About one in three mobile search queries are made by people who are looking for something in their local area.
We have all been there, feverishly googling for information on our cell phones with one hand on the steering wheel. Perhaps not the safest consumer practice, it is still something we as marketers will eat right up, because we know helping these consumers on the go is a recipe for success. Local businesses have a prime opportunity to reach mobile users when they’re nearby and looking to take immediate action – and by golly they need to take it.
A few things to do to get ahead in your neighborhood are:
Take control how your business appears in organic search results
Since more people search for businesses online than anywhere else, it iss important to make sure your business listing is easily findable on Google.com and Google Maps. Creating a business listing in the Local Business Center helps ensure potential customers find you, and allows you to maintain full control over how the listing appears.
Already listed? If your business already appears as a search result, you can use the Local Business Center to claim your listing and enter additional information like photos, hours of operation, website, and more. Just because you are already listed does not mean the listing cannot be improved, corrected and “claimed” by you.
Reach more consumers near you through pay per click (PPC) advertising
If you have a Google AdWords account, use location targeting to show your ads only to people close to your business. You can target potential customers within a given city, region or metro area – your locals. You can also define a radius around a certain point or set your own borders for more precise reach. Location targeting can help you improve the ROI on your ad campaigns by focusing on people who are nearby and searching for a business of your nature, as they are potentially more likely to take action.
Use location extensions
A location extension is an optional additional line of ad text that shows your nearest business address to potential customers based on their location or search terms. People can click on the address to see a map of the area around your location. When the ad appears on mobile devices with full internet browsers, potential customers can also see a click-to-call phone number to connect directly with that business location by phone.
Make it easy for your mobile searchers to find local information, and contact you directly. Don’t make them try to memorize the number. One click and they’ve got you. But more, you’ve got them.
You can easily set up location extensions with the business information in your Local Business Center account or by manually entering the information in your AdWords account. While your ad will appear to users in any geographic location you chose to target, only people whose location signals indicate that they’re close to one of your businesses will see your location extension. So why not love you some local extensions?
Be vocal with your local
Don’t assume because you have a branded retail sign that the consumers in your area are necessarily aware of you. We are all busy, and we even multi-task as we drive. We become numb to the very stores we may be looking for and still find ourselves googling for information on stores in our area. To add, mobile users are also interested in information like product availability, parking, store hours, etc. and they may need to call you before they swing by – no matter how close they/you are.
With a branded, accurate and thorough business listing, you can help them find you, and transitively support you. With geo-targeting PPC campaigns, and local extensions you can further enable them to choose your businesses, and all it takes it a little local love.
Try out these tips, and just wait – your locals will be engaged before you know it.
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