Google Gives 3 Predictions For The Coming Year (Part 2)

I had the privilege of attending a Google Engage conference in Toronto yesterday, and the keynote speaker, Google's very own Chris O'Neill, Canada's Country Director, delivered a great presentation on his three predictions for the coming year.  Let's take a look at these predictions and how they apply to the apartment industry.

Prediction 2:
Local Search Matters More Than Ever

Local search is becoming more popular among consumers searching online for products or services.  According to one recent Nielsen/NetRatings study, 70% of respondents reported using the Internet to search for a local service business, and 46% had done so in the last 90 days.  In fact, Google reports that 1 in 5 searches performed on their search engine are locally focused.  That means that in Canada roughly 470 million searches each month factor in location.  This is good news for landlords who are using online marketing to advertise their buildings!

Renters looking for apartments will always use location-based keywords in their online searches to find apartments within a particular city, so it's important to incorporate city-based keywords into apartment online adverising. 

Google AdWords is a paid advertising solution that can get smaller companies to the front pages of the search results for location-based keywords.  A common misperception is that smaller businesses can't compete in the search engines with larger companies because of their larger marketing budget and their access to SEO services.  The very opposite is true.  Search engines frequently place local search results ahead of organic results for many queries, especially geo-targeted ones. This makes local search marketing one of the most effective strategies for ensuring your site appears at the top of the Google search engine results pages, especially if you are having difficulty acquiring organic rankings.

When developing Google AdWords it's important to add in location-based keywords to the ads so that they can appear under the location based searches.  Also, separating the campaigns by location, and pointing the ad to a location specific landing page, will increase the likelihood that the ad will appear in the search results.  Once these two tips are followed, the quality score of the Google AdWord ad should rise, which will result in the reduction in the cost of the ad. 

Using location keywords as a focus to your website content will put your website ahead of the competition over the next year when it comes to search engine marketing.  Landlords who focus on location-based search will gain an edge in the online space.

Prediction 1:
The Zero Moment Of Truth Is The New Battleground

Prediction 3:
Mobile Is The New Key Interface