Is your local business website optimised for ‘near me’ searches?
If not you could be missing out on a whole lot of relevant traffic.
With the ever-increasing surge in mobile searching and browsing, more and more people are now turning to Google to help them make impulsive decisions on places to go, services nearby and things to do whilst they’re out and about
Micro-Moments
In response to this trend Google have been putting more of an emphasis on optimising their search results for what they call ‘micro-moments’.
Google says that micro-moments are real-time, intent-driven opportunities for brands to shape customer decisions and preferences.
An example of a micro-moment could be your boiler breaking down just before you head out to work or looking for a restaurant to eat at whilst visiting a new city. Both of these moments require a quick answer to solve a point of pain.
‘Near Me’ Searches
One of the key ways that Google has reacted to this trend is to start pushing ‘near me’ searches in their suggested searches for local queries. If you get your phone out right now and try typing into Google any type of local place or service, chances are you will see a ‘near me’ search somewhere in the top 5 suggested searches. Here are a few that we have just performed.
When people are out and about searching on their mobile they’re often looking for immediate answers to a query and so often start typing what they’re looking for and then simply click the most relevant suggested search, eg. ‘cake shop near me’.
It is the increase in this type of behaviour that has seen the phenomenal rise in popularity of the ‘near me’ search over recent years. For an idea of how popular this search term has become just take a look at the graph below from Google Trends.
Reaping the rewards from the ‘near me’ trend
Don’t miss out on a slice of the pie. If your local business is not yet benefiting from the ‘near me’ search trend then it’s time to add it into your keyword strategy and get optimising!
There are a few ways that your business can incorporate ‘near me’ queries into your keyword strategy to start ranking for relevant ‘near me’ searches, these include:
- Add a page to your website that targets your specific near me search term and location.
- Gain relevant backlinks with your target location/s in the anchor text.
- If your website has location pages then add ‘near me’ into the title tags on these pages
- Add your ‘near me’ search terms (and variants) into the text content on your website
With just a small amount of time and effort, many local businesses have seen an increase in relevant traffic and customer enquiries by simply adding ‘near me’ search terms into their keyword strategy.
Want to start benefiting from the ‘near me’ local search phenomenon? Don’t get left behind, get in touch with our SEO team here at Aqueous Digital to get optimised for ‘near me’ searches in your area by calling one of our team on 0800 285 1424.
