, little questions that arise in the course of an 8 hour day can come and go. They can simply get lost. This is why I value Phil's common sense suggestion of jotting each mental query down as it arises. A spreadsheet seems like a great idea for this task. Just think of how many talking/sharing points you could accumulate in a month  ... and how that could translate into blog posts, newsletters, tweets, etc.

Now, I'd like to ask if you've come up with a method for capturing your own thought process when questions arise so that you don't lose track of what might be some of your best queries and ideas. If you have tips to share, the community could really benefit! Thanks!

Hi Anton,

Good question! To my eyes, these appear to be two legitimately unique companies. One installs windows and doors, and the other is selling blinds and curtains. I see you have separate phone numbers for the business, so checking that off my list. Good. Here are the 3 things I'd suggest you make certain of:

1. Be sure NO content is being shared between the two websites. Sometimes, businesses get a bit lazy about this. Audit both sites to be sure they aren't sharing content.

2. Beware of any linking strategy the companies may have undertaken to try to boost one another.

3. Be careful about Google categories. If possible, do not share Google categories between the two businesses. I mention this, because if you're using shared categories between two businesses at the same address, there is some chance that Google could mistake the intent and wrongly decide that this is really just one company trying to pose as two.

Those would be my 3 little provisos. Hope they help!

Hi Anton!

EGOL is truly a content expert, and I second his suggestion that more content would be the top priority here. You mention ranking failures. What terms, specifically, are you failing to rank for? And are you looking at local or organic rankings? Do you feel you've built strong enough content for those terms? Have you gone through something like our Local SEO Checklist to try to identify problems, like citation inconsistency, reviews, technical issues, etc? https://moz.com/blog/local-seo-checklist

The truth is, there are a couple of hundred factors that are believed to impact local rank. Auditing your own presence and comparing that to an audit of your competitors generally yields many clues as to why you are being outranked. Hope the Checklist will be a good jumping off point!

Glad I helped you clarify, Gal.

Happy to have you be part of this community, Travis!

Hey Travis!

Thanks for mentioning Wyndham's photo push - sounds like they are going with the tide on this. Interesting! Makes good sense - I've stayed at some of their properties and they are pretty solidly nice (and have kitchens! *see my earlier comment). And good for you, Travis, for challenging yourself to be more out and about in the world at wide. Life on the computer can be a bit isolating at times ... I'd say a busy hotel would be the perfect antidote!

Appreciate you sharing some thoughts on this thread.

Hey There! If your scenario is like those in which two brands share a location, Google speaks to this in the guidelines, which read: ------ Two or more brands at the same location If your business location combines two or more brands, do not combine the brand names into a single listing. Instead, pick one brand’s name for the listing. If the brands operate independently, you may use a separate listing for each brand at this location. Not Acceptable: "KFC / Taco Bell" or "Dunkin' Donuts / Baskin Robbins" Acceptable: "Taco Bell", "KFC", "Dunkin’ Donuts", "Baskin Robbins" ------ So, in this scenario, Google does permit a unique GMB listing if the brands 'operate independently', and, one could infer from this that separate Schema would be okay. To be honest, the part of this I'm not totally clear on is Google's personal definition of what 'operate independently' means, and my best advice would be to get on the phone with them to request a specific definition. In your shoes, if your brands do not have the recognition of KFC or Taco Bell, I would feel some concern about merging or listing takedowns, if Google were to determine internally that you've got 1 brand trying to appear like 2. So, best advice: call Google on this and be prepared to show exactly what the 2 businesses are. Hope this helps!

Hi Gal,

Can you answer a few of questions here, please?

1. Does your new business have its own phone number, not share by any other business?

2. Does your new business share Google categories with the existing business at the location you've moved into?

3. Is there a relationship of any kind between your business and the existing business at the location you've moved into?

4. Does your new business have its own front entrance, or do customers of both businesses enter by the same door?

5. Is your business staffed during stated business hours?

Please, be as detailed as you can to receive best feedback from the community. Thanks!

Hey David!

That is confusing! Likely, you will have to go to Google on this one, but first:

1. Is your client the only lawyer at his new practice or are there multiple lawyers?

2. Can you gain access to the listing you are calling 'the old listing' to edit it?

Hi Robert!

You know - that's a really smart idea! I can totally see how the Assisted Living industry would relate to this topic and that the quality of the rooms residents stay in would be a major feature. Great observation, and I hope the next monthly meeting starts a great conversation about that.

For me, when I look for lodgings, the first think I check for is kitchens! I have to be able to cook anywhere I go and even the nicest bedroom in the world won't sell me if the lodging lacks a kitchen. So, innkeepers everywhere, show me your kitchens!

