Mobile Local Search - The Untapped Gold Mine for Lowest Cost Search Traffic

POV

POV

POV

Mobile marketers and multi-location businesses have before them one of the most significant marketing opportunities in recent history. Google recently announced that mobile search volume has finally overtaken desktop search not only in the United States, but in ten countries including Canada and Japan.

Given the overwhelmingly local intent behind mobile searches (56% of mobile searches have local intent, according to Google), local marketers skilled in mobile have a distinct competitive advantage in their industries.

The rise of the mobile-only searcher and the growth of multi-screen, multi-device browsing have created unprecedented opportunity for local businesses to connect with motivated consumers in the moments that matter. Enhanced visibility in this mobile local space is the doorway to the least costly, most relevant traffic available today.

The Mobile Opportunity for Local & Multi-Location BusinessesAlready, six in ten cell phone owners use their device to go online, and 34% of cell phone Internet users mostly use their phone to access online content, rather than using their desktop, laptop or tablet computers (Pew Internet). This is especially true of affluent users living in households with an annual income of $75,000 or more, 79% of whom are apt to use their mobile device to go online.

Mobile search optimization is important for every demographic, but is even more critical when targeting those more likely to be “mobile-only” users and local searchers.

Mobile Search Optimization Drives Conversion of All Kinds

According to Google, 50% of all mobile searches have local intent, meaning someone is searching for a local business with the intent of making an in-store purchase. Further, consumers overwhelmingly turn to their mobile devices -- 94% of the time -- when the information they seek is local, also according to Google. These mobile local searches tend to have high commercial intent, as evidenced by the high percentage of offline purchases occuring within a few hours.

78% of mobile local searches result in an offline purchase.

Mobile search drives conversions of all kinds, including foot traffic and in-store purchases. In fact, the top four conversion events are Click-to-call, driving directions, coupon redemptions and mobile commerce.

Local Business Listings, Maps & Google Mobilegeddon

Effective mobile search optimization requires that all mobile searchers, regardless of device, intent, type of search or search engine used, are presented with accurate and complete business information across all local landing pages, aggregators, search engines, and social networks.

Research has shown that 50% of mobile users access businesses via their mobile browser, while another 40% access through map searches. Your competitors are still struggling with desktop optimization, yet over half of mobile searchers indicated in a recent BrightLocal

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survey that the most important information to them is a company’s physical address. What’s more, 38% are actually turned off when no map or address is displayed.

Google, ever striving to provide their users more relevant search results, has placed increasing emphasis on the mobile experience.

This March, the search giant announced an algorithm update (dubbed “Mobilegeddon” by the industry) designed to rank mobile-friendly websites higher on mobile search engine results pages (SERPs).

This mobile-focused algorithm, says digital agency Koozai, has had a significant impact on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). According to their recent survey of 2,000 SMBs with 50 employees or fewer, 46% have experienced changes in mobile ranking since Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm update. Of that group, 41% experienced a drop of at least three positions in mobile rankings, resulting in up to 50% decreases in traffic.

Search consulting firm Stone Temple Consulting also studied the impact of Mobilegeddon on non-mobile friendly URLs. In their analysis of over 15,000 search queries, STC found that the rankings of mobile-friendly URLs increased across the board, while 46.6% of non-mobile friendly URLs dropped in the rankings

Paid search, while an effective traffic driver for local businesses that may help level the playing field, is out of reach for many SMBs, as average costs-per-click in established markets continue to increase quarter-on-quarter.

There is an alternative for marketers.

Research indicates that search traffic delivers the lowest cost of any acquisition method, with fixed costs for software and strategy. Companies using search optimization software like Rio SEO’s Local Search SEO Software™ are earning traffic with as much as 90% reduced costs, compared to PPC (paid search) traffic.

Mobile Local Search & the Untapped Low Cost Traffic Goldmine

A recent survey of our client base showed that across industries, companies are attracting qualified traffic at less than $0.10 per click from organic search.

Our survey also found that:

Many companies have yet to deliver search and conversion optimized mobile finders.

Many retailers surveyed have yet to optimize mobile pages properly, with local content and markup.

Less than 10% of retailers surveyed have optimized their mobile finders for best user experience and search visibility.

Average digital roadmap timelines can exceed one year and leave the brands that far behind the trends.

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Marketers are realizing they simply cannot rely on the best practices employed for desktop search optimization in this mobile search world. A solid understanding of the mobile search landscape provides the necessary underpinning to guide marketing spend, deliver high-quality mobile experiences for consumers, and ensure a competitive advantage.

