SMX West: 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Local Search
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What can we expect in local SEO in the next few years? Find out how you can best optimize your local business for search.
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SMX West: 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Local Search
- 1. @Bright_Local#SMX 5 Trends Shaping The Future of Local Search
- 3. @Bright_Local#SMX Local SEO Reporting Tools & Business Listing Management Services
- 5. @Bright_Local#SMX Write Content For Industry-Leading Sites
- 7. @Bright_Local#SMX Additionally, 3,000+ Digital Marketing Agencies Trust BrightLocal! Our Research Has Been Featured On
- 8. @Bright_Local#SMX Visit Us At Booth 417!
- 9. @Bright_Local#SMX 5 Trends Shaping The Future of Local Search
- 11. @Bright_Local#SMX Harder to rank high in local search results
- 15. @Bright_Local#SMX 7 pack source: BrightLocal.com 3 pack ‘Tupac’
- 16. @Bright_Local#SMX More local businesses are optimized
- 19. @Bright_Local#SMX 1. Tackle foundation factors & move on quickly 2. Build quality backlinks (ideally location-relevant links) 3. Create local content to boost website authority 4. Build a website that your customers love
- 21. @Bright_Local#SMX Greater ‘Local Intent’ in searches
- 22. @Bright_Local#SMX City ➡ Neighborhood Google narrows radius of results
- 23. @Bright_Local#SMX Almost impossible for businesses to rank in local pack for wide local area
- 24. @Bright_Local#SMX So what should local businesses do?
- 25. @Bright_Local#SMX o Accurate address on landing pages (use markup with schema.org) o Accurate information on quality online business directories/listings o Accurate citations on local sites (like Chamber of Commerce’s, local business groups, BBB, etc.) o Links from complementary local sites o City/town in anchor text o Detailed local content on your website
- 27. @Bright_Local#SMX Google is under pressure to monetize ‘local’
- 28. @Bright_Local#SMX Ads Can Appear in Local Results Source: BrightLocal.com
- 29. @Bright_Local#SMX So what should local businesses do?
- 30. @Bright_Local#SMX 1. ‘Beyond-Google’ strategy 2. Build & leverage reputation 3. Pay!
- 33. @Bright_Local#SMX Mobile Searches Beats Desktop 19.7 30.7 46 66.5 81.8 94.7 54.9 61.6 63 65.6 64.6 63.8 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Mobile Desktop *Billionsearches source: BIA Kelsey, May 2015
- 34. @Bright_Local#SMX of mobile searches have local intent source: Google, May 2016 33%
- 35. @Bright_Local#SMX Mobile user behavior requires new strategy
- 36. @Bright_Local#SMX Rise of ‘Near Me’ Searches source: Google Trends, August 2016
- 38. @Bright_Local#SMX source: KPCB Internet Trends 2016 Local Information 22% Fun / Entertainment 21%Personal Assistant 27% General Information 30% Column122% of Voice Searches are ‘Local’
- 39. @Bright_Local#SMX Mobile Users Are Impatient and Want Info Now!
- 40. @Bright_Local#SMX Mobile users want basic info -- fast! 52% 47% 44% 37% 29% 27% 16% 15% 15% 14% 10% Physical Address Map / Driving Directions Opening Hours Phone Number Price List List of Products Customer Testimonials Photographs Store Finder Tool Contact Email About Us Page source: BrightLocal Study, May 2015
- 41. @Bright_Local#SMX Optimize for natural, ‘semantic’ language
- 42. @Bright_Local#SMX So what should local businesses do?
- 43. @Bright_Local#SMX 1. Maximize local signals 2. Create broad, rich ‘semantic’ content 3. Optimize content to give mobile users info they want -- fast!
- 45. @Bright_Local#SMX Build and leverage a positive reputation to attract new customers
- 46. @Bright_Local#SMX of consumers read online ‘local’ reviews 91% Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2016
- 47. @Bright_Local#SMX say positive reviews make them trust a business more 74% Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2016
- 48. @Bright_Local#SMX Positive reviews increase clicks by 22% Source: BrightLocal Study, July 2016 63% 66% 61% 43% 42% 37% Plumber Florist Estate Agent With Reviews Without Reviews
- 49. @Bright_Local#SMX High correlation between reviews and local ranking Source: LocalSEOGuide.com - 2016 Local SEO Ranking Factors
- 50. @Bright_Local#SMX So what should local businesses do?
