Local SEO Statistics: 35+ Stats to Prove You Need a Local SEO Strategy
If you want to drive more local customers to visit your business, you must invest in local search engine optimization (SEO). Local SEO will help more local leads find your business and visit you, and it’s an excellent way for you to help your business grow online. However, everyone’s a critic, which is why we’ve decided to make a list of the most impressive local SEO stats.
Not only does our list of local search stats outline the importance of local SEO solutions, but they might just convince you that it’s the strategy you’ve been missing.
On this page, we’ll present 39 local search statistics that show why you should invest in a local SEO strategy. If you need help getting started with your local SEO campaign, contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about creating your local campaign.
1. 80% of local searches convert
This is our first local SEO stat since it is so eye-opening. It’s no secret that a local search strategy has a significant impact on your business’s success. With 80% of local searches resulting in conversions, you must invest in this strategy to help your business continue to grow.
Local searches contain the power to help you earn conversions, so you must adapt to a local SEO strategy. Considering a vast majority of local searches result in conversions, it’s time for you to adapt to local searches. This statistic shows that local leads are highly likely to convert when searching for a local business.
If you want them to choose your business, you must have a local SEO strategy in place.
2. 46% of Google searches are for local businesses
When people conduct searches through Google, 46% of them look for a local business. People rely on Google to find local businesses. If you don’t have a local SEO strategy in place, you’ll miss out on valuable traffic looking for your organization.
People use Google to find local businesses. If you don’t have a local SEO strategy in place on Google, you’re missing the opportunity to drive local traffic. You have the chance to gain more valuable leads by investing in a local SEO plan that helps you capture leads.
3. “Near me” searches have increased more than 500% in the past few years
When users conduct local searches, many of them use the phrase “near me.” It’s become so popular that “near me” searches increased over 500% in the past couple of years.
The increased volume of “near me” searches means that the location of your business to the user will play an important role. If more people search using “near me,” they’re going to see more results that contain businesses within a specific geographic location of them. Overall, it means that you must adapt your local SEO strategy to ensure customers near you can find your business.
4. More than 58% of consumers use voice search to find a local business
As voice search devices grow in popularity, more people use these devices to conduct searches. Fifty-five percent of consumers use voice search to find a local store. With over half of people using voice search devices to find local businesses, you can’t miss the opportunity to drive these leads to your business.
As more people use these voice search devices, your business must adapt. The way people voice search differs from regular searches. To reach these leads, you must optimize how you try to rank in the search results for verbal searches.
5. Over 75% of voice-enabled speaker owners use voice search each week to discover a local company
When people use a voice search device, they’re often looking for a local company. If you aren’t adapting to voice search devices, you’re missing out on leads that use these devices to find your business. With over one billion voice searches happening each month, voice searches will only get more popular and necessary for your business.
With a local SEO strategy in place, you’ll reach people who search for local businesses using voice search devices. It ensures that you drive local leads who use Siri, Google Home, or Alexa to find businesses like yours.
6. 50% of users visit a store within a day of a local search
Local searches help drive customers in the front door. In fact, 50% of users visit a store within a day of conducting a local search. A regional SEO strategy will help these customers find your business first and drive them to visit you.
Local search drives leads to visit your business. People who conduct local searches are closer to making a purchase. These facts mean that you must put a local search strategy in place, so you don’t miss out on leads ready to convert.
7. 78% of people search for local businesses more than once a week
Users aren’t conducting local searches occasionally. Twenty-nine percent of people search for a local business at least once a week. With people conducting local searches so often, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to drive them to your local business.
If you invest in a local marketing strategy, you’ll help drive these valuable leads to your organization. You’ll optimize your local listings to appear in more search results. It’s beneficial to invest in local SEO if you people, who conduct local searches each week, to find your business.
8. 28% of local searches result in a purchase
Users that conduct local searches have a high purchase intent. With 28% of local searches resulting in a purchase, you’re attracting leads that can become customers for your business. If you don’t have a local strategy in place, you’ll miss out on potential conversions for your business.
Why do so many people convert on local searches? Likely because they know the product they’re looking for is near them — and they likely wouldn’t care about location if they weren’t planning to purchase!
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9. 91% of consumers 18-34 years-old trust businesses with positive reviews
As a local business, reviews play a fundamental role in helping your business earn leads. People turn to reviews and others’ experiences to see if your business is worth visiting.
A local SEO strategy will help you manage reviews so you can drive more leads for your business. Your local SEO strategy will help you earn more valuable reviews for your business and drive more people to check out your products and services.
10. 97% of search engine users search online to find a local business
If users want to find a local business online, they turn to search engine users first. People use search engines, like Google, to find your local business. Without a local SEO strategy in place, you’ll miss out on these leads looking for local businesses.
When you invest in local SEO, you can appear in more local searches. You’ll optimize your local profile and rank for local keywords, which will help more leads find your company. It’s a great opportunity to help these search engine users find and visit your business.
