Did you know that 88% of consumers who do a local search on their smartphone visit or call a store within 24 hours? In fact, nearly 46% of all Google searches are seeking products and information.
Having a local SEO strategy is key to driving more people to your store, especially since everyone does research from their phone now days. When it comes to search, Google is rewarding those who prioritize proximity and relevancy in their digital marketing strategy. In fact, it’s become such an important part of the search equation, companies should be looking at local as an integrated part of the overall digital strategy and customer experience and build their websites to accommodate these factors.
Reasons your company should focus on local marketing
- 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else. (Source: SEO Tribunal)
- 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. (Source: GoGulf)
- 72% of consumers that did a local search visited a store within five miles. (Source: HubSpot Marketing Statistics)
- 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. (Source: Nectafy)
- 61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site. (Source: HubSpot Marketing Statistics)
- By 2021, mobile devices will influence more than $1.4 trillion in local sales. (Source: Forrester)
- 18% of local smartphone searches led to a purchase within a day, whereas only 7% of non-local searches led to a sale. (Source: Think with Google)
- 78% of location-based mobile searches result in an offline purchase. (Source: SEO Tribunal)
- “Near me” or “close by” type searches grew by more than 900% over two years. (Source: Chat Meter)
- 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information. (Source: Think with Google)
- 72% of computer or tablet users and 67% of smartphone users want ads that are customized to their city or zip code. (Source: Think with Google)
- By using location-based coupons on mobile can lead to a 9916% increase in incremental mobile revenue. (Source: WordStream)
- Local searches result in purchases 28% of the time. (Source: Joel House Search Media)
- 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information. (Source: Think with Google)
For most small to medium sized businesses, implementing a successful marketing strategy at the local level can be a challenge, especially in today’s digital marketing era. Gone are the days when you could simply print flyers, mailers, and yellow page ads to distribute with variable location information. In fact, according to a recent study, 97% of consumers go online to research products and services available in their respective local markets. With location enabled mobile devices, Google knows where prospects are searching from and gives priority to local websites that meet their criteria. Without effective local marketing solutions with a local SEO structured website, you are likely missing out. If you’re currently not getting found by local consumers searching for the products or services you offer, you eventually will get left behind.
Did you know that a Facebook study showed localized social media marketing techniques have been shown to outperform corporate social pages by 345%?
These facts show that people want to engage with businesses at the local level. Customers are interacting with brands more and more on social media – asking questions, leaving reviews, and logging complaints. Some companies use social media, but many are still either unengaged, use improper methods, or are inconsistent with the message they provide. Worst of all, if nobody creates local pages for your business, platforms like Facebook and Google may create them without your input, which can be disastrous.
Product manufacturers that stake a leadership position locally with their marketing help dealers dominate local search. When you do so, you’ll help your dealers get more leads and have the opportunity to close more sales and strengthen your brand presence.
Your website needs to be structured to offer a simple and engaging user experience to address visitors at various stages in their research and buying process. If you want to have the maximum local impact, creating a website is merely the first step. You need to ensure that your website has the proper SEO and structured data Schema to ensure your site is indexed properly for both desktop and mobile. You also need to ensure that your website is ADA compliant, this not only helps with your SEO, but it also helps keep you from getting sued.
Local search is vastly misunderstood. Its value is underappreciated. The local companies that do engage with these strategies will get a leg up on their competition and once you are ranked well, it is much easier to maintain that position.
With so many things changing within 
search engines algorithms consistently, you need to make sure you stay up on the latest rules and best practices to insure your site remains within the proper guidelines. By doing this, you should expect nothing but growth as your site matures and gains traction and site authority.
Many companies choose an outside source or hire someone full time to manage these processes. At MC Network, we are always willing to talk strategy for no cost. If you decide you don’t want to tackle this alone, we can provide the services you need to be successful.
Check us out on the web at https://mcnetwork.com for all of your website development and digital marketing needs..
Article by Mark Cameron