If your brand is like most, the dynamics of integrating all those marketing tactics into a cohesive marketing strategy present an on-going challenge. PR, SEO, Local SEO, and Social Media vie for your attention and it can be difficult to pinpoint your needs, goals, and successes can get lost in the sheer volume of activity. This article aims to strengthen the voice of local SEO and give you the tools you need to easily make your case for the critical role of local marketing to management and coworkers. Use these 7 compelling statistics to back your pitches for allocations of focus and funding to improve your chances of getting buy-in for the tools you want to purchase, the investments of time you want to make, and the key components of the local search marketing strategy you plan to implement. 1) An estimated 5.5 billion mobile and desktop local searches are performed per month on Google, alone, in the USA Figures like that one make it quickly apparent just how significant the use of the Internet for local search purposes has become. Proper optimization and marketing ensure that a local business is receiving their maximum share of those monthly searches, and converting as many as possible into transactions. 2) Business location is the most-searched-for piece of data by local searchers Given that, it’s irrefutable that the #1 priority for any business with a local presence should be to ensure that their address information is accurate across the web. That means location information must be correct on the website; local business listings like Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and others; content outreach; social media marketing; and all other resources to ensure that searchers are easily locating your business. 3) 50% of mobile searchers and 34% of desktop searchers who conduct a local search visit a store within 1 day This statistic, direct from Google, proves what multiple studies have shown: people do research online and then shop offline. In fact, a supplementary statistic from the same Google paper states that 30% of consumers say they’d buy from a local store instead of online if they knew the store was nearby. In other words, a very significant number of potential customers are seeking local resources for the goods and services they need, and your company’s best bet of winning in this scenario is to be sure customers can find you on the search engines, directories, and other platforms they use. With correct name, address, and phone number (NAP) on those sources, you are greatly increasing your chances of turning mobile and desktop searchers into customers. 4) 80% of adults using the Internet now own a smartphone Not long ago, we all turned to phone books or dialed 411 to find businesses, but mobile devices have revolutionized the way most adults discover their local commercial landscape. Your customers’ favorite resource for interpreting the availability of local goods and services is no further away than their pocket or purse, on the go. What are they looking for? Statistics to the rescue again: 56% of on-the-go mobile searches have a local intent and 51% of in-store searches have a local intent. 5) 72% of mobile searchers looking up local information then visit a store within 5 miles of their location The most interesting part of this statistic from Google is the sensitivity it shows toward geography and convenience. It describes the tremendous potential any business has to become the resource for all customers within a 5-mile radius. Your outreach, via good, clean basic data on your local business listings plus a talent for speaking directly to specific community needs with content development is a winning combination for earning business from both nearest neighbors and visitors passing through town. 6) Two of the top 6 local search (local pack) ranking factors hinge on citations Few local search industry publications have a long history or generate more excitement than does the Moz Local Search Ranking Factors survey, which annually pools the wisdom of some of the best Local SEOs in the world. Here are the top five factors that impact local rank, as determined by the latest edition of this survey: 1. The proximity of Address to the Point of Search 2. Physical Address in City of Search 3. Proper GMB Category Associations 4. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain 5. The consistency of structured citations
Factors #1 and #4 are ones you can’t control: where your business and your customers are physically located, but factors #2, #3 and #5 are ones over which you have excellent control. You can manage the consistency of your business data on the major platforms, either via manual activity or via tools. You can make sure you are choosing correct business categories not just on Google but on all of your citations, either manually or via tools. And, you can be certain you are listed on the major aggregators, engines, and platforms, manually or via tools. With proper citation management, you will be checking three of the five most influential local ranking factors off your list.
7) Experts state that mismatching NAP across the web is the #3 negative local ranking factor That means the third worst mistake any local business can make is to have an inconsistent NAP in circulation on the web. Nearly all businesses care about how well they rank in local search results, so ensuring that your NAP is consistent across your local business listings is an easy sell when you explain that mismatching NAP can undermine core local ranking goals. And, customers lose, too, when bad NAP exists, directing them to false locations or wrong phone numbers. Back this up by telling your decision makers that one popular survey found , and your case for the need for citation management becomes very persuasive.
