2018 was a dizzying year for digital marketing developments, and local SEO was no exception.
As consumers’ information needs have increased and local markets have become more competitive, search engines have adapted to meet these needs.
Businesses, local SEO professionals, and their agencies have new tools, more data, and easy access to both.
And consumers? They are gaining access to more information of interest through an increasingly rich, engaging and seamless local search experience.
Changes in Google and consumer buying habits disrupt local search
Many of the top local search updates this year came from Google, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Google has responded quickly to changes in consumer buying habits as a result of the pandemic and remains a dominant force in the market.
- Google currently has over 92.4% market share in the worldwide search engine space.
- 83% of local consumers use Google Search to find information about local businesses, and 90% make a purchase within a week of their initial search.
- In 2020, Google facilitated 2 billion connections per month, including reviews and reservations, between US businesses and shoppers.
- [Available near me] 100% increase in searches in 2021. [now near me] 200% increase in searches by 2021, [along my route] The number of searches in 2020 is 1000%.
With numbers like these, businesses can’t afford to ignore local SEO. Capturing even some of these searches could be game-changing for any business, and could be the difference between life and death for those struggling.
This means you need to understand how local search will change throughout 2021 and adjust your local SEO strategy for 2022 accordingly. So what should you know about the many updates and changes in 2021?
1. Google Business Profiles Make Local SEO More Convenient for Businesses
When Google rebranded Google My Business as Google Business Profile, the new moniker also included updates and new features.
Perhaps most impactful is that business owners no longer have to dig into apps and platforms to update or revise their listings. Add or update contact information, hours of operation, add images, and more directly from Google Search and Google Maps.
It’s easier than ever to have a strong presence in local search results by completing the verification process and dealing with issues like suspension from search.
2. Google makes it easy to find and catch up on the latest local news
behind the search [news near me] Having tripled in five years worldwide, Google added features to local SERPs to make it easier to find and create local news.
Google launched two projects to help journalists enrich their stories with local data and information.
Census Mapper Project
Collect, analyze and visualize data collected and processed about the region by The Associated Press.
common knowledge project
Access geographic comparisons, charts, and visualizations for data analysis at county, state, and country levels.
Search engines have made it easier to find local news articles on SERPs with these updates.
- local news carousel: Local news articles relevant to user queries now appear at the top of SERPs for easier search and greater visibility of local journalists and publications.
- top story carousel: Reliable local news sources appear alongside major publications that once dominated this part of the SERPs.
- More news in search: Google improved the ability to associate news with broad topical queries.
- local tweet: Local publications and journalists not only publish articles, but also appear in local news with their tweets.
3. Bing added more visual elements and rich results
In March 2021, Microsoft Bing rolled out five updates focused on providing a richer experience for local searchers by improving the integration of visual elements with text-based search results. .
- expandable carousel Additional information becomes accessible when the user hovers over the result.
- Infographic-like results Now use broad queries to engage searchers and dig deeper into your topic.
- intuitive highlight From the page, users can get details such as ingredient lists, calorie counts, and nutritional information without having to click through to your website.
- Integrated visual search Users can visually search for similar items by clicking the integrated visual search button.
Why are these things important to local SEO professionals? Bing has incorporated these same concepts into local search results.
Instead of simple image carousels and text-based facts, Microsoft Bing visually rich SERP for local queries It consists of relevant resources gathered from Bing Maps, top images, visitor reviews and other sources.
With these changes, focusing your local SEO efforts on Bing has become a more attractive prospect. Creative companies can own a local search space if they want to take advantage of the many local search opportunities and get creative.
So, if you haven’t already, enrich your site and listings with a variety of media types and content, including user-generated content.
Don’t forget to use schema.
4. Everyone Gets New Attributes
Google seems to be releasing new attributes all the time, and for good reason.
Attributes provide proactive answers to searchers’ most common questions about a particular business type and are featured prominently in your Google Business Profile.
why? At Google, we’re always looking for ways to make your business stand out and better satisfy your queries.
