When you think about improving your local SEO, do you think about content?
I admit, it’s not always the first thing that comes to mind.
But here’s the thing – content directly affects local SEO, and ignoring it is a big mistake.
Yes, we may have limited text fields and places to enter content.
Hear me out though. There’s more to it than you might think.
Key Differences In Local & Organic SEO Content Strategies
You may know about the content that Google likes to see on a website and how to optimize it to appear higher on search engine results pages.
Here’s the thing, content strategies for local SEO and broader organic SEO are actually not that different.
No matter what, good informational content should always be a priority.
The main difference between local SEO and organic SEO content lies in the user’s intent.
For local SEO, the intent of the user is to find goods or services near them, so they include a location indicator in their search.
For example, you can search for [Kansas City Hair Salon], [Kansas City Hair Salon], or [Hair Salon Near Me].
The location indicator tells Google to prioritize and shows the user results in their area.
This has been the case for a long time as Google wanted to offer more localized SERP features (such as map results) for searches where it had perceived local intent.
So if you’re writing for local SEO, produce content that emphasizes your location.
Getting Started
Before you start writing content for your site, always take a moment to think about your endgame.
Ask yourself what goals you want to achieve.
And how can your content and posts help you achieve your goals?
For example, say you want to improve your local SEO so that more people visit your physical storefront to ultimately increase sales and revenue.
Good local SEO can help you with that, but creating a Google My Business listing isn’t enough.
Prioritize creating quality content that emphasizes both what you have to offer and your location.
Local Content Audit
If you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to do a local content check.
When conducting a content audit, ask yourself what your ideal local customer is looking for.
Are they researching what’s available in their target area?
Visiting a location now?
Looking for a provider to come to them or have a product delivered?
Knowing this information will help you determine if there are any gaps in your content that you can fill to rank better in local searches.
Another important part of a local content audit is competitor research.
Check out your competitors’ websites to gather information about the keywords they target and the content structure to get their local customers or customers to convert.
Once you know who you’re targeting and what they’re looking for, you’ll be in a great position to start writing.
Now let’s take a look at specific content strategies you can use to improve your local SEO.
On-Page Local SEO Content
Here’s a bit of good news: if you have a well-optimized website with quality content, you don’t need to change much to optimize it for local searches.
Just some tweaks here and there.
One of the most important things you can do to improve local SEO is to put your address in the footer.
If you have less than ten locations, I recommend putting them all in your footer.
In addition, it’s important to create dedicated landing pages for each location you serve.
Each of these pages must have original content specific to the area/location.
Don’t just copy and paste the information from one page to another, even if you do the same thing in all your locations.
This would be duplicate content, which could hurt your SEO.
General Reminders for Making a Good Page:
Blogging
Blogging is a powerful tool to provide your customers with useful information and establish you as an expert in your field.
Simply put, in the eyes of Google, it has the power to increase your expertise, authority and trust (EAT).
But beyond that, blogging is a great way to highlight your location(s) and boost your local SEO.
First and foremost, it provides Google with new content that repeats where you are.
It also helps you target those pesky local keywords, like “wine bar near me,” that might be hard for you to rank for.
In addition, blogging allows you to get backlinks from other local businesses.
And it gives people the chance to comment on or share your article, two things that improve local SEO.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that one of the most important things you can do with a blog is to share it – on social media and on local lists that allow it.
Get comments, get likes, and drive local traffic to your articles.
Off-Page Local SEO Content
Google Business
Your Google Business Profile is the first and most obvious off-page location for local SEO content.
Adding content to your Google business profile is important when working to improve your local SEO.
You can do this in several ways, but the top priority should be to optimize your profile by including as much relevant information as possible.
You can add a description of your company, your opening hours, product information and your services. For example, a menu and photos for a restaurant.
When optimizing your Google Business Profile, make sure all the information you provide is correct.
If anything changes, such as your hours of operation, update your profile accordingly.
Another valuable thing you can do is post photos, current blog articles, relevant specials, and updated policies and procedures on your feed.
This lets Google know that you’re an active listing to promote because you’re providing users with valuable information.
Ultimately, well-optimized Google business profiles get more clicks and directions requests.
An important part of building a good local SEO strategy is collecting reviews and responding quickly.
In terms of content, ratings on user-generated content carry a lot of weight.
Getting your business on the Map Pack is very important.
Allows users to see your listing first before scrolling through SERPs.
A few content-related strategies that can help you get your hands on one of the coveted spots in the Map Pack:
Other Listing Services
When it comes to SEO, Google is definitely the most important player.
So it’s no surprise that Google Business is the most important thing associated with local SEO.
But we shouldn’t overlook other local listing services like Bing Local, Yelp, Thumbtack, Yellowpages.com, Foursquare, and more, depending on our industry and focus.
Posting content and other updates gives your website a mention and increases local credibility.
While you’re on these sites, remember to give them some attention every once in a while and make sure to respond to any reviews you’ve earned, even if you’re using data aggregation services to push data to third-party directories.
Your online reputation is important to Google and should not be forgotten.
Social Media
As you probably already know, social media helps with SEO.
So having a business listing on Facebook and Instagram is important.
It increases your audience, so your article gets more views.
And more views means more opportunities for backlinks.
Ultimately, having a robust social media presence and posting useful content to your social feed will impact your EAT and make you look more believable in the eyes of Google.
Final Thoughts
Good content is an essential part of a good SEO strategy.
In terms of local SEO, good content with location indicators will help Google rank you higher in local search results and the Map Pack.
It’s not always enough to create quality content for your site. You should also share it with your Google business profile, other local listing sites, and your social media feeds to get more traffic and showcase your expertise and trustworthiness.
