How Beacons Will Change SEO
Beacons are devices that can communicate with a shopper’s smartphones with the goal of improving the shopper’s in-store shopping experience. When they are placed in a store, they use Bluetooth technology to detect smartphones that are nearby and send the smartphones media such as ads, coupons or other important product information.
As a result, beacons could mean big changes for the SEO strategies of retailers who use them because of the fact that they are only active within a geographical range. Here are some of the top ways that beacons will change SEO according to Infintech Designs from New Orleans.
1. Beacons Could Increase the Importance of Hyper-Local Search
Hyper-local searches have previously not been worth optimizing for because of the fact that a single search result would answer the user’s question. However, with the introduction of beacons, retailers could use hyper-local searches to display paid ads that are related to the search since users are nearby and are much more likely to click on paid ads related to hyper-local searches.
2. Beacons May Drive in More Personalized Search Results
One of the major benefits of using beacons is that shoppers can be reached in real-time in their specific locations. As a result, beacons could be used to help retailers discover micro-moments for consumers so that they can reach them at specific moments in time that have the greatest influence on their buying decisions.
3. Beacons Could Be Used As a Ranking Factor By Google
Since Google already displays local search results based on the user’s location, beacons may one day be added as an additional ranking signal in Google’s local search results.
4. Beacons Could Be Used to Serve Content to Users With an Open Beacon Platform
With the development of Eddystone, an open beacon format from Google, content could be served to users based on their location and their past search histories. This platform would enable retailers who previously struggled to scale their beacon deployments. In addition, Eddystone also permits the broadcasting of URLs so that beacon data could potentially be used for SEO purposes.
5. Customers Can Interact With Beacons Without Installing Apps
One of the best benefits of beacons is that they allow users to tap any object using their mobile devices without having to install additional apps to access the content. Since this process doesn’t involve search, retailers will have to use other messages to figure out users’ needs and deliver content to them in real-time. As a result, retailers may make greater use of implicit search, which are searches that don’t require the user to type in their search queries.
6. Beacons Offer the Opportunity for Customers to Find Out What Their Friends Like
By connecting users to ad platforms and DSPs, like DoubleClick and Facebook, beacons could one day be used by consumers to determine what their friends like or have previously purchased from a specific retail location. In fact, companies like micro-location marketing platform Ubudu are already investigating the possibilities.
Beacons are an excellent opportunity for retailers to learn more about their customers and utilize that data to create more optimized and personalized in-store experiences. In addition, with the potential benefits of beacons for SEO, customers may also be able to conduct more hyper-local search queries in the future. Call us at (504) 717-4837 for more trusted SEO strategies in New Orleans.
