Content that is geared toward people in your own backyard is a good thing. It’s good for people, it’s good for the engines and when it’s good for both, it’s good for business. Have you ever tried creating and promoting it? It’s not as easy as it might seem, especially if you are promoting a product or service that people are not interested in.
With updates to the local SEO algorithm becoming more in line with traditional SEO ranking signals, the location, activity, quality and context of your content is important now more than ever before.
Small local businesses have limited resources, so having a strategy in place to make each piece of content as effective as possible is critical.
In this presentation learn how you can unlock the power of local content to drive engagement, rankings and sales.
33. 1. The 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors by Moz – Link
2. Why Did Google’s Pigeon Poop All Over Big Local Brands? by Andrew Shotland – Link
3. The Best Citation Sources by U.S. City by Moz – Link
4. Ranking of Local Results on Google by Google – Link
5. Ranking Factors in Google Maps By Mike Blumenthal – Link
6. Why Local Businesses Don't Need Big Budgets for Content Marketing by Matthew Barby – Link
7. 64 Creative Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Business by Megan Marrs – Link
8. 8 Tips to Tailor Your Blog Content for Local Search by Paul Sanders– Link
9. Local vs Traditional SEO: Why Citation Is the New Link by David Mihm – Link
10. Why Google’s New Hummingbird Algorithm is Good Content Creators by Eric Inge – Link
11. How Google is Forcing Your Content to Get Better by Jay Baer – Link
12. A Hyperlocal Revenue Model That’s Perfect for Online Content Marketers by Brian Clark – Link
13. Local Content Toolkit - Part I - Why Local Content Matters by Nick Kellet – Link
14. The A-Z of Local Content by Nick Kellet – Link
15. The 30 Best Local SEO Citation Sources for The United States by Dev Basu – Link
16. 4 Powerful Local SEO and Content Marketing Strategies… by Marcus Sheridan – Link
17. Content-based Outreach for Link Building by Justin Briggs– Link
18. How to Embed Outreach into Every Step of Your Content Plan by Adria Saracino – Link
19. More than Keywords: 7 Concepts of Advanced On-Page SEO by Cyrus Shepard – Link
20. Teach Google About Your Entities by Using Topical Hubs by Gianluca Fiorelli – Link
34. Steve Floyd
Founder / Principle at AXZM
twitter: @nawlready
phone: (214) 272-9109
www.axzm.com
For the last decade I have been
creating digital marketing solutions
for businesses large and small. In
that time I’ve learned a few things
about the governance and creation
of web content and how that
content ties into other marketing
channels. Content is often swept
aside as the last part of a project,
when I believe it should be one of
the very first things addressed.
Editor's Notes
Creating a Hyper Local Content Strategy by Steve Floyd – CEO of AXZM – www.axzm.com/about/steve-floyd
Part One: Local SEO + Content
As many of you know, the 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors came out last month. With it, confirmation that tried and true SEO practices like quality, relevant links, strong topical relevance and on-page are stronger than ever in Local SEO. We are seeing a move toward traditional ranking factors for Local Search, and that is a good thing for those who are content savvy.
It’s no secret how aggressive Google has been the last 3-4 years in cleaning up the SERPs. Penguin, Panda, Zebra, Hummingbird, Pigeon… It’s a jungle out there. My own conspiratorial view is that all of these algorithmic filters are working together, but I don’t think that is too big of a leap. Follow best practice and stay away from low value tactics. Keeping things natural and topically relevant is the most sustainable thing you can do right now.
3. LOCAL PACKSDarren Shaw of Whitespark recently reported a 23.4% drop in local packs. I saw tons of other queries that never had a local pack or carousel showing both, namely “Dallas Web Design” and “Dallas Bankruptcy”.
In all the noise generated from the echo chamber, something Mike Blumenthal said in a Moz Local SEO interview really stuck out to me. It stuck out because in my own experience, some of the best links and influence on rankings locally came from local sources. 1. Local news outlets. 2. Local directories.3. Local websites.
It is my belief that many of the local business sites that we manage that faired better after Pigeon were actually performing better because we had put local content at the heart of our efforts. In this presentation I intend to share some of the strategies, tactics and tools we used for hyper-local content marketing.
