When you think about improving your local SEO, do you think about content?
I confess that it is not always the first thing that comes to my mind.
But here’s the thing – content directly affects local SEO, and ignoring it is a big mistake.
Yes, we may have text fields and limited places where we can enter content.
But listen to me. There’s more to it than you might think.
Key Differences In Local & Organic SEO Content Strategies
You can learn about what content 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 aren’t really all that different.
No matter what, good informational content should always be a priority.
The main difference between local SEO and organic SEO content is in user intent.
For local SEO, the user’s intent is to find goods or services close to them, so they include a location indicator in their search query.
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 by showing user results in your area.
This has been the case for a long time, as Google wanted to offer more localized SERP features (like map results) for searches that perceived local intent.
So when you’re writing for local SEO, produce content that highlights your location.
Getting Started
Before you start writing content for your website, you should always take a minute and think about your end game.
Ask yourself what goals you want to achieve.
And how can your content and messages help complete your goals?
For example, let’s say you want to improve your local SEO so that more people visit your physical store to increase sales and revenue.
Good local SEO can help you achieve it, but creating a Google My Business listing is not enough.
Prioritize creating high-quality content that highlights both what you have to offer and your location.
Local Content Audit
If you haven’t already, now is a good time to do a local content audit.
When performing a content audit, ask yourself what your ideal local customer is looking for.
Are they researching what’s available in their target area?
Want to visit a location now?
Looking for a supplier to go to them or to have a product delivered?
Knowing this information helps you determine if there are any gaps in your content that you can fill to help you 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 are targeting and the content structure to get your local customers or customers to convert.
Once you know who you’re targeting and what they’re looking for, you’re in a great position to start writing.
Now, let’s dive into specific content strategies you can use to improve your local SEO.
On-Page Local SEO Content
Here’s the good news, if you have a well-optimized website that includes quality content, there’s not much you need to change to optimize it for local searches.
Just a few tweaks here and there.
One of the most important things you can do to improve your local SEO is to put your address in the footer.
If you have less than ten locations, I recommend putting them all in the footer.
Also, 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.
It’s not enough to just copy and paste information from one page to another, even if you do the same thing in all of your locations.
That would be duplicate content, which could hurt your SEO.
General Reminders for Creating a Good Page:
Blogging
Blogs are a powerful tool to provide your customers with useful information and make you an expert in your field.
Simply put, in Google’s eyes, it has the power to increase your experience, authority and trust (EAT).
But other than that, blogging is a great way to highlight your location(s) and boost your local SEO.
First and foremost, it provides Google with fresh content that reiterates where you are located.
It also helps you target annoying local keywords like “wine bar near me” which can be hard to rank for.
Also, blogs allow you to get backlinks from other local businesses.
And it gives people a chance to comment or share your article, which are two things that improve local SEO.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t remember that one of the most important things you can do with a blog is share it on social media and any local lists that allow it.
Get comments, 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 spot 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 a number of 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 hours, information about products and your services. For example, a food menu and photos of a restaurant.
When optimizing your Google business profile, please ensure that all information provided is correct.
If anything changes, like your hours of operation, update your profile accordingly.
Another valuable thing you can do is post photos, current blog articles, relevant promotions, and updated policies and procedures to your feed.
This communicates to Google that you are an active listing to promote because you provide valuable information to users.
Finally, well-optimized Google Business Profiles receive more clicks and route requests.
A key part of building a good local SEO strategy is collecting reviews and responding promptly.
In terms of content, user-generated content reviews carry a lot of weight.
Getting your business featured on the Map Pack is a big deal.
It allows users to see your listing before scrolling through the SERPs.
Some content-related strategies that can help you get one of the coveted places in the Map Pack:
Other Listing Services
When it comes to SEO, Google is the main player for sure.
So it’s no surprise that the main thing tied to local SEO is Google Business.
But we shouldn’t ignore other local listing services like Bing Local, Yelp, Thumbtack, Yellowpages.com, Foursquare and more – depending on our industry and focus.
Publishing content and other updates gives your site a citation and increases local credibility.
If you’re on these sites, be sure to give them some attention from time to time, and make sure you respond to any comments you’ve received — even if you’re using data aggregation services to submit data to third-party directories.
Your online reputation is important to Google and should not be overlooked.
Social Media
As I’m sure you already know, social media helps SEO.
So having a business listing on Facebook and Instagram is important.
This increases your audience, so your article gets more views.
And more views mean more opportunities for backlinks.
Ultimately, having a robust social media presence and posting useful content to your social feed affects your EAT and makes you appear more trustworthy 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 leads Google to rank higher in local search results and the Map Pack.
Simply creating quality content for your website is not always enough. You should also share it on your Google business profile, other local listing sites, and on your social media feeds to increase traffic and show your expertise and trustworthiness.
For more content marketing tips, check out SEJ’s Complete Content Marketing Guide.
