Content marketing is a fantastic, cost-effective way to increase your local business’s visibility. We’ve touted the benefits of content marketing many times here on our blog. Topical, high-quality content can give your business a more personal feel, help establish you as an expert in your field, and best of all, great content can really boost your SEO.
We could respond to this question with a long, detailed explanation full of technical jargon, but there’s no need. Here’s the quick and dirty answer: Content marketing is a marketing technique that involves creating and sharing quality, relevant content via a variety of methods and channels. This could include giving away a white paper on your website, publishing articles to your website’s blog, contributing posts on other websites’ blogs, sharing content on social media, and on and on.
Content marketing is really about sharing your expertise in an easily digestible way. And great content can increase your business’s search engine ranking, which gets your brand in front of more potential customers.
But what exactly should your content entail? What should you write about; what information should you share?
Here are three content marketing ideas that can boost your local SEO and attract more consumers to your local business.
As a local business, you don’t have the enormous customer base that a national or multi-national company has. Instead, you have something even better. Because you're local, you have a special connection to your potential customers – you’re part of the same community.
Use this to your advantage and create content specific to your area. Discuss how your business ties in with the community. Do you sponsor the local little league team? Add a few social media posts about it. Has your company started a charity that benefits your city or county? Write a few guest posts on other local blogs to explain what it’s all about.
Demonstrating your ties to the community through online content is an effective way to establish a strong, trustworthy reputation. Not to mention, the more often your company’s name is mentioned in connection with your location, the better your SEO will look!
Another excellent way to showcase your company’s skills and demonstrate your community ties is by publishing customer case studies. Case studies work well on your own site’s blog as well as on other relevant, local blogs.
A case study simply recounts a client’s experience with your company. Begin by summarizing the requirements of the job and how the job was handled. Mention a challenge you may have had along the way and how you solved the problem. Finally, explain the final product, how your business met your client’s needs, and how you can help others as well.
Again, showcasing your involvement with a local customer – and providing great service to a local customer – builds your reputation in the community. And publishing the case study online associates your company’s name with your location, furthering your SEO.
An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page is an excellent addition to any local business website. If your site doesn't currently have an FAQ page, consider adding one.
Frequently asked questions make for great topics on your blog or social media posts. Pick one of your more common FAQ’s; dig deeper into the question and answer, expanding on the details. Consumers crave transparency and there’s no better way to be transparent than by giving clear, honest answers to questions you frequently hear from customers.
When you’re open and upfront about things like, “How long will my project take?” or “How much will this cost?” you’ll find customers will be drawn to your business. This is particularly true for local customers, who are keen to find businesses they can trust.
Content marketing can be as simple or as complex as you want. If you’re new to content marketing, start small with a blog and regular social media posts. When you’re comfortable and ready for more, consider newsletter campaigns and guest blogging. You can then scale from there.
Remember, content marketing is about creating helpful, authentic, well-written content that will connect with your potential local customers on a personal level.
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