Data from 200,000 GBP listings reinforces an increase in consumer confidence in December
SAN DIEGO, Calif., January 19, 2021 — According to Rio SEO research, last month’s national search behavior revealed a significant increase in local search traffic and conversion metrics among restaurant, financial services, and healthcare listings, compared to November 2021.
Healthcare saw an 8% increase in total searches, an 18% increase in clicks to call, and 25% increase in clicks to the website compared to November. Additionally, sit-down restaurants saw a 23% increase in clicks to call, a 6% increase in total searches, and a 13% increase in clicks to website.
Hospitals, pharmacies, and urgent cares around the nation are seeing extreme pressure, a dramatic increase in consumer questions, and a surge of customers. Sharing relevant information regarding how your facility is operating, health and safety protocols in place, COVID-19 test availability, and special hours can lead to an increase in your conversions through calls, clicks, and searches.
Ryan Webber
Director of Client Success, Rio SEO
Americans were overwhelmed in the search for COVID tests days before Christmas, according to CNN Health. COVID-19 hospitalizations spiked since November and left people searching for answers, further supporting Rio SEO’s findings.
For sit-down restaurant brands, despite sales growth results that were 2.0 percentage points lower than the strongest week in November, the first week of December posted stronger sales growth than the monthly sales growth reported for August, September, and October, according to Black Box Intelligence. The future looks strong for other industries, as well.
Service businesses, financial services, sit-down restaurants, quick-service restaurants, retail, hotel, and healthcare organizations collectively saw YoY increases in local search behavior, including a:
- 44% average increase in total views
- 37% average increase in total searches
- 32% average increase in clicks for directions
“With the start of a new year, we anticipate consumers to be more active and engaging in 2022,” added Weber. “Despite the current forecast, professionals predict COVD-19 and price surges to decrease, which will, in turn, allow consumers to leverage products and services across all the verticals we study on a monthly basis.”
About Rio SEO
Rio SEO is the leading Local Experience Platform for enterprise brands. The Local Experience Platform provides multilocation organizations with a comprehensive, seamlessly integrated suite of turnkey local marketing solutions proven to increase brand visibility across search engines, social networks, map applications, and more. The world’s leading enterprise brands – retailers, restaurants, hospitality, financial services, healthcare, and more – rely on Rio SEO’s innovative technology and local marketing expertise to drive motivated, measurable online traffic to websites and physical locations. Rio SEO is part of Forsta, a global leader in customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX) and market research (MR). The combined technologies of Forsta and Rio SEO enable brands to engage consumers throughout the entire customer journey from discovery to purchase to advocacy. Rio SEO is a PG Forsta company.
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