The SEO industry is a dynamic one - subject to change with the latest algorithmic updates by Google and is gradually transcending with the rise of the amazing technology called Augmented Reality (AR).
At the rate of its current proliferation augmented reality (AR) holds the potential to completely transform the SEO industry, especially the local SEO realm and take it to the next level. Not only AR can help businesses design seamless user-experiences (UX) but it can also assist businesses in achieving their bottom line goals faster. Also, the early adopters of AR will be witnessing considerable business advantage.
Augmented reality is like a breath of fresh air all set to revolutionize the realm of local SEO.
Gaia Dempsey, Co-Founder of DAQRI explains how augmented reality overlays information in image, text, or video format onto everyday surroundings, objects, and locations from the real world:
“80% of the information that the brain takes in is visual; so by providing information in a visual medium that also has the spatial nature of augmented reality, you’re giving the brain a very intuitive way of accessing knowledge.”
The AR technology can be divided into two broad categories: a) market-based (which uses a visual, physical trigger to start the AR experience), and b) markerless based (here the experience is built from the scratch and no trigger is needed to kick-start an AR experience.
Augmented reality has started to influence search engine optimization (SEO) and how brands promote their products and services, as well as how they optimize content for the search engines.
AR is the latest on the list of cutting-edge digital technologies across the globe and can do wonders to optimize your local SEO game. Here are some of the easy and effective ways to assimilate AR into your local SEO game:
- Optimization of Google My Business Listings
The very initial stage of setting up your business for AR is to optimize Google My Business Listings. Businesses need to keep their business details up to date and optimize their listings using quality photos and comprehensive details. The details include business address, visiting hours, and contact details to satisfy the customer needs and grievances.
An all-encompassing and compelling listing makes your business stand out from the rest in the crowd and makes it easier for the people to search for your business using smartphones. Not only the customers can find local organizations, restaurants, hotels, or shops, but they can also see the information about a particular business such as images, ratings, reviews of nearby businesses.
Remember that a compelling and comprehensive listing can prove to be the ultimate game-changer for your local SEO game in terms of optimizing the visibility and discoverability of your brand and providing a competitive edge.
- Use AR to Create Engaging Content
Marketers should use AR to create highly interactive content and engaging users on the website by creating innovative and interactive pieces of content in the form of tutorials, use of products, narrating an emotional story, or a virtual success story of your business to impart 3D experience and foster customer delight.
As Google search queries employ users’ intent-data increasingly to prioritize rankings, it is increasingly becoming important for businesses to create engaging content to optimize their SEO strategy.
Pages that prioritize user intent will witness greater user engagement and would rank higher on the Google SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
Augmented Reality (AR) shows results based on geo-location based targeting. As such marketers need to take advantage of and focus on customers’ locations.
Geofencing can be used to send push notifications to mobile users based on the geolocation principle, notifications about the offers, deals, and discounts. Geotargeting can thus deliver impeccable online customer experiences.
- Focus on Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management involves monitoring and improving the online reputation of businesses on websites such as Google and Yelp to ensure that your business attains good scores.
Businesses need to manage online reputation so that the perceived reputation of the businesses in the eyes of the customers improves and they are more likely to spend when it comes to the final decision-making process before buying.
Since Augmented Reality (AR) helps users discover the latest reviews and ratings in real-time by just hovering over the location reviews and ratings become crucial for optimizing searchability, maximizing conversions, and securing sales.
The more authentic, genuine, and positive reviews are written for business across omnichannel, the higher are the chances for the businesses to get featured higher on the search engine results, and the better it is for the search engine rankings and the business bottom lines.
Furthermore, businesses ultimately need to master the art of turning negative reviews into positive ones by improving their products and services and addressing their customers’ grievances in real-time with the help of excellent customer support teams.
Citations refer to the number of brand mentions your company receives in the form of your business name, address and a phone number throughout the web.
Citations are important for any local business and create a trust for your brand.
Citations also do appear in review sites improving the chances of businesses being discovered by the prospective customers when entering the queries.
Having strong citation profiles for augmented reality increases the chances of businesses to appear when customers search in AR. Review websites such as Yelp.com have been designed to help people share the experiences of several local businesses.
Having a strong citation profile ensures that you are not missing out on a strong opportunity. Businesses need to make their listings stronger to stay competitive in the online marketplace.
Final Thoughts
The time of augmented reality is now. To gain competitive advantage businesses need to invest their energies, efforts, and resources into embracing the emerging technology called augmented reality. It is equally important for businesses of all kinds to develop AR-based content and implement it to their local SEO proceedings to rank higher on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
According to Cognitiveseo.com, augmented reality is most likely to impact the eCommerce sector.
Brands like Adidas and Converse have made the use of this technology to achieve a surge in their overall conversions by leveraging greater customer satisfaction. Many companies including Pokemon Go, Snapchat, Google Translate, Star Chart, and Pepsi have opted for building apps and interfaces that employed features of AR.
Augmented reality is all set to grow exponentially as a brand discovery and communication channel and the sooner the digital marketers will embrace this digital revolution and optimize their local SEO, the better it will be for their businesses.
AR has indeed emerged as a powerful marketing tool to trigger information-rich experiences in a world where customers are increasingly using mobile devices. Augmented reality and modern shopping go hand-in-hand. Not only do the customers receive alerts about new sales but also can contribute to better and faster real-time reviews and ratings.