Back to SEO Basics: Identifying Local Keywords that Show Commercial Intent

Fortune Magazine recently looked at how search engines like Google and Bing can help predict primary and election results before they happen. By tracking news stories, social media mentions, and common search terms, search engines have access to a treasure trove of data many political operatives would kill for.

Not only that, “But researchers like psychologist Robert Epstein say that search engine results can have a lot of sway when it comes to certain kinds of voter opinions and can change the way a searcher sees a candidate for the better. Epstein found more positive search results can shift undecided voter opinions by 20% or more.”

The magazine concluded, “we are what we search.”

What Does ThiS Have To Do With Your Website?

For those of us involved in professional SEO consulting and local SEO services, it’s easy to get tunnel vision. We can spend hours talking about the upcoming Penguin update, the importance of mobile responsive sites, and link audits. Still, the best SEO services understand it’s important to help small business owners understand how local online marketing works.

So today we’re going to cover one of the most basic building blocks local search marketing, a tool the best SEO services use every day. Yes, we’re talking about keyword research. 

Just like search engines can help predict voter behavior, Google and Bing can also help predict buyer behavior. That means it’s not enough to simply pick the most popular keywords. You have to pick popular keywords that also indicatecommercial intent. Keywords that contain phrases like “buy,” “near me,” and “reviews”. These customers are much more likely to actually make a purchase, and those are the leads you want to be targeting.

However, it’s no longer enough to make sure those keywords appear on your website. The best SEO services have also learned that when it comes to local online marketing, many search users with commercial intent have migrated to mobile devices.

The Mobile Migration and Commercial Intent

Today, the average American consumer spends 60% of their digital life using mobile devices, mostly smartphones. In fact, we spend two full hours a day on our smartphones in 2016. And so often when we’re looking for local services, we’re searching for local stores or companies on our iPhones. In total, one in four searches occurs on a mobile device.

Without a mobile responsive website, these users won’t be able to find your business, no matter how well you’ve targeted those commercial intent keywords.