It’s Time to Take Advantage of “Near Me” Searches

When was the last time you googled “coffee shop near me”? (Or “cocktail lounge” or “restaurant” or “barber.” It’s true in real estate, and it’s true in marketing: one of the most important features you can consider is location, location, location. More than 82 percent of consumers have taken advantage of Google’s “near me” feature at least once.

With locality on the rise, “near me” now lists among some of the fastest growing keywords seen in the SEO circuit, and you can use this growth to your business’ advantage. How do you start optimizing your local SEO?

Meet Google My Business

“Google My Business” is a longstanding feature on Google that enables you to list your business’ details for easy audience access. You need to list your business through this feature if you want to optimize your local SEO.

Start by opening a business account on Google My Business. From here, you’ll be able to provide an address, phone number, email address, and social media links to Google’s index. Consumers looking for your business will then be able to find this information upon an appropriate Google search.

Build a Location-based Backlink Network

Backlinks contribute significantly to your SERP ranking. When you integrate localized backlinks into your existing backlink network, you do more than boost your platform’s credibility; you also create connections between your business, your local community, and the city in which you operate.

These connections allow Google to anchor your content to a geographic location. And with that anchor comes a greater chance of your platform appearing in a “near me” search.

Create Individual Location-targeting Pages

If you operate more than one brick-and-mortar establishment, or even if you’re content with one, you need to create a web page describing your shop’s relationship with its physical location. The copy on these pages should highlight the ways your business connects with the city around it.

One of the best ways to do this is to use geographically specific keywords. Naturally integrate well-researched, location-oriented keywords into your content, and Google will more easily be able to index your content based on its location.

Promote Your Platform’s Mobile Compatibility

Because the vast majority of “near me” searches are conducted from consumers’ phones, your platform must be mobile friendly. If consumers aren’t able to connect with your site quickly, they’ll lose faith in your credibility and take their business elsewhere.

You can improve your platform’s mobile compatibility by:

• Improving your site speed via Gzip page compression
• Creating universal content that appears on desktop as well as on mobile
• Eliminate uses of Flash on your platform
• Limit your use of JavaScript

Prepare Your Content for Voice Assistant Compatibility

There’s also been a sharp uptick in the use of mobile voice assistants over the past few years. To appear in a mobile “near me” search, then, your content should be compatible with voice assistant searches.

The majority of voice assistants use Bing to answer users’ questions. To promote compatibility:

• Use shorter sentences in your copy.
• Utilize question-based keywords.
• Balance your use of images to text.

It takes work to rank well in a “near me” search, let alone to rank at all. With careful content creation, keyword integration, and mobile compatibility, you’ll be able to take advantage of “near me” and its rising popularity and grow your audience as a result.

Image attribution: Production Perig – stock.adobe.com

Conclusion

Is your company in need of help with Google near me searches? MV3 Marketing Agency has numerous Marketing experts ready to assist you. Contact MV3 Marketing to jump-start your business.