Master SEO

When you are dealing with web sites, servers and search engines you come across terms that have different meanings than what you may expect. Items like ‘doorway’ or ‘hub’ may mean very different things in the SEO setting and unless you are one with the lingo you may end up wondering what the heck certain things mean.

A doorway is something you go through, right? In real life it is. In computer speak it is a page on a site that is specialized to attract traffic from a search engine. Sort of the same thing, sort of not. You use a doorway to enter a room; you use a doorway to enter a site.

And as for hub. You may think of an airport as being a giant hub, people go there from all over the world and then link through that airport to another destination. A hub in computer speak is an expert page with high quality that links to related pages. Sort of the same, no? Instead of linking you with a new city, it links you to a new page. And so it goes.

So, what’s a bounce rate? It’s not how many times you can jump on the backyard trampoline, but it is a percentage of users who enter a site and then leave it without checking out any of the pages. They bounce right on in and right on out.

Another term that actually makes a lot of sense is a mirror site. You guessed it, it’s the same site but at a different address. Why would you need two identical sites at different addresses remains to be seen.

In real life you either love or hate spiders. There’s no in between, they freak some people out and others think they’re the best thing going. Well, on a search engine they’re always a good thing as they are a bot that is specialized by the search engine to find and add pages to the index. The better the page, the better ranked it will be, the more people will visit. All thanks to an invisible ‘spider’.

And finally link bait. What is it? It is a page that is designed to attract incoming links. Most of these links are through social media sites, you know, you’re looking at something and there’s half of a sentence, you want to see the rest of the sentence… and you click. Easy peasy.

Most sites owners are aware of “SEO” and appointing digital marketers to get their websites scale up to a higher place in the general search engines. The main idea is to put relevance on the ‘keywords’ optimisation and emphasise on the search engine algorithms. Search engine algorithms determine the importance of keywords on the different pages, and on the metadata according to the search pattern of the users. While getting more and more users to the website and help them interact with the content laid on it is the main motive of SEO, it also boosts up the ranking by improvising the usability and user experience of the site.

In the section below, there is explained some easy and effective ways to increase the ranking of your site, enhance visibility and get more people to click through it.

#1 Optimising the website’s URLs

URLs are a kind of underrated asset for the pages of a website. They add value to the keywords. When one types different keywords, the URL comes as a part of the impression/ad that appears in the search results. Thus, you can have users directly clicking on the link to visit your site from those ads. So, try optimising the URLs, i.e. make it short, relevant and stuff it with important keywords such that people get to click on your web page’s link as it appears.

#2 Working on the site structure and categories

Google indexes the site of a website based on how the content is placed. It looks for the site structure and apparently, the categories where content is relevant to the search terms get ranked in a higher position. Thus, you need to name your categories or subcategories using the most relevant keywords that will help you rank better.

#3 Optimising the titles of the page

Do not forget to consider the page titles. The title is a significant element on the page and is perhaps the longest-serving and impactful on-page SEO factor. It thrusts a balance between the SEO and readability of the website. For optimising the titles, you need to restrict the title length to 55-65 characters, as Google can show up to 69 characters on the results. Secondly, try stuffing it with most related keywords or catchy words or words that are most typed so that your page appears every time on the search results.

#4 Keeping page descriptions good and short

Page descriptions too important for SEO as it is likely to impact CTR (Click Through Rate). Even if they do not have any direct influence over the search engine rankings, they have a huge impact on the amount of traffic that flows into a site. Thus, you need to be sure that your ad that appears on the search engines is well presented and optimised to grab major attention for CTR.

#5 Using of Header tags

The proper use of the header tags will help you rank better as it breaks up the content into separate sections, thereby increasing the readability. Well formatted content always wins when Google indexes web pages. More the readability, more will be the users coming back to the site. This will resultantly signal your site’s relevancy in the search engines more.

If you own a small business (or run a small business), you are probably aware of the challenges that search engine optimization (SEO) present. Those challenges are most likely different from SEO challenges that mid and large size companies experience. You need to maximize SEO for your small business effectively.

Learning how to customize
There are a few truths here and you would do well not to ignore them considering that you want your small business not only to get by but also to really make a solid contribution in the workforce. Just like social media, SEO (as a concept and as a business strategy) is here to stay. That means that you must optimize your content for the search engines (that is, if you have any hope of succeeding).

