Years of data gathering and analysis have made it very possible for SEO professionals to understand how people behave online. Nowhere is that more evident than in the ‘near me’ search. More than any other type of search, the ‘near me’ search tells SEO professionals a lot about the people behind them.
What is a ‘near me’ search? It is an online search utilizing the phrase ‘near me’. I might go to Google or Bing and type in ‘SEO services near me‘. My search would return a list of SEO firms within close proximity of my location. Being part of the Salt Lake City, UT metro, Webtek Digital Marketing would be one of them.
Webtek explains that ‘near me’ searches rank results based on two primary factors: distance and relevance. Search engines look at relevance to make sure they are recommending the right types of results. They look at distance in order to rank results from closest to farthest.
What People Are Searching For
Thinking about ‘near me’ searches led me to wonder what people are actually searching for. Obviously, someone running a ‘near me’ search is not hoping to find companies located hundreds of miles away. They are looking for something reasonably close to where they are.
My research led me to a number of sites where I found some revealing statistics. Two of the sites can be found here and here. According to their data, here are the most common topics for ‘near me’ searches:
1. Food
I don’t know about you, but I am not surprised to learn that food is the most popular topic for ‘near me’ searches. Approximately 84% of local searchers look for food options. They search for local restaurants, cafes, take out, desserts and snacks, etc. I have personally run my fair share of searches for ‘Italian restaurants near me’.
2. Entertainment
Entertainment options take second place at 56%. That’s right, more than half of all search engine users run ‘near me’ searches in hopes of finding entertainment options. They are hoping to find local theaters, movie houses, festivals, live music, and more.
3. Banking Services
The topic in the third slot surprised me, quite frankly: banking services. I am surprised because I do the majority of my banking online. It has been so long since I stepped into a physical bank that I couldn’t tell you when it happened. I just assumed most people were like me. Apparently, they aren’t.
Roughly 50% of people who run ‘near me’ searches look for local banking services. Of course, this could mean everything from retail banking services to non-bank check cashing and ATM locations.
All the Rest
The top three items on my topic list don’t even begin to scratch the surface of ‘near me’ searches. There are so many applicable topics that they would be impossible to quantify. People run similar searches to find clothing and apparel, personal care services, home contracting services, shopping outlets, healthcare providers, and on and on. And yes, businesses still search for ‘SEO services near me’.
The big takeaway for anyone learning SEO is just how important ‘near me’ searches really are. They are local searches being run by people looking for goods, services, etc. located within close proximity to where they currently are. That being the case, SEO professionals need to be mindful of the fact that a lot of ‘near me’ searches are conducted with mobile phones.
Never underestimate the power of the ‘near me’ search for local SEO. If you are not optimizing for such searches, you’re probably missing out on some business.