Ways From Semalt  To Increase Offline Sales For Local Businesses



Building a successful online business means building a successful offline business. While making sales online, we will be showing you ways through which you can improve your offline sales. 

With its abundance of resources, Google has already researched and published a guide on four ways to drive local search traffic to drive sales for an offline business. By understanding all the ways, customers try to find businesses that help us generate more sales for our clients as we build a reputable brand for your business. 

How to run a successful local business offline

For local retailers, Google shared the types of local searches we should keep an eye out for. There are three fundamental types of local searches. They are:
Google Guide shed some light on the topic by explaining that local business searches have grown more than 80% yearly. Searches like "local business near me" have become more and more popular on Google's search engine. Search queries with the words "who has … + in stock" have also grown by over 8,000% year over year. 

Local restaurant searches

Google next shared some insights on how dining-related consumers used bot Google Ads and Google Search to learn about restaurants before making a purchase. This proves that using Google Advertising is one way to gain more customers than your competition. 

In that report, we learn that two out of three dining consumers used Google search to find and learn about the food or beverage during the pandemic before purchasing. Fifty percent of dinners said they discovered new beverages and foods online during the pandemic via online ads. 

Harnessing YouTube to improve localized shopping

Normally, many businesses do not consider YouTube as a way to improve their localized shopping strategies. They are, however, misleading. Google shows some YouTube videos in response to search queries, and in certain situations, these videos provide more information to users who need to learn more about a certain product or service. 

Google says that about 45% of viewers claim they watched at least one product demo video on YouTube before buying the product. Consumers say they are more likely to visit a local store or shop for products or services online if they see it on YouTube. 

Google Maps

While we don't classify Google Maps as a search engine, people do search and learn things via Google Maps. Like Google, people rely on Google Maps to find local businesses close by. One of the benefits of having a My Google Business Account is that you get listed on Google Maps. There are also steps you can take to improve your Google Map listings. 

One important detail to remember is that Google Maps should be considered as a search engine especially because it also provides highly targeted contexts for its users which improves the presence of local businesses. 

Google Maps transcend being just a way to learn how to move from point A to point B. Consumers use Google Maps to find businesses around them. 

According to Google Data, U.S., February 2021, here are some of the most searched keywords on Google Maps:

Improve offline sales

There is a short support page for businesses on how to improve their local search traffic written by Google. In that piece, Google highlights the benefits of advertising with two tips that also relate to non-advertising search traffic. 

The first tip is in the form of advice. Google recommends that businesses should build an online storefront and use their Google My Business account together. Doing this will help local businesses stand out in the local related searches within Google Maps and its regular search results. 

In the second tip, Google shows us how we can get up to 42% more referrals from Google itself. The key to driving traffic from a website to the local business rests in ensuring that your target audience knows that you are close by and you have what they need. Google's research showed that businesses that add photos to their business profiles received 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps. 35% more of users who searched for information relating to the services or products they offer ended up clicking through to the website than businesses who do not practice this trick. 

Considering the fact that businesses can take quality photos with their smartphones, it's surprising that not all businesses have their picture(s) on their websites. With the data we've just seen, having pictures on your website will definitely improve your engagement significantly. 

Reasons why having pictures can improve your offline sales

Images engage your audience emotionally

Science has proven that using images can influence your audience's emotions in a positive way, making it easier for your website to get its marketing message across. 

Images reduce reading fatigue

Considering the short attention span of audiences today, using pictures might help people stay longer on your site. Internet users tend to absorb information as quickly and efficiently as they would from the text. Images function as a new way to communicate how delightful a service or product is or how professional a business is. This makes it easier for a user to brush through your web page, picking the necessary details. 

Images are easier to remember

Images have stronger impacts on their viewers because they are easier to remember. Consumers have the ability to remember an image up to 2,000 times more than text for days with 90% accuracy. 

Graphs communicate visually

Graphs are another fantastic way of communicating the superiority of your ideas or business. You now know why office presentations use big boards with graphs. According to the neuroscience division of MIT, a human brain can identify an image within 13 milliseconds. When ideas are communicated visually, they tend to get across to the audience. So using graphs or images on your content ensures that consumers remember what you're offering even after they've left your website. 

Images foster trust and increase profitability.

By analyzing millions of eBay auctions, it is fairly safe to say using images improves your chances of finding a buyer.

Optimizing for Google goes beyond the ten links on a SERP.

In Google's helpful guide, we've learned so much that it makes Semalt the success story it is today. One of the most important things we've learned is that we must always think about expanding our reach beyond Google SERP as we consider new ways to increase the visibility of our clients on other platforms like Google Maps and YouTube. 

It is also helpful that we include photographed and staged images as many times as possible in our content as well as web pages in order to communicate the professionalism and high-quality products our clients offer. 

Google My Business

We feel improving your offline sales as a local business has a lot to do with having a Google My Business account. While we have an entire article dedicated to this, we feel it's best to introduce what this means and how it can benefit your business.

Google My Business recently introduced a new feature for stores that offer pickup and delivery options. By adding more information to its Map and Search, Google, in its way, is helping businesses that offer options to help customers during the pandemic/lockdown shop for groceries and have it delivered to their homes.

By adding the information to its search engine, businesses do not have to put in extra work to benefit from this added feature, but we believe it is something you should know.

This feature is only the beginning of many other interesting features that will be rolling out soon, so you should keep your eyes peeled for our updates.

Conclusion

The pandemic has forced many businesses to go online, but this may be the opportunity you've been waiting for to improve your offline sales. We believe this is an opportunity in disguise because we hope things get back to normal, and if they do, consumers would once again want to visit shops. By focusing on your online performance during the lockdown, you must have generated enough traffic both locally and internationally, so as soon as your doors open, prepare to welcome tons of new customers.


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