11. 97% of consumers check a company’s online presence before deciding to visit them
Your online presence makes a strong first impression on leads. If you don’t have a strong online presence, you will set a negative impression of your business. Since 97% of consumers check a company’s online presence before visiting, you must build your online presence to drive those leads to your business.
If you don’t have a website set up or you have poor design, you’ll deter people from visiting your business. A local SEO strategy will help you build your online presence, so people get a positive first impression of your business.
12. 86% of people rely on the Internet to find a local business
People rely on the Internet to help them find local businesses. Without a local SEO strategy, people won’t find your local business. You’ll lose leads to competitors that have a local SEO strategy in place.
By investing in local SEO, you’ll help your business appear in more local search results. It will help you drive local leads to learn about your business and visit your company.
Google Business Profile statistics
- Google Business Profile (GBP) listings with 100 images or more get 1065% more website clicks. (Source)
- Google Business Profile (GBP) listings with 100 images or more get 520% more phone calls. (Source)
- 56% of local retailers have not claimed their Google Business Profile listing (Source)When optimizing for local SEO, many businesses will use their Google Business Profile listing as an opportunity to drive more local traffic.
However, over half of the companies haven’t claimed their listing. If you’re part of this 56%, you have an opportunity to drive local traffic for your business.
Google Business Profile is an integral part of local SEO. When users conduct searches, it generates a box, known as the local SEO 3-pack, that lists local businesses’ Google Business Profile listing. If you haven’t claimed your listing, you’re missing a vital component of a successful local SEO strategy.
- 56% of actions on GBP listings are website visits. (Source)
- 60% of consumers contacted a business using the “click to call” option available on GBP listings. (Source)
- 16% of companies receive over 100 calls a month from GBP. (Source)
- Complete and accurate GBP listings get 7x more clicks than those missing info and are 70% more likely to attract location visits. (Source)
Smartphone local SEO statistics
- 76% of people who search on smartphones visit a business within a day. (Source)
Mobile devices grew increasingly popular in the past few years. People use these devices to search for local companies. Seventy-six percent of those people who seek locally visit a business within a day.
With so many people searching on mobile devices, you must be adapting your strategy to reach these mobile users.
If you’re only adapting for people who search on computers or voice search devices, you’ll alienate a large part of your audience that uses mobile devices.
- 30% of Google mobile searches are related to location. (Source)
Many people are doing to search for local businesses through mobile devices. When users conduct mobile searches on Google, 30% of them relate to location.
People often use their mobile devices to search for local businesses. With a local SEO campaign, you’ll be able to reach local leads searching on their mobile devices. You’ll adapt to how users search on mobile and create a more mobile-friendly website to get leads to engage with your business.
- 78% of local mobile searches result in an in-store purchase. (Source)
When users conduct mobile searches, 78% of these searches result in someone purchasing in-store.
If you don’t have a local search strategy in place, you’ll miss these local leads conducting searches and miss out on conversions for your business.
With a local search strategy in place, you’ll help drive these leads to your business. You’ll get more leads in the door of your business and earn more conversions.
- 1 in 3 people conduct a search on their smartphone before visiting a store. (Source)
When people search for a local business, they often do it on their smartphones. In fact, one in three people will use their smartphone to find the right business that fits their needs. If you want to help these mobile users find your business first, you must invest in local SEO.
A local SEO strategy will help you drive more local searchers to find your business and visit your store.
- 54% of smartphone users search for business hours. (Source)
- 54% of smartphone users search for store directions. (Source)
- 18% of local smartphone searches lead to a purchase within one day. (Source)
- There has been a three times increase in mobile searches that use “near me” in the past few years. (Source)
- There has been a 200% increase in mobile searches for “open near me now’. (Source)
- There has been a 500% increase in “near me” mobile searches that have “can I buy” or “to buy”. (Source)
- In local sales, mobile devices influence over $1.4 trillion in sales. (Source)
Bonus local SEO statistics
Check out these bonus local SEO statistics:
- Four out of five consumers want ads customized by city, zip code and surroundings. (Source)
- Four out of five consumers use search engines to find local information. (Source)
- 28% of those “near me” searches result in a purchase. (Source)
- There has been a 300% growth in search interest for “open now”. (Source)
- 59% of users turn to Google for online reviews. (Source)
- 73% of consumers only pay attention to reviews that were written in the past month. (Source)
- Every month, people visit over 1.5 billion business locations that they searched for on Google. (Source)
- There are over 97 billion local searches a month. (Source)
- The average answer length returned by a voice assistant for a local-intent query is 23 words. (Source)
Invest in a local SEO plan from WebFX today
After looking at all the local SEO stats, you can see just how important it is to have a local SEO strategy in place. By creating a unique local SEO strategy, you’ll help your business drive more local customers to your organization.
At WebFX, we have a team of over 500 experts that will help you drive more local traffic for your business. Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about creating your custom local SEO campaign.
