Over the past few years, local SEO[1] has become one of the biggest buzzwords in the marketing world.
Studies have found[2] that nearly half of all Google searches are local. As more and more businesses recognize that optimizing for these searches is a requirement, the prospect of ranking is becoming very competitive.
As you know, SEO is a field that changes by the hour and there are very few guarantees. However, it’s almost a certainty that the importance of local search will continue to grow.
There are a number of key factors to consider with local search, so as you continue to build your presence, be sure to keep them in mind.
Widespread adoption of voice search
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will know how popular voice search is becoming. Combining the advancements in mobile technology, virtual assistants, and voice activated home devices, it’s estimated[3] that 50% of all searches will be done with voice by 2020.
There are a number of takeaways from this rising trend. Most importantly, there will be a much bigger emphasis on long-tail keywords and hyperlocal searches[4]. You can learn a lot more about user intent based on voice queries.
For example, let’s say you run a computer repair store in Denver, Colorado. If someone needs your service, a text query would probably look something like “Computer repair Denver”. On the other hand, a voice query might look like “Where can I get the hard drive for my Lenovo computer fixed in the LoDo neighborhood[6]?” With this type of information, you can build out customer profiles based on the questions