If upwards of 80 percent of all Google searches were pointing in a specific direction, would that be something that you might be interested in for your business? If you are avoiding localized digital marketing, you might be saying yes, but your actions are saying otherwise.

80% of Google Search Focus on Location

Upwards of 80 percent of all Google searches focus on local business. This means that people are actively looking for a nearby place to eat, want to find a good math tutoring class for their kids, they want to know the nearest place that they can go buy milk. New York is such a large melting pot of businesses and consumerism that startups and smaller businesses alike have to be aware of the need for local digital marketing. Do not just take our word for it, we will give you a handful of reasons why this matters.

Going Local – Less Competition

If you are focusing your digital marketing on local, you are dealing with less competition. Regardless of how large New York might be, it is far more encompassing when you try to sell or promote your product or service on a national or international scale. You would be competing with every single similar company throughout the country. Chances are that you will have some competition in New York, but you want to make sure that you are competing against businesses that are nearby rather than having to compete with manufacturers in Atlanta, Ga for example.  

Google Local = More Traffic & Leads

Unless you have the type of product that anyone can buy (e.g. you are trying to start the next Amazon, in which case good luck!) chances are that a localized market is far more effective for you. We often focus our traditional marketing locally, but tend to use digital marketing in a national (or even global) sense. This is unacceptable and frankly, strange if we think about it.

Google Loves Local

If we look at the recent trend, Google has shown that it has a slight bias towards newer, smaller, more agile companies. Even though authority and brand history are still important, Google does tend to give people what they want to see – which in this case means that they are showing more popular, more nimble brands.

Hyperlocal is the Next Big Tech Boom 

This also allows Google to enable small-business owners. We have talked about it before, new businesses often do not have a great deal of money to spend on marketing. However, Google does provide these businesses with an opportunity a chance to break new ground. Google will help these startups when it comes to improving online visibility. We should expect locally focused updates like Pigeon to become the standard.

Do Not Forget About Mobile & Wearable Devices

Every year, the percentage of online searches that came from a mobile device has increased. As more and more people have a smartphone or wearable device, it should come as no surprise that more and more mobile searches are popping up. Popular options such as the Apple Watch allow users everywhere to utilize on-the-go searches. Because the demand is increasing and the needs are becoming more immediate, we should expect these local searches to focus on hyper-specific locations rather than relying on a neighborhood or regional-specific basis. If you are not focusing on people in your immediate location right now, chances are that you will be left behind.

The Competition is Catching Up

Every year there are millions of new websites – every year thousands of new businesses are trying to grow into rather impressive conglomerates. As a result, it becomes more important for us to focus on a smaller target niche in order to get the relevant visibility that our business craves.

Increased Competition for Search Traffic

One of the best ways to do so is to remain local. As competition continues to grow, we know that localized digital marketing is one of the ways that we are able to set ourselves apart. While it is perfectly natural for people to be a little hesitant about the situation, it is important to remember that if you are left behind, you might not be able to catch up in the future.

A Necessity

These are the facts – unless you already have a nationally established presence that most new businesses in New York are not going to be able to touch, local digital marketing is going to be essential if you want to make sure that your company gets plenty of exposure in the next few years.

Now would be the time that you take these measures and do what you can to implement a consistent ongoing strategy. Make sure that you develop such a strategy and commit to seeing it through. As this strategy becomes more and more effective, you are going to see results. Perhaps not within weeks, but certainly within months. As future changes are estimated to benefit locally optimized businesses, chances are that the benefits that you draw from beginning early are only going to increase.