Your rankings on the search engines are critical to your brand’s success. If you don’t embrace SEO, the next guy (or girl) will step up immediately and do whatever you were unwilling to do. His or her business will thank you for having given him or her the opportunity. It is that simple. You need to make sure that your brand and your business is always visible so that other people are well aware of what you are doing and how you can help them to solve their problem(s).

Local SEO
If your business happens to have branches in different locations or if you are only in one location, you still need to customize your SEO to those locations. That customization may be slightly different in each place so you should embrace it now so that you are prepared for what you need to do later. If you have more than one location, you will need a page for each location. You will want to share the following information:

• The contact information of your business(es) (business name, address, phone number, Email address)
• A list and the products and services that you offer
• Direction to your brick-and-mortar business(es)
• Your hours of operation
• Contact form so that the other person has a way of connecting with you
• Social buttons so that the other person can go to the next step with your brand
• Descriptions of your offerings (and meta-tags). It is important to keep in mind that each description must be unique. Otherwise, you may be penalized for having duplicate content.
• Interactive (properly functioning) pages. That means that when the other person wants to reach out to you, he or she is able to do so.
• Clear, concise, and compelling content.
• An easy way for the other person to navigate through the pages.
• Effective keywords and key phrases so that the other person can find you easily.

Make sure that other people can find you locally (optimize properly)
Although there is no doubt that your website is really important for your brand and for your business, there are other places where your prospective customers hang out and where they will be more inclined to find you. Try LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.You should also register your business(es) with a local listing site. There is a really good chance that if you list your business there, people will find you because that is one type of site where they will naturally go when they need what you happen to be offering. Once you have decided to put your information on a local listing site, you will want to include the following:

• The URL of your business’ website.
• Your business hours.
• Prices to go with your products and/or services.
• A full list of the products and/or services that you offer.
• Your credentials (after all, the other person will need to consider you credible so that he or she eventually buys what you are selling).
• Photos of what you are selling.

An important thing to remember (if you have multiple locations) is that your content should be consistent across all locations. That even holds true from a grammatical perspective. There is nothing worse than inconsistency (well, second worst. The worst thing to find in content is typos). A lack of consistency shows a lack of attention to detail, which translates to your not caring about your business and about other people. That is probably not true but it is a perception that other people will get and it will stick with them, unfortunately. Oh, and inconsistency will also negatively affect your search engine ranking.Customize a content strategy for your local business(es)
Your local business(es) will be so much more personal to your customers than one that can reach people universally online. Although connecting people in any way possible is crucial, there is something so much more meaningful about connecting with the other person face to face. Your content must reflect that personal connection in many different ways. You will want to start by:

• • Clearly defining exactly who your “perfect” customer is: It is important to do this before you work on your strategy. You will need to have a deep understanding of who that person is and what he or she will want and need. Only then will you be able to effectively customize your strategy.

• • Figure out exactly what your positioning should be: This may seem challenging in the beginning. Establishing your positioning means that you will have to find your niche. The more specialized you become, the more narrow your target audience will be. However, that also means that you will have less competition, which, of course, is a really good thing. One of your main points of focus will be getting other people to view you as an expert and as a thought leader (and, eventually, an influencer). You want the other person to think of you first when he or she needs what you are offering.

• • Customize your message: Your entire presence (landing pages, website, and all content that discusses your offerings) should be customized to the point where the other person feels as though you are speaking only to him or her. Again, make sure that the content is consistent across the board.

• • Share content on a regular basis: Sharing valuable content on a regular basis is what will allow you the opportunity to establish a relationship with the other person. The more you publish your content, the deeper and closer your relationship will become with the other person.

• Promote your brand: You are probably well aware of the fact that once you have laid the foundation, the work has just begun. You certainly cannot afford to sit back and wait for something to happen because it won’t. You didn’t make all that effort just to have it gather dust in the corner. You need to tell people about your brand and you need to get out there and shake hands and kiss babies.

Conclusion
Optimizing content for a small business is very different than optimizing for a larger business. If you don’t have SEO, nobody will visit you. You need also to make sure that your mindset is right and that the efforts that you make are going to pay off for your business. Another important thing to remember is to make sure that your offerings are placed in the most appropriate categories. You should never think that SEO is SEO in every situation. Your efforts need to be customized and tweaked to fit the situation.

