Store Locator and Geolocation Software | Website Store Locator

Store locator software, or geolocation software, is another one of the SaaS solutions offered by Best Rank. If you’ve searched for business locations online, you know how important geo locator software can be in terms of allowing potential customers to easily find you. Geo locators allow visitors to look up nearby stores by (most commonly) inputting their ZIP codes to receive a list of business locations within a certain, specified radius. Geolocation software is often used in conjunction with mapping software to provide website visitors with driving directions as well as address locations.

Geolocation Software and Online Marketing

Your company website is essentially the online equivalent of your business card or company brochure. The goal is to provide clients with (a) compelling reasons for purchasing your products and/or services, (b) information on these products and/or services and (c) information on how to purchase them. If your business has a geographical location that customers must find to purchase your products and/or services, then accomplishing that third goal will involve giving your website’s visitors an easy way of find you on the map.

Every major corporation (retail companies especially) employs some form of website store locator to let customers know where their nearest branches, offices, dealerships or other business outlets are. Thus, geolocation software is an essential marketing tool for any company with multiple branch locations.

Features of a Website Store Locator

A website store locator must fit smoothly into your site’s design, so that it is, first and foremost, easy for the average website visitor to locate and access. There are three basic steps that website visitors go through when they’re finding a business’s geographical location online. First, they have to find the store locator on the site. They must then be able use it. And lastly they must be able to determine the best branch location for them and how to get there.

A store locator’s interface must be easy to use. After all, if visitors or potential customers are unable to successfully complete any one of the above three basic steps, they will not be able to find you. Interface elements that must be considered when integrating store locator software into your website include input fields, lists and graphics, as well as more abstract elements like overall accessibility and usability.

Accessibility

In order to provide visitors with maximum accessibility to your website’s store locator, the navigational structure used to get to it must be obvious and clear. On many popular retail websites, the store locator can be found either directly on the home page or, more commonly, just one click away from the home page.

One common mistake that business web designers make is to hide the store locator in the section of the website that’s dedicated to the company’s background and contact information. This placement makes sense if your company does not rely primarily on physical retail purchases for its profits. If the people who need to find your location are not primary consumers but, rather, clients and affiliates, then placing the store locator in the “contact” section of the site might be okay. Otherwise, giving the store locator its own page that can be easily accessed from the home page is you best bet.

Methods of Implementation

The two main ways of implementing store location software are the “push” implementation method and the “pull” implementation method. The push method simply provides a list of branches, from which visitors must find the nearest one themselves. The pull method asks user to input their geographical location (i.e. address or zip code), which the store locator then uses to determine the nearest branches, which are in turn presented as a customized list. Best Rank’s geo locator software services implement the pull method, as it is much more engaging and user-friendly method, catering to the website’s visitor specific needs.

Geo Locator as SaaS

There are many benefits of outsourcing your website’s geolocation software needs to a SaaS provider. The price and maintenance of spatial searching software is steep and the software must be regularly updated. As a SaaS provider and search engine marketing agency, Best Rank can provide you with high-end geolocation software and also implement it into your site’s design in a way that is both appealing to human visitors and accessible to search engine crawlers. Visitors will be able to enter their zip code in the input field and come up with location addresses and proximity along with a profile display on Google maps. Give us a call today, or fill out our contact form to see how Best Rank can help your business grow.