- 51. @Bright_Local#SMX 1. Implement an effective review strategy 2. Encourage reviews on key review sites – not just Google 3. Publish reviews on their own site 4. Utilize reviews in all marketing materials 5. Be persistent in getting more reviews
- 52. @Bright_Local#SMX Local Search Maturity Location, Location, Location Pay-to-Play Mobile Reputation Marketing
Editor's Notes
- MOb
- Why 2-3 years? Time frame that we can predict the future with good degree of accuracy Also a realistic time frame that we can plan for & effectively implement a digital marketing strategy -- our industry changes so fast so who knows where we’ll be, where our clients will be and what will change -- I don’t believe that trying to implement a strategy for 3 years & beyond is a productive today
- So the 1st trend I want to look at it is ‘Maturity’ within LS Local search is into it’s 2nd decade now.
- And what we’ve seen over the past few years is that it’s getting much harder to get businesses to rank high up in local results.
- But’s it not all good news for local businesses.
- 2 years ago we had a 7 pack. And now it’s just 2 measly positions on the first page of results. What bloody meanies right?! So the real estate available to local businesses is being cut.
- 2 years ago we had a 7 pack. And now it’s just 2 measly positions on the first page of results. What bloody meanies right?! So the real estate available to local businesses is being cut.
- 2 years ago we had a 7 pack. And now it’s just 2 measly positions on the first page of results. What bloody meanies right?! So the real estate available to local businesses is being cut.
- If I cast my mind back to when I got into local search – 2008 - Local Search was pretty basic. Achieving high rankings was pretty easy. But not any more.
- Fast forward 8 years to today and that isn’t the case. Now it’s much more competitive & more complex. And there are 2 primary reasons for that.
- A very simple & obvious reason: More Competition. Many more businesses have got their act together recognized the value in local search understood what they need to do and they have improved their optimization. They’ve raised the entry bar. All other businesses need to do more a lot more to rank well & earn their visibility in local results.
- Google local Algorithm has become a lot more sophisticated – takes into consideration more factors More nuanced with factors like location, personalization & behavior all playing a part And it puts more weighting on factors that are harder to manipulate or influence
- Optimized Google Local listing Linked website Location & service keywords in titles Citations
- It’s not that they don’t matter, they do…but they’re just building blocks that get you started. You still need to have a GMB listing. You still need to have your business citations correct & consistent on important directories. You still need geo-optimized site and to link that to your GMB listing. But these alone aren’t enough to outrank other businesses. Having these factors lets you play the game, but they don’t mean you’ll win any more.
- Here’s some evidence from 2 studies into local ranking factors – The 1st is a an annual study done by a chap called David Mihm who used to work at Moz. The chart shows the change in ranking influence of groups of factors. Orange have lost impact, green have gained impact. Classic ’local’ factors have lost influence. But links, domain authority & behavioral factors have all grown.
- It seems obvious to say that Location is important to local search. It is, its about local people searching for local businesses to contact. S yeah location is a BIG factor But it’s getting more important and SEOs/businesses need to ensure they’re set-up to capitalize on this.
- Google sees location as a very important factor in relevance of searches done by users. i.e. Google determines that searchers want to see local results more often and for more searches.
- Google interprets more Local Intent in their searches. So google uses location more frequently now to determine the best results to show & if it’s relevant to show maps/local results.
- The result is that Google returns local pack results for more search terms now.
- Here’s an example of this. Service terms like Plumber, Florist or in this case Mobility Store have returned local results since the dawn of time. But now simple product searches like Flowers or Hearing Aids or Lawn Mowers return local results.
- And obviously this presents a boost for physical, locally focused businesses. More promotion & more chance to get in front of consumers!
- But’s it not all good news for local businesses.
- We’re moving to a phase of hyper-local search. And this puts a limit on how far & wide local businesses will show in ‘local’ results.
- Google is narrowing down the radius of the results it returns. Google believes that businesses closer to searchers have greater relevance than those further away. And often this closeness trumps other factors. So as an example if you’re a florist based in Hove. You could have previously ranked for searches for Brighton. But not anymore.
- Remember this slide from minute ago. With more business getting listed in Google, Google has a bigger, better database of businesses to return to users
- Focus on organic ranking. If google won’t show you in the map for wider-area searches then your only opportunity to rank is in organic results And luckily organic factors have a greater influence on local results than ever before – so investing in organic factors also boosts you local ranking And utilize PPC. Cover off important towns & cities using PPC.
- Businesses need to ensure that google understands their location and the areas they serve with total certainty. And they maximize their Location Authority. So when there’s a legitimate local search done you ensure that google knows you’re a highly relevant business for that search.
- And there are some straightforward ways to do this – and here are a few Businesses need to ensure that google understands their location and the areas they serve with total certainty. And they maximize their Location Authority. So when there’s a legitimate local search done you ensure that google knows you’re a highly relevant business for that search.
- Google is under pressure to monetize it’s local offering. They’ve struggled to get significant ad revenue our of SMBs but they’ve been heavily investing in their local offering.