When one hears “SEO,” it’s almost automatic to start thinking of technical matters such as links, website indexing, and so forth. One crucial element that people tend to overlook but has quite the impact is content and producing quality content that assists SEO.

But what exactly does content have to do with search engine optimization?

Keywords

Keywords are the most crucial factor in getting your page noticed by search engines. Given the process of users inputting queries when searching online, making sure your content matches their queries via the right keywords is the trick to appearing on the results of potential customers.

Targeting Your Audience

Whether you’re aiming for local customers or an international audience, including the necessary keywords in your article or blog post should be done with as naturally as possible. For example, if you’re a baked goods store in Toronto looking for a better presence among your local customers, you can’t just place “bakeshop in Toronto” randomly within each paragraph.

It’s not just a matter of not appearing spamm-y (and avoiding penalization), it’s also about actually providing content that audiences will stop and pay attention to. Even if your ultimate goal is to advertise to users, quality should remain top priority.

Different Kinds of Content

SEO marketers and writers typically come up with different kinds of content to place the necessary keywords in. These are some of the most used types, and each one helps to contribute to a level of variety in terms of website content.

Articles

Almost every website is bound to contain a whole bunch of articles. Articles can literally be about anything – from informative pieces to features on an event. Also, they’re typically lengthy and leave a lot of room for elaboration.

Similar to what you’d read in a magazine or newspaper, while they’re not completely formal in tone, they’re not to be overly friendly, either. Articles typically keep a sensible tone that helps introduce important keywords and even establish an air of authority as well.

Blog Posts

Another very popular type of web content is blog posts. These are typically a bigger hit with younger audiences because of the playful tone used as well as the shorter length of the posts.

If your branding allows for it, blog posts can be great for when you want to appear more casual and personal to your audience. They also make it easier to “naturally” incorporate keywords into the text.

Infographics

With infographics, meanwhile, you get to really start diversifying your content since images are now involved.

From serious statistics to quirky (but still educational, of course) comics, infographics allow you to present matters such as product information to your audience in a way that’s easier to absorb thanks to the assisting images and introductory and concluding paragraphs containing the keywords.

Videos

Videos are the ultimate content diversifier – you move from just making the audience just look at/read something to creating a more dynamic experience thanks to moving images and even sound.

Videos don’t have to be published as often, but when they are, they should come with a paragraph or two of explanatory/introductory/concluding points where you can casually slip in keywords.

Making Sure Your Customer Gets Something Out of It

Apart from providing your customers your pitch, it’s important that you’re actually giving them something to take away from your posts as well.

Remember, these are people and you’re asking for their time. Respecting that, providing content that will be worth their while should be part of any effective site as it shows customers that you acknowledge them as humans and not as mere cash factories.

Helps You Build Domain Authority

Domain authority is the top factor in dictating the ranking of a website. You can go to sponsored content (aka PPC ads) all you want, but that’s all temporary. If you want a good ranking that actually sticks around, you’ll have to work on your domain authority.

Links

The best way to boost your domain authority is with links that lead back to your site, and such clicks that lead back to your site are made possible by your content being placed on popular sites. These inbound links are best achieved with engrossing content that’s well-written just for your audience and in accordance to their interests.

When your content is interesting and presents accurate information useful to your audience, you’re well on your way to becoming a go-to site for users, and with a better volume of regular traffic with little bounce rate, your website’s ranking is bound for better visibility.

Search engines undergo so many updates that it can be quite challenging to keep up. Search Engine Optimization is like a game with an ever-changing set of rules and winning demands an intricate, well thought out strategy. The Google Algorithm is continuously being fine-tuned to get the most relevant content on top of the deck.

Here are the SEO trends this 2018 that you need to watch out for so that your brand can snag that prime lot on Google’s search results:

Websites Changing to HTTPS

Http (or Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is the method by which data is moved around the Web. It is fast, it’s reliable and it has been around since the dawn of the world wide web. However, it is probably not the most secure way of transferring data online. Hacking into it can be a picnic and that is not something that you want if you are handling sensitive personal information from your users. Https (or Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) is the answer to this data protection issue. If your site has switched to Https, it is ensured that your site’s visitor data are encrypted and secured. More and more websites are changing course and Google is picking it up. Get this: In June of 2017, 55% of sites on page one of Google search results were using Https and this trend is projected to continue this 2018. Simply put, Https is the future.

