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Buy Local! The term has assumed a variety of connotations over the decades. From protecting businesses from going bust due to globalization to being environmentally friendly, the reasons could be many. However, the convenience of finding just about any product or service right where and when you want is one reason that doesn’t seem like wearing a fancy hat on the streets of Paris. It’s not a fad that’s going away anytime soon. In fact, if the numbers are anything to go by, the trend to search for local businesses is here to stay.
Google uses a stat called “Interest Over Time” (IOT) to keep track of trending search terms. On a scale of 1-100, collectively, search queries containing ‘near me’ scored … you guessed it, a perfect 100.
Here’s another number - 46% of all searches that happened this past year had a local intent. That means nearly half of the 8.5 billion searches that happen every day are about finding a local business.
No matter how you look at it, there’s simply no denying that more businesses are turning to local SEO to boost their revenue. According to one survey conducted this year, 80% of the companies believe that location-specific optimization will be a crucial factor to their prospects compared to 58% last year.
When the renowned American statistician W. Edwards Deming made this statement, he had no clue how big an impact data would have on the day-to-day running of businesses, from the largest corporations to local businesses.
So, when local SEO pros like yours truly make recommendations, you better trust us. We have data to back them up. Let’s explore some of the numbers related to local SEO and how you can take specific actions to make them work for you.
Word of mouth? What’s that? Gone are the days when business establishments relied on their happy customers to spread the word about them. Having a strong online presence across platforms - website, social media, business listings, and the like is the order of the day.
Smartphones and local search are made for each other. In fact, the growth of local search can be attributed to the rise of mobile phone usage. Over the past few years, local businesses have witnessed an exponential growth not just in the number of such searches but also in the quality of searches that result in conversion and sales. Here are a few stats that drive home the point:
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Optimizing your website for mobile devices is more than just implementing responsive design. Integrate click-to-call and Google map buttons. Import reviews and ratings from your Google Business Profile and social pages. And it’s not just about making it easier for them to evaluate and reach you. It’s also about being there for them when they do. AI-based chatbots are a great way to respond to initial queries during out-of-business hours.
Creating content around FAQs is another invaluable tactic given the inclusion of rich text that results in zero-click searches.
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The key to converting your visitors to buyers is known as CRO, Conversion Rate Optimization. A good UI/UX design that makes it easier to locate the information your prospects are looking for is crucial. A clean site design that's clutter free, a site architecture that enables users to navigate to the desired section with fewer clicks, and generally anything that makes it easier for your visitors to do business with you will have a positive impact on your conversion rate.
Siri. Google Assistant. Alexa. The options are endless. One key aspect of optimizing your content is incorporating long tail keywords. Adding an FAQ section is another way to target voice search. Effective schema markup can render your content in a structured manner making it ideal for voice-based search.
Around 60% of users resort to voice search to find a local business.
To give the context of the voice search universe, we present these numbers:
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If you’re reading this, you probably know about the E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) factor in SEO. Nothing covers all these factors together like customer reviews. Two things work in your favor when it comes to leveraging customer reviews. Customers these days are used to review solicitations. So don’t be shy and proactively seek one. Next, there are plenty of tools that allow you aggregate reviews and ratings that you have accrued across platforms to present them on your website.
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Review management is such a critical part of local SEO that most agencies offer it as a separate service that’s comprehensive.
40% of local SEO campaigns achieve an insane 500% or better ROI.
Consider this: on an average, it costs about $7 million for a 30-second ad spot during the Super Bowl. If the ROI on those are anywhere close to that of local SEO ad campaigns, Budweiser would make billions from just one day. While running a local paid ad campaign seems lucrative, you need to have your online presence optimized for your local audience. A dedicated local landing page goes a long way toward achieving this.
Customers are willing to pay a 22% premium if the local business has a good online reputation.
Another number that makes your cash registers ring more often. It’s so obvious that it’s easy to take it for granted. We’d rather pay a bit more for the guarantee that the product or service we receive is on par with our expectations than gamble on the one that’s priced lower. Online Reputation Management (ORM), of which review management is a part, should be a huge part of your local SEO efforts. Other aspects of ORM include:
70% of consumers will go to a store because of the information they find online.
When your prospects visit your site or go through your business profile elsewhere, they want to know everything about you. Give them all the information they need and they are sure to visit your store. Capture and present images of your store that are hi-res and professionally done. Product descriptions and related images is another area that needs close attention. Use the problem-solution-benefit paradigm to position your product/service effectively.
Google Business Profile listing: 56% result in website visits, 24% in calls, and 20% lead to branded searches.
You are not really into local SEO if you are not into Google Business Profile. That’s how big an impact this business listing has on your local online presence. However, claiming and setting up your profile isn’t as straightforward as setting up your social profile as Google is very particular about allowing only genuine profiles to be listed.
It’s important to ensure that your name, address, and phone number (NAP), and other details are consistent across online platforms as Google sources information from several digital platforms it crawls. There are extensive articles published by Google themselves.
42% of local searches involve clicks on the Local 3-Pack
When your search query has a local intent, you will see what’s known as a Local Pack. Appearing in the top three of this list should be an objective way of measuring your local SEO success. Optimizing your business description with highly localized content, maintaining accurate NAP information across the entire digital landscape, and getting those 5-star reviews are some of the ways to get there.
Here are some of the reasons why you should shift gears on the local SEO front, especially business listings.
If you’re excited about reaping the benefits of local SEO, hold on a second. These numbers aren’t meant to discourage you by any stretch of imagination. I mean to present these so you understand the scope of the task at hand.
61% of local businesses say that generating traffic and leads is their number one challenge.
The average page in the top 10 local search results is over 2 years old.
It takes a considerable amount of resources to rank in the top 10. The name of the game is to be consistent and persistent with your efforts.
These are just a few of the pointers. Feel free to find a ton of other avenues to keep moving the needle.
More than 50% of consumers won’t use a business if it has less than a four-star rating.
Human mind works in strange ways. When it comes to online ratings, there’s a massive difference between 3.9 and 4.1. Ask any statistician and they will tell you that it’s easier to maintain a certain average when the sample size is large. Go after those happy customers, incentivise if you have to because it’s worth it.
The numbers don’t lie.
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