For more local SEO guidance, grab a free copy of SEJ’s Local SEO eBook.
Featured Image: GaudiLab/Shutterstock
What three trends might show up in SEO analysis?
The top three vital factors of the Web are: Increased Content Paint (LCP) First Entry Delay (FID) Cumulative Layout Change (CIS)
What are the 3 most important on-page SEO factors? To conclude, the most important on-page SEO factors include well-written and original content, a good title and description tag, formatting with proper use of header and sub-headings, use of images and their descriptions, and well-composed URLs that contain the most important keyword and are not too long.
What does SEO analysis include?
SEO analysis is the process of closely examining a website to gain a better understanding of how well the website has been optimized and what can be done to help improve the website. SEO analysis requires brands to first carefully analyze the content they have on their page.
What are the 3 components of SEO?
We cover the three basic parts of SEO: technical SEO, content/relevance SEO, and promotion/authority SEO.
What are the 4 main components of an SEO?
The stronger the connections between each of the 4 SEO components – technical SEO, on-page SEO, off-page SEO and content – the better the results. Being aware of connections will help us better understand how best to use them effectively.
What are the 5 SEO factors?
Top 5 on-page SEO factors
- On-Page SEO Factor 1 – Keyword Research: …
- On Page SEO Factor 2 – URL Optimization: …
- On Page SEO Factor 3 – Meta Tags: …
- On-Page SEO Factor 4 – Header Tags: …
- On Page SEO Factor 5 – Content Optimization:
What are the 3 parts of SEO?
There are three types of SEO you need for a complete organic search strategy: on-page SEO, technical SEO, and off-page SEO. By breaking down your strategy and thinking of SEO as these three categories, it will be much easier to organize and execute your optimization plans.
What are the 3 C’s of SEO?
Simply put, the fundamentals of SEO can be boiled down to the 3 Cs: content, code, and credibility.
What are the 3 types of SEO?
The three types of SEO are:
- On-Page SEO – Anything on your web pages – Blogs, product copy, web copy.
- Off-page SEO – Anything that happens outside of your site that helps your SEO strategy – backlinks.
- Technical SEO – Anything technical done to improve search rankings – website indexing to help bot crawl.
What are the new trends in SEO?
Identify longer phrases that people use in everyday conversations. Voice searches tend to do better with longer, more natural-sounding sentences. When people type, they tend to abbreviate. For example, a person might voice search “What are the new SEO trends for 2022?” but type in the words “new SEO trends for 2022”.
What is the New SEO?
Video SEO Gets Two Dedicated Structured Data If you’re into video SEO, Google I/O 2021 has a lot to offer. The search engine giant has announced the release of two new structured data – Seek Markup and Clip Markup to help video content appear in search results with key moments.
What are the latest trends in SEO?
Let’s dive into the 12 SEO trends to watch out for in 2022.
- Artificial intelligence will play a bigger role in SEO. …
- Voice search will affect search queries. …
- Mobile compatibility will affect search rankings. …
- Content that meets the Google EAT principle will rank higher. …
- Long-form content will help improve SERPs.
What are the SEO Trends 2022?
The Best SEO Strategies for 2022 Check Your Core Web Vitals and Invest in Improvements. Target long-tail question keywords so people ask too. Create keyword clusters to rank more queries with a page. Use AI content tools, but as an add-on.
What will be the trending SEO technique in 2021?
Make it a top priority in your 2021 SEO strategy. Also, build brand awareness to increase brand search queries. Brand queries are a hidden ranking factor that will help you rank higher and establish yourself as a trusted brand on Google. You might even want to perform a content audit for this one.
What are the main components of SEO?
The three main types of on-page SEO factors are content, architecture, and HTML.
What are the main components of SEO? The 11 Most Important Parts of SEO You Need to Get Right
- Your audience and industry. Your primary industry and audience should be the number one consideration behind any viable SEO strategy. …
- Keyword research. …
- User intent. …
- Analysis and Reporting. …
- Mobile SEO. …
- crawling. …
- Indexing. …
- Technical SEO.
What are 3 main components of SEO?
We cover the three basic parts of SEO: technical SEO, content/relevance SEO, and promotion/authority SEO.
What are the 3 C’s of SEO?
Simply put, the fundamentals of SEO can be boiled down to the 3 Cs: content, code, and credibility.
What is White Hat SEO?
White hat SEO is the body of approved search engine optimization tactics designed to increase a website’s position on a search engine results page (SERP). Search engine results that appear as a result of approved methods rather than payment or gimmicks are called organic search results.
What is White Hat and Black Hat SEO? While white hat SEO involves looking for ways to improve user experience, black hat SEO relies on manipulating Google’s algorithm to improve rankings. Simply put, if a tactic is designed to make Google think that a website offers more value to users than it actually does, it’s misleading – and it’s black hat SEO.
What is white hat GREY hat SEO?
