Local search trends for 2021
Searches like near me, nearby, open now, near to me are increasing in volume every year. More and more people are entering phrases that seek specific local information. Most importantly, local searches often result in better and higher conversion. A person wanting to know which pizza stores are presently open near him is more likely to end up visiting a store and buy a pizza. Having said that, companies are also recognizing the immense importance and value local SEO provides.
Local SEO best practices regularly evolve based on consumer preferences, their habits, and buying patterns, Google’s algorithm changes, and many other factors. We take a few things that as a local business you should focus on presently for driving more targeted local leads, more sales, and online growth.
Near me searches
According to Google, ‘near me’ searches usually contain a strong purchase signal. Variants like ‘can I buy’ or ‘to buy’ show that people are looking for informed answers and information before making an investment. Local search marketers should therefore try to reinvent their content marketing efforts by publishing more answer-based content. In-depth, genuine answers to specific local queries is a sign you know the subject better and possibly the best source of information for a given topic on the Web. This could lift a site’s chances to appear frequently in local search results.
Hyperlocal search targeting
People searching for local businesses prefer proximity. While quality is an important factor, people would still want to go for a coffee shop located just near to them rather than a store that needs time to commute. So, marketers should start to target individual streets rather than a neighborhood. Hyperlocal marketing allows marketers to create sales funnel and increase opportunities to bring in marketing qualified leads and increase immediate sales.
Voice search is on the rise
With the increased adoption of smartphones and other smart devices like voice-enabled assistants, people’s tendency to make local searches is increasing. This means marketers should start to target long-tail keywords, use a conversational tone of writing, optimize for rich answers, speed up their website’s loading time. A mobile responsive site is a priority and creating content written for mobile devices is the need.
Other than these, local businesses should work towards building a powerful brand mentions strategy. Responding to both positive and negative comment in real-time has become very important. Managing Google My Business is equally important too.
These are just a few of the many ways local businesses should start to reinvent and improve their marketing efforts in order to gain an impressive, stable online presence.
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