Where do brands need to focus right now to tap unleash the full power of this low cost traffic goldmine?

These 4 mobile optimizations are key:

1. Create a mobile user experience.

2. Ensure your local business is listed on search engines and directories.

3. Monitor customer sentiment.

4. Boost engagement with enhanced content and conversion elements.

1. Create a Mobile User Experience

In their report on The Mobile Mind Shift, Forrester Research underscores the importance of reaching customers in their mobile moments; that is, when they’re using devices to find immediately actionable information. Mobile searcher intent differs substantially from that of the desktop user; mobile content, keywords and context in search results are critical.

For their part, Google has identified four moments in which consumer preferences are shaped and decisions made:

How can your brand deliver a fantastic mobile user experience and best meet the needs of mobile searchers in their I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do and I-want-to-buy moments?

Create an Experience Mobile Users Expect.

Choosing a strategy is the first critical step in becoming truly mobile-friendly. Responsive design is one strategy that can help deliver that seamless experience for users by adapting to suit the device being used to access the site. A second popular strategy is to redirect users to a m. fully mobile website -- a completely mobile version of the desktop site --

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Source: DialogTech

although this does require a rethinking of your metatag strategy, as well. You’ll need to tell search engines which pages are mobile, but also add additional utilities such as location information to cater to mobile users.

Be thoughtful about additional factors you can build into mobile with embedded media capabilities like how-to videos, or app downloads to enhance the in-store experience.

Use Rio SEO’s Local SEO Location Finder™ to automate the building, formatting and the optimization of robust local landing pages for each business location, effectively increasing local search presence while enhancing the user experience. Local location finders/locators offer consumers full search functionality by IP address, street address, neighborhood, city or zip code.

Location finder pages can include operating and holiday hours, business location images, local video and rich media, quick links to Google Maps and directions, localized content about the area where the store is located (such as mall name or landmarks, for example), customer and product reviews, local or global coupons/offers, and links to social check-ins and sharing.

Each local store finder page naturally incorporates the most effective conversion tools and delivers on the functionality users expect from top brands and their locations. Include links and tracking for:

Easy to search functionality for stores near you

Products and services offered

Mobile coupons (if available)

M-commerce options

Regular and holiday store hours

Embedded maps, videos, and rich media

SEO content and markup titles specifically for mobile

To ensure the best possible user experience and enhanced local search visibility across all major search engines and directories, all pages on your location finder should deliver to a mobile experience from a mobile device. With Rio SEO’s Location Finder™, marketers can easily build an optimized mobile store finder in under 4 weeks, complete with local landing pages and store finder for each location. Optimize the user and search experience with conversion analytics to prove ROI and target local consumers with either local or global coupons and promotions.

How can you be sure your website is mobile-ready? Check the Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) for any potential issues, then use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to easily spot opportunities to enhance your mobile presence. You can also use your measurement tools, whether Google Analytics or a third-party measurement platform, to test various mobile interfaces by going through the user experience step by step.

Takeaways

Responsive design for seamless experience

Mobile m. website for mobile content

Proper meta tags to tell search engines about separate mobile pages

Embedded media capabilities on mobile

Local search optimized pages for each location

2. Ensure Your Local Business is Listed on Search Engines and Directories

When searching for business information, most mobile consumers do so with the intention of visiting the business. Google research shows

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us that 50% of mobile users are more likely to visit a store after conducting a mobile search, and that the information they’re seeking is most often:

Store hours (54%)

Directions to a local store (53%)

The local store address (50%)

Local listing citation accuracy is critical for positive user experience -- no one wants to receive the wrong business hours or store address when searching for information with the intent to visit the location. However, citations are also an important authority factor. Also called brand mentions or implied links, accurate and complete citations across the local search ecosystem tells search engines the information is credible and trustworthy.

Depending on your business, there are three types of citations you should consider obtaining:

Local Citations

According to Google, over 50% of consumers search for business hours, directions and local addresses. Local businesses including dentists, plumbers, and attorneys should get listed on directories, Internet Yellow Pages and review sites such as Yelp, Google+ Local, Bing Local etc. These are very practical, location-based citations that users will search on.

Industry Citations

Local companies with a national footprint should look for industry-specific citations. A structural steel company, for example, competing with similar firms across the country will need citations on manufacturer directory sites.