- They’re removing some natural, earned opportunities and replacing them with pay-to-play solutions. Here are 2 examples of these paid-for promotion developments
- The first is adverts placing adverts in local pack results. This means that we used to have 3 organic positions. Now there are just 2. And these are being pushed down the page. So the real estate available to local businesses is being cut.
- The 2nd example is a test that Google is doing in the home-services sector in the USA. ‘Home Services Ads’ The sorts of businesses they’re testing are lock-smiths & plumbers. Google is trialing a pay-per-lead service replacing all free, natural placements with businesses bidding for leads. Google’s been testing this for about 12 months and hasn’t rolled out as fast a many expected. It’s not in the UK yet but you can be sure that if it makes commercial sense then it will do. And the only impediment to google extending these paid-for solutions further is if searchers will revolt and move away from Google.
- The 2nd example is a test that Google is doing in the home-services sector in the USA. ‘Home Services Ads’ The sorts of businesses they’re testing are lock-smiths & plumbers. Google is testing a pay-per-lead service replacing all free, natural placements with businesses bidding for leads. Google’s been testing this for about 12 months and hasn’t rolled out as fast a many expected. It’s not in the UK yet but you can be sure that if it makes commercial sense then it will do. And the only impediment to google extending these paid-for solutions further is if searchers will revolt and move away from Google.
- Google isn’t the only giant getting in on the act. Amazon has launched a similar Pay-Per-Lead service targeting the lucrative home service market.
- IS paid for promotion all that bad. Many of you will cry ’yes’ – you’re limiting our ability to serve our clients and earn them customers. And also cheating consumers out of seeing the best businesses for their needs. But for businesses that are struggling to break into top 3 positions it gives them an instant way in. And if these big players makes more money from local search they’ll keep investing in the product – e.g. fighting SPAM and improving customer support. And we need that to happen.
- 1. Develop a non-Google strategy – Make the most of other channels available to you. Facebook is the obvious big challenger to Google. Has a huge audience but still a weak local service. But it’s making strides to develop it’s local offering. It’s also now a hugely important review site - review numbers growing faster than any other site. Use relevant & prominent industry like yelp, trust a trader, tripadvisor, healthgrades to drive targeted traffic from high intent customers Build up a loyal social following & stay connected with customers Build out an email list and use it wisely to connect with customers at relevant points in year or with personalized, value-offering messages Reputation – Google is fickle and can reduce & remove the promotional opportunities. So businesses should build something that they can’t take-away – a great reputation. I’ll come onto this in more depth in a minute Pay – Paying may be the most fruitful strategy for some businesses, in the ST & LT. It certainly deserves to be tested & the ROI determined.
- No discussion about local search can be had without including mobile. The intersection between local search & mobile search is huge.
- Especially now that Google has a mobile first view of the world. And on a mobile device, location is an even more powerful ranking signal than on desktop search. And google is able to determine user location with more precision when they’re on a mobile device.
- I’m sure everyone’s aware of this. Searches done on mobile devices now easily outnumber searches done on PCs. So there’s a great opportunity to reach consumers on mobile than on desktop.
- And the great news for local businesses is that a greater % - 33% - of searches on mobile have a local intent about them. So google returns local results more often to mobile searches. Which delivers more visibility opportunities for local businesses.
- Searches that have ‘near me’ or something similar in them. Rapid growth in these types of searches. Google infers 2 things from these types of searches – High local intent High immedicacy i.e. consumers want it near & they want it now
- i.e. consumers want it near & they want it now
- The 2nd bahvior trend is the rise in voice searches being done by mobile users.
- The 3 difference is that mobile users are in a hurry. They spend less time on sites and view less pages. They want to get the information they need fast and will move on if they don’t get it!
- Mobile users want to know where you’re based, when you open, how to reach you & how to call you. Oh and what you cost
- The final trend I’m going to talk about is Reputation Marketing. What do I mean by this?
- Definition: building & leveraging a business reputation to attract new customers. This is nothing new. Business have been trading off reputations for hundreds of years. And consumers have been writing & reading online reviews for businesses for years.
- But there’s strong evidence that shows that reviews are gowing as A local ranking factor A conversion factor This result being that positive reviews can have positive effect on 2 key areas which combine to have greater impact on the ability to reach & win new customers.
- Here is some evidence to back up these changes.
- These 2 stats comes from an annual piece of research done by BrightLocal into consumer use & attitudes towards online reviews. Reading online reviews is firmly cemented in the vast majority of consumer buying habits. Reviews are a great way to short cut the research process.
- And reviews have a real impact on local consumers & how they view a local business. Reviews provide powerful SOCIAL PROOF.
- And 2nd – Ranking factr
- Latest research data says yes, very likely. The correlation between quantity of reviews & local ranking is big.
- Reputation can be leveraged in many areas of marketing. It’s a very powerful social proof that helps potential customers gain rapidly confidence in a business and to choose them.