A recent Think With Google article suggests that optimizing for “near me” searches will pay out a bonanza in extra good rankings and qualified referral traffic.
“Near me” has been one of the term optimizations that many of us have recommended for local SEO benefit for years now.
But, there are reasons to think this tactic has completely jumped the shark, making it a waste of time.
And for those who optimized by creating a business name around the phrase, Google’s changes have essentially destroyed their brand name search in Maps.
‘Open now near me’ searches up 400%
In March, Bill Ready, president of commerce, payments and next billion users at Google, penned 2022 Retail Marketing Guide: Drive foot traffic and in-store sales. This part grabbed my attention:
“Searches for “open now near me” have grown globally by over 400% YOY.”
“Near me” searches are queries for local products or services that include qualifier terms like “near me” when consumers want to narrow down to see the businesses closest to them only or primarily.
Also, during its Q1 earnings call, Google revealed that Maps searches for [shopping near me] were up 100% globally year-over-year.
“Open now” is a similar type of qualifier that is often used outside of the typical 9-to-5 timeframe or used later at night, such as to find restaurants that are still open, or clinics and other types of stores that stay open late at night.
While searches for businesses “near me” or “open now” separately are used more...
Read Full Story: https://searchengineland.com/near-me-searches-local-seo-optimize-or-avoid-385227
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