A recent study Google shows that there is little to no correlation between usage or traffic and influence. What the study shows is that even if people find your business online, it does not mean that they will choose your business for their purchase. Both consumer experience and content matter to customers. However, there is another factor that plays a large role in a consumers decision, and that is distance.
In a study by the national consumer study on how consumers were willing to travel for shopping, the vast majority of shoppers (93.2%) would not travel more than 20 minutes for everyday items. The distance drops further when you look at urban shoppers. 92% would not travel more than 15 minutes.
Shoppers also prioritize distance over factors like price and quality. 32% of respondents cited quality and price for both factors, only when the distance is no longer part of the equation. The distance consumers are willing to travel gets much shorter when the nature of the items change. Consumers will travel a maximum of six minutes for gas, eight to nine minutes for fast food and groceries, while home and garden increase time to 15 minutes.
All of these facts show the importance of creating and maintaining a local presence online. When a consumer searches online, when your site comes up in a search result, it must be the local listing, with proper directions, descriptions, and maps.