The way consumers search for things has fundamentally changed. It used to be where you search for pizza and that would get you the information on Pizza places in your area that you needed. How have things changed?
Now depending on the source, we are using more questions. We need more specifics to get the answers we want. As more and more people are using voice search, like Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa, those questions have gotten even more conversational. Therefore, the way your business “listing” is set up has to change. Having your name/address/phone information available isn’t enough. (Though still super important.) Think about how you search for information on a business. When we look for a business now, we often need to know more than location and contact info, we need to know reviews and up to date hour changes (Are they temporarily closed due to overnight changing Covid restrictions?) How long would it take to get there? Could we get there before they close? Do they curbside pickup available? Are they dog friendly? Do they have public restrooms?
One of the main differences between people looking at your google my business, yelp, or maps listing verses your website is intent. 73% of high intent (people looking to purchase) traffic goes to your listing first.
60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results such as the “click to call” option.
What is the advantage of having
proper listing?
What is the advantage of having proper and consistent information in your listing? It helps with the “last mile of search.” Search engines and platforms track listing information in the same way they track SEO. Any inconstancies hurt your reputation. Making it so that when someone searches “Best _ Near Me” your business may not appear in the results.
What can you do? Fill your listing up with keywords and information. Make sure your listing is consistent across platforms. And keep the information up to date as things change over time.
Over a two year period, there was a 900%+ growth in mobile searches for “___ near me today/tonight.”
