When the topic of SEO comes up, it often pertains to website best practices. That’s because good SEO is critical to being found in search engine results.
This post will not focus on website SEO, but will offer another equally important consideration - optimizing for local search beyond your website.
Local search is any search conducted for a specific geographic area, such as “Motorcycle repair in LA.” 46% of all searches on Google are now local.1 When you perform a local search on your mobile device, results may include citation sites such as Google My Business, Facebook Places or Apple Maps, to name a few. Citation sites provide what is known as NAP - name, address and phone number - along with other details about your business, like website address.
When consumers are performing a local search, they’re ready to make a purchase. 78% of local-mobile searches result in offline purchase.2
What can you do to ensure that customers who are relying on the business information provided are easily able to find or contact your dealership?
- Review top local citation sources for the accuracy and completeness of your business information. Surprisingly, about 43% of US businesses have at least one listing with incorrect or missing information.3 Not only is inaccurate information bad for your customers, it’s also bad for SEO. Google and Bing verify the existence of businesses from citations. Consistent business information across multiple citation sites helps to legitimize your business. Some of the citation sources that receive the most traffic for local search include:
- Claim your top listings. Before you can begin to make corrections or add information to your local listings, you’ll need to claim your listings, proving you are authorized to make these changes. Each listing site has their own process for claiming a listing. Listings that have been claimed also carry more authority with the search engines.
- Optimize your listings with correct and consistent information. Consistency in your NAP information is key for higher local ranking. Before you start updating your listings, decide how your business name and address will be listed. Will you have certain abbreviations, such as St.? Will you list your address as a Hwy, versus an actual physical address? Whatever you decide, stick with it and use it on every listing. Update or add your business information, including your current hours, and further personalize the listing by adding photos.
There are many local citation sites. So many, you can find a “top 50” list in a search. Start with the highest-traffic sites such as those listed above. If this seems a little overwhelming to tackle on your own, consider DX1’s new Reputation Management solution which gives you complete online presence management simplified into a single dashboard. From your Reputation Management dashboard, not only will you have insight into which of your local listings require updating, you’ll also be able to monitor and manage your online reviews, contribute to social conversations and monitor your local SEO ranking.
To learn more, schedule a walk-through with a DX1 Representative.
1 16 Stats that Prove the Importance of Local SEO
2 Study: 78 Percent Of Local-Mobile Searches Result In Offline Purchases
3 Wrong Business Information and Poor Reviews Drive Customers Away