Gray hat SEO is an SEO practice that combines white hat SEO and black hat SEO. Gray hat SEO is riskier than white hat SEO because it exploits search engine guidelines to increase a page’s rankings in the SERPs. Gray hat SEO techniques are black disguised as white.
What is a GREY hat SEO?
Gray hat SEO is a combination of white hat and black hat SEO. It is an illegal method to increase page rank and traffic. Cloacking, duplicate content, etc. are some of the gray hat SEO techniques. Great post.
What is white hat black hat and GREY hat in SEO?
Black Hat practices are effective, but they are risky and can get your site reported. Gray Hat SEO, on the other hand, is an SEO practice that remains “ill-defined” and/or “ill-advised” by published search engine guidelines and that can be unpleasant. In essence, it is black disguised as white.
Which is better white hat SEO or black hat SEO?
| Black Hat SEO | white hat seo |
|---|---|
| It is also known as unethical SEO. | It is also known as Ethical SEO. |
What is white hat SEO benefits?
The White Hat SEO Advantages Improve Your Rankings: A marketing campaign that follows Google’s best practices – such as matching keywords with relevant landing pages, creating good content, and receiving reliable backlinks – will improve your rankings in the SERPs.
Which is better white hat SEO or black hat SEO?
| Black Hat SEO | white hat seo |
|---|---|
| It is also known as unethical SEO. | It is also known as Ethical SEO. |
Why is white hat SEO important?
White hat SEO is important because without it, search engine results would be chaotic. Without rules to guide the internet, website owners would rely on more dated SEO methods to rank on search pages. And users would have to scour many irrelevant sites to find what they are looking for.
What are SEO benefits?
Organic visibility, leading to increased website traffic, is a monumental benefit of SEO. Search engine optimization is hyper-targeted and customer-centric. An effective SEO strategy will help deliver your web pages to a relevant audience through relevant search queries.
What is local content value?
Local content means the amount of value added in India, which will be 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 proportion of the total value, in per cent.
What is an example of local content requirements? An example of a very typical local content requirement is the preference for qualified nationals in hiring. Some countries may set a specific percentage requirement for the employment of nationals of the country.
What is local content in Saudi?
Local Content is defined as the total expenditure on Saudi components on Labor, Goods, Services, Assets, Technology and other such items within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
What is meant by local content?
Meaning of local content in English the materials, workers, etc. used to make a product that are from the area where the product is made rather than being imported: All three car manufacturers claim they use 60-80% local content.
What does local content policy mean?
The fastest growing of these measures are local content requirements (LCRs), which are government-imposed policies that require businesses to use domestically manufactured goods or domestically provided services to operate in an economy.
What is the purpose of local content?
While Local Content Policies (LCPs) have the potential to stimulate the broad-based economic development that is needed to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity and ensure sustainable economic and social outcomes, their use has achieved mixed results.
What is local content certificate?
– Local Content hereinafter abbreviated to LC means the value added in India which shall, unless otherwise stated by the Ministry Nodal, be the total value of the item purchased (excluding net domestic indirect taxes) minus the value of the imported content in the item (including all customs duties) as…
What is local content in trade?
Local content requirements impact the global economy The fastest growing of these measures are local content requirements (LCRs), which are government-imposed policies that require businesses to use domestically manufactured goods or domestically provided services to operate in an economy.
What does local content mean?
Local content is the value that an extraction project brings to the local, regional or national economy in addition to resource revenues. • Countries can encourage local content through requirements and targets set out in national laws and individual contracts.
What is local content production?
Local television content is defined in the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act1 as a television program (excluding broadcasts of sporting events and compilations thereof, advertisements, teletext and continuity advertisements) that is produced by a South African broadcaster or by South African people. .
What is the purpose of local content?
While Local Content Policies (LCPs) have the potential to stimulate the broad-based economic development that is needed to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity and ensure sustainable economic and social outcomes, their use has achieved mixed results.
What is the purpose of local content?
While Local Content Policies (LCPs) have the potential to stimulate the broad-based economic development that is needed to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity and ensure sustainable economic and social outcomes, their use has achieved mixed results.
Who benefits from local content requirements?
Meeting Local Content requirements ultimately helps improve the economy’s financial, economic and physical infrastructure, as well as the education and talent of the local workforce, creating a better community for all involved. Local content requirements are not going away.
What does local content mean?
(also national content) materials, workers, etc. used to make a product that are from the area where the product is made rather than being imported: All three car manufacturers claim they use 60-80% local content.
What is the importance of local content?
Essentially, local content is about ensuring direct and indirect employment and procurement opportunities for nationals, while promoting local skills development, technology transfer, and the use of local labor and local manufacturing in capital projects.
Why would a government implement a local content requirement?
While local content requirements can take many forms, their overall objectives are to ensure the participation of nationals in the workforce and the promotion of local suppliers, goods and services.