Online reputation management company, Review Trackers, has released a new research study which provides useful insights into local search habits and local SEO
Let’s look at a few of the insights:
35 percent of all search traffic is local.
This is a big deal if you’re organization is a church, school or local business. It supports what we’ve been saying for the last several years – people are searching for their local needs online. Local organizations can’t just sit back and say, “Online search is for big national organizations.” Nope, people are searching for small mom-and-pop shops, schools, churches and all sorts of other local organizations.
57 percent of local searches happen on mobile or tablet devices.
People are more likely to search for something they need locally on a mobile device. It makes sense – if you’re out and about and you need something now, you’re going to do the search on your phone. This data points out how important it is for local organizations to have a mobile-friendly website.
53 percent of searchers typically visit a business within 48 hours of search.
The takeaway from this is that when people do a local search, they are more likely to be further along in the buying process. If you are a part of a local business, that’s literally “buying,” If you’re a part of a church or school, that means most people doing local searches are ready to come for a visit.
58 percent of Small Businesses Don’t Optimize for Local SEO
This is important for a couple of reasons. First, it points out that many local organizations still are not aware of the importance of improving local search rankings, or at least have not made it a priority. Second, it means if you are optimizing for better local search ranking, you are ahead of half your competition. Or if you start now, you can be. (BTW, if you’re a part of a church and don’t like to think of other churches as “competition” read our earlier post The Big-Picture Kingdom View of SEO.)
The report concludes…
With local search growing & millennials showing a higher conversion rate with local search, localized SEO has to be a priority for digital marketers. -Review Trackers
You can read the full report here. If you’d like some help with local SEO services or church SEO, let’s schedule a time to talk about your situation – no pressure, no obligation.
Discussion
- If you’re a part of a local church, school or business are currently optimizing for better local search rankings? Why or why not?