Local Search: It’s all about Mobile

In the digital & mobile age, consumers rely solely on their mobile devices searching for local products and services. This has presented a significant opportunity for local businesses.

Everyday, People’s experience and behaviour using a mobile device for local search options has changed compared to desktop.

Optimizing for local search is important, but if you aren’t optimizing for mobile, you’re going to miss out on your most important source of local traffic.

The solution to having great local search results is to have local citations with consistent information: 

1. Name
2. Address
3. Phone number
4. Website URL
5. Email address

Local SEO Stats That Will Blow You Away

How many people are using Google?

According to the Pew Research Center, 91% of adults use search engines to find information. The analysis consists of mostly young, college-educated people with 54% saying they use search more than once a day. 

Insight: Write informative and educational piece of content 

What percentage of Google searches are local?

46% of the Searches on Google has local intent.

The big-picture takeaways are these:

• Almost 90 percent of mobile users search for local information
• They expect information returned or presented on mobile devices to be localized
• These are high-quality searches that often turn into (mostly offline) purchases
• Marketers need mobile-optimized sites with complete location information (if applicable) to satisfy user expectations
• AdWords advertisers should be using Google extensions to localize/personalize their ads
•  

What are the percentage of people that uses the ‘near me’ query in their search

82% of smartphone shoppers conduct ‘near me’ searches.

Insight: Put location on content and for our client, we can use optimize their content for this purpose

How often does the Google 3-pack show up?

The Google Local 3-pack appears in 93% of searches with local intent. Initially, the three-pack used to be the seven-pack is much more efficient for mobile users. Another reason to ensure our website is mobile-responsive.

Insight: Important information should be added to boost

Our local search such as reviews, phone number, verified

Address, opening and closing hours and images…

Uberall released data from a new “Near Me Shopping Report.”

According to the survey, this was the hierarchy of near me query categories:

• Food — 84 percent
• Entertainment — 56 percent
• Banking — 50 percent
• Apparel — 41 percent
• Persona care — 38 percent

For retail-specific lookups, smartphone shoppers were doing the following:

• Product research — 63 percent
• Price comparisons — 62 percent
• Search for coupons/deals — 56 percent
• Store hours — 54 percent
• Store locations — 52 percent

In terms of this retail search category, mobile consumers were looking for:

• Specific store/retailer — 48 percent
• Product category nearby — 29 percent
• Specific brand nearby — 23 percent

What percentage of consumers look at online reviews of local businesses?

Online reviews influence 67% of consumers. When consumers were asked how important reviews were when making a major purchase like an appliance, smartphone or car, more than half admitted that online reviews were very important.

The data went on to reveal that a negative review can also have detrimental effects on our business.

What percentage of people look up a business location on Google Maps?

86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps. One of the most important things you can do for your business is to claim your Google Business Page. This is how Google will rank you and it’s how your customers will find you.

Your business page accounts for 14% of your ranking power, so it’s important that you claim your business and get your information up to date.

What percentage of local businesses have websites?

Only about 64% of small businesses have an online presence. This presents a great opportunity for growth to businesses that operate in markets with competitors that are not yet online.

What percentage of searches lead visitors to a store? 

50% of local searches on mobile lead visitors to a store within one day.

• This is possible because these searchers are in their final stages of making a purchase. After researching and reviewing, consumers are willing to purchase. Hence, a local business that comes up in a search is more likely to reap the benefits of the final purchase.

Now, What If…

Gen-fencing & Geolocation Marketing

A brief insight and creative direction to marketing products and services to customers

• For presenting ads
• For relevant content
• For promotions
• For coupons

We can create more tailored and relevant marketing content for potential customers.

What If

• Targeting customers within a certain distance of a business/promotion
• Targeting customers within a certain distance of a competitor’s business
• Search results based on location