This post will explore Local SEO and how it can affect your ROI. Local SEO is an excellent way to get more exposure in your local area, which could lead to a higher conversion rate for your business. Local listings management is not just about getting your company listed on Google Maps or other Local Listing Sites, but also includes being active in the community by attending events and networking with other professionals in the industry. In this article we will discuss:
– The pros of Local SEO
– Why Local SEO is important
– How Local Listings Management can help improve conversions
POWERFUL LISTINGS & LOCAL SEARCH STATS
Yext conducted a survey of 31,000 locations:
- Businesses who include enhanced content received 416% MORE VIEWS than those without enhanced listing features.
- 95% of respondents reported FINDING INCORRECT INFORMATION about a business that they were searching for online.
- 63% reported that they found incorrect information about a business “MANY TIMES.”
- 91% indicated that finding incorrect business listings has IMPACTED THEIR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
- More than 33% stated that finding incorrect information about a business had “SIGNIFICANT IMPACT” on their customer experience.
Miscellaneous Statistics:
- 50% of local mobile searchers are LOOKING for business information such as an address, phone number, or hours.
- 70% of consumers are WILLING TO SHARE their location information if they believe they are getting something of value in return.
- 61% of local searches RESULT IN A PURCHASE.
- 7 out of 10 consumers are MORE LIKELY to use a local business if it has information available on a social media site.
- 73% of ONLINE SEARCH activity is related to LOCAL CONTENT.
- 99% of the time a brand name will RANK IN THE #1 SPOT for any and all variations of brand keywords.
Listings and Pages ENSURE THE AUTHENTICITY of your listings on your own site and on more than 100 key citation sources, maps, apps, directories, search engines, and social media networks.
- 81% of people perform some type of online research BEFORE making a large purchase.
- 88% of consumers TRUST ONLINE REVIEWS as much as they trust personal recommendations.
- 78% of location-based mobile searches RESULT IN an offline purchase.
WHAT DO CUSTOMERS SAY?
“Definitely worth the cost. I used to try to manage all these listing by myself, this saved me more in labor time in a week than it cost for a year.”.
“Awesome service. My listing jumped to the top of the listings. I love the service they give us.” .
“Sooner Marketing helped me realize what a problem we had with misinformation old info and we were not reaching the public fully and that some things were not user friendly. They even helped as much as they could with things that were not of their concern. After they got me hooked up, I got two new customers right away and it definitely came from them, I had a deal that they only at the time was running for me.”
ROI CASE STUDY
Forrester Consulting quantified these benefits from Yext’s Location Data Management solution over a three-year period:
- 169% Return On Investment
- 5 Month Investment Payback Period
- $1,487,151 Location Data Management Efficiency
- $933,421 Net Benefits
If you are interested in trying Yext PowerListings, please contact Sooner Marketing at (918) 609-3248. We have the knowledge and experience to maximize your local business listing potential. Our team will set up and fully optimize your business location(s) regardless of whether you’re servicing one area or multiple areas.
We use SEM Rush for our clients, as well as, our own local business because we know SEM Rush is worth it. Since we partner with SEM Rush, we can get you the best package and value for cheaper… Only $125/mo OR $1,200 per year ($300 savings!) If you bought it on your own, it would cost $999/yr+ and lots of time since you’re left to set up and optimize your business by yourself… Not fun!
Local SEO
The entire consumer industry has undertaken a big shift in this digital age: In-store visits are down, online research is up and smartphones are becoming increasingly important to the consumer’s shopping journey.
Have you ever used your phone to find out information on the move, such as finding out where your nearest coffee shop is? When people find your business through a local search (especially on mobile) it turns out that they’re also more likely to visit your storefront or inquire about your services.
Consumers on the move need specific, accurate information — and they need it fast! Having your business listing in the top Google placements for your local keywords is vital for attracting new customers.
It’s All About Mobile
When people want to find something out, go somewhere, do something to buy a product — they turn to their smartphones.
It’s safe to say that most of us look up different shops, restaurants, and products with our phones while we’re on the move. This means that we’ve moved on from having to look up the location of a specific business (or type of business, such as coffee shops) before we leave our house.
Our mobile devices now have the power to give us any information about what we’re looking for and then direct us to that place.
It’s easier than ever to access this information and there’s no question that these search habits are here to stay, and only advance furthermore — especially with the rise in voice-related searches. Voice search usage is seeing unprecedented growth, with personal assistant devices leading the way with the trend.
People searching for a specific business, such as “best Mexican restaurants in midtown” now are given information for midtown based on the town or city that you are searching for. The Mexican restaurants that are best optimized for local SEO will then appear in the 3 pack of business listings.
Customers Search Before Buying
Most of Google’s searches happen on mobile devices and according to research undertaken by Search Engine Land, 78% of mobile local searches resulted in offline purchases.
A study with Think with Google stated that 30% of mobile searches are location-related and 76% of people that do a local search on a mobile device visit that store or business within 1 day. Additionally, 28% of those searches result in a purchase.
This further reinstates that ranking high in a local search should be a core objective for your business!
Google Is Always Improving
There are constant changes to the ranking algorithm that are being used to make the results better for local businesses and evermore user-friendly.
Algorithm updates like Google Snack Pack and Google Possum both impacted local search. Keywords typed in by the search can link to your business through localized SEO.