Niche Citations

One key strategy in developing niche citations is to get brand mentions and co-citation on social outlets and the trade organization websites that their target market members belong to. Depending on your industry, these will vary widely.

Keep in mind that a citation is any mention of your business name, address and phone number on a website other than your own, while a co-citation is when it appears alongside the mention(s) of other businesses like yours.

Constant citation monitoring is key, as it ensures accuracy and consistency across the local search ecosystem. With Rio SEO’s Enterprise Local Search Reporting Software, inaccurate, incomplete or duplicate citations are flagged and corrected.

Across search engines and directories, local business citations must be optimized systematically and consistently, to achieve maximum accuracy at scale. Rio SEO’s Local Listing Manager™ generates and optimizes correct local business listing data in bulk and distributes to all available feeds, ensuring maximum coverage with the ease and consistency of automation. Through a single point of contact, marketers can increase their local organic search presence through an optimized communication with all platforms allowing formatted feeds.

In addition to citations, marketers must optimize their local data -- and on mobile, this means optimizing the mapping experience. If you’re in a busy city or a mall location, for example, a general map can be very frustrating for customers. Be as exact as possible and include local proximity information such as products offered for each local store.

Takeaways

Name can include geo-modifier or service

Consistent address, local phone number across directories

Local business hours and specialty hours

Local descriptions to include services offered (i.e. fine jewelry, watches & accessories...)

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Brand logo, storefront and product images

Social media links and additional local info

3. Monitor Customer Sentiment

Understanding the impact of customer sentiment via local business ratings and reviews on local search visibility is key in optimizing for low-cost organic search traffic. A recent report from Dimensional Research for Zendesk showed that...

90% of consumers say their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews.

Having the ability to measure and monitor the average star ratings and number of reviews by location and either review growth or ratings trends over time, gives critical insight into the effects of ratings and reviews against your local search initiatives.

Responsiveness is critical; even a simple acknowledgement tells a consumer their feedback was appreciated and can influence brand perception. Automating measurement and monitoring helps ensure that brands don’t miss out on opportunities to build these relationships with consumers.

Rio SEO’s Local Review Checker™ tracks and reports local online reviews across 16 local directories and leading review sites, including Google+, Yelp, Yahoo! Local, CitySearch and YP.com.

Depending on the marketer’s preference, reporting can occur daily, weekly or monthly, with the ability to view reviews by location to quickly go to the source and respond accordingly. Reviews can go in the favor of the brand from an SEO signal perspective so going beyond responding to encouraging reviews on your local website can drive better ranking and consumer engagement.

Takeaways

Gain insight to reviews with targeted reporting

Define strategy to respond and reward reviews

Build reviews to drive search ranking signals

4. Boost Engagement with Enhanced Content and Conversion Elements

Companies are creating meaningful experiences on mobile-friendly websites and apps, which in turn creates new opportunities to engage customers in deeper relationships throughout the purchasing cycle.

30 hours per month, on average, consumers spend engaging with their apps.

According to Nielsen research, proving they play a key role in those I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do, I-want-to-buy moments. Engaging with customers at these mobile and local moments through your app strategy is a great way to increase revenue and customer loyalty.

Savvy local marketers aren’t turning exclusively to apps as an alternative to the mobile web; rather, they’re using the two together for maximum impact with increasingly multi-screen, multi-device users. According to Forrester Research, more than 70% of connected users personally use three or more devices each day and use each one to go online frequently. Further, these connected customers expect brand consistency and personalization across devices.

At a minimum, companies need to make consumers aware they actually have apps. Beyond that initial step lies the opportunity to truly engage and even delight consumers with experiences like mobile Wallet, in-store experiences via the app and more.

Make your app discoverable everywhere your customers are, including local search.

Apps function best as an integral component within a successful local marketing strategy in alignment with a mobile-optimized website, optimized store finder, consistent local listings and closely monitored reviews.

Search is an integral component of your mobile app marketing strategy. People search with purpose, looking for solutions, locations, products

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etc. Having your app show up in the search results pages is a key strategy for driving awareness and downloads of your app. Search

And while the app store and word of mouth are other major sources of app awareness, search can also help consumers discover apps during moments of intent. In fact, one in four app users discover apps through a search engine (Google).

Measure cross-channel for local ROI.

Marketers must focus on measuring cross-channel for local ROI. Revenue-oriented marketers are setting analytics around local landing pages, whether via Google Analytics, Adobe Omniture or some other third-party tool, to measure and monitor those clicks. These insights around the differences in mobile behavior in your own audience are invaluable.

