Resource Centre

How to Show up in Local Mobile Searches

If you’re looking to convert digital traffic into customers, one of the best things you can do is to optimize your online presence for local mobile searches. That’s because since 2015, the use of mobile devices surpassed home computers for local search activity for the first time ever.

Mobile devices are increasingly playing a major role in offline shopping: 52 per cent of smartphone users say they look for local information while they’re on the go, and 90 per cent of smartphone users say they use their devices while shopping, according to research from the Local Search Association.

And perhaps the most compelling stat of all: Google reports that half of smartphone users go on to visit a store within a day of conducting their local search.

All of the above leaves very little question that showing up in local mobile searches is an important way to reach customers looking to buy. Here are four ways to optimize your digital presence so you rank in local mobile searches:

1. Optimize your website for mobile
Mobile optimization means making sure your site is designed to look its best and load quickly on mobile devices. You can achieve this either by using responsive design, which is a single website that adapts for optimal viewing regardless of the device, or by setting up a mobile site to which visitors are redirected when using their smartphones. With so many people searching from their phones, mobile optimization now plays a role in Google’s search algorithm, so websites that are not optimized will not rank as high.

2. Make sure your business data is consistent
Search engines use businesses’ names, phone numbers and addresses as a means of verifying that they are local. This information should be clearly featured on your website and reinforced with listings on authoritative local directories such as YP.ca and FourSquare. Consistency counts, so make sure your listings and other mentions are all accurate and formatted the same way. Yellow Pages NetSync makes this process easy to manage by adding your business to more than 40 key websites, directories and apps, and allowing you to update all of your listings in a single step.

3. Set up your Google My Business page
Google gives its My Business pages prime real estate within mobile search results pages (desktop too), so it’s worth your time to claim yours and to ensure it is filled out accurately and completely, including adding photos. User reviews can also give your page a boost, so seek out online reviews from past customers on your Google page.

Yellow Pages NetSync – Extended Presence includes setting up this important page.

4. Target your search ads
You can bolster your organic search efforts with targeted paid search ads, which appear above and throughout local search results. A key benefit to search ads is sophisticated targeting – for example, you can serve your ad to people within a radius around your business or choose to have your ad seen only by people using mobile devices. You can also claim the top spot on Yellow Pages searches with Mobile Sponsored Placement Prestige, which includes shared access to the number one position on mobile searches and a 40 per cent larger display area than other listings.

Get started with NetSync
With so many people seeking out local businesses from their phones, it’s more important than ever to optimize your web presence for mobile local search. Yellow Pages NetSync helps local businesses manage the key steps to ensuring your business shows up where customers are looking for you.

Read the original article on the Yellow Pages Learning Centre.