For more content marketing tips, see SEJ’s Complete Guide to Content Marketing.
To learn more about local SEO, purchase a free copy of SEJ’s Local SEO ebook.
Featured Image: GaudiLab/Shutterstock
How do I improve my local search rankings?
To improve local search results, do the following:
- Reply to Google Reviews.
- Relevant profiles.
- Request reviews.
- Analysis of competitors.
- Create city pages.
- Online consistency.
- Hyperlocalized content.
- Understand the local customer intent.
How is local SEO different from SEO?
Here’s the difference. While traditional SEO focuses on improving your site’s visibility on a national or global scale, local SEO allows you to capture local search territory to connect with searchers in your area. SEO and local SEO use many of the same strategies.
What is Local SEO? Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that makes your business more visible in local search results on Google. Any business that has a physical location or serves a geographic area can benefit from local SEO.
Is local SEO easier?
Local SEO is almost always cheaper than national SEO because there is less competition for local keywords and you target a smaller audience than if you were using a national keyword. In many ways, local SEO is easier to conceptualize, implement, and manage than national SEO.
Is local SEO important?
Local SEO will help your business stand out – even if you don’t have a website – and help drive more traffic to your business from online leads. Since these leads come from people who are specifically looking for products or services that your business offers, they are also likely to give you a high conversion rate.
Does local do SEO?
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving search engine visibility for local businesses, especially those with physical locations. By following local SEO best practices, businesses can improve the organic traffic that comes from searches conducted by customers in nearby areas.
Is local SEO paid?
For a one time project focused on analysis, research, cleanup and optimization, the average price for a local SEO project would range from $300-$1500 with an average cost of around $750.
Is local SEO important?
Local SEO will help your business stand out – even if you don’t have a website – and help drive more traffic to your business from online leads. Since these leads come from people who are specifically looking for products or services that your business offers, they are also likely to give you a high conversion rate.
Why local SEO is important for SEO?
Local SEO allows you to put important information about your site online, such as your company’s address and phone number. In addition, using SEO techniques, you can highlight and promote the type of products or services you offer on your website.
Why is local SEO important factor for Google?
In fact, Google has confirmed that your position in the organic SERPs affects your local ranking: “Your position in web results is also a factor, so SEO best practices also apply to local search optimization.” This means: the higher you score in the organic results, the higher you score in The Map Pack.
What is local content value?
Local Content means the amount of value added in India, which is the total value of the item purchased (excluding net domestic indirect taxes) minus the value of imported content in the item (including all customs duties) relative to the total value, percent.
What is an example of local content requirements? An example of a fairly typical requirement for local content is a preference for qualified nationals when hiring. Some countries may require a certain percentage for the employment of nationals.
What is local content in trade?
Local content requirements affect the global economy The fastest growing of these measures are local content requirements (LCRs), which are policies imposed by governments that require companies to use domestically produced goods or services to operate in an economy. can operate.
What is the purpose of local content?
While Local Content Policies (LCPs) have the potential to stimulate broad economic development, which is necessary to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity and ensure sustainable economic and social outcomes, their use has produced mixed results.
What does local content mean?
Local content is the value a mining project adds to the local, regional or national economy in addition to resource revenues. • Countries can encourage local content through requirements and goals set out in national laws and individual contracts.
What is local content in Saudi?
Local Content is defined as the total expenditure on Saudi components within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia within Labor, Goods, Services, Assets, Technology and other similar items.
What is local content certificate?
– Local Content, hereinafter abbreviated to LC, means the amount of value added in India which, unless otherwise prescribed by the Ministry of Nodal, is the total value of the item purchased (excluding net domestic indirect taxes) minus the value of imported content in the item (including all customs duties) as a…
What is meant by local content?
Meaning of local content in English the materials, workers, etc. used to make a product come from the area where the product is made rather than imported: All three automakers claim they have 60-80 % use local content.
What is the purpose of local content?
While Local Content Policies (LCPs) have the potential to stimulate broad economic development, which is necessary to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity and ensure sustainable economic and social outcomes, their use has produced mixed results.
What is the importance of local content?
Essentially, local content is about securing direct and indirect employment and procurement opportunities to own nationals, while at the same time promoting local skills development, technology transfer and the use of local labor and local production in capital projects.
What does local content mean?
(including domestic content) the materials, workers, etc. used to make a product that come from the area where the product is made rather than imported: All three automakers claim they are 60-80 % use local content.
What is the most important on page SEO factor?
Meta tags are the most important factor of On Page SEO. It has four fundamental components: meta title, meta description, meta keywords, and metarobots tag.
What are the important aspects of on page SEO? In addition to publishing high-quality, relevant content, on-page SEO involves optimizing your headlines, HTML tags (title, meta, and headline), and images. It also means making sure that your website has a high level of expertise, authority and trustworthiness.
What is the most important criterion for good on page SEO?
On-page SEO is important because many of the signals Google uses to rank web pages come from on-page elements. The most important thing is the content of the page itself. Since on-page elements are what your users interact with the most, it’s worth making sure your on-page SEO is working properly.
What is the most important SEO ranking factor related to on page content *?
Content is one of the most important SEO ranking factors. Search engines want to deliver the best results possible, so they give top positions to sites with well-researched, in-depth, and well-crafted content.
What is the single most important on page SEO factor?
The single most important on-page SEO factor for overall ranking potential: domain authority.
What is the target of SEO?
The SEO process mainly focuses on organic links and search engine placement; yet it is often complemented by more aggressive measures (eg paid search ads) and is often part of traditional marketing campaigns.
What are keyword goals? A target keyword is a particular word or phrase that a website knows that potential visitors/customers can use when using a search engine and searching for the services the specific website offers.