content for local sites & local search how local marketers can build content that earns inbound...
TRANSCRIPT
Content for Local Sites & Local SearchHow local marketers can build content that earns inbound traffic
Rand Fishkin | CEO
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Challenges Local Businesses
Face w/ Content and SEO
The Dreaded Time Crunch
Many local business marketers have lots of other responsibilities apart from web marketing
Web Savvy of Content Creators
Many of them probably wouldn’t catch on to silly memes from Reddit like those featured above.
Local Listings > Natural SERPs
Ugh. If I wanted maps for Korean restaurants, I would have used Google Maps. I want content!
These results do nothing to answer my query
Multiple Listings vs. “Thin Content”
The numerous listings on http://www.in-n-out.com/locations.asp don’t provide particularly unique content.
Temporal vs. Evergreen Content
Via Cyrus Shepard’s http://www.seomoz.org/blog/google-fresh-factor
Earning Broad Recognition for Locally Focused Work
Lyle Lanley’s brilliant monorail work never received the national attention it deserved.
Competing w/ Big, National Brands
Now Google’s prioritizing standard SERPs over local listings? What the what!?
I already know about these guys. I want local pizza
How Do We Combat
These Challenges?
The Content Process
Step 1: Know Your Customers
Who are likely customers? What are their likes/dislikes? Why do they come to you? Who are you
missing?
Build an Email List (Maybe Offline?)
In-store guest books can turn walk-in traffic into an incredibly valuable resource for online marketing efforts
Create & Send a Customer Survey
Getting your customers’ feedback
Step 2: Brainstorm Broad Keywords
Your products & services provide an easy roadmap to start the keyword brainstorming process
Novelty Goods
Notebooks
Paper Goods
Creative Gifts
Stationery
Decorations
Typeface Goods
Font Geeks
Conduct Competitive Analysis
Paperhaus is a nearby store to Paper Hammer and carries many similar products
Oooh! Brands is a good way to think about
keywords, too.
Aha! Hadn’t considered words like “portfolio” or
“writing instruments”
Use Local Filters to Find Relevant Terms
Via Google AdWords’ https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Build Your Target Keyword List
Good advice here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/keyphrase-competition-and-targeting
High Volume(many searches/month)
Low Competition(weak sites/pages in the top 10)
High Value(large % of visitors buy)
Step 3: Content that Deserves to Rank
If a user searches for a query, do you have the answers they’re really seeking?
One Way to Get “Great Content”
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/great-content-for-seo-simpler-than-you-ever-imagined
An Aside on “Must-Have” Content
If your local website doesn’t have these, you’re in big trouble.
Description of your business
Details on your location & hours
What you sell (and hopefully how much it costs)
Lots of photos
Why you’re special/unique
Accolades
An Aside on “Must-Have” Content
That’s what happens if you don’t have the content basics nailed down on your site.
Step 4: Build Your Creative Content
Via the awesome Ben Heine http://www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/4770218308/
Creative Content Guidelines
Your goal is to target stuff in the middle, but anything that hits at least two of these is worth a shot!
Some Ideas To Help You Get Started
Also check out http://www.blueglass.com/blog/5-ways-to-brainstorm-for-creative-content/
What’s interesting in your neighborhood?
What unique things do you do that few know about?
What have been your biggest challenges?
What are unique applications for your products?
What are creative projects your staff engages in?
What are unique ways you’re leveraging technology/the web?
What mysteries or secrets are associated with your business?
What’s unique about your customers?
What are the FAQs you get from friends when talking about your work?
What aspects of scientific or cultural inquiry apply to your business?
Content Types that Work
Start with content formats that feel easy and accomplishable – don’t stress trying to do the uncomfortable
Blog Posts
Photos & Photosets
Video
Infographics
Tools
Content Curation
Charts and Graphs
Articles / Essays
PDFs / Whitepapers
Slide Shows
Getting Distribution
Want to Rank? You Need Links & Citations!
Via Mike Blumenthal: http://blumenthals.com/blog/
Channel 1: Local, Content-Centric Sites
Nearly every region has multiple, content-focused sites targeting the local area
Channel 2: Broad Social Platforms
The usual suspects – lots of local-related activity and opportunity exist thanks to broad adoption.
Users: 50mm 750mm 200mm 120mm120mm 10mm
Users: 14mm Millions 14mm 6.5mm
Channel 3: Local Directories
Generic directories, especially those that have hundreds of cities, are usually less valuable than specifics
Channel 4: Travel Sites + Blogs
In addition to these big guys, there’s a huge, long tail of travel sites and blogs potentially worth reaching
Channel 5: Discussion Forums
Local newspapers, Yelp, Craigslist, VirtualTourist, TripAdvisor and others often have regional forums.
Channel 6: Government/Municipal Sites
Many city government and municipal services/membership organizations offer member listings
Your Job with Each Channel:
Don’t try to force a channel – if it’s not working, don’t sweat it. There’s plenty of opportunities.
Visit and investigate options for biz dev/listing/content/participation
Ignore those that don’t
Watch your analytics/foot traffic/referral sources to determine impact
Revisit sources that continue to provide value
Pursue those where you believe an opportunity exists
KPIs to Track
Traffic (Visits)
I like “visits” rather than “unique” because the latter is very hard to quantify accurately
Conversions / Actions
Anything that’s likely to yield direct value should be tagged as a “conversion” in your analytics
Newsletter signup = conversion
Reservation = conversion
Contact might even
be a conversion!
Growth Rate of Referring Sources
This shows traffic from Facebook to SEOmoz. You’d ideally want to know how each channel you invest in performs.
Growth Rate of Social Reach
Yay! Our new Social Dashboard: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/introducing-social-analytics-in-seomoz-pro
Citations / Brand Mentions
Via Google’s “search tools” and then “past week”
Links and Link Metrics
Via http://OpenSiteExplorer.org
10 Tips and Tricks toAccelerate Your Content’s Effectiveness
#1) Local Guest Content Contributors
This works both ways – you can BE a guest contributor and/or invite others to contribute on your site!
#2) Events Promoted on the Web
The Paper-Hammer site sadly neglects many events they participate in, but noted this one on their blog.
#3) Email as Content & Conversion Point
http://mailchimp.com/pricing/ offers a free tier for up to 2,000 member lists!
Awesome!
Slightly less awesome
#4) Partnerships w/ Hyperlocal Friends
http://shooflypiecompany.com/friends.html does a brilliant job of this and earns links/citations as a result
#5) Specials for “Wired” Customers
Offering incentives for customers likely to leave reviews, tweet, share, like, follow or link can be effective
#6) Show Off Your “Reviewable” Pages
Go with the one on the left – linking directly to where users can leave reviews
#7) Create Top X Local Lists
Aim for “best of” or “top x” lists that don’t include you, but are likely to attract outside attention.
#8) Host All Content on the Same Domain
Vain’s blog is on the vain.com domain, which means links to it serve the entire site, not just the blog
#9) Content from Your Employees
Via http://saltlakecoffeeconnection.com/ where short-form content (similar to tweets) earns pages
#10) Turning FAQs Into Content
If they’re asking in person, they almost certainly wish they could know before arriving there.
Just Make Some Content and
Stick It Up on the Web?
Content Can’t Live in a Vacuum
Combine w/ the Rest of Inbound and Win
Create Great Content
Find Channels to Share
Participate in Communities
Use Analytics to Measure
Figure Out What Works
Refine Your Content Process
