Near me searches are one of the quickest evolving local SEO keywords in the search engine.
Compared to the last year “near me” searches have increased by more than 150%.
And!
If you are not optimising for local SEO, you are missing out on 46 percent of all Google.
Showing up for “near me” searches in the SERP is crucial to the ability of customers to find information about your business.
If you do not show up, your competitors will most certainly be.
So, how to get the most out of your website and Google My Business with our top tips to optimise searches for “near me” on Google for a better local SEO strategy?
Optimize for “Near Me” Search
Survey data reveals that 80% of the smartphones are likely to search for any combination of “near me” keyword at least once a month.
The most popular industries which come under such local search radar are hospitality, banks, and cinemas.
From the survey, the maximum searches for food businesses are conducted “near me,” followed by entertainment and banking.
Apparel and banking companies are not too far behind, however. The results clearly illustrate the searcher’s intent.
If you are a local business owner, then optimising searches for “near me” is absolutely vital to your business’s success.
So, here are some of the optimization tips for running a “Near Me” SEO campaign.
1. Create and Update Google My Business Listing
Google Business listings are the first things that appear most of the times when you search for local keywords.
It is logical in a sense, cause Google My Business has all the necessary information (number, direction, pictures, reviews, etc.) that you will need after you search “nearby” keyword.
You can create a Google My Business profile easily regardless whether you have a physical address of your business or not. However, you need to have an address to receive the verification code sent by the Google team.
The GMB listing also appears on the maps and is pushed by Google on various other sources. Hence, having a presence there can ensure the online visibility success of a business.
Also, one of the ways to optimize your “near me” searches better is getting more and more reviews on the GMB listing. The number of reviews should be something close to the number of reviews in the current ranking listing.
2. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
It is my personal assumption that most of the “near me” search keywords are performed when people are out of their houses or in a state of urgency.
Hungry? Let us search restaurant near me!
When your website is mobile friendly, it not only attracts visitors from all the sources, but also decrease your bounce rate.
It ensures the people who are using the search results instantly get access to the information and do not have to wait.
Mobile friendly websites also perform very well in terms of overall SEO performance. In fact, many sources along with Google itself has said this several times that the mobile friendly websites can help the SEO and rankings in many ways.
Some of the tips to make website mobile friendly are;
i) Don’t use flash
ii) Focus on website load time
iii) Use buttons large enough to work on mobile devices
iv) Large fonts should be used
v) Keep your design simple and ditch text blocking ads
3. Keep Your Details Consistent in All Websites
You should make sure that all your site clearly lists the same basic information about your business.
Having your standard “Contact” page is a must, but let Google do its job even easier, including info in the footer of all your pages.
Verify that this information fits exactly what it is in your GMB listing. This concept is called local citation where you get value to your listing or your actual website when your name, address, or phone number gets mentioned anywhere in the visible web.
The mentions on local citations does not necessarily needs to be a backlink.
4. Write Blogs and Get Local Backlinks
The creation and maintenance of blogs are one of the best ways of getting local links.
A blog allows you to share articles on a regular basis, which allows users to stay updated when they subscribe to your business services.
A blog is a good way to earn local links — and, in addition, it can persuade users to purchase their products when they are in the customer journey “Research” phase.