The landscape of search engine optimization (SEO) constantly shifts and evolves, and for businesses with a local customer base, staying ahead of the curve is critical in 2024. This means businesses need to keep an eye on local SEO trends 2024.
This year promises exciting changes, and savvy businesses would do well to capitalize on these trends to maximize their online visibility and attract more local customers.
Google Still Holds the Lion’s Share, But Don’t Underestimate Apple
Google, with its commanding 90% share of global searches, remains the undisputed king of search engines. It’s easy to see why a strong Google Business Profile is non-negotiable for local businesses in 2024. Google Business Profile plays a substantial role in local pack rankings.
Optimizing this profile can make a huge difference in attracting local customers. Yet, a surprising number of local businesses are yet to claim their profiles, leaving a huge opportunity untapped.
However, don’t underestimate the power of Apple Maps. Although Google dominates the market, recent data suggests that iOS users, after years of relying on Google Maps, are increasingly turning to Apple Maps. A significant number of businesses haven’t yet claimed their Apple Place cards, impacting their visibility on this platform. As an increasing number of users depend on Apple Maps to find services and businesses ‘near me,’ it’s time for companies to establish a strong presence on this platform as part of their local SEO trends 2024 strategy.
The Rise of Voice Search
With advancements in technology such as AI, voice search is swiftly gaining popularity. By 2024, voice search is poised to become a dominant force, exceeding 50% of all searches, a clear signal that this is a trend local businesses can’t afford to ignore. This shift towards voice search presents a significant opportunity for local businesses to optimize their online presence for voice-based queries. By understanding how people use voice search to find local products and services, companies can refine their content and keywords to better align with these conversational searches.
Think Local, Act Mobile
A significant portion of searches from mobile devices relate to a particular location. In fact, Google highlights the importance of mobile-first indexing in its ranking algorithm.
This means that searches for businesses ‘near me’ or ‘open now near me’ have skyrocketed, showcasing that optimizing for mobile is no longer optional. It is absolutely necessary in 2024. The increasing use of mobile devices for local searches highlights the need for businesses to have a mobile-friendly website.
Consider this, nearly 80% of local mobile searches culminate in offline purchases. Clearly, local businesses should leverage this trend by ensuring their websites are mobile-friendly to capture this potential customer base. A mobile-friendly website should load quickly, be easy to navigate on a smaller screen, and provide a positive user experience to cater to the growing number of mobile users.
Online Reviews Pack a Punch
Positive reviews can boost your online presence but did you know that a large majority of customers depend on them when searching for a local business? Yes, in 2022 nearly every customer looked for businesses on the internet.
Furthermore, an overwhelming majority of brands discovered that these reviews directly influenced local rankings. Clearly, customer reviews are a critical part of local SEO trends 2024. They provide valuable social proof and influence consumer decisions.
Encouraging happy customers to leave positive reviews can significantly impact a business’s online reputation and visibility. Businesses should actively encourage customer feedback and address any negative reviews promptly and professionally. Responding to reviews demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction and can help build trust with potential customers.
Speed is Key: Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals, which measure various aspects of user experience including page load time, became a key ranking factor in 2021. It was around that time that Google introduced page experience to Google search.
Google continues to prioritize providing its users with a seamless browsing experience, which in part means optimizing website load speeds. In March 2024, the introduction of INP as part of core web vitals demonstrated that page experience remains a critical aspect of SEO. It is essential for businesses to adapt to this trend and invest in building fast loading and responsive websites.
Embrace the Power of Visuals
Want to improve the user experience of your site? Incorporate visuals. Google found that nine out of ten results for images from Google Lens came from sites that were optimized for mobile, highlighting Google’s inclination towards visually-rich websites.
For local businesses, using high-quality images and videos can enhance user engagement. Images, specifically, are vital as they enhance a website’s visual appeal, capture attention and deliver information effectively. They also boost a site’s SEO ranking.
Businesses can benefit from the power of visuals in a variety of ways. Incorporating more images can elevate content, making it more appealing and easier to understand. Additionally, businesses can explore new avenues to showcase their products or services by using more video content, a medium growing in popularity.
The Value of SEO Tools
Local businesses, no matter how small, can leverage data to their advantage, especially since almost half of all Google searches are local. How? This is where powerful SEO tools and research tools play a crucial role, giving businesses easy access to data that can provide invaluable market insights.
These best local SEO tools help analyze website traffic, identify relevant keywords, and monitor online reputation. Using SEO tools helps businesses make informed decisions to improve their search engine rankings and increase their online visibility. This data can provide crucial insights into consumer behavior, competition and overall market trends, helping local businesses tailor their strategies for maximum impact.
Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Local SEO
These trends reveal an undeniable truth: focusing on local SEO is paramount.
For businesses with a physical location hoping to draw in local footfall and convert online searches to in-store visits, it’s absolutely necessary to adapt to the evolving digital environment in 2024. By recognizing these local SEO trends 2024 and weaving these trends into their overall SEO strategy, local businesses can position themselves to reach a wider audience and ensure success in the years to come.
Conclusion
As local SEO trends 2024 unfold, it’s clear that they offer opportunities and challenges. By paying attention to these shifts, such as optimizing Google Business Profiles and capitalizing on voice search and visual search optimization, companies can make sure their online presence is optimized. Adaptability, in the end, is key. Local SEO trends 2024 are constantly evolving – what matters is the ability of businesses to recognize these changes, adapt to new opportunities and evolve to leverage these trends to their advantage.
FAQs about Local SEO Trends 2024
What is the local SEO strategy for 2024?
A robust local SEO strategy for 2024 should include claiming and optimizing Google Business Profile and Apple Place cards, prioritizing voice search optimization, going mobile-first, focusing on positive reviews, ensuring your website has a fast load time and is mobile friendly, using high quality images and incorporating relevant keywords. Local businesses can choose to partner with expert digital marketing agencies that provide these services or utilize relevant local SEO research tools and do it themselves. The trick is to keep an eye on emerging trends.
What is the future of SEO in 2024?
While SEO in 2024 will continue to focus on familiar elements, one emerging trend is to provide useful content tailored to what your audience is looking for. What does this mean? Content should address consumer intent rather than keyword density. With consumers increasingly relying on visual elements, visual search optimization and incorporating more images and videos will continue to gain ground. Of course, businesses can gain a real edge by staying updated on algorithm updates and keeping up with search engine guidelines.
How important are backlinks for SEO in 2024?
While other elements, such as optimizing Google Business profiles, are gaining prominence, backlinks continue to be important for SEO in 2024, albeit not the most significant factor influencing rankings. Businesses should try to obtain backlinks from reputable, high authority websites as these impact ranking positions and signal to search engines that your website can be trusted. Backlinks from local websites and directories can be quite beneficial too.
Will SEO exist in 5 years?
It’s unlikely that SEO will cease to exist within the next five years. Instead, it is more likely to adapt to the constant innovations and changing digital environment. We will see SEO evolve to keep pace with emerging technologies. Voice search and AI will become bigger parts of search, necessitating different tactics. The fundamental elements, though – providing a stellar user experience, high-quality, helpful content will continue to drive ranking.
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