Google strives to ensure the best user experience for everyone searching online. That’s why Google continually tweaks its algorithms so that the search results display the most relevant sites based on their keyword phrase.
It is therefore vital to make sure that you are up to speed with the latest trends and have an understanding of what it takes to gain a top position in search.
Getting It Right
Multiple factors contribute to the digital success of any business. In urban markets and densely populated cities, local search is so important that many businesses are even able to thrive without a website. They can generate walk-in business every day because people on the ground are consistently able to find their stores through mobile search.
Local SEO offers another exceptional advantage when it comes to building your brand and company. It provides a way for you to build trust through reputation management within your community by asking for reviews from loyal customers.
It’s important to note that every small business can benefit from positive reviews. Word of mouth is a major factor in the success of many local businesses. In addition to the local search signal, multiple positive reviews allow consumers to feel more inclined to visit your business. Plus, reviews from your current customers can help convince prospective customers to purchase products and services from you.
Getting it right is vital. If you don’t know what you are doing, you may waste time updating your website or making changes to find you aren’t getting the increase in traffic as expected.
Calculating ROI for Local SEO
ROI is defined as the cost of a campaign subtracted from the revenue of the campaign divided by the cost of running the campaign. Or you could view ROI as the profit over the cost. How much money do you have to tie up to earn what in profit?
ROI = (Revenue – Cost) / Cost
To determine the potential revenue of a local search campaign you can follow a simple formula:
(X) x (Y) x (Z) x (V) = L
- X=keyword search volume
- Y=percentage of searchers that convert to visitors
- Z=percentage of visitors who become customers
- V=average price customer will pay
- L=Local SEO revenue
Local SEO ROI = (L – Cost) / Cost
Calculating ROI for Local SEO
First up, determine the keyword search volume. Google Keyword Planner is a great tool for finding targeted keywords for a business and also shows search trends and volume. You will need to create an AdWords account but the Keyword Planner is free.
Let’s say 2,000 people search “Dentist Tampa” every month. Now, only a fraction of those searches will visit your listing, so where you rank is a factor. Obviously, the higher you rank, the more search traffic you can expect.
X = 2000
Since this is all hypothetical, let us assume we have the number one ranking for “Dentist Tampa” and are pulling 40% of all search traffic to our site which equals 800 visitors a month.
Y = .40
Not every visitor will turn into a customer so we will need to reduce this number further. We’ll say 1.25% of visitors end up becoming patients. That gives us 10 new customers per month.
Z = .0125
We’ll say each customer is spending $100 for a dental exam. That’s a monthly revenue of $1,000 from this campaign.
V = $100
(2000) x (.40) x (.0125) x (100) = 1000
L = 1000
Now to calculate ROI we just need to determine the cost of the campaign. Budgets will vary depending on the campaign but the average cost of a professional local SEO campaign is around $300.
ROI = (1000 – 300) / 300 = 2.33
So, for every dollar spent on this campaign, you can expect a return of $2.33. This example only looks at one metric. It’s best to look at several different metrics to get a better understanding of the overall picture
How To Improve Local SEO ROI & Demonstrate Value To Clients
Traditionally, businesses and marketing agencies track their SEO campaigns with Google Search Console and Google Analytics. While these are great for tracking Google Search, local SEO campaigns need to take into account Google Maps ranking as well. Keep an eye on click-through rates and link interactions, but know that these are only a small piece of the puzzle.
Google My Business Insights
Claiming a location’s Google My Business listing is a standard practice of any successful local SEO campaign. The “Insights” tab in the Google My Business dashboard provides a plethora of metrics used to track impressions from Google Maps. Phone Calls, driving directions, website visits – increases in these metrics should be shown to clients to demonstrate value. Since Google My Business only keeps data for up to 90 days, either manually copy the data to a spreadsheet or we can send you in-depth monthly marketing reports to keep track of historical trends.
Monitor Changes In Rank
As mentioned above, higher-ranked listings get a bigger slice of the search traffic pie. It’s easy to report rank changes and clients love to see their listing climb the ladder. Take screenshots of Google Search and Google Maps ranking to show clients their dollars are hard at work.
Pro Tip: Google Maps will show rankings based on the proximity of the searcher. But what if you could see a listing’s rank across the entire city? With Sooner Marketing, you can track rankings across as many as 255 data points. Automatically generate reports that show average rank position (ARP), competitors rankings, and screenshots.
Use A Call Tracking Number
Most local businesses depend on phone calls for customers. However, Google My Business only tracks mobile-click-to-call and misses nearly 50% of total calls to a business. Set up a call tracking number for a listing to track ALL the campaign’s calls to a business. Assign different call tracking numbers to different campaigns or web pages to see where the majority of customers are coming from.
Conclusion
Knowing ROI is crucial and the number one question clients will ask is, “How much money can I expect this campaign to bring in?” Agencies and digital markers need to be able to answer those questions as well as demonstrate the value of their local SEO campaigns.
Do you need help increasing ROI for your local search campaigns? Sooner Marketing is a full-service marketing agency here to help you save time, boost ROI, demonstrate value, and #GetYaFound for a fraction of the cost of competitors’ local SEO packages.
*Sooner Marketing Solutions is a provider of Yext services at the time of this post.
