Local SEO tactics are an important part of every small business’ digital marketing strategy. If you’re trying to improve your online persona and drive traffic to your website, you can do this with local SEO. You might have heard that SEO is dead. Or, you might have heard SEO is alive and well. Although SEO might not be a magic elixir which will immediately get you better rankings, more traffic and a larger customer base, it can definitely be a part of a greater marketing strategy which will help you out in the long run. Here are a few local SEO tips to help you make your website more effective:
Quality Of Writing
The quality of the writing on your website, blog and social media pages will help you attract visitors and keep them. Many people think if they just use the right keywords or jump on the most popular topics out there they will get more visitors and increase sales. If you don’t follow the basics of good writing, you’re bound to turn off many of your visitors. Not only will you fail to make a sale in the moment, you’ll also prevent visitors from seeking you out again.
Make sure all your writing is free of spelling and grammatical errors. Divide your content neatly into paragraphs, as you move from one point to the other. Don't keep repeating the same words or the same points over and over. This is true especially if you keep repeating keywords over and over again. You're going to get dinged by Google if you do this.
Keep in mind the members of your audience are intelligent, without being experts in your field. They’re generally looking for help in making decisions. So, the more you can help by addressing their questions with your content, the more they’re going to rely on you and trust you in the long run.
Ease Of Reading
Keep in mind most people browse the internet on their computers or phones. It’s not a good idea to provide a ton of information without any breaks. Reading on these devices is not the same as reading a newspaper, magazine or book. Computer and phone screens are not as kind to the eyes. It becomes even more important to give your information briefly and succinctly.
Try and divide your writing with the help of clearly labeled subheadings or use lists and bullet points to keep your reader’s attention. This helps the reader to skip over sections they might already be familiar with and move on to the part of the article or blog post that is most relevant to them. Inserting images or video to break up text may also help your readers get through your content and get what they need
Local SEO Keywords Are Key
In keeping with the rules of good writing, it’s not a good idea to keep repeating the same keywords over and over. Additionally, this is not going to help you attract more visitors to your website. It might even lead to your being penalized by search engines. This doesn’t mean you can’t use keywords at all. You can vary the keywords you use while using them in moderation. 3-4 times in a 500 word article might enough.
Include some keyword variety in your content. For example, the keywords “SEO” and “search engine optimization” mean essentially the same thing but using them both is more beneficial because it could lead to your appearance in more search engine results pages. You could also add keywords like “digital marketing” or “web presence” to the same article because these are topics related to SEO.
If you can write naturally and still include these keywords, you’ll be benefiting yourself in the short-term as well as the long run.
Regardless of what you're told or what you read, no one has all the answers to what works when it comes to SEO. Relying on great content is an absolute, regardless of the keywords you use. Having a well thought out digital marketing strategy is essential to succeed. Don't ever just write to write. Do it well and do it strategically and watch you're website traffic grow.
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