Google is aggressively working to control ever-more stages of the local consumer journey within their own interfaces. A MOZ report found that 64% of local business marketers agree that Google is becoming the new “homepage” for local businesses.
Search used to be all about getting a click to your website. Now, it’s also about getting a click to a Google Business Profile listing. Websites are still important, but keeping your Google Business Profile and Knowledge Panel up to date is no longer just nice, it’s absolutely necessary.
Everything from pizza chains to dentists, from car dealers to yoga studios, and from drug store chains to funeral homes – they all rely on the Google Knowledge panel to acquire new customers and to provide current customers with critical details.
So, how is your panel doing at converting searches into actions? Do you know?
The KPI of Local Conversion Rate (LCR)
Just like all conversion ratios, this one is built on the idea of desired actions/events divided by opportunities. For ecommerce websites, it is can be expressed in orders (actions) divided by site visitors (opportunities). For SEO, it is the click thru rate from the search result.
For a local search result, there are three universal actions recorded, as shown below in the LocalClarity Insights tab:
- Phone Calls
- Website Visits
- Driving Directions
By adding up all three actions and then dividing this sum by the number of searches showing the result (impressions) you have a measure of each business’ ability to capture engagement from their “Google business card”.
LCR will vary by Business and Location
Just as with all other types of conversion rates, a tremendous amount of variability is expected based on the relationship searchers have with the business. Brands that receive a significant portion of their exposure from direct searches (e.g., “Joe’s Pizzeria on Main Street”) will see much higher local conversion rate than searches for generic solutions (e.g., “a good pizzeria”).
Even within the same business, there is significant variability in direct versus discover searches, and therefore the expected LCR. For example, a unit of a national hardware store chain might be one of dozens in a metropolitan area. The population density drives up the volume of searches, but the competition limits the number of phone calls, website visitors, or driving directions. Alternately, the lone store in a region may capture the lion’s share of the activity.
Also, one location might have a 4.4-star rating while another might have only a 3.8-star average. If both locations are roughly an equivalent distance from the searcher, the top rated store will be both higher in the research result (receiving the benefit of top visual positioning) and have a greater tendency to be selected based on the reviews. Here is LocalClarity's reporting on Local Search Conversion:
Variances Between Actions – Website Visits, Phone Calls, and Driving Directions
As businesses take a deep dive into their numbers they will begin to see real-world customer facing issues reflected in the data. For example, why does one location have twice the number of driving direction requests as another location that has roughly the same sales volume? It could be explained by being a new location and being farther away, but it could also be a matter of signage, a lack of clarity in the address data, or inconsistent data. If your business is launching a number of new locations it can look at the initial spike and then the relative drop to just a typical pattern.
Website visits are great, but not if your primary goal is walk-in traffic or direct reservations. What information might be missing from the Knowledge Panel that could help drive more immediate conversion?
Daily Variations in Conversions
Daily LCR analysis provides insight into how well a company’s locations convert local interest daily (or throughout the month). For example, do your restaurant reservation calls spike on Mondays through Thursday but then drop off over the weekend? It can go well beyond just making certain your Saturday & Sunday hours are correct. Does your content (descriptions, photos, videos, reviews, Q&A, etc.) convey a conservative atmosphere good for business meetings but not for Friday Happy Hours, or on the other spectrum, romantic evenings?
The data can begin to suggest the questions that lead to improvements and ultimately a competitive advantage.
Seasonal Variations in Conversion
Most businesses have some seasonal component. If not in their business model, then in their ideal marketing messages. Unfortunately, we see too many companies treat their Google content as evergreen. Descriptions, images, videos — as well as Google posts of course — should be updated to take advantage of seasonality. Remember, the changes need to be based on the seasonality of the buying decision/research process, not necessarily on usage.
Long-Term Variations in Conversion
The long-term conversion analysis can be considered the ultimate scorecard for businesses (and their agencies) to validate the return on investment for their efforts to increase customer engagement on Google. Any downward trends suggest that competitive forces are eating into your businesses market presence or that other companies are taking better advantage of Google’s recent changes. Steady increases in conversion rates directly translate into more customer engagements. Below is LocalClarity's reporting on Local Search Conversion over a longer time period.
Volatility in Local Conversion Rate from August 2018
Google made a significant change in how they reported GMB search metrics beginning in August 2018. Almost every business saw a material increase in the number of searches reported by Google. This was only a reporting change and not an actual change in the number of times a local search result was presented. Since the LCR is a ratio of actions divided by search volume, the dramatic increase in reported search volume resulted in a commensurate drop in the calculated LCR.
Brands will gain the most value from comparing LCR by looking at the period exclusively after this major change.
Volatility Again in September 2019
Google made another reporting update in September, 2019 that impacts the number of search impressions reported. Most accounts are seeing a significant increase, resulting in a drop in the reported LCR.
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