The Rise of "Near Me" Searches
In the past two years, "Near me" searches have witnessed exponential growth, as highlighted in the stats below:
There has been 150% growth for phrases like "near me now". For example "Pizza near me now".
There has been a 900% growth for phrases like "near me tonight/today". For example "clubs near me tonight".
There has been 200% growth for phrases like "now" + "near me". For example "stores open near me now".
Most users now have location or GPS enabled on their mobile devices -- and since most apps require this to be enabled, even users who previously had this turned off for privacy reasons now leave them on. This allows Google to automatically detect their current location and present the most relevant and localized search results to the user.
"Near me" searches are critical for marketers, since it allows you to reach your intended customers during micro-moments when they most desire your service or product.
Top 'Near Me' Query Categories
A survey conducted by Uberall tracked the responses of 1,000 smartphone owners and found around 82% of smartphone users had conducted a "near me" search between July 23 and July 27, 2018.
The hierarchy of the categories are given below:
Food: 84%
Entertainment: 56%
Banking: 50%
Apparel: 41%
Persona care: 38%
From the survey, it's clear the maximum "near me" searches are conducted for food businesses, followed by entertainment and banking. However, apparel and banking businesses aren't too far behind. The results clearly show the intent of the searcher. If you're a business owner, then optimizing for "near me" searches is absolutely essential for the success of your business.
Find Out How To Optimize For "Near Me" Searches?
Optimizing your business for "Near me" searches is extremely crucial to increase your business presence in local search.
To view a full lit of tips visit Hubspot to read the full article!