Content Marketing is Not Everything When it Comes to SEO

While a strong content marketing campaign is vital to the success of a national, organic SEO campaign, you also want to implement a strong local SEO campaign if you want to rank well locally.

As a search engine optimization company, we always say that local optimization is all about the process of establishing credibility and proving your location in the city that you want to rank well in. It’s that simple.

Directories
The foundation of a strong local SEO campaign is the set up of multiple directories that link to the location or contact us page on your Website, which houses your company name, address, and phone number.

When setting up your local directories, you want to include your keyword as part of your company name, so that you rank for that particular keyword. The list of directories differs between the US and Canada. If your business or location is located in the US, make certain that your company is properly listed in the following directories: Google, Four Square, Yelp, Super pages, Info Group, Localeze, YP, Factual, Best of the web, Bing, Yahoo, Hotfrog, Acxiom, and Elocal.

In Canada, the key directories are Nokia, Four Square, Yelp, YP, Hotfrog, 411.ca, Best of the web, and Google.

Set Up
When setting up your directories, make them as complete as possible. Set up a business title that includes your keyword. Set up a description that includes your keyword. Place your business in the correct category. Include the proper address and phone number (local). Link to a page on your Website that includes your name, address, and phone number, such as your contact us page. Upload as many photos as possible. And provide your hours of operation.

Additional Steps
Additional steps to take to accelerate your local ranking include getting positive reviews. By setting up a reviews page, it makes it easy for people to leave reviews. Then, send out an email after each sale that links to your reviews page. Lastly, take the time to improve the quality of your Website if it needs improving. Google understands if the quality of the content on your site is good or not. They also understand if you are contributing to your market and providing a good experience. Take the time to provide the best experience possible and you’ll be rewarded.

If you have any questions about local SEO, please leave a comment below.