Up until now, local search marketing was one of the components of conventional SEM. But with the advent of smartphones and location-based apps, the flood gates have been opened there is now no limit to the potential. The bottomline here is that location based SEM is the future, so there’s not much point in trying to ignore it.
Practically speaking, there are many similarities between location-based and traditional SEM, when it comes to improving ROI or response rates. Keyword research is a critical issue in both cases, and the tools used to build keyword lists are also the same. The only difference may be that awareness of the location’s layout and the culture may help finetune it better.
Another thing that can hugely improve the metrics is to host a destination specific TLD (top level domain) locally. For example, someone targeting customers in the UK would be better off with a web host that is based in the UK, and by getting a . Co.uk domain. Local hosting speeds up page loading time, and the co.uk domain automatically brings more traffic from searches by UK based consumers.
On a related note, it’s important here to mention the company’s full address on the home page (usually found on the bottom of the page) and also on the contact page. If possible, ensure the address is found site wide on every page. This helps because many of the engines have a ‘search near me’ facility which only works if the page/website/company has an address.
As for the actual campaign, this has to be a mix of strategic placements and keyword buys on the big three and also local engines (if there are any). Also do some research to find the major websites catering only to the destination in question. This means a local ad campaign on all the major and location-specific search engines, plus at least a few ad buys for 6 months to a year on big destination sites which offer permanent links.
There’s also the aforementioned mobile aspect, which is a whole different cup of tea. It is possible to target customers who use smart phones based on their location and recent activity. In addition to targeting people in the vicinity, it can also be target someone who recently did a search and booked London hotels and/or flights. Such consumers can be hit with everything from area restaurants to city tours and other services for visitors.
It’s a thrilling new concept, the market is growing like wildfire, and there is so much more to come. It’s entirely possible that this concept may completely replace conventional SEM in the near future. Unless a company wants to miss out on this gravy train, it’s best to get started immediately with local search marketing and learn the ropes first-hand.
To make your web pages more efficient, the techniques of search engine optimisation should be implemented. An SEO professional will help to create websites that are traffic magnets.