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on this. I enjoyed reading your comment.

Hi There,

Good topic, and like Chris, I agree that this approach of creating a single, really strong piece of content and linking from it to your city landing pages is a MUCH better idea than trying to re-hash the same topic over and over again for every city. I'm not an expert on how this would the flow of link influence, but I think it's way more important to consider the better usability your suggested method provides than would the thin/duplicate/spun content approach.

Hopefully you can find other geo-specific topics to cover for individual cities, but if a single topic applies equally to all of your locations, then it's a good idea to present it that way.

Hi Patrick,

It's true, you will be somewhat limited by that, but with the exception of citation building, you should still be able to make a good effort at content development, linkbuilding, etc. Sounds like you're working with a really neat, diverse company that could become the answer to so many local homeowner needs if the brand becomes locally famous. Wishing you good luck

Hi Patrick,

Very important questions!

Adding to Laura's caution on this ... if ABC Home Services is actually just a single company, then Google does not want multiple Google My Business listings created for each service it offers. Obviously, the business is offering quite a variety of things, but if it's really all just one company, then it's only eligible for a single Google My Business listing, regardless of the approach that is taken with the number of websites built. And, if it's just one company, building multiple websites with shared NAP on them would not be a safe approach. If this were my client, this is the rough strategy I would recommend:

1. Build a single website with awesome content on it for each of the services offered (roofing, carpet cleaning, etc.).

2. Build a single set of citations for the company

The only safe alternative to this would be to legally register the companies as completely separate with totally distinct names, do not have an umbrella website, have a unique website for each with no shared content, have a different physical location and different phone number for each business, and do not interlink the businesses in any way.

Any variation on this (such as a shared address) could bring Google scrutiny to the situation and carries a measure of risk as Google might determine that it's just one business attempting to appear like multiple companies. Google can usually handle multiple businesses at the same address, but if they are in some way related to one another, this can raise red flags.

Laura has also made mention of departments within businesses. This commonly applies to auto dealerships, hospitals, school campuses, etc. Google suggests that these business models should each have a unique front entrance to qualify for multiple GMB listings. I've not seen this model applied to a home improvement business, but it's something you could ask Google about.

Hope this helps. Very smart of you to fully research this before creating a marketing plan!

Thanks for taking the time to reply! I wondered exactly that same thing about restaurants. I wonder if interiors or food shots are more influential. I'd love to see a study on that, if someone does one.

Hi Neil,

Unfortunately, if your client chooses to create 4 different listings with 1 phone number, he will be at risk for merging and possible ranking failures. If this were my client, I would not recommend that he do this. Honestly, if the client is only working 1 day a week at a facility, eligibility for inclusion in GMB sounds a bit iffy. I recommend that you contact Google directly to get their say-so on this, but a business that is only open 1 day a week could draw some scrutiny from Google.

Hi Neil!

In a nutshell:

1. 1 GMB listing per physical, staffed location

2. A unique phone number for each location

3. If there are practitioners, they should each have their own phone number, too, if you want to create GMB listings. Preferably they should each have their own landing page on the website as well, linked to from the GMB listing.

4. Do not add fictitious suite numbers. Use real-world addresses. Google can typically sort through shared locations, but be extra vigilant in actively monitoring such listings, particularly if they share categories.

Any other arrangement will cause problems. Hope this helps!

Hey Mike!

You've received great feedback from the community here (nice job, everybody!). While it's not a requirement to have complete NAP on every page, it is a best practice. I see these 3 options open to you:

1. Convince the client to go with a more normal layout. If you can, put complete NAP in the footer.

2. If no dice on that, put it in the masthead.

3. And if that won't work, you could certainly put it at the bottom of the main body of the pages, incorporating it into your call to action.

Hope this helps!

Hi Neil,

My pleasure! If you're a multi-location business, one solution to scaling would be to assign a social marketer at each location and give them access to that Facebook Place with a schedule you'd like them to follow for social sharing. How much time will need to be invested into this will be dictated by the competitiveness of your geo-industry.

If staff size limits this, I would suggest just getting basic details onto the Facebook Place listings, and then further researching Facebook's other types of pages (see:https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/) to determine whether you'd be able to also run a single company page for the whole business which you could focus your social efforts on. This, however, is outside of my area of knowledge, so it's something you'd want to research well.

Hey To All My Favorite Local Folks Here!

Have clients in the hospitality industry? You might be interested in this Mike Blumenthal post in which he does a good job of voicing the frustration business owners may feel when their preferred Google profile photo is overridden with Google's preferred pic. The post does more than just vent, though ... it actually hints at something quite fascinating that Google may have just offered up to the hospitality industry by switching from hotel-preferred exterior shots to Google-preferred interior shots of rooms.

