Local Search Optimization [phone books are dead, maps killed them]
Internet shoppers and traditional/retail shoppers are becoming one and the same. Increasingly, product and service research is done over the internet and mobile devices- then customers are making decisions on the best company to patron. A strong presence in online local space is critical for businesses that rely on geo-targeted customers and becoming more important all the time.
Over the past year, Google has increased the visibility of local businesses in all searches with a local identifier. The Google Places pages are much more prominent, and often blended with the high click-through organic search results. Yahoo and Bing are following suit with and promoting local businesses more than ever.
Gravitate Online has a robust strategy for getting your site in front of local customers by utilizing Local Maps, Local SEO, Local Mobile marketing and all search engine location pages, we can get you where your local customers are searching online. The following services will get you in front of these customers:
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Local Maps
- Online research is very common for your traditional in-store customers
- Online research is very common for your traditional in-store customers
- Gravitate Online will get you on top of these local map listings
92% of consumers contact the business immediately after searching online. Local results always appear first in an applicable search. Gravitate Online will get to to show up on the front page for Google Maps, in the most visible location.
The timeline for this exposure is shorter than driving organic search results. As a stand alone service, Gravitate Online must put in more citation building (like link building in SEO) efforts. When paired with a current SEO campaign less effort is required as we can draft off the organic search efforts.
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Local Organic SEO
- Local organic search is more popular than ever- as people include local terms in their search
- Phone calls often result from these searches
- Gravitate Online will get your site to show up in organic results
43% of internet searches include a local identifier. 86% of consumers who use internet search engines to find a product or service in their geographical area follow up with a phone call or in-store visit. 61% of those end up making the purchase in-store. Bottom line: Local search is incredibly important for your business.
Gravitate Online gets you in front of your local customers via organic search results. Blended with an aggressive Maps (Places) campaign, you will be driving targeted customers to your site and your physical location.
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Local on Mobile Devices
- Mobile searchers are customers ready to buy- and they come to your store
- Smartphones are just getting more popular all the time
- Gravitate Online will get your site and local map page to show up on top of mobile phone searches
Over 42% of searchers on mobile devices physically show up at the business location and over 22% of those actually make a purchase. The key to local and mobile marketing is that your target audience is ready to spend money. As the use of smartphones increases these numbers are likely to increase- as they are trending higher each year. In fact, many believe that mobile browsers are set to overtake desk top based internet browsing by 2013.Optimizing for local search, Gravitate Online is also getting your site front-and-center for mobile searchers. Your company cannot afford to ignore mobile search and marketing.
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Google, Yahoo and Bing Local
- The big three search engines are putting a lot of emphasis on local search
- Each location page requires hard and smart work to show up
- Gravitate Online knows how to get you to show up in Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local search results- fast!
The big three search engines handle local search much the same, but each with different nuances. Google Places, Bing Local and Yahoo Local each need to be optimized to take advantage to the visitors using search to discover local companies. Optimization steps include- optimizing the company website, creating and adding content to (images, schedules, videos, etc.) local pages in each of the search engines, citation building and submitting the site to local directories.
Gravitate Online works hard to optimize your site and each of these search engine-specific location pages. We deliver high rankings for both your site and your location pages- an absolute necessity for this increasingly popular marketing method. Customers are searching locally and you need to be where they are looking.