Part Two: Creating Hyper Local Content
The first step you need to take in creating hyper local content is to get a content strategy. I have a ton of resources on how you can get started developing a cogent content strategy for your business. I highly advise you check out my presentation “The Bruce Lee Guide to Strategic Content”.
For those who are not familiar with Content Strategy by now, or still confuse it with Content Marketing, understand it is a decade old discipline. The net result of following the processes and best practices of content strategy is that it will fruit better results for your business, as it aligns your content with the needs of your customers. For the sake of time, I will not go through every step you need to take to develop a content strategy, but if I could distill the types of questions you should ask in simple terms, especially if you are a small business, it would be:1. WhoWho are you making the content for? Who is going to create it?2. What?What type of content are you creating? What is the cost? 3. Why? Why are you creating the content? How does it align with your business goals and the needs of your customers?
4. Where?Where will you be publishing the content? Is there a specific place where the content will get more visibility?5. When?When do you plan on publishing the content? What is the most optimum time for you to release the content?6. How?How do you plan to create the content? How long will it take to create? Does it require external vendors or can it be done internally?
For those of you who would like to learn more about Content Strategy, definitely check out:Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina HalversonThe Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane
Content Strategy at Work by Margot BloomsteinContent Strategy: Connecting the dots between business, brand and benefits by Rahel Baillie and Noz Urbina
Create content that aligns with your business goals. Be aware of the different stages of your customers purchase decision. From awareness, interest, consideration, conversion and advocacy, try to map appropriate content to each channel and stage along the way.
Now that you have a clear strategy in place for the content you are producing, and you know exactly who it’s for, this will help you shape the content you create.
Create listicles of popular people, places and things in your area.
Collect data from your local and regional municipalities / government and turn it into an infographic. You can use Zanran to find spreadsheets and this type of data.
Collect data from your local and regional municipalities / government and turn it into an infographic. You can use Zanran to find spreadsheets and this type of data.
Take advantage of LinkedIn’s search if you are building outreach. Searching by company / industry can be useful when trying to identify decision makers, editors, etc…
There are all kinds of social citations out there, like MyLocally.com, Biznik, Merchant Circle and Creative Match that have blogs where you can post content. Take time to really build up your citations. Interlink them when / where you can.
In all the noise generated from the echo chamber, something Mike Blumenthal said in a Moz Local SEO interview really stuck out to me. It stuck out because in my own experience, some of the best links and influence on rankings locally came from local sources. 1. Local news outlets. 2. Local directories.3. Local websites.
It is my belief that many of the local business sites that we manage that faired better after Pigeon were actually performing better because we had put local content at the heart of our efforts. In this presentation I intend to share some of the strategies, tactics and tools we used for hyper-local content marketing.
Resources:
Content Strategy: Connecting the Dots Between Business, Brand & Benefits by Rahel Anne Bailie & Noz Urbina
Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy by Ann Rockley
Selling Content Strategy by Karen McGrane
The Business of Content by Melissa Rach
Selling the Value of Your Content Strategy By Steve Walker
Content Strategy: 3 Ways to Get Buy-In from the Corner Office by Ahava Leibtag
Pitch Before You Plan: Selling Content Strategy Internally by C.L. Kennedy
2 Foolproof Methods for Getting Content Marketing Buy-In by Joe Pulizzi
Why Your CEO Doesn’t Care About Content Marketing by Chris Winfield
Selling Content to the C-suite Ahava Leibtag
Starting Out Organized: Website Content Planning The Right Way by Kristin Wemmer
Selling Content Strategy: A Continuous Process by Rick Allen
Prove Content Marketing ROI to Your CEO: 4 Values to Communicate by DJ Miller
Getting Internal Buy-In For a Content Marketing Strategy by J-P De Clerck
Content Marketing: How To Sell Executives On The Idea & Cost Greg Shuey
How To Get Your Breakthrough Ideas Approved by Decision Makers by Charles Purdy
Selling to Big Companies by Jill Konrath
The Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Jey Pandian
Super Awesome Content Strategy Worksheet by Steve Floyd
About MeFor the last decade I have been creating digital marketing solutions for businesses large and small. In that time I’ve learned a few things about the governance and creation of web content and how that content ties into other marketing channels. Content is often swept aside as the last part of a project, when I believe it should be one of the very first things addressed (even before design).