Mike's contention (and it's one shared by many in the industry) is that Google makes moves like this because they are maximizing profit. From the image switching that just happened, I think it makes sense to theorize that Google has gathered enough internal data to convince them that room shots lead to more bookings than do exterior views of lodgings. This wouldn't surprise me at all. When you're looking for a place to stay, it's the room you're going to stay in that matters most ... not really whether the exterior building is made of brick, wood or stucco, right? Certainly, a beautiful, fancy building could sway you, but if the rooms look awful inside, that's probably a deal breaker.

If Mike is right, then I think Google's image switcharoo offers an extremely compelling reason to follow Google's lead and shine a major spotlight - on your website which you CAN control - on your interior photography. This suggestion could apply at all levels of the industry, from major hotel corporations that might want to rethink homepage contents and interior page layouts, to country B&Bs that have never made the investment in getting a pro photo shoot done that will truly showcase their rooms. I know, as a traveler, I've seen everything from stunning to downright dark, distorted and scary when it comes to hotel room photography.

If Google knows it gets more bookings when good clear room shots are given pride of place, your hotel clients might want to be taking notes on that.

Do you agree? As a hospitality industry Local SEO (or even as a traveler) what do you think is the most influential booking factor? Do you have any tips to share with others in the industry or an opinion on Google's switcharoo? Please, share with our community!

Hi Jordan,
I totally get how confusing Facebook can be! So, Facebook has a product that is officially called a Facebook Place, and it is their version of a local business listing. This is different than their purely social options. A Facebook Place is Facebook's equivalent of a Google My Business listing, Bing Places listing or what have you. For each physical location a business operates, they should have a unique Facebook Place with complete NAP on it. They should categorize the FB Place as a Local Business and earn visits/checkins to it. They can/should socialize on these pages as well. As to whether the brand wants to have a purely social brand page as well, that would be a social decision rather than a local one.

I have found Facebook's education and outreach about their product to be somewhat lacking, personally, but you can search for more info about this here: https://www.facebook.com/help

Hi Neil!

Good questions! As Jordan has stated, yes, each physical location should have a unique citation set. So, that means a unique Google My Business Listing, Bing Listing, Yelp Listing, etc. *I respectfully disagree with Jordan's suggestion about Facebook. You should be creating a unique Facebook Place for each location.

Important: Be sure that none of the locations shares a phone number with any of the others, and that all are physical locations (not virtual offices) that are staffed during stated business hours.

Hope this helps!

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for those details. I agree, there's a bit of grey area here. What your scenario actually is most reminiscent to me of is a car dealership with a department for print and and department for signs (like a department for parts and another for sales). However, what is making this a bit unusual is that the second business is actually in a completely unique building with its own walk-in front entrance. I see 3 options here:

1. You determine that your second business is actually just a set of products your company offers and that a second Google My Business listing is not warranted, because you aren't supposed to create separate listings for your menu of products/services. You work harder on your organic SEO to get ranking organically for your signs products. PPC could help here, too. Risk level: none.

2. You treat the signs element of your business as a department of your company. You keep everything under the same business name, with the same website, but with a unique, non-redirecting phone number in the second building that is answered by someone who says "Heritage Printing & Graphics, Signs Department." You do create a separate Google My Business listing. Your website contains a landing page for the signs department that the Google My Business listing for it links to. Risk level: moderate. There is a chance here that Google could determine that the business should have marketed it itself as laid out in option 1 and is trying to spam Google. I know that's not what you're trying to do, but Google will have their own interpretation. They are used to seeing hospitals, schools and car dealerships have separate departments. They may not view a print shop the same way.

3. You do operate the second business as completely separate, with a unique address, unique non-redirecting phone number and unique website that does not interlink with or duplicate the content of the original business in any way. You might even consider branding that second business totally differently as 'Zippy Signs' or something like that instead of associating it with the Heritage brand in any way. If you keep this 100% separate from the first business, I'd rate the **Risk level: mild. **It's odd ... if this business were in a totally different part of town, the risk would be none, but it's the fact that it's next door to the the first company that is giving me a little bit of concern.

My advice: weigh each of these 3 options carefully and then phone Google directly to discuss with them. You are not a spammer who has something to hide. You are a legitimate business owner who is trying to understand his marketing options, and should have no fear of discussing this directly with Google.

Hi Kevin!

Christy is asking some important questions. I'll add just a couple more:

1. Are these legally registered as 2 distinct businesses?

2. Do they have separate front entrances?

3. Do they each have a unique local phone number?

Please, provide as much detail as you can.