Google Showing More SERP Features

SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page and a SERP feature is basically anything on the SERP that is not a traditional organic result. If you type in a celebrity’s name for example, then you’ll most likely get a Knowledge Panel featuring some basic information like the personality’s full name, age, and previous works, above the list of search results. The primary goal of SERP features is to give users the most relevant information in the shortest time possible. These types of results obviously acquire more clicks because of the prime real estate and eye-catching look. If you want exposure on a SERP feature then one, you have to secure a spot on the first page of the results because Google curates the Featured Snippets from websites on the leaderboard. And second, you need to have content that effectively and precisely targets your client’s question. So if you used to think that Featured Snippets are nothing more than a fad or a novelty, I hope we got you convinced that they really do offer a significant organic opportunity for your brand.

Growing Popularity of Voice Search

With the rising popularity of Siri, Alexa and Cortana, we can easily deduce that there really is a demand for virtual personal assistants. More and more people are using these AIs to set their alarms, to plan their day, and to answer their questions about anything under the sun. The increased adoption of this technology is something you can make the most of to bring your brand to the top of the search results. One observation is that Voice search requires a whole new keyword research routine. Users who use voice search use normal, conversational sentences instead of the choppy query lingo used in text search. In this SEO trend, it is all about natural language and the intended meaning behind the question, rather than the query itself. Rethink your content and make sure you can ride this wave.

Mobile First Indexing

Google’s Mobile First Indexing has started rolling out this 2018 and we hope you have reinforced your site’s mobile version. With this SEO trend, Google will begin to index and rank your site based on how the content is viewed through mobile rather than the desktop version. The shift has been brought about by the steady increase of engagements from mobile devices in recent years. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly site, you are practically ignoring over 55 percent of web users. Make sure you are optimizing your content for mobile and using a responsive design for your site that works for different devices. Multifunctionality and accessibility are the best ways to stay competitive.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a vital part of any Digital Marketing concept. All the websites rank in Google through seamless SEO techniques. If not done properly, then the website may lose its presence in the online world.

The best way to keep ahead is to learn new updates of SEO at a faster pace. The application of innovative techniques will help the client’s websites to be on the top search pages of Google. In between, here are some latest five predictions that will dominate the year 2018.

Develop a Brand with Link Building

This is one of the important strategies to build a brand in the online market. Link building from the popular websites will help you to establish the topmost brand. This powerful technique will dominate in the year 2018. Moreover, it will emphasize relation building, carefully dealing with the guest blogs so that it does not affect the brand in any way, controlling of spam Backlinks and scrutinizing the link building profile.

Concentrating on Visual Contents

The Google search of images and videos will witness a wider improvement. The visual images and content are making an upheaval nowadays. Many websites and social media sites are using the visual or the video content. This is because of the advancements in the newer techniques by Google and high Internet speed. The SEO executives are also relying on the videos and image searches as to increase the global reach.

Mobile Optimization

Most of the companies lose their visitors because of low loading speed of the web pages. About 57% of the web page traffic comes from the mobile devices. The use of Accelerated Mobile Pages will help in multiplying the loading speed to four times that will eventually lead to 35% increased user-interaction in 2018. The SEO result can also become better if the companies are concentrating on the optimization technique of the smartphones. To get an increased visibility, choose the keywords according to the searches of smart gadgets with the help of Local SEO.

Focus on Voice Searches

With Google Voice and Siri, the voice search has become easier and convenient for many users who do not like typing. The Voice-Recognition Software is becoming reliable because they can understand normal human speech. Here, the SEO experts need to search out keywords or phrases, which can be said aloud and will make the search easy for users. The SEO strategy used in the year 2018 will focus on the conversational sentences and terms.

To sum up, the above-stated SEO strategies will help the companies as well as users to fasten their searches and find the products easily. This can only be done with the help of top-notch and latest technique-laden SEO strategies.

Search Engine Optimization is a very crucial part of digital marketing. Here are some Search Engine Facts which a digital marketer must know. These SEO Facts 2018 can really help them to plan for different marketing strategy.

1. Most of the users click on top 5 search results:- According to the latest researches, 75% of the users click on the first 5 search results shown by the search engine. To be more precise, 32% users click on the topmost result compared to 18% users going for the second result. This stat very clearly shows that the higher your website will rank, the more visits it will get.

