Learn More About Mobile Local Search

More than 20% of consumers polled have used local search on their mobile phone.  Even more have used directory assistance on that same device. With the advent of more sophisticated phone technology this number will continue to climb.  As mobile usage for local search continues, it stands to reason that businesses should quickly adapt their local listings to leverage the many rapidly developing mobile search applications.

Mobile search list ranking, maps, and driving directions are critical to the success of a local mobile search listing. Consumers are looking for businesses based on proximity and where they land on the search page. Due to the size of mobile view screens, the first three local results that show in a local search listing are often only listings that show on the first page of mobile search results.

How do you get in one of the first three positions on Mobile Local Search? First you make sure you claim your listings on Google, Yahoo, Bing etc (see our book Get Found Now! Local Search Secrets Exposed: Learn How to Achieve High Rankings in Google, Yahoo and Bing).

Then you encourage customers and clients to leave reviews. Search results with reviews are proven time and again to get more calls than businesses with out reviews. Join review sites like Yelp and Judy’s Book to improve your rankings on local search listings. Make sure you have a local phone number instead of a toll free number both in your listing and on your home page of your business’s website. Add photos and videos to increase your position. Some businesses use inexpensive highly targeted local adWords to get better hyper-local mobile search results. Make your listing as thorough as you can make it.

There are some new technologies appearing on the local search scene. Google Gears is establishing standards for geolocated API’s. Keep in mind that mobile users are conducting highly targeted searches. They know what they want and how they expect it delivered.