Location-based mobile tools such as Foursquare are not yet considered mainstream social media channels. Still, Foursquare has nearly 10 million users world-wide, so it’s a marketing channel that businesses shouldn’t dismiss. Recently, I was speaking with a friend who uses Foursquare multiple times a day. I asked him why he uses it, and his answer was, “Funny you should ask. I ask myself that frequently, too.” Right then I knew I had the basis for our next blog post. I wanted to get answers to these questions:

Why do people use check-in apps?

• What motivates people to check in to a specific location?
• Do the answers to these questions mean apps are good or bad for businesses?
• Why do people use check-in apps like Foursquare?

I asked ten people the questions listed above. This is obviously not a scientifically-conducted survey, but the answers are interesting nonetheless. As a marketer, I would have loved to hear people immediately say, “I use check-in apps because I love to find out what deals are offered by the businesses around me!” Alas, that was not the primary answer. Instead, the biggest motivating factor was actually emotion. People often gave different reasons for checking in somewhere, but almost all were based on an emotion. Here are some of the responses I received.

 

• “I like the badges. They put a smile on my face.”
• “I have this compelling urge to share with everyone…”
• “It’s kind of like a game. It shows you a running tally of your points and who you’re about to pull ahead of and who you just beat.”
• “…attention…”

 

It seems many people like check-in tools because they connect them with other people and provide instant gratification, attention and excitement. Still, there were two people who said their primary use for check-in apps was to let a whole group know at one time when they had arrived at a meeting place. So, apparently there is also a utilitarian draw to check-in apps.

What motivates a person to check into a certain location?

 

Most people I spoke to said they don’t check in everywhere. So, I wanted to know what makes a place worthy of checking in. Once again, emotions played the biggest role in the decision. Here are a few answers I received:

• “I check into places that people know of and care about.”
• “I check into places I think other people will find cool.”
• “By checking in, I get to share all the cool places I’m traveling around to.”
• “I check in to places I want to be the mayor of.”

 

The first three answers show a desire to connect with other people. The fourth answer referred to the competitive aspect of Foursquare, which provides the excitement of a game. These answers seem to indicate that some kind of emotion has motivated the person to check in.

Do these emotional answers mean apps are good or bad for businesses?

 

It should come as no surprise that people use an app like Foursquare primarily for fun and connecting with people. After all, that’s the original purpose: to be a social network. But if people don’t often list local deals as a reason for using Foursquare, is it worth offering a deal? Absolutely. If you are seeking foot traffic, you should still consider using location-based apps for mobile marketing. Why?

• Deals provide you highly targeted marketing since you reach people that are just steps from your business.
• Plus, deals provide excitement for a group of emotion-driven consumers that love instant gratification.

There is also an SEO benefit to using apps like Foursquare. For more on that, check out, “Do Apps Like Foursquare Effect SEO?”

 

So, tell us – do you use location-based apps? Why? And what makes a place check-in worthy for you?

Yes, apps like Foursquare can affect SEO. Each venue on Foursquare has a dedicated Web page that is indexed by Google. Therefore, your Foursquare page could rank for geographic related searches just like your Google Places page or your Yelp profile. Additionally, as with those location-based directories, your business could be on Foursquare right now without you even knowing it. If it is, you should claim your Foursquare page ASAP so that you can optimize it and monitor it. If your venue is not already on Foursquare, it’s a good idea for you to add and populate it so that it helps support your local optimization efforts.

 

To ensure the strongest local optimization, be sure you consider each of the following tips when populating your Foursquare page. These elements also apply for other location-based sites and location-based apps like Google Places and Facebook’s Check-In tool. Claiming your business’ page for Facebook’s tool is a little different than Foursquare, so be sure to read Facebook’s instructions.

• After you claim any page, check to see if your business address is correct. If not, be sure to change it.
• Ensure that you do not have more than one listing in each platform. If you do, figure out how to delete one. This can be tricky; so, if you need help, feel free to contact us.
• Use keywords in the description of your business, but don’t keyword-stuff by simply typing a list of keywords.This can actually inhibit your local optimization. Instead, include a real paragraph that does your business justice and provides useful information. You just need to be sure it includes some keywords.
• Don’t just set it and forget it. Customers can leave comments and reviews on any of these platforms, so check them frequently and consider what people are saying about your business. Use these tools whenever possible to build relationships and improve your business based on feedback.

