When it comes to local SEO there is more to the formula than key words and phrases cleverly placed throughout well written content. There has to be an SEO strategy that encompasses all of the online marketing tools you have at your disposal and use them to apply grassroots tactics in a new world of technology. You have to promote locally but think nationally.
Embrace Google
Google offers you the tools you need to hit home. You can access a gold mine of locally driven tools such as business listings and Google Maps. These tools are specifically designed to help local customers find you. You have to keep in mind that much like SEO is used to find content, there are certain things Google searches for business listings.
Make sure you use your actual phone number instead of a 1-800 number as your objective is to reach local customers. Also, your local number is the number you should use when you register with Google and which should hopefully match the number you used when you registered your business name. Google searches all of these things and when they match they will consider you a legitimate local business.
Get social!
Social Media is a new grassroots tactic that brings you into your local community and will help get you noticed in hand with the rest of your local SEO strategy. By engaging locals and allowing them to talk up your business you will begin to develop an online presence between your website and your social media campaign. Just remember there is more to Social Media than Twitter and Facebook. Pinterest, Google+, Flickr and Digg all offer you ways to make meaningful connections with the locals.
Working with a local SEO agency will help you come up with social media campaigns that will get you noticed. Events, discussions about your day, funny stories and posting new pictures and videos all help to keep your visitors and followers engaged. One thumbs up on a Facebook page can change your world. But then again so could one thumbs down. You have to be prepared to be online and answering customer inquiries and complaints or your efforts will fall flat.
Build meaningful relationships
Another grassroots tactic that can blossom online is using relationships with other local businesses for link building opportunities. Legitimate links between sites add to your expertise in the eyes of search engines. Local SEO can be enhanced by speaking with neighbours and offering to share links in order to enhance your links profile for search engine algorithms to find you.
Create events to blog about
Blogging is certainly a grassroots tactic as it entails a very personal touch when sharing ideas and experiences with your community. Coming up with events to blog about will make your site worthy of following and can help create interest for local SEO success. And don’t just think in terms of events such as sales. Instead focus on life events, things you learned that day you can share with people, a new product or service you are excited about and anything else that will keep people interested.
It may seem odd to think in terms of grassroots tactics when it comes to your online presence. But in essence blogs, social media and websites are the new telephone poles and park benches of the online world. Pinning up posters still works for people on the streets, but local SEO is dependent on the paths people travel online. Applying old school grassroots tactics to new world technology is the key to your local SEO success.
