Local content is essential to reaching local markets.
By Abigail Thorpe
If content is king, then local content is the king’s right hand. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 72% of marketers find content marketing increases engagement and has increased their number of leads. So yes, content marketing is central to SEO, driving traffic to your site, and establishing your brand. But what kind of content you’re producing makes a big difference.
For many local businesses that don’t have a large national presence, reaching potential customers in the area they do business is the main objective. This is where local content comes in. Producing content with a local focus, aimed at people living in or visiting your area and actively looking for your product or service is the best way to drive traffic to your site or store.
After all, there was over 200 percent growth in mobile searches for “open” + “now” + “near me” over a two year period, according to Think with Google, 2018. More and more people are using their phones to search for places near them to shop, and that’s where your business comes in.
Local content helps drive your SEO ranking—Google loves a company that is actively posting with keywords targeted towards what potential customers might be looking for. It’s also a way to hyper-target your potential audience or customer by focusing on a specific group of people you know have a good chance of visiting your store.
Focus on local stories, events or information that are useful or somehow interesting to your audience. Delivering content that is applicable and useful to the community helps establish your brand as an expert, and also has the potential to be shared locally or even nationally as a resource for your area.
There are many ways to create local content—focus on local events (or even store events), community outreach your business is invested in, local promotions you’re offering, and information that helps, inspires or entertains your customers. Another great tactic? Look to customer-created content to build that connection between the customer and your business.
When it comes to creating a content marketing strategy, you’re not alone. You could say it is our specialty here at Rocket Fish Digital. Let us know how we can help get you started with local content that will attract traffic, generate links and shares, and increase your brand awareness.