Coupons and downloadable offers are another opportunity to measure these conversions from online to offline and more accurately attribute conversions to specific local marketing efforts.

Takeaways

Drive app downloads from local landing pages to gain insight into rich user data

Integrate additional elements for mobile users like Wallet (formally Passbook) or Google Wallet options for coupons/promotions

Measure analytics from local landing pages on desktop and mobile

Monitor user click and search activities for granular insight into mobile behavior

Integrate local promotions, coupons or downloads to drive conversions

Measure conversions from online to offline with unique promo codes

Consider these mobile local best practices not some sort of magic bullet or cure-all mobile optimization remedy, but the core strategies employed by brands with successful mobile local search strategies.

In the current search environment, where 53% of mobile searches have local intent and 70% of mobile searches result in action being taken within an hour as opposed a week for desktop, marketers need mobile search-focused best practices as the solid foundation on which to build a comprehensive mobile marketing strategy.

Keep these local search insights in mind:

Mobile search traffic is attributing over 65% of all traffic to clients with local landing pages.

A recent client study showed that companies attracting qualified traffic at less than $0.10 per click from organic search are using local SEO.

Less than 10% of retailers have optimized their local finders for best user experience and search visibility.

Less than 11% of mobile ads in Bing are mobile optimized.

Optimizing mobile pages for both search and user experience gives you the best chance of garnering very low cost mobile search traffic.

Organic search is still the most effective and lowest cost source of relevant, motivated traffic for multi-location and local businesses.

As the channel that still drives the most visitors, conversions, and customers across B2B and B2C companies, organic search is not a channel that marketing executives can afford to overlook, especially given its volatile nature. The handful of companies able to maximize this channel will ultimately own a disproportionate share of its digital space, and thus, profits.

Final Thoughts

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Trends to Watch

As the proliferation of beacons, wearables and other smart devices continues to grow, the importance of the ‘mobile moments’ mindset becomes increasingly important.

A consumer’s interaction with their car, refrigerator, or wearable will become an opportunity to engage and persuade. Currently, retail locations and other early adopters of beacon technology must rely on consumers to install an app and ensure their bluetooth is turned on to receive messages from brands. However, as these points of friction are resolved through technological enhancements and consumer awareness, the onus will shift to local marketers to deliver on the expectations consumers will have for actionable, personalized messaging on wearables and via beacons.

Although smart devices still lack universal adoption, marketers may want to position and prepare themselves for newly available touchpoints and contextual data, ultimately ‘future-proofing’ their search marketing performance.

Brands have an opportunity to use local to embrace contextual marketing by being present where their customers are when they use mobile devices to search. It’s important that marketers make mobile search a priority, not just an experiment. Local is a great way to create closer connections across mobile, social and search.

SaaS-based Local marketing platforms such as Rio SEO provide a way to manage and automate the complexity and avoid the fragmentation of search. It’s a space that can be difficult and tedious to manage, requiring the optimization of brand presences across multiple platforms including Google, Bing and Yahoo -- but also hundreds of directory services, as well as the leading social outlets.

Getting Started with Local

Starting out with a local audit helps you identify your current challenges and opportunities. Scan for business listings and local rankings on search engines and directories, then

Final Takeaways

It’s imperative to know how your brand stands today in terms of mobile experience and local search visibility.

Being effective in mobile takes an umbrella approach across SEO, directory listing consistency, user experience, and reputation management.

Brands can go beyond SEO with integration to cross-channel initiatives like loyalty programs, social feeds, and app downloads.

Multi-location brands need technology to scale efforts and take ownership of their local search success.

Schedule time with a local SEO specialist to chat about your specific needs.

Call: (858) 529-5005Email: sales@rioseo.com

Get A FREE Mobile Friendly Audit

If your company is looking to take on the mobile-first movement, contact Rio SEO to learn how our local search software can take your multi-location strategy to the mobile forefront.

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Rio SEO connects consumers and national brands at the local level with an enterprise platform to acquire new customers, manage location data and drive traffic to online and in-store with flexibility, transparency and speed. Our core platform includes full-service local listings management, custom reporting and ROI metrics, search-optimized location finders, and location landing pages optimized for desktop, tablet and mobile. Rio SEO actively manages locations for 80+ brands around the world. To learn how Rio SEO can help your business of 50-100,000 locations, please visit us at http://www.rioseo.com.

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