Use SEM to Help Local Customers Find You for Holiday Shopping

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Use SEM to Help Local Customers Find You for Holiday Shopping

The holiday season has arrived and with it comes the biggest shopping season of the year. The question on the mind of retailers is “How do I get more customers to buy their holiday gifts at my store?”. Search Engine Optimization and Marketing can help to increase your online presence and draw customers to your store instead of the competition.

While the majority of gift buying is still done in a physical store, most consumers will research items, prices, and store locations prior to heading out the door. The key is to make sure that your business comes up with key information and calls to action that encourage buyers to head your way.

Google has implemented changes that will make it easier for local shoppers to find stores in their area. Some of these changes include:

1. Location Extensions & Site Links: Google will start showing these two things together – making it easier for local SEO. For example when a buyer searches “holiday flowers” they will see retailers selling flowers with a location address underneath. This makes it easier for local customers to differentiate between a neighborhood business and someone who is national or online only.

2. Maps: The improvement with location extensions also shows a better map view. If the florist has multiple locations, clicking on the address-location extension will pull up a map view showing both stores in the area.

3. Improved Location Matching with AdWords: Using postal codes Google has made it easier for customers to find localized stores. This improvement in local SEO also accounts for businesses that have a wider geographic reach due to their business type. For example a botique has a wider reach then the neighborhood drug store.

4. Airport Targeting: This change lets business and leisure travelers find businesses near where they are traveling. With busy business travelers dealing with layovers and needing to shop in between meetings – this can help retailers attract customers.

Understanding Search Engine Optimization is essential to taking advantage of these changes. With the holidays right around the corner now is the best time to spend marketing dollars on attracting new customers. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising can also be extremely effective in capturing online sales from customers that don’t have time to run to the store. Local SEO and location extensions still comes into play because purchasing something from a neighborhood store offers more flexibility in exchanging the item if it isn’t exactly right. Many traditional shoppers hesitate to purchase online due to the risk of not being able to return or exchange the item. These same shoppers are more likely to make the leap if they know the store is only a short drive away.

These Google improvements make it easier for people to conduct research online – leading them instantly purchase through PPC advertising or come into the store to be converted into customers. Marketing campaigns need to generate sales and ROI. These Google changes make local SEO more impactful since they specifically target customers that are within or near your postal code. Businesses wanting to increase sales can do so this holiday season through implementing a new and improved search engine optimization campaign with Local SEO.