This article tackles the topic of local SEO and addresses the fashion industry. It provides you with real life figures collected through our clients from this field. From the digitalization to the optimization of your online visibility, we give you some tips and best practices to increase your online performances.
#1 Increase of online actions
Due to the huge increase of Internet use and traffic, local businesses have to adapt to customers’ new trends and habits. Especially in the fashion industry, communicating with your customers and suppliers is essential for your brand’s success. What makes fashion brands successful is their ability to maintain their DNA in all of their stores, but also online, as e-commerce platforms are increasingly used by customers.
In order to understand how practices are evolving, we gathered some data collected by Google My Business between 2018 and 2019 from our clients in this sector. As buying online is becoming a habit for most customers, there is still an infatuation for buying in-store. And the figures below also prove that customers increasingly check for information online, before going in-store.
Some vocabulary to all be on the same page:
- Indirect searches: searches not directly targeting Partoo
- Direct searches: Searches clearly mentioning our brand
- Itinerary requests: Internet users clicking on the “Directions” button to get itinerary from google maps
- Phone calls: People calling from the phone number on your Google My Business’s listing
- Click on the website: How many people clicked on your website pages.
Moreover, customers rely more and more on businesses’ reviews and average scores when deciding which store to go to. That is why managing your reviews and answering to them can positively impact customers’ decisions, as well as your brand’s reputation. We noticed for example that in 2018, only 4% of reviews got an answer. In 2019, however, 13% of them were answered to.
In addition to this, according to the Bright Local survey that asked the question “in which sector have you already written reviews?”, 31% of respondents answered that they were usually leaving reviews for the ready-to-wear industry. This result strengthens our idea that reviews are paramount in this industry, and should not be taken lightly.
#2 Increase your online visibility
In order to increase your brand’s online visibility, you have to follow different steps. But know that having created listings for each of your shops and providing basic information such as your business’s name, address, phone number and a few pictures is already boosting your online visibility.
In case you don’t have listings for all of your businesses, you should:
- Request the ownership of a business profile if someone else is owning it, or if no one owns it,
- Create your missing Google My Business listings so that each of your local business has one,
- Delete any duplicates you can find.
Also, you should diffuse your information on as many platforms as you can, such as directories and GPS (Waze), Social Media (Facebook) and search engines (Google, Bing). Having consistent information sends a positive image to Google, which will push you up in search results, so think about that!
1) Categories
In order for your businesses to appear higher on search results, add your main business’s category and up to 9 other sub-categories. That way, if a user types in “Underwear store”, they will find you if you provided this information, and you’ll appear higher than other medical facilities that did not provide this information.
2) Attributes
Attributes allow you to describe your business, its services and facilities. You can quickly inform your customers if in-store shopping is allowed, especially during the health crisis, if your store has a wheelchair accessible entrance, or if you offer free wifi inside your shop.
If your local business is in a shopping mall, you have to be careful! Be sure to indicate your presence in malls, otherwise users could miss your store, meaning a great loss of turnover…