For example, features such as Black-Owned or Women-Owned Business Attributes help searchers looking to support businesses with shared values make these connections.
In February 2021, Google added health, safety and pandemic-related attributes to Google Business Profiles.
By adding these attributes, local businesses can share information about safety protocols and advertise changed or new services such as curbside pickup, contactless delivery, and eat-in services.
Google also included attributes for online bookings, quotes, online classes, and digital care.
Access to new data and insights in call logs, messages, and Google Search and Maps helps businesses keep customers engaged by enabling them to track customer calls and respond to missed calls. .
All of these can be huge for a busy business. If you haven’t seen the many new attributes made available in 2021, it should be one of the first local SEO tasks you tackle in the new year.
5. Local e-commerce gains momentum with Pointy
In June 2021, 50% of U.S. shoppers said they plan to check stock availability online before purchasing holiday items. But even before that, he saw an 800% increase in searches for the phrase “in stock.”
This means that adding your products to your Google Business Profile and keeping your inventory up to date is a huge advantage. Still, this can be a time-consuming feature. As sales increase, businesses don’t always have time to spare.
To make things easier, Google announced Pointy integration.
This new feature allows eligible US retailers to automatically add in-store product inventory to Google.
Second, your product availability is kept up-to-date online, updated every time you sell an item, so searchers are always aware of your inventory.
6. Mobile-first indexing rollout still unfolding
Mobile-first indexing is on the horizon since Google first announced it at the end of 2017.
Since then, there have been several expansions, stops, and starts, including a delay in September 2020, when the search engine said it would delay mobile-first indexing until at least March 2021.
What causes the problem? Google lists several possible causes, including robot meta tags, lazy loading, blocked assets, primary content, mobile images, and videos.
Anyway, it’s not wise to be caught off guard.If it doesn’t already offer a seamless mobile experience, you need to get on board with it.
According to Google’s search statistics, 76% of people use their smartphones to search for something nearby during the day, and 28% of those lead to sales.
So how do you prepare?
According to Google, local business and marketing professionals want to capture the attention of people who search locally on the go.
7. New free local SEO tools and insights
Local businesses and SEO professionals looking to keep up with all the changes also now have access to some new free tools.
One of these tools developed by Local SEO Guide is Local-Pack-O-Meter. It allows SEOs and business professionals to track data for 10 different Google Search features, including Local Packs, Knowledge Panels, Shopping, Jobs, Ads, and more.
The tool runs on data collected from approximately 60 million US search queries provided by Traject Data. As a result, the sample size is much larger and more representative of all US queries.
Data can also be traced back to May 2020, allowing users to scrutinize the data to identify exciting trends and insights to enhance future strategies.
Another great resource released this year is a research paper from Milestone Inc that analyzes 500 location-based businesses, their sessions, and pageviews to find out which channels generate more revenue with the best ROI. I have a better understanding of who you are.
Some of the insights are:
- Referral traffic was third behind organic and local searches in ROI.
- However, referral traffic showed higher engagement rates.
- Local search has the highest page views per session and offers the best ROI.
Meanwhile, Rio SEO analyzes aggregated GMB performance metrics from over 200,000 US offices managed on its platform. Each month the brand releases a new report containing industry-specific benchmarks such as search views, clicks to calls and clicks to website.
Check out these opportunities and more if you’re looking for data to help you with your local SEO strategy for 2022.
What You Need to Know for an Effective 2022 Local SEO Strategy
These seven updates are essential to your local search strategy in 2022, but they’re not the only ones you should pay attention to.
If you’re just getting started with local SEO, set up your product for maximum visibility and conversions on Google Search and get the most out of Google Maps for your business.
For large businesses in multiple locations, leverage the data available in Google Merchant Center to enhance your local SEO campaigns.
It also needs to address enterprise local SEO challenges and general service area business issues.
Other resources:
Featured image: Shutterstock/RoseRodionova