2. Users don’t usually scroll past page 1:- Only a mere 20% of the users are persistent enough to scroll to page 2 of search results. So if your website is on page 2 then you must work on your digital marketing and SEO strategies.

3. Mobile Friendly Keywords are the need of the hour:- Around 50% of users start their searches on a mobile device. When people use their phone for a search, they tend to use different keywords. Also, when it comes to looking for local business, 88%of the searches are initiated on a mobile device.

4. Mobile SEO and Local Business:- As we mentioned before, users tend to search for local business on their smartphones. The number of smartphone users is increasing year after year, hence, it is very important to plan your keywords according to the rise in mobile searches.

5. Websites with more pages are likely to attract more traffic:- The number of pages on a website plays a direct role in determining the amounts of traffic it generates. It simply reflects the importance of relevant keywords.

6. Around half of the search queries are 4 words or longer:- It is a clear fact that short keywords will help you to show up higher in the search results. But at the same time, it is very difficult to ranks those keywords as short keywords are very competitive. So, instead of going for short competitive keywords, you should just use longer ones effectively.

7. Organic Search still trumps over Social Media Traffic:- Although social media traffic is increasing day by day, organic searches are still the way to go. Organic searches account for 41% of the total search which is 3 times the social media traffic. Hence, moving completely to social media platforms to generate traffic is not wise.

8. Quality Content:- Google adores rich and definite substance which gives per users esteem and answers questions. Whenever you’re attempting to get a site on the first page of Google, ensure you incorporate a lot of substance.

In the game of search engine optimization, there are winners and losers. The difference between them is their rankings. Planning your strategy is one factor; monitoring your success on search engines is another. In 2018, the game has changed yet again.

Some entrepreneurs choose to consult a digital marketing firm for their SEO strategies. However if you’re prepping yourself to see how well your site is doing on search engines, you can familiarize yourself with the best tools for SEO.

Mind you, some tools are paid and some are free. Nonetheless, these tools are the best of the best and up-to-date, so it’s most likely worth investing in.

Searchmetrics

Searchmetrics provides analytics for SEO, backlinks, and social media. They have a set of collected data per website, giving you insights and trends in backlinks, SEO visibility, and the like.

They also provide a weekly ranking for keywords, which is good for measuring which keywords your website should rank for. Searchmetrics gives insights on overall search trends.

Google Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools is a free toolset that helps you understand what’s happening on your website. It also explains the essentials of Google search, and helps you comprehend the way Google sees your site.

One of its features allows you to browse an article the way Google perceives it. This allows you to step up your SEO game especially if your campaign is doing poorly. The data you collect from this feature can help you adjust the webpage for better results.

SEMrush

SEMrush is a free tool for keyword research. The website offers many toolkits including an SEO toolkit. One of its top features allows you to plug in different web pages to see how they’re ranking for which keywords, how that page ranks for a certain keyword, particular keywords’ monthly search volume, and the like.

Additionally, SEMrush also lets you research appropriate keywords, compare your page’s performance to your competitors’, analyze backlinks from other websites to yours, and play on similar on-page SEO opportunities.

UpCity SEO Report Card

This tool allows you to analyze how your website ranks against your opponents. Like an actual report card, SEO Report Card gives you an assessment of your rank, link building, on-site analysis (how well you fused your keywords throughout your site), website accessibility (your site’s load time and ease of accessibility for crawlers), trust metrics, and current indexing (the number of your site pages that have been indexed).

This tool is free, and all you have to provide is some contact information like your name, email address, phone number, and website.

Seobility

Seobility shows you how well or badly your website’s SEO optimization is performing. They have various features like SEO check (checking your website and giving you tips for better SEO), keyword check (showing you how your page is optimized for your keywords), SEO compare (comparing your page and another for the same keyword), and ranking check (checking your page’s rank for any keyword).

Seobility has automated website crawling that checks your website while following all backlinks, monitors your emails, and detects errors in content and the structure of your website.

People conduct online searches for all types of things everyday and many do some of their shopping online. However, there’s a large percentage of people, who do searches for local businesses everyday, just the same… They conduct these local searches by utilizing relevant keywords and key phrases that contain specific location names to locate businesses that are close to their residence. As a matter of fact, Google found that 76 percent of searches done on smartphones are on local searches, which turn into store visits.

