Readying Your Blog Content for Local Searching

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With the technological advancements that have been made thus far and professional competition as it is, it is quite difficult at times to compete with other businesses, online as well as in many other ways. Your web presence is essential and you must keep up.

Competing against local vs. national businesses

On many occasions, it is difficult to compete with larger, national businesses because the approach that the larger businesses take is often sophisticated and far-reaching. When it comes to attracting online traffic, in many cases, larger businesses have the advantage because they have local branches near you and they have branches in other locations as well, which can make a serious impact. That can be especially effective because of the widespread use of mobile devices. If those businesses get a large amount of traffic, they have a good chance of generating new leads and selling a greater amount. It is, of course, very important that you make it as easy as possible for people to find you online.

Although it may seem impossible for you, as a small business, to compete with a business that has a larger reach, it is far from impossible. There are definitely some advantages that small, local businesses have over larger businesses. In fact, one advantage that a small business has over a larger business is that the small business is generally more intimately involved and acquainted with the local community. That can be advantageous when it comes to generating traffic and building relationships that will be mutually beneficial and long lasting. However, one thing that is critical to the success of your small business is the ability to leverage community nuances and networking connections. Using blog content is a perfect way to accomplish that. However, it is important to consider that the blog content must be customized so that it is the most effective that it can be for the local community and local blog traffic. There are several different ways to approach this.

  • Discover the questions that people are asking and plan accordingly: Before you can accomplish anything at all, you will need to make sure that your blog content is up to par. That means that you will have to build a strategy with keywords and are customized for your local target audience. If you can pinpoint the questions and come up with effective answers, you will succeed at increasing your blog traffic. Once you have increased your traffic (and you should look at your existing traffic as well), you need to take a careful look at that traffic to ensure that your keyword strategy is sound. It is extremely important for you to establish if your business is serving your clients as effectively and successfully as it possibly can.

  • Localize your offerings to your geographic location: Since you are trying to attract local clients, it is very important that you localize what you are selling to make sure that your products and/or services are accessible in person to your clients and prospective clients. You need to give them something that they can touch with their bare hands or at least something that they can discuss with you in person.

  • Take advantage of local events that are relevant to your niche: The opportunities that are available to you and your business are more numerous than you can imagine. The first thing that you should do is identify the opportunities. The second thing that you should do is take advantage of those opportunities. You should write about the events in your blogs, which you should then share with your network of online business connections.

  • Highlight and share subject matter experts with your target audience: It is extremely important for you to give as much as you can to your online connections. Many of the people with whom you share a connection may be influencers and having them as a part of your strategy is beneficial for everyone.

  • Get involved in your social communities: Whether you realize it or not, you have a tremendous amount to offer other people, online and in person. It is very important for you to get involved (as a business owner) in whatever ways you can. It is something that is extremely easy to leverage and you and your business will certainly get a great deal of mileage out of it.

  • Covet your audience: Undoubtedly, search engine optimization and online leveraging are extraordinarily important for your business. However, SEO is not the only important element when it comes to your online social media strategy. The relationships that you develop are also of vital importance and it is essential that you recognize each tool and each person for the value that surrounds those tools and those people.

  • Highlight testimonials: Nobody can sing the praises of your business better than other people. In fact, you are the only person who is not allowed to do that. Other people bring with them credibility and sincerity. You should take advantage of what other people are saying about your business and share the information in the most effective manner possible.

Conclusion

Blogs are essential for your business’s online success. If a blog is written well, the reaction that you will invoke in your readers may be very positive and your blogs will affect many people in a positive way. You should use your blog content to take full advantage of your opportunities to get people to find you  more easily and more frequently.

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Author

  • Carolyn Cohn

    Carolyn Cohn is the Co-Founder & Chief Creative Services of CompuKol Communications. Carolyn manages CompuKol’s creative and editorial department, which consists of writers and editors. Her weekly blogs are syndicated globally. She has decades of editorial experience in online editing, and editing books, journal articles, abstracts, and promotional and educational materials. Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.

2 Responses

  1. Steve Case says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Social Media Marketing
    Discussion: Do You Write Content With Local Searching in Mind?

    Great points. I usually think of blogging in term of the widest audience possible, but this blog shows how it’s all different for a small business. In particular, I like the idea of focusing on the local events and culture.
    By Steve Case

  2. Jason King says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Linked User Group (Official Linked User Group)
    Discussion: Do You Write Content With Local Searching in Mind?

    Good article. For me it highlights the potential for small businesses to gain an advantage over larger competitors by focusing on smaller local markets and niche products/services 🙂
    By Jason King BA (Hons) Cert DMP