Biggest Local SEO Trends in 2019
If you have a brick-and-mortar business, your local SEO strategy is vital to the health of your company.
Local SEO helps you generate phone calls and drive foot traffic to your business. Of course, the proper strategy is needed if you’re going to reach your target market. Get the details on the biggest local SEO trends for 2019 and incorporate them into your strategy.
Your Customers’ Voices Are More Important Than Ever
Your customers have always been important to your business, but now, they are more important than ever in regards to local SEO. Expect Google to ask your customers more questions about your business in 2019. Google will ask questions regarding your bathrooms, accessibility atmosphere, and more, and will use this information to improve local search results.
Reviews Rule the Online Marketplace
Around one-third of local searchers are looking for reviews. That means obtaining and responding to reviews needs to be at the forefront of your local SEO strategy. This will give you a competitive edge and help you reach more customers.
Proximity Remains King
Proximity has long been the driving force when Google provides local search results to users. Another website might have stronger ranking signals, but if it isn’t in the desired search range, it won’t come up in a local search. While this might seem like bad news, it’s actually a way for new businesses to reach customers.
Money Is Going to Become a Factor
AdWords has long been a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. Companies use AdWords to get in front of customers, even if they don’t have strong organic rankings. However, local companies aren’t worried quite as much about paying for search results. Expect that to change in 2019 as Google looks for more ways to monetize local searches. Google is starting to give priority to paid ads for local searches and maps. If this trend continues, it will become increasingly difficult to reach your target market without running ads.
Linked Unstructured Citations Become More Important
In the past, businesses have focused on getting structured citations on business directories. Structured citations still have their place, but linked unstructured citations are becoming increasingly important for local SEO. These citations refer to links with business information on relevant websites. You can get these links through guest blogging, creating excellent content that others post on their websites, or getting mentions from blog or website owners. This does take some work, but it’s a necessary addition to your local SEO campaign.
Stay on Top of Local SEO Trends
Local SEO is constantly evolving. What worked in 2018 might not work in 2019. It’s critical to stay on top of the latest trends, so you can get the best results. Incorporate these strategies and measure the results. You will quickly see which strategies are working the best and which ones need to be tweaked. If you continue to analyze the results and make changes when necessary, you can develop a powerful local SEO campaign.