In the world of SEO, where search engines are looking to serve up the best results to satisfy their searchers, content is king. And it’s no different for Local SEO. In fact, a great content strategy is your means of drawing relevant traffic to your website, traffic that is more likely to lead to conversions. This is your target market and the people who will become your returning customers and brand ambassadors.
Several factors make up a good content strategy. Your content is what’s going to set you apart as a leader in your industry, and as a business that’s actively clued up on their trade. It should go beyond your website content to also encompass your blogs, social media posts, and more.
Here are some tricks to formulating a good local content strategy, one that produces content that resonates with your audience and drives local traffic to your website and your business. We’ll start with something you should avoid before getting into some best practices!
No one is interested in reading blogs that focus on shameless self-promotion, and while we want to promote our brands and affiliates, it’s not content that really rewards anyone, not even ourselves.
Customers like to get free information that’s beneficial to them, so knowledgeable, insightful and helpful content is more likely to get shared and make traction on social media platforms as opposed to rehashed versions of your sales pitches. When creating content, ask yourself why are you writing it, and importantly, who will share it? If you know your client base, you will be able to provide real names for people who will like and share your content, or at the very least know that your client base is interested in this topic.
This isn’t to say you can’t write about your products. But if you do it should be informative and helpful content that enlightens as opposed to overtly selling it.
It’s never the complicated content that’s full of industry jargon and specialized terminology that impresses your client base, especially if they don’t understand it. That’s not what makes you a leader in your industry. What’s going to set you apart from others is being able to explain that in layman’s terms, creating engaging content around topics that you know well. Show off your knowledge and insight in an equally casual and professional manner to instil confidence in you and your brand.
With the right keywords you can attract more than just interested customers, but customers from your immediate area. This is especially important for brick and mortar businesses who rely on foot traffic and in-store purchases to operate. Delve into keyword research to find area-specific keywords and frequent search terms that relate to your business and carefully weave them into your content.
The best way to trawl for content ideas is to actually get them straight from the source. Where better to find out what your customers are interested in reading about than from the customers themselves? Speak to customers with a range of questions to gather what customers need to know, what they’re interested in reading more, about what products they’re interested in, and any other queries they may have about your services or products. You can also turn FAQs into full pieces of blog content.
For instance, if you run a scuba diving adventure guide, one of your FAQs can be about if tourists will need a license to scuba dive, and you can write a blog detailing all that’s involved in a short scuba diving course prior to their adventure dive, or scuba diving safety tips.
There are ways to do promotion right. Case studies are a great way to show how your services have helped customers or to show active knowledge and insight into trending and relevant topics. These case studies give insight into past customer experiences, giving you another opportunity to show authority, while also providing an opportunity for great content.
Interviews are another way to get feedback from customers that you can then post for some more varied content, and if you’re concerned about videos negating your keywords, don’t fret. By transcribing your content, you can still rank for all those juicy keywords, and then search engines can also ‘read’ your videos.
Content doesn’t only take the form of blogs and press releases. You can create a broad spectrum of media to draw traffic to your sight and hike up your engagement. Additionally, this diverse content is more likely to get shares on social media, like images and short videos, animated GIFs, comics, embedded media, and user-generated content. Tell a story with this content and weave it into your content strategy to keep people engaged and interested.
With your ear to the ground, you can keep track of local events and activities that relate to your field and industry, and by writing about it you’re taking an active role in your community. Hot topics are also bound to gain traction because they’re already doing well, so don’t be afraid to jump in on these topics with your own unique take on them.
In this regard, you can chip in on debates and discussions in your field, creating unique content that strengthens your brand personality and shows you’re insightful, clued-up, and with your finger constantly on the pulse.
Not everyone has a way with words, and if formulating a content strategy and keeping up with is too taxing for you, you can always opt for the support of Local SEO specialists to assist you. Our specialists are here to help you make your voice heard and get your content to make an impact both for yourself and your audience. Feel free to contact us to find out more.