If you haven’t heard of the term “local search,” you could be losing out on a lot of business. The Internet has long been a favorite of consumers as a tool to find products and services, get reviews, and collect information they need to make buying decisions.
The adoption of smartphones by consumers has only increased the importance of the role the Internet now plays in marketing your business. According to Cisco, in 2011, smartphones accounted for just 13% of mobile devices, but generated almost 80% of all global handset network traffic. What does that mean for your business?
Smartphone users rely heavily on their smartphones for a variety of data. They’re virtually always connected to the Internet, and use the Internet regularly to find product information, read reviews and find businesses.
One important niche is “local search.” That’s the term that describes how people in a specific geographic area locate products, services and businesses that are local to them. In many cases, potential customers use local search to find businesses in their immediate area.
The concept of local search is especially important for restaurants, retailers and service providers. Potential customers want immediate information about products and where they can be purchased locally. They want to read reviews from other customers or users, and they want basic information like directions, maps, phone numbers and hours of operation. They’re also interested in receiving information about special offers that may help them choose one retailer over another.
What does that mean for you? Minimally, you should know what your website looks like on a mobile device. Why? Unless your website was designed with mobile users in mind, it probably doesn’t display the way you think it does on a mobile device! And if your website is hard for mobile users to use, they’ll look elsewhere.
How can you do tell what your site looks like to a mobile device? Visit this website:
http://validator.w3.org/mobile/
and enter the URL for your business. This tool identifies mobile-friendly websites and lets you know how mobile-friendly your site is. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, contact us at Grantstreet Creative and we can help you become more visible to the millions of mobile users who are looking for you!
