As a digital media and SEO company, we not only work for local clients but also clients based outside of our area both nationally and internationally. So often you need to check local SERPS from a diffeernt location to waht you client would be seeing.
Google’s core aim is to deliver relevant results to its users and over time they have refined this to ensure each result is tailored as much as possible to the individual end user. One way of doing this is to work out the client’s location and if relevant, push search results higher for local services that are applicable. This in affect means you will see different search results than someone located elsewhere.
So without jumping on a plane and physically travelling to various locations just to check local SERP results, how can you check local SERP results from one location? Fortunately there is an easy and free way to change Google location on Google Chrome.
Google Developer Console
By using Google Chrome’s built-in Developers Console, you can override your location so Google gives results as though you were physically located elsewhere. To access the console, open up Chrome and do a search for anything, and on any search result right click on the heading and click on Inspect.
This will open the developer console in a side window on the left. Next you need to access the sensor area down the bottom which will default to “No Override” ; this is the parameter we need to change.
If you click on the Non Override button you will get a pop up with various custom options for some major cities but in this case we need to select custom location to select a location not found on the list…in this example it will be Melbourne…so select custom location.
You will see the latitude and longitude section can now be adjusted, so we need to find values to put it there. Easiest way is to use Google Maps so open another Google tab and type in Melbourne and click on the Maps option at the top to take you to the Melbourne map.
Click on any location in the CBD and a window will pop up at the bottom showing what is there, including the latitude and longitude coordinates; these are the number to plug into the sensor panel.
Now all you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Update Location and Google will work as though you are physically in Melbourne for any future searches.
Once you close down the window that the Developer side panel is in, location should revert back to normal by default but if it doesn’t, just change to No Override and click Update Location again.
So no matter if you are a Cherrybrook SEO company looking at results for national and international clients, or a sole business operator interested in how the SERP are showing in various locations for your website, you now have an easy way to check without leaving your desk.
