Want to stand out in your local marketplace?
When competition is high, it can be tough to differentiate from the other players in the market. Check out the Content Marketing tips below to boost engagement and conversion!
1. Create Content To Educate 👩🎓
When you’re creating the news, it can’t always be about puff pieces and top-down communication. Your customers rely on your expertise to guide them in their purchases. Try creating content that educates, such as Frequently Asked Questions, or in-depth explanations of some of their more technical parts of your product or service.
Put yourself in their shoes, and think about what they are looking for, questions they have, and ways you can deliver answers before they even have to ask.
2. Avoid Exaggerated Terms 😵
We see it all the time. “#1 Local Dealer!” “Best in class!” “Concord’s Favorite [Insert Business Type