Local Pages Get 5 Times the Impressions of Brand Pages
MomentFeed pointed out that just over two years ago, it was the norm to have a single Facebook page for the whole brand, regardless of how many locations there were. Then Facebook released Local Pages, and that feature has slowly but surely changed everything. MomentFeed’s report discovered a whopping 85 percent of consumer impressions occurred on the pages of individual locations, while only 15 percent of impressions occurred on the brand page!
Now that you know local pages get five times the engagement of brand pages, it’s time to learn what kind of content to post on each page. This report found location-specific information is the most popular kind of content for local pages, not surprisingly. After all, 66 percent of these local page impressions occurred on Facebook.
The next most popular place to post local information was Google Maps, where 18 percent of impressions took place, meaning directions to the nearest location is another type of content to post. Finally, 15 percent of impressions took place on the corporate website, which suggests that you should also post some general brand-centered information occasionally.
It’s Important To Be on Several Platforms
Another finding from this report is that businesses need to be on multiple networks, because consumers certainly are. So, you can’t just spend some time on your local Facebook pages and call it a day. Sure, Facebook is the most popular source of page views by people looking for local information. In fact, MomentFeed found on Facebook , local pages got 25 times more impressions than each brand page, which is why you should have an active Facebook page for every location of your business.
But that’s not the only place consumers go looking for location-specific information. They’re also using Google to find what they need. MomentFeed found that 91 percent of leads–such as clicks to call, order, or navigate–came from Google.
While only 9 percent of leads came from Yelp, MomentFeed discovered that those leads converted at a higher rate–19 percent compared to Google’s 6 percent. And you can improve that conversion rate even more by keeping track of your reviews on Yelp and replying to them, especially when you see bad reviews that you might be able to fix with great customer service.
You should also note your industry might determine which networks you should be on, since MomentFeed found that certain types of businesses got more impressions on some networks than others. For example, fitness brands got 84 percent of their impressions on Facebook, and yet retail brands got only 4 percent on Facebook and 60 percent on their website. The impressions were more spread out for restaurants, which got 61 percent of impressions on Facebook but 19 percent on their website and 19 percent on Google. So, focusing on just one network wouldn’t work for many businesses.
Make Sure Your Locations Are Accurate
It makes sense to always have the correct location on your location-specific pages. But according to MomentFeed’s research, an overwhelming majority of locations are inaccurate. The company looked at the latitude and longitude coordinates for 20,000 locations and found 94 percent of them were wrong!
Since maps use latitude and longitude–not addresses–they need to be accurate or customers could end up across the street or next door to your business rather than at your front door. In fact, 46 percent of the locations MomentFeed looked at were off by more than 30 feet, which can be confusing and frustrating for consumers at best, and could lead them to your competitors at worst. Once the brands MomentFeed studied corrected their location data, they noticed their pageviews on Google My Business increased by 86 percent within 9 months.
While you’re double checking the accuracy of your location, consider adding other location-specific information to your local pages, such as store hours and a menu, if applicable to your business. You can also list whether you have the following and more:
- Wi-Fi
- Outdoor seating
- Drive through
- Covered parking
The more location-based information you can offer readers, the better. After all, they are on your local page to learn more about that location, not just the brand as a whole.
If you want more information about how to manage social media when you have several brick-and-mortar locations, download State of the Mobile Customer Experience for Multi-Location Brands. And let us know: Do you have a social media page for every business location? If not, it looks like creating a page for each one could be the way to better engagement for your brand!
This infographic called Local SEO Why It’s Important and How to Start can give you tips on making your website and social media pages more local, as well.
This article was first published on The Marketing Scope.