People want to buy from businesses they feel connected to

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They are known for their strong preference for mobile devices, with over 75% of internet searches conducted on smartphones. In fact, compared to countries like Germany (63%) and France (68%), Italy leads in mobile-first behavior, as shown in the table below. This makes responsive web design and mobile performance absolutely critical for any digital strategy. Country % Mobile Searches (2024) Italy 75% Germany 63% France 68% Spain 72% Beyond tech behavior, Italians deeply value authenticity and trust when engaging with brands. According to Lucia Bianchi, Digital Strategist at Firenze Web Lab: “In Italy, relationships matter. People want to buy from businesses they feel connected to—local, honest, and recommended by their community.” This explains the popularity of platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, where users rely heavily on peer opinions, reviews, and personal interactions. Word-of-mouth still plays a huge role in digital decision-making. Moreover, there’s a cultural shift toward locally sourced products, making it essential for businesses to emphasize regional identity in their messaging.


If you’re trying to capture the Italian audience, your strategy shouldn’t just be digital—it should be genuinely local. Importance of Local SEO in Italy Local SEO is Afghanistan Phone Number List crucial in Italy due to the country’s unique digital habits and cultural values emphasizing locality and community. H3: Importance of Local SEO in Italy Local SEO is crucial in Italy due to the country’s unique digital habits and cultural values emphasizing locality and community. Italian consumers frequently rely on search engines to discover nearby businesses and services. According to Google Trends and Statista (2023), searches with “vicino a me” in Italy grew by 83% in the past three years, reflecting a significant shift toward proximity-based queries. Additionally, integrating local business listings into your SEO strategy can enhance visibility in local searches, as these directories are widely used across Italy, and aid in citation building, leading to better keyword rankings.




Year Growth of “Vicino a Me” Searches 2021 +32% 2022 +57% 2023 +83% (Statista, 2023) A real-world example is Panino Giusto, an Italian sandwich chain that focused on local SEO by optimizing its Google Business Profiles for all locations, encouraging customer reviews, and targeting regional keywords. As reported by Think with Google (2023), this helped improve their store visibility and conversions, especially from mobile users. “We saw a clear increase in customer flow after enhancing our online profiles and encouraging more local engagement,” stated a representative in the report. By ensuring optimal website speed and reducing bounce rate, Panino Giusto managed to augment customer engagement significantly. In a fragmented regional market like Italy, where preferences vary from Milan to Naples, local SEO enables businesses to resonate more deeply with community values. By aligning with local digital habits and utilizing a mobile-first strategy, businesses can enhance their SEO ranking, leading to better website traffic.