Using local search engine optimization (SEO) techniques in combination with a mobile-optimized version of your website can help blend and personalize a customer’s digital and physical experiences with your brand — and lead to more real-world sales.
Multiple research studies examine the impact of digital media on real-world consumer behavior reveal that about 40 percent of U.S. consumers use local search queries every day. And people with mobile devises use local search far more frequently and are usually ready to buy when they get their search results. In fact, according to Google’s report The Mobile Playbook, 90 percent of smartphone users take action within 24 hours after performing a local search.
As the popularity of local search continues to grow at dramatic rates, companies that rely on web traffic to help people find their physical locations — especially those in the entertainment, restaurant, retail and transportation business — are increasingly focused on local SEO to target mobile consumers who are physically nearby and motivate them to visit.
Delivering a Seamless Customer Experience to the Local Community
Exactly like traditional SEO, local SEO leverages popular keywords that are brand-relevant in online content in order to improve rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs). The use of geographic-related terms is what makes this type of SEO local. So when a digital-savvy consumer gets a hankering for Thai food, he or she is more likely to include a zip code, city name, or even name a neighborhood in a search for “Thai restaurants” to eliminate results for restaurants in far-away locations.
Local SEO is an important component of the inbound marketing movement, which relies on consumer requests for information about products and services. Inbound marketing is the opposite of traditional, interruption-based outbound marketing such as pop-up, TV and print advertising; telemarketing; and even the door-to-door sales approach. As an inbound marketing technique, local SEO theoretically provides useful, actionable information to those who request it. Everyone else is spared being bothered with content that’s irrelevant to them at the time.
Supercharging Your Mobile Customer Experience
Websites designed for viewing on a PC and other large-screen devices don't usually translate well to the smaller screens and connectivity realities of mobile devices. Moreover, mobile users are known to have a significantly different consumer mindset than folks searching on a PC — even if it’s the same person. In other words, when a person is using a smartphone to access a business’ site, she has different (usually more immediate) needs than when she’s visiting the site at home on a computer.
So instead of simply adapting a regular website to a smaller screen for mobile users and paring down content to fit, smart businesses are creating truly different sites with specific functionality based on what they know about their customers. Tailoring web content and design to accommodate the different search scenarios helps businesses appeal to traffic by type.
Given the ready-to-buy mindset of many mobile users, this means a strong mobile site contains only the information and tools that provides consumers with the details they need to make a purchase decision. Such tools include short cuts such as:
- Click to call.
- Book a room.
- Get directions.
Combining well-considered mobile web design with geo-friendly keywords produces visibility and traffic that lead to sales. Why wouldn’t you embrace in this digital marketing approach?
