Did you know that creating local content to put on your company’s website can help you rank higher on search engines for local search terms (i.e. plumber in san jose)? Adding ‘localized’ or ‘local targeted’ content to your site to help you rank higher sounds great; right? But the biggest question local business owners ask is, “What kind of local content should I write?”
Here are a few types of local content you can add to your site to help boost your search rankings in your local area:
Name, Address and Phone Number on the Footer of Your Website
To start, including your company’s name, address and phone number (exactly as it appears on Google My Business, Bing Places for Business and other online directories) in the footer of each page on your site is a great start. Not only does it make it super easy for potential customers to know where your business is physically located, but it also ensures that the search engines know where you’re located, too.
If you are a service business (i.e. plumber, pest control, catering service, etc.), you can even add a “Serving the cities of….” in the footer, too. Just be very careful that you don’t overdo it and add too many cities. Just add approximately 3-4 cities. (Otherwise it will look very spammy to the search engines – and the people that visit your site.) So in the footer you may want to say, “Serving the cities of Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Hiawatha and surrounding communities.”
Reviews/Testimonials Page
The power of reviews is well documented. On your website, reviews and testimonials can not only help build consumer trust but it can also help you rank for local search terms. When you post customer-provided reviews, be sure to mention the happy customer’s first name, last name initial and the city that they live in. (Again, this is reinforcing your location.) If you want to look at more advanced local SEO strategies, use Review Schema on your site.
Now, consumers know that no business will put negative reviews about their business on their website. Ideally you want to also have a reputation marketing strategy where you ask customers to leave reviews on third-party sites, like Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, etc. Using reputation marketing software is something you should consider as well.
Create Multiple Location Pages
If your business has multiple locations (like a restaurant chain or bank), create separate pages for each location and include localized content on those pages. Put the location’s address, phone number, hours of operation and other relevant business information on the page. Also, if the location does something special for the local community (like support a non-profit organization or local charity), this would be the place to promote those local events or partnerships. Personalize each location’s page for the city they’re physically located in or the area they serve.
On these pages, it’s also a nice touch to provide a photo of the staff at that location – and be sure to optimize the image file name (i.e. car-dealer-cedar-rapids-staff.png) and include an Image Alt tag (every little bit helps!) Not only do people like to see the people they’re doing business with, it also humanizes your brand.
If you’re a service business (like a plumber, pest control company, caterer, etc.) include 1-2 city-specific pages on your site that focuses on the two largest cities/towns you serve.
Create an FAQ Page
Creating FAQ pages on your site is also a great opportunity to add local content. The content on this page should answer the questions that your real local customers ask about your company, products or services. If you’re not sure what your customers are asking, talk to your customer service representatives, people that answer the phone or your sales representatives. Have them all start documenting the questions they’re asked and the answers they give and continuously add these questions and answers to your FAQ pages.
If you want a head start on populating your FAQs, try using AnswerThePublic to find what people are commonly searching for in your business industry type.
Whenever you can add local keywords, include them. For instance, if one of your questions is about your staff, you may want to create a short bio for each of your employees that list the city they live in (if it’s relevant to your location) or the college they went to and the city it’s located (again, if it’s relevant to your location/business.)
Be sure to leave a feedback form so that your customers can ask questions they’d like added to the FAQ pages.
About Us Page
The About Us page is your opportunity to tell potential customers a story about your business and even your team. It’s also a great place to add geo-targeted keywords you’re trying to rank for. For instance, “The company was founded in 1998 by Tom Smith. The corporate headquarters is in Omaha, NE.”
Use this page wisely because people will click through this page if they’re interested in purchasing from you.
Summary
So there you have it. Some great ways for you to incorporate local keywords that you’re trying to rank for into the content of the pages of your site. Remember, don’t overdo the use of city-specific keywords, but sprinkle them where they’re relevant and make sense.
