According to the recent BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor™ (CCM) survey (Sept. 2013) “…94 percent of the consumers surveyed have gone online for local shopping purposes within the last six months” and “When going online for local shopping (to purchase or research local merchandise or services)… 37.1 percent use smartphones.” If your business doesn’t rank locally, it can certainly mean lost revenue and market share. Using mobile phones consumers want local information quickly and easily, they must be able to find your small business and want the correct information about things like your correct business name, address, and phone number (N.A.P), your products, and your business hours. In the long run, if they can’t get the information they need, you won’t have a business.
As I was thinking about this tremendous impact not only on my business, but on every small business, I came across this article by Miriam Ellis (Solas Web Design). She posted a great list of local SEO tools on Moz called, “Free Local SEO Tools that Belong in Your Kit.” This is the comprehensive list of tools that your business should be using for local SEO and local search. If you ever wanted to rank your business locally (you should), or you were a little curious about what tools to use, this is an amazing kit to own. It seems to be her “best of” list with everything that you would need including a useful kitchen sink.
Miriam’s recommended “Local SEO Toolbox” includes:
Get Listed: Tools that show where your local business is and isn’t listed…
Free Local Analysis Google Places Tool: Tool from 51 Blocks about how your Google+ Local page is optimized.
(The above is just a partial list, Miriam includes many more tools that you can use in the article).
This list, paired with her previous post on Moz that I read last year, “Top 20 Local Search Ranking Factors: An Illustrated Guide” combines to create an almost definitive guide on local search to help your business. Local is more relevant and more important than ever for your small business, I think tha now we just see the tip of the iceberg. Any way to help your business increase it’s relevancy and get noticed by a customer is important. Even if you don’t do your own local SEO, just knowing what to look for can help you and help your customers find you.
Bob Strassel Jr.