If your goal is to get people to come and visit your business establishment – you will need to attract and increase local searchers. You can take the lead among competitors and make it possible for people to be able to find your business when they conduct local, applicable online searches. With that being said – what this means for you is that you need to optimize the visibility of your business website in local search result pages.

This is where Local (SEO) Search Engine Optimization Takes a Leading Role

Here’s a brief and simple explanation of what Local SEO is for those of you who are not familiar with the term or are just getting started.

Local SEO is very much like organic, search engine optimization (SEO). The difference is that Local SEO will only be focusing in the improvement of a website’s ranking in local search results. In comparison to common SEO – Local Search Engine Optimization can be a bit more challenging… However, if you want to advertise your business to customers on a local scale, it is of utter importance that you improve your Local SEO, as you want for local customers to find your products and/or services quickly and this will also, improve you local search ranking.

1. Improve Local Search Ranking with Content Marketing. Don’t despair… Although, Local SEO is a little more complex there are many ways that you can easily improve your local search ranking. One of the ways is with Content Marketing. Perhaps, all you will have to do is implement a few changes to your current Content Marketing methods. For instance, you can utilize any of the following Content Marketing strategies to optimize your Local SEO search results:

• Publish Content on Local Websites and/or Submit Guest Blog Posts.

More than likely, you probably already adhere to a Content Marketing strategy, which includes a blog in your website. Blogging is a perfect way to enhance your website and for your visitors to be able to engage, while getting information that’s valuable to them.

For traditional and Local SEO – it is necessary to diversify and begin publishing content on other sites. Guest posts will allow you the opportunity to display your expertise, while also, earning you worthy backlinks.

The Local SEO Guide has done meticulous research, which found that link buttons and/or signals perform an essential role in local search rankings.

Without a doubt, Guest Blogging is one of the best Content Marketing strategies to build local links and market on your content. Moreover, Guest Blogging will also, help you increase traffic to your website, which can convert to customers.

The part that becomes somewhat of a challenge is looking for local websites that will allow guest blog posts. To do this, you will need to utilize a couple of keyword combinations such as:

• Location
• Website
• Name
• Guest Posts
• Write For Us
• Submit a Guest Post
• and other key phrases of this fashion…

In addition, it is highly recommended that you develop a list with potential sites that you can post on for your targeted location and audience. Visit these websites and make sure you go over their Guest Post Guidelines and also, the kind of topics that they publish. You’ll then be able to decide which websites pander to your targeted audience and/or location.

2. Search for Relevant, Applicable Local Keywords and Keyword Phrases. By now you already know just how important keywords and keyword phrases are for SEO. Keywords and keyword phrases are utterly essential for Local SEO just as it is for traditional SEO. These keywords should be utilized to cultivate and maximize content.

It doesn’t matter if you are publishing a blog post for your website, revamping and/or rewriting your website content or submitting a Guest Post – utilizing the right set of keywords and keyword phrases will help you lure in local searchers.

You should always use keywords that are relevant to your business and/or industry, as these are the best. These keywords have a high search percentage in your targeted area. Include your location keywords along with precise, business keywords. Use this combination to boost your content for Local SEO.

To find the best keywords available – you can utilize tools, such as: Google Keyword Planner. However, before you begin to use Google Keyword Planner, you will need to set up an AdWords account.

When using the Keyword Planner Page – choose “Search for New Keywords Using a Phrase, Website or Category.” Using this tool will be extremely effective when working on Local SEO campaigns.

3. Create Local Targeting Content. With your new list of keywords and keyword phrases, you should be able to start writing local, targeting content, which you can use on your website to optimize it for better local search rankings. However, using these keywords just on your website content won’t suffice. You need to take these new, valuable keywords and keyword phrases to the next level and use them to create local content blog posts on your website.

For instance, you can compile “Top Ten” or “Best Of” list, which are relevant to your business and/or industry on a local scale. Furthermore, you can write informative, “how to” blog posts or guides in regards to your business in its targeted location. When you take these steps – you’ll drive and attract more of a local audience to your website.

4. Use Social Media Networks to Cross Promote. Per Statista – Social Media users will grow from 2.34 billion in 2017 to 2.51 billion in 2018 worldwide! Keeping these numbers in mind – it is safe to assume that the majority of your targeted audience is already on a Social Media platform if not several…

If you haven’t begin to promote your blog posts on Social Media Networks, such as – Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn – then it’s definitely time that you start doing so… Social Media platforms are an awesome way to connect and engage with followers and to drive traffic onto your website!

