With fuel prices rising, many consumers are making Google searches such as ‘cheap gas near me’. Optimising your gas station for ‘near me’ searches is vital to increase your presence in local search. This quick guide will cover the best ways to optimize your business for ‘cheap gas near me’ searches, plus we’ll tell you how to boost sales with a location-based app.
What are ‘near me’ searches?
‘Near me’ searches are location-based search queries that are often made by consumers who are ready to make a purchase. When someone searches for a place or business near their location, they’ll get an array of results on Google Maps and Search. Google uses the user’s real-time location to deliver these search results. And since most mobile apps require location to be shared, many mobile users always have location enabled on their mobile devices.
For instance, if a user searches for ‘cheap gas near me’, Google will pull a list of local gas stations in order of relevance, distance and prominence. In order to appear in ‘near me’ searches you’ll need to use Google Business Profile to claim and update your business information. Your position in web results is also a factor, so SEO best practices apply.
How to show up in ‘cheap gas near me’ searches
- List and optimize your business on Google Business Profile: By listing your business on Google Business Profile, you’ll show up in local business search results pages. All you need to do is open an account and follow the instructions. Don’t forget to enter complete data, keep your hours up-to-date, manage your reviews and add photos.
- Get a great website: Your website has a big impact on your organic search rankings. To show up in ‘cheap gas near me’ searches you will need to create a user-friendly website for your gas station and optimise it with high quality content and local keywords related to your business. Make sure you include your business address on your website.
- Get Google reviews: Google reviews are important ranking factor if you want to be seen in local search rankings. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers to leave you a review!
- Add your business to other directories: Each listing tells Google that your business is credible, therefore worth showing as a top search result. List your business on Facebook, Yelp, Yell.com and any other relevant directories.
- Get good backlinks: Inbound links are important if you want to improve your business rankings. In order to increase your rankings for ‘cheap gas near me’ searches, you’ll need to high-authority backlinks with geographically-rich anchor text. Your ability to get quality backlinks depends on the quality of your content. The better your content is, the easier it will be to attract quality backlinks.
- Start a blog: Starting a blog is a great way to acquire local links. It lets you share articles regularly and can persuade users to buy your products when they are in the ‘intent’ phase of the customer journey. If you have a list of queries where people are looking to find answers to their questions such as ‘where to find cheap gas near me’, you can create blog posts around these to specifically answer those exact queries.
- Optimise your website for voice search: People love to ask their smart devices, and some of those searches come in the form of ‘cheap gas near me’. Prepare a list of search queries that people might ask smart devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home. Then optimize your website and listings for these terms to show up for those voice searches.
Optimize your location with a gas app
Many motorists who search for ‘cheap gas near me’ are looking for ways to save. And with fuel prices soaring, it’s no wonder that the use of gas apps is at an all-time high. If you’re looking for ways to make your gas station stand out from the crowd, an app might be just what you need.
With an app, you can offer special deals, discounts and loyalty rewards to customers who use your gas station. Whether they are new customers or existing ones, you can incentivise them to keep using your services. What’s more, your can power your app with location-based capabilities such as geofencing to help you get ahead of your competition.
By pairing your app with geofencing, you open up myriad location-based opportunities, such as helping your app users find you when they are searching for cheap gas nearby. You can also target them with real-time notifications such as special offers and discounts when they passing by. By adding geofencing into your app, you can also learn more about your customers and deliver more relevant notifications.
How to add location-based capabilities to your app
Do you want to send real-time notifications to your app users? Geofencing and beacons are powerful tools that can be used to build accurate and efficient location functionalities into your mobile apps. By using the PlotProjects technology, you can improve the experience for your users while also increasing your revenue.
Tried and tested by businesses around the world, the Plot plugin provides accurate, privacy-first data and an array of features for you to build, manage and refine your geomarketing campaigns. Get started with our free trial and you can start sending real-time notifications today!