Location-based Applications are Changing the Game for SEO and Marketing	Visited: 2184 5.0/5.0 (1 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Shannon Suetos March 24, 2010

Social media is evolving everyday and it seems its not enough to post your thoughts, feelings and favorite links anymore.  Now we want to know where you are at while sharing your thoughts, feelings and favorite websites.  One of the most popular sites for this is foursquare, but recently Facebook and Twitter are following suit.  So what does this mean for SEO and marketing?

SEO

Real time search and mobile browsers are two factors for location based SEO.  Search engines are there to help us find the most relevant information--since we are accessing information differently these days they are evolving as well.

If you haven’t used Foursquare before, a quick run down goes like this:

• You check-in to a location
• You can add a shout-out (similar to a tweet or Facebook status update)
• Tips: can write a tip for other people who will visit the same place
• Badges: you collect badges for numerous reasons and rack up points every time you check in

So how is this at all related to SEO or marketing?  According to one site, “it’s [foursquare] making it way easier for searchers to find great deals from their mobile phones, kicking up the need for excellent SEO services geared towards mobile search.” 

The same site goes on to report the following, according to stats reported by Search Engine Land, business profile pages reported indexed in Google over the past 24 hours came from the following sources:

• Yellowpages.com: 219
• Superpages.com: 553
• Yelp.com: 928
• Foursquare.com: 11,300

These figures seem to show location based applications are making a splash in search engines like Google.  So if you are a retailer this is extremely important for optimizing your website.  One thing you can do is to implement your GIS Latitude and Longitude coordinates within your website.  Doing this will help you get your website up in the location rankings.

These settings will also be helpful for mobile users looking for a store in their location.  Because of apps like Google Mobile, which makes searches on mobile devices easier and more relevant on both the iPhone and Android based phones people can find the most relevant restaurant or shop wherever they are.

Marketing

Marketers should also take note of this shift in the way people are getting their information.  On the marketing side, you should be looking at the mobile marketing aspects of location-based search.  “In a four-month study with the American Eagle retail and Sonic restaurant chains, Placecast reported 79% of participating consumers said geo-fencing programs increased their likelihood to visit stores, and 65% made purchases during the program.”

AdAge also reports that, “location-based mobile spending will hit $4 billion in 2015, up from $34 million in 2009…mobile as a whole will dominate U.S. interactive marketing spending as soon as 2014 with 70% share, or $56 billion.”

Some retailers who have already seen success with foursquare is fashion heavy hitter Marc Jacobs.  “Marc Jacobs and Foursquare created the “Fashion Victim” badge, which allowed Fashion Week attendees (and others) to “check-in” at any Marc by Marc Jacobs stores in New York and around the country to unlock the badge. Four people who unlocked the badge in New York were randomly chosen to receive tickets to the Marc Jacobs show.”

Foursquare may be leading the pack in location based programs, but they are defiantly not the only one and there are sure to be more popping up soon.  Take a look at your website and see how you can optimize your site to help in your location rankings and talk to your marketing department. 

Staying up to date on the latest technology will help you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to rankings and your marketing efforts.