Local Search: Why You Need to Invest Now!
Are you dedicating enough time and resources to local search? If not, you could be missing out on some valuable opportunities for conversion and revenue. Local search is an essential aspect of building your online presence.
For example…
… did you know that 75% of local searches lead to an in-store visit?
This should be reason enough for you to focus more energy on your local SEO (search engine optimization).
The nature of shopping itself has undergone a seismic shift in recent years. In-store visits are not as common, people research online before making most buying decisions, and mobile technology plays an integral role in the buying experience.
Have you ever used your smartphone to find something you need nearby, such as a restaurant? You, like most of your fellow community members, just performed a local search on the move.
Consumers need access to accurate information on-the-go, and they want to find out what they need to know fast. That’s why local search – or optimizing your website for local keywords – is an essential aspect of generating new traffic for your website.
Mobile First Local Search
When optimizing your business for local search, it’s important to keep mobile experience at the forefront.
When people want to find something locally, they usually turn to their phones. Most of us search for goods and services while we are on the go – for example, by looking for the best local dry cleaning place while stuck on a commuter train. Our phones have the power to give us access to local results and reviews that let us make the best choice. This is the new normal – these search habits are here to stay and will likely advance in the years to come (for example, by evolving to voice-only search via personal digital assistant).
When people search for a specific need, like “best carpet cleaner in Toledo,” or “Perrysburg moving companies,” or “Toledo custom home builders,” they get information based on geographic data and the contenders that are best optimized for that search. And most people search before they buy – according to a study from Search Engine Land, almost 80% of local searches result in purchases offline. Additionally, 30% of mobile searches involve location queries, and over 75% of those searches result in a visit to a store location within 24 hours. Nearly a third of those queries result in online purchases! This further reinforces the role local SEO should have in your digital marketing strategy.
RELATED ARTICLE: Get to Know Google’s Mobile-First Indexing
How to Approach Local SEO
Like any other kind of SEO, local search is the result of multiple factors driving success. If you are a business located in an urban location, your local SEO is going to be even more important than if you operated rurally or in a suburban area. Businesses can generate walk-in business every day when they optimize for local search correctly, because Google will rank them highly through multiple search queries.
Local SEO, when optimized correctly, offers a huge advantage to brands interested in building trust and becoming a reliable company within the community. It works to:
- Provide a solid form of reputation management through the generation of quality reviews
- Make your company more visible than competitors by appearing in the top “three pack” of local results
- Find more customers within your niche
RELATED ARTICLE: How to Dominate Local SEO in 2019
Now that you know how important local SEO is to your business, start honing a strategy.
The first crucial step is to find keywords that relate to your business locally. This helps increase your organic visibility and ensure customers will find your company when searching on the go.
In our moving company example, some of the best search terms to focus on might be “movers Wood County,” “local movers near me,” among others. Finding the right keywords will require help from an SEO expert.
Local SEO is essential to your business success, but it requires research and knowledge of best SEO practices. Understanding your target audience is crucial, but so is homing in on keywords that help you get found. A local digital marketing agency plays an integral role in keyword research and ensuring you rank for relevant local search queries. It’s important to find terms that are not too generic, but also not too specific for your target customer.
Remember that the vast majority of consumers do their buying research online and on the go. Leveraging local search can improve your visibility and make it easier for consumers to buy your products and utilize your services.
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