How To Take Advantage Of The “Near Me “Search Option In Local SEO

It has been noted that Google search queries with the terms “near me” and “nearby” have almost doubled in the past 3 years and around 80% of them have come from mobile searches. This is bases on Google Trends Report.

Mobile users today are almost always on the go and they need quick information of products and services near them. Any company that is able to provide them with fast solutions stand a chance to gain more sales.  Almost four out of five mobile searches have shown to lead to a purchase within just a few hours

Seeing this it is quite clear what local businesses need to do now, which is- SEO expert

• Provide the right information to users on the mobile platform
• Optimize for the mobile searches

 

Aside from this some useful tips on how local businesses can take advantage of the “near me” search trend include-

• Make use of AdWords location extensions- Google launched a new ad unit recently for its mobile searches that is mainly for location based search queries.  When a user looks for a particular business or service near him, this ad unit displays a number of different local entries. To use this a business needs Google AdWords location extension.
• These extensions show a company contact information along with a map marker with AdWords ad text. They are even more useful on the mobile as they can present a link with directions to a business along with a button for click-to-call. It has been seen that ads with such location extensions see a better click-through rate
• Do not forget to optimize your site for local searches- Which means having your contact information on each page. You can also include information like opening closing hours, special deals, coupons, ratings and reviews and list of what you offer. Even on other pages such as directories and review sites follow the same procedure
• Be mobile friendly- The number of mobile searches has surpassed desktop searches for Google and unless your site performs well on the mobile platform people might just turn away
• Claim and verify your business directory listings- A recent report has suggested that many users believe that they find more basic business information on local business directories or internet yellow pages. Thus, it is important for a business to claim and verify their listings on different directories. Google My Business, Bing Places, Yelp are some sites to be listed on. You can even list on industry relevant sites like TripAdvisor for travel or hospitality industry, Urbanspoon for food and dining, etc.
• Make sure that all the business information that you have presented online is right and up to date. A wrong phone number, address or anything else can spell disaster so be sure to check up on all this and ensure that they are correct. Provide relevant information where it is needed and keep it up to date
• Mobile apps are a very beneficial thing today and you should have a presence here- Either create an app or at least have in app advertising in place. You can even have ads on social apps like Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Content creation is very important and you need to create relevant content that not only provides information to users but even has some value for them. Maybe you can answer a question or go for those how to content. All this is very useful
• Google reviews that present your business in a good light are useful for your local search rankings. They can even help influence people more effectively
• Get local citations- Citations are basically mentions of your business on other websites than your own. Whether it is a directory, blog or anything else if your business name finds a place here it can give good authority to your site

 

These are a few tips that you can work on to getter better local SEO results.