Local SEO strategies have been increasing in importance for some time now. According to Search Engine Watch statistics, search engine optimization strategies have had to adapt as mobile web usage has started to eclipse the more traditional desktop computing market. SEO services recommend that every business implement some local SEO techniques in order to boost their sales. With 50% of mobile users who carry out a localized search following through on that search by visiting businesses’ physical stores, it’s not terribly hard to see why.
With Apple’s announcement of its latest piece of technology, the simply named Apple Watch, many SEO company services are preparing for yet another revolution in the world of SEO: hyper-localized search engine optimization.
The Apple Watch is Expected to Boost Wearable Tech Across the Board
The Apple Watch isn’t set to come to American shelves until February 2015, but early buzz around the technology — and wearable tech in general — has marketers with SEO services estimating that adoption of the new technology will have a focusing effect on the world of local SEO.
Industry analysts expect the Apple Watch to be extremely popular, even with Americans’ historical phobia of wearable tech. They further expect the tech giant’s latest toy to set off a chain reaction in the world of consumer technology. The popular online newspaper The Verge calls the Apple Watch the “best Android Wear commercial yet,” simply because Apple getting into the wearable tech lends credibility to Android and other companies in the race. That, in turn, will mean big changes for SEO services and the clients they serve.
Wearable Technology Will Lead to Hyper-Localized SEO
The feature that’s set to change the game, according to a new report from Forbes, is Apple Maps. It’s worth noting that Apple Maps is already in use on iPads and iPhones, but the way it’s used on the Apple Watch is nothing short of genius. Users can simply draw up a business through the app, and have directions fed to them with only a glance at their watch. The difference here between carrying a phone feeding you directions and a wearable piece of tech doing the same thing may seem slight, but it’s what Apple, and industry insiders, expect will make the watch such a game changer, both in the tech and SEO spheres.
Today, businesses only have to worry about optimizing their contact information in local listings and on their sites for customers to find their stores. With the adoption of the Apple Watch and similar gadgets, accurate GPS data is set to become the next big thing for successful SEO. Woe be to the business that inputs the wrong coordinates for its storefront in Apple Maps, Yelp!, and TomTom. Just as name, address, and phone information — the so-called “NAP” info — is paramount to being found and patronized in 2014’s increasingly local markets, so, too, will hyper-localized GPS data become a key component of local SEO in 2015.
Now over to you: what do you think the Apple Watch will mean for the world of local SEO? Sound off in the comments below.