The Restaurant Nearest Google
Thai Food Near Me, Dentist Near Me, Notary Near Me, Plumber Near Me -- businesses across the country picked names meant to outsmart Google Search. Does it actually work? From a report: Thai Food Near Me isn't the first business to think of the Google-first naming convention. There are reminders of Google's kingmaker status in online discoverability everywhere in cities across the country. Among the businesses I was able to find: a chain of half a dozen Affordable Dentist Near Me's in Texas; an Antiques Near Me two hours outside of New York City; seven Plumber Near Me businesses; a Phone Repair Near Me in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; a Psychic Near Me in Chicago; and more than 20 iterations of "Notary Near Me" across the US. Felix Silva decided on the name Barber Shop Near Me after considering more than 20 other options for his Coral Springs, Florida, store in 2019. The name is meant to be neutral and memorable -- another one in contention was "The Barber Shop" -- but Silva fully leaned into the Google joke: the logo is a red location pin resembling Google's own, with a blue, white, and red barber pole pattern in the middle. [...] As with Thai Food Near Me, the most powerful thing an SEO-driven name might be able to do is get customers in the door. From there, it's up to a business to give them a good experience, whether that's a great plate of pad see ew or the perfect haircut. Then, the cycle continues -- happy customers leave good reviews. Good reviews help the business's Google Maps profile rank higher. Silva uploads high-quality photos and videos to the page and shares updates, too. That's another SEO move; some experts say active profiles can improve a business's rankings. Still, the naming scheme has caught on: one acquaintance selling Christmas trees, for example, rebranded his business to be called Christmas Trees Near Me, Silva says. (Silva's is not the only Barber Shop Near Me, either -- there are also shops with the same name in Oak Park, Illinois; Queens, New York; and Muskogee, Oklahoma, according to Google Maps.)
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