How to Use Inbound Marketing to Increase Local SEO

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January 29, 2018

How to use inbound marketing to increase local seo

Have you been looking for an effective way to target your local customers? While the Internet gives companies the opportunity to reach leads and prospects from across the globe, most small and mid-size businesses rely on a customer base living within 25 miles of their office(s) or showroom(s). Effective online marketing can drive thousands of visitors to your business website, but the investment is wasted if users are not likely customers. Don't you agree? Today's article will introduce you to how to use inbound marketing to increase Local SEO, developing your local audience and boosting sales.

How Content and Local SEO Work Together

Content is a big part of inbound marketing1, but it is also a big factor in search engine optimization. Google, Bing, and other search engine business models rely on providing users with the most relevant and reliable search results. Therefore, they have made use of machine learning2, developing algorithms which can assess your content, evaluate user behavior, and determines the ultimate value. In the simplest terms, search engines are working hard to understand the intent behind a user's search and give them the results they want to read.

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While traditional SEO practices are not going away, creating unique and valuable content has added an extra layer. This specifically relates to Local SEO because you are trying to attract qualified traffic to your website. Done correctly, the context of content will be locally valuable and relevant, attract click-throughs from local search users, receive linkbacks from other locally relevant websites, and win social shares from local users. Therefore, content writers your Local SEO must share these goals.

How Local Businesses Can Leverage Content

Content collectively refers to blogs, videos, photos, infographics, and other information made available on your website, within emails, on social media, and more. It is all used to attract customer interest in your brand. When you educate customers, combining your expertise with geo-relevance, a small business can reap the benefit of increasing Local SEO and build a relevant audience. For example, a tree service may want to write a blog article about the best trees to plant in their area, or which tree diseases are commonly based on the local climate.

The key to both inbound marketing and search engine optimization is thinking about the customer and fulfilling their needs. Here are some things to consider:

  • Does your content provide obvious and authentic value beyond self-promotion?
  • Does the quality of your content stand out from the content of others?
  • Would most visitors describe your content as useful and unique?
  • How likely is a searcher to leave your site, returning to Google to find a different result?

Let Local Customer Intentions Drive Content

Today, there are over 644 million websites, with more added every day. Every single website is vying for the attention of your target and customers. In order for you to break through all the noise, you need to understand the values, motivations, and goals of your local customers. The smartphone revolution has fundamentally changed the way people use search. During the course of the day, in real-time, users will look for information when they want to buy, do, or go. Ultimately, people expect to have the power to make the right decision when their wants or needs are at the highest level. It is these small but important intentions that your local consumers will actively search.

Ultimately, your Local SEO and inbound marketing work best when they work together Search engine optimization requires content, and vice versa. Therefore, your Local SEO will not be effective if your content is not relevant to local users. Does that make sense to you?

Do you have questions? What haven't we covered yet that is important to you? If you would like to talk about how to use inbound marketing to increase local SEO, or a related topic, please contact us.

Sources:

1. https://www.hubspot.com/inbound-marketing
2. https://searchengineland.com/google-uses-machine-learning-search-algorithms-261158

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