We’re going to start today’s piece off with a few statistics: One third of mobile searches have local intent – meaning 66% of people searching on smartphones and cell phones are looking to purchase something in their immediate area(one-fifth on PCs).
Fifty percent of those searches lead the user to visit a retail outlet (34% on desktops/laptops/tablets).
How about a few more statistics? Overall, 74% of Internet users search with local intent. 61% of local searches directly result in a purchase. More than 100 million people a month use Google Maps to find local business information.
Suddenly, local search seems a whole lot more important, doesn’t it?
Don’t worry. If you know what you’re doing, it’s actually not terribly difficult to market your business locally. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Create A Local Places Page For Your Business
According to marketing expert Steve Olenski, Your first step – if you haven’t already done so – is to create a local business page for each major search engine.
This will ensure that users seeking the products/services you offer will be far likelier to come across your site – and thus far likelier to purchase from you.
Provide All The Information Your Users Could Possibly Require
Every listing should include your business name. It should also have your address and phone number. Olenski continues this thought. This information is called a citation.
Potential customers, in fact, use this information to find your organization. Therefore, you really can’t ignore it. First, look around online. Then, if a citation doesn’t exist, create one. Conversely, if it does exist, claim it.
This process can be helped along immensely by a tool such as Yext or Localeze.
Optimize And Categorize
Besides regular SEO tasks, ensure your website is categorized correctly. Do this within the search engines you’ve submitted it to. Submit it to two to five categories. This helps users understand your brand better. It also makes them more likely to buy.
If your business is uncategorized or miscategorized, it can hurt your visibility then most search engines won’t display it.
Regarding optimization, you first need to ensure all relevant landing pages include local city or regional keywords. Moreover, the content on these pages should be specific to that region. Additionally, Olenski advises including many high-quality photos.
These should show your business, storefront, staff, and products. Google’s local search will use all of these in some way. You can easily upload these pictures to your local listing.
Don’t Ignore The Review Sites
One of the most significant (and troubling) mistakes made by businesses looking to market themselves locally is that they ignore local review sites and data aggregates such as Yelp, CitySearch, or TripAdvisor.
Given that online reviews are a major factor for ranking (and marketing; users see your rating on the SERP), reviews can be a quick, easy way to make your business known…assuming, of course, you provide good enough service that people submit positive reviews.
Oh, and if anyone is a dedicated enough consumer that they’d be willing to let you publish a testimonial, do so. They’re one of the most powerful marketing tools in any business’s arsenal.
Engage With People
Most importantly, be active. Do this on social media and in your community. Communicate often with reviewers on sites like Yelp. Also, build a strong presence on Facebook or Twitter. Share regular promotions there.
Provide product information. Offer giveaways. Tell stories and share news. This can relate to your organization or your city.
Don’t stop there. Many businesses neglect offline local marketing now. Don’t let yours be one of them. Actively seek coverage from local news.
Also, try to build good relationships with journalists online and offline. The basic idea is simple: if people like you, they’ll be more willing to talk or write about you.
And the more people talk about you, the better known you’ll become.
Don’t Ignore Your Doorstep
Especially if you’re a small business, local customers aren’t something you can afford to ignore. You need to make sure local users can find your website through Google.
More importantly, you need to ensure that – once they have – they can find exactly what they’re looking for. Should you neglect to do this, you’ve only yourself to blame when people go to your competitors instead of you.
