As a small business owner, you depend on the support of your local community. Your customers and your online audience are all localized to a specific area, and getting their attention is paramount to the success of your business. As more and more people start their search for businesses online, your online presence becomes even more critical to growth and sustainability in your local area.
Your online presence relies heavily on written content, like your website, your blog, and your social media posts. These areas of written content give you a chance to rank high for specific, localized keywords. They also help you build a brand presence and build customer engagement and loyalty among your target audience. In this article, we’ll give you tips for local search-optimized content strategy for small businesses.
Understanding Local SEO
Local SEO is the lifeblood of written content and standing out in your local community. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of making your pages and your content rank higher on search engine results pages than competitors. Local SEO focuses on improving your search visibility in a specific location that is important to your business.
There are a few key elements that factor into your placement in local search rankings, the first of which is keywords. Keywords that include local indicators, like “near me”, “in my area,” or the name of your city or neighborhood can help you rank higher in search results.
Other important local SEO factors include reviews, your Google Business Profile, backlinks, social media profiles, and your written content. Written content plays a role in almost all aspects of your online presence, so knowing what steps to take to optimize your content helps you increase visibility and become discoverable in local searches.
Local Search-Optimized Content Strategy for Small Businesses
Now that you have a better understanding of what local SEO is, let’s go over some tips and techniques for local search-optimized content strategy for small businesses. These ideas will give you some guidance on how to improve written content and get found in your local area.
Website Content Optimization
Your website is one of the most important marketing and business tools you have at your disposal. It acts as a gateway that educates and filters your audience into customers. It’s important to use localized keywords and phrases in the content on your website pages. This helps your site rank higher for local searches. You can structure content to include local information about services, areas of operation, and location-specific pages. That further boosts your results rankings.
You also need to consider the back end of your website. That includes your meta tags and descriptions. You can put location-specific keywords in these areas as well, helping to boost your visibility to search engine algorithms. The language you use on your customer-facing pages also has an impact, and using natural, conversational language with local sayings or lingo also supports local search optimization.
The last place on your website where you can improve your content strategies is in your blog. Here you can pick topics that use localization in them, like highlighting local news, events, and trends. You can also go over the importance of your business services in specific areas where you operate for even more local visibility.
Directory Listings Optimization
Another key area for content localization strategy is in directory listings. Online directories are listings of businesses with relevant information to help searchers find a company that meets their needs. Choose relevant directories for your area, like a chamber of commerce businesses page, local review sites, or travel directories for your area.
On your directory listings, you need to have consistent NAP information. NAP stands for name, address, and phone number. Alongside that key information, you should also have other important details, like your hours of operation, areas of service, and questions and answers. You should also encourage customer reviews on your directories and other relevant review platforms.
Google Business Profile Optimization
Next, you need to look at your Google Business Profile. This is a type of directory that is the most relevant for any business, as Google is the most used search engine. Make sure that you have completed all sections of your profile. It’s also important to ensure your NAP information is accurate here as well as in the other directory locations.
Your Google Business Profile should be active. That means you engage with your profile by adding photos, using the questions and answers sections for FAQs, and responding positively and professionally to customer reviews. The more active you are on your Google Business Profile, the more Google will recognize your business as trustworthy and legitimate, helping to boost your rankings in local search results even more.
Social Media Localization
Social media plays a significant role in your online visibility, so content optimization strategies are in play here as well. Your social media posts should be tailored to your local audience. Try to build community engagement by interacting with your local followers as well as local businesses and groups in the area. You can also use social media to promote local events and partnerships in the community. Using local hashtags can also help new followers find your accounts. Location tags also boost your local search rankings in social media search algorithms.
Online Advertising Localization
Digital advertising is another area where localization factors play a crucial role. In your online ads, make sure that you are writing copy that speaks to your local community. Leverage ad extensions to enhance local credibility, like making sure your ads are targeted to your local area and appear on other local business websites. You should also have a local phone number with an area code that is recognizable to your local audience.
Measuring Success
Finally, it’s important to measure success with your local search optimization content strategies. By tracking your success, you will know whether your efforts have been successful, or if there is room for improvement in your approach to local content. Without a plan for measuring your success or failure, it will be almost impossible to know if you need to shift your approach or if you are heading in the right direction.
Track your search rankings and website analytics for local keywords and in your areas of operation using an SEO tool. You can also analyze customer engagement and conversion rates to see if your localization strategies are working as predicted. Adjust strategies based on performance metrics rather than just assuming things are going to plan.
Utilizing Surefire Local for Content Strategy
Local search-optimized content strategy for small businesses doesn’t have to be overly complex. By focusing on key areas and being consistent and methodical with your approach to localization content strategy, you can tackle the different areas of written content in your marketing and improve them for local searches. Whether you are working on a blogging strategy or want to improve your meta descriptions, the right strategy can help.
At Surefire Local, we help small businesses with their localized online marketing. We are the all-in-one platform that takes care of all aspects of small business marketing, so you don’t have to contend with multiple platforms and tools to get a few jobs done. We’re all about helping small businesses establish their online presence by creating local signals across platforms and profiles that make it easier for new customers to find you.
As the all-in-one marketing platform for local businesses, the Surefire Local tool has many features that support your efforts for localizing written content, as well as all other areas of your marketing efforts. Some of those features include:
- Website & Local SEO Optimizations: Creating geotagged content that is published on your website, blog, and social media profiles
- Online Review Management: Sending review requests, writing responses to reviews, and analyzing your brand sentiment to learn what customers think of your business
- Directories Management: Claiming, editing, and publishing new content like photos or a special offer for your business across 80+ online directory listings platform.
- Content Marketing: Tools for creating locally targeted and relevant content on your blog, Google Business Profile, business directories, and social media profiles.
- Social Media Management: Tools for scheduling posts, tracking engagement metrics, and responding to comments.
- Local Online Advertising: Ads designed to attract only the attention of customers within your service area.
- Analytics & Reporting: Transparency into campaign performance and how much revenue your marketing dollars are generating, with AI-generated recommendations on specific actions you can take to see improvements.
- Educational Resources: Webinars and blogs designed to help small businesses learn all things local online marketing.
At Surefire Local, we can’t wait to help you grow your small business and get the support you need to rank higher in local search engine results pages. To learn more about Surefire Local and how our platform can help you reach the next level of marketing growth, attend a Surefire Local demo today, and discover what we can do for you.