Although you can use location-based tools as a personal SEO service, remember that these tools were originally intended for the public to be social networking platforms. Don’t ignore that. If you wouldn’t use an app like Foursquare yourself, remember – plenty of your customers would. You need to be where they are, and if that’s Foursquare, take advantage of it. For help understanding why people use location-based apps, check out, “Location-Based Apps Based on Emotion.”

 

As a consumer or a business, what have your personal experiences been with location-based apps like Foursquare?

The answer for most businesses is a definitive “YES.”You should probably be using Google Plus.

There is one incredibly important benefit Google Plus gives you: Google indexes Google Plus posts. They do not index Facebook or Twitter posts.

Why is this important? If your Google Plus posts are SEO friendly, and include good content, it’s possible that your Google Plus posts could show up in search results. In fact, if you are very active on Google Plus, your posts might even start popping up in results before your website – or your competitors’ websites. Right now, there’s a good chance your competitors aren’t even thinking about joining Google Plus. If you get on it now, you could have an important advantage.

So, how do you make your Google Plus posts SEO-friendly?

The answer is very much the way you would make your website SEO friendly. You include links to your website; you use keywords in your content; you provide relevant, interesting content; and you engage your audience in social media. Once you join Google Plus and start getting familiar with it, you can follow these tips to make your Google Plus business page SEO friendly. If you need help with any of this, you can always reach out to your friendly SEO services company (that’d be us).

Optimize Your “About” Page. Here’s how:

• Use keywords in your profile.
• Link to your website using keywords as anchor text. Check out our SEO Bounty Google Plus page as an example.
• In the “Recommended Links” section, add links to your other social networks and your blog.
• Add as much information about your company as possible. The “About” section in Google Plus is much more robust than the “Info” section in your Facebook page.
• Add photos and videos whenever possible.

Optimize Your Posts. Here’s how:

• Add comments in your posts. Don’t post only a link. Your comments should be more like a paragraph than a couple of sentences. Remember, the more relevant content you have in your posts, the more Google will favor it.
• Strive to have your posts shared; and strive to get comments. Google will favor popular posts most.

How do you get your posts shared and commented? Make sure you add relevant, interesting information frequently. Also, make sure your posts contain complete thoughts – remember: more like a paragraph than a quick thought.

Google Plus may take you more time than Facebook.

Don’t let that be a deal-breaker! It’s worth the time! I can’t stress enough the benefit of Google indexing your Google Plus posts!

Your Turn!

Have you ventured into Google Plus for your business? How is it working out for you?

I’m starting to hear this more frequently: “I’m tired of hearing about social media,” or, “Social media is dead.” I respect others’ opinions on the matter. But, I do feel social media is very valuable for marketing. If I can’t convince you that social media is good for relevant lead generation, word of mouth referrals, brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, then maybe I can convince you that social media is important for SEO. You must be able to see the value in something that can increase your search engine rankings, right?

In the past it was debatable whether Google really cared about social media. Now, Google has declared that they do recognize the social authority of a website. In other words, they recognize when your website has a presence within social networks. However, they won’t give you a pat on the back for creating a profile and slapping your link on the page just to build a backlink.

Sometimes, in the race to accumulate as many backlinks as possible, people forget the fundamental reason Google even cares about links. They care because links provide a way to measure the relevancy of a site. More links means more relevancy, which ultimately contributes to higher search rankings. So, really, it’s relevancy that Google is looking for – not the actual links. However, as more and more websites flood the Internet, it becomes harder and harder for Google to determine which ones are most relevant. Therefore, they have to find additional indicators of relevancy. That’s where social media comes in. If you are active in social networks, you can show additional relevancy, which Google can use to weed you out from the rest of the world. Moreover, if you are more active in social media than your competitors, then you may be more relevant than your competitors. When you are more relevant than your competitors, you show up higher in search results.

So, are you convinced yet? Even if you think social media has no other value, it seems difficult to ignore its potential SEO benefits. Yes, tons of brands are using social media now, which causes a lot of noise. But, it’s also true that tons of brands use social media incorrectly. They aren’t active or they don’t engage correctly. So, if YOU can use it correctly, you may stand out to Google more than your competitors…and you know that means.