Hey There!

Like others on this thread, I'm not seeing the same results you are for those search terms. Yelp is one of the top ranking directories for many brand and service searches, so having it rank highly is not unusual. It's possible for a Yelp result to outrank a website if the website isn't very strong. As for how to build up your own rankings, please check out our Local SEO checklist. Everything on that list will help you compete and, hopefully, begin to surpass weaker competitors. You'll want to audit both your own business and that of any competitors for a complete picture. Hope this helps!

Hi Ria,

Yeah, it's so important to get all these questions answered before you start work. Sounds like you need some answers before you can interpret which of Google's guidelines apply. Good luck!

So glad if the links were helpful, James

Hey James!

Good for you for doing your research and questioning stated best practices. It never hurts to ask! You are not going to find many examples of actual businesses that have been penalized for use of virtual offices because:

A) The business owner is hardly likely to advertise the fact that he was taken down for guidelines violations

B) Most SEOs don't consider it ethical to call out spammers by name. That being said, this is a good thread on this topic at Linda Buquet's forum about an attorney (unidentified) being caught for spam: http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-local-important/26844-busted-warning-attorneys-regus-non-compliant-offices.html. While I believe that instance related to a combination of fake locations and UPS store addresses, the thing to pay attention to is how easily the spammer was caught. TCs and RERs can act very quickly in escalating something like this when reported. I also recommend http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-local/38965-virtual-office-question-issues.html and http://www.localsearchforum.com/local-search/37981-personal-injury-lawyer-wants-rank-tons-cities.html

If you know a business is operating out of a virtual office with a shared receptionist, then it's the Google forum folks (some of whom are speaking in the above threads) who would be determining your fate should your competitor report their suspicions about your GMB listing to them. It's pretty clear that your listing would fall under the close scrutiny of TCs and RERs who really do not go easy on guidelines violation reports to Google.

Hi Ria!

I want to be sure I'm understanding exactly what you are describing. I'm concerned that what you are talking about may fall under Google's ineligible model guidelines which state:

An ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don't own or have the authority to represent. Please coordinate with your host to have your information displayed on the page for their business within their "Introduction" field.

What are the specifics of this. Does the client have:

1. A unique phone number?

2. A dedicated set of rooms?

3. It's own forward-facing front desk?

4. 9-5 (or similar) hours of operation?

Hey James!

Joy Hawkins wrote an excellent post on this topic last year. Check it out:

http://searchengineland.com/business-owners-guide-moving-office-234671

Should be just what the doctor ordered!

Hi Patrick,

As each of these is genuinely a forward-facing department with its own phone number, then listing each should not be regarded by Google as spam in any way. Many hospitals and colleges have numerous departments. It's true - this will lead to quite a cluster of markers on the map, but if customers zoom in, Google will spread them out. Hope this helps!

Hi Faisal,

On the local part of your question: yes, if you want to target 3 different cities, the most common proceeding would be to create a really strong unique landing page for each city. This blog post may help:

https://moz.com/blog/overcoming-your-fear-of-local-landing-pages

So glad you find the Checklist helpful!

Hey Ricky!

I would say this boils down to how well that directory ranks for your client's core search terms. $50 is quite a bit to ask for a listing, you know, but if there is some reason being ranked on this directory in this town would help your client earn rankings they can't get on their own, it might be worth it. So, do some searches to discover how authoritative the directory is.

Hey John,

Without knowing the complete details of the scenario, I'm not 100% certain (feel free to explain further) but I do believe what you are describing would fall under Google's guideline regarding ineligible business models:

An ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don't own or have the authority to represent. Please coordinate with your host to have your information displayed on the page for their business within their "Introduction" field.

How I'm understanding your description is that the showroom is actually the host here and that they would need to mention you and all of the other brands they are representing, rather than you building your own GMB listing. If you need to coordinate with the host, I recommend drawing their attention to Google's Guidelines for 'Two or more brands at the same location'.

Here are the complete guidelines: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en

Hope this helps!

Hey There!

Good feedback from the community here

If a competitor is actually spamming the local pack, you have the option to report them, but it has to be more than that they are just outranking you. There needs to be proof of spam. Lacking that, I agree with what Dmitrii and Dan have suggested about focusing on your own work. You might like to go through our big Local SEO checklist to be sure you're doing everything you can:

https://moz.com/blog/local-seo-checklist

Hope this helps!

That's right, Kuldeep Singh!

Each physical locations should have it's own GMB listing and will earn its own reviews.

I recommend this thread over at Linda Buquet's forum that was created when Google removed the location search from main search:

http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-local-important/38549-9-tools-hacks-emulate-google-search-location-since-setting-gone.html