To increase your level of engagement with your local audience and be able to boost followers, we highly advise you to join local groups on different Social Media platforms, which are relevant to your business/industry. In addition, you can also, reach out to local FB pages that might be able to help you promote your content.

There are many Facebook groups that are public and all you have to do is join their page. On closed groups on FB – you can simply ask if you can join and more than likely – you’ll be added by a member. Once a member – reach out to the page owner and ask if you can share your content. Remember, as long as your local content is relevant – chances are that they will say yes, as these folk also, need content to keep their Social Media community fresh and current with information.

5. Engage & Write About Local Activities. We already covered the important role that backlinks have from local websites, which will help increase your local search rank. However, another strategy that will earn valuable backlinks is to involve yourself in your community and/or targeted location. You can easily accomplish this by partaking in charity drives, local events and the likes… You might even be able to gain a back link from an official website from one of these events.

However, if participating in these types of activities is not your thing – it is quite okay, as you can also, earn backlinks by sponsoring the following:

• Organizations
• Sports Teams
• Clubs
• Local Events

You see, by participating or sponsoring on any of these activities mentioned above, you may become newsworthy by local publications and this would simply be more than great! This would mean that you can gain even more backlinks from local news websites.

Getting involved in local community activities will boost your local link profile and it will also, help you develop your brand’s reputation and authority!

In short, participating in local events is an ingenious way to gain backlinks, but also, to enhance your local business reputation.

Create blog posts in regards to your involvement in these events and what your experience was like… Include lots of images and/or short videos on your blog posts, which will further optimize engagement.

Local SEO Summary:

Now that you are on the right path to creating great local content, as you have now attained the most effective strategies that will leverage your Content Marketing for your Local SEO campaign – it is all in your hands. It is up to you to utilize these strategies for best results and success on your Local SEO endeavour.

The primary goal is to develop back links from reputable and authoritative local websites. Local links will drive traffic to your website and it will also, improve your website’s authority and also, create excellent brand reputation and respect.

Furthermore, do not forget to enhance your website with high quality local content, which will lure and engage your local, targeted audience. Be sure that you optimize all content on all the pages on your website, including blog posts utilizing location, specific keywords and keyword phrases.

When writing a post or listing a product, most people never forget to add a title. Sometimes people think a relevant title and a good description are all you need to get your post or product noticed. Wrong! Technology and doing business online has changed a lot even in the past year. What was once a hobby has now become a part-time or full-time job opportunity. This is why the market online is more competitive. More and more people are shopping and working online. This is why it is important to make sure your website is as search engine optimized as possible. Tags are a must to get your website, post and product in the search engines, which is how people will find you online. Don’t forget to take advantage of using as many tags as possible. Make sure you are using the right tags.

There was a time when not many people knew what tags were or how to use them. Now more people are finding out what they are. Often times when listing a product or posting to social media, there will be a tags section. Some people don’t notice it or choose to ignore it. Don’t ignore it! Tags are like keywords or phrases people use in search engines. This is how people will find what you have online.

Is it relevant? That is one of the questions you need to ask when choosing a tag for your product or post. If you are selling handmade scarves or posting an article about making scarves, you want to make sure people interested in that subject or product find your item. You will need to use tags that describe what you have posted. How to make scarves is a good tag to use for a post describing how to make a scarf. Buy scarves for women is a good tag to use for a scarf for woman you are selling. These tags are relevant to what has been posted. Getting the right people to your website helps increase the possibility for sales.

Is it a search term or keyword? This is another question to ask when posting a tag for your item. You can get creative with tags but if no one is searching for that phrase you won’t get the right people to your website. You want to avoid using descriptive words like pretty, awesome, gorgeous or those kinds of words in your tag. By all means use them to describe your product, but most likely these are not words people use when searching for products or information.

You can use keywords in your description that can also be used as tags. Sometimes you may need to check a keyword tool to make sure you are finding relevant keywords and phrases to use as tags. These tools can help you to find relevant search terms that may not be as popular as others. This means less competition. It also means these tags will still get people to your website. Make sure your tags are relevant, actual search terms and the right keywords. Knowing these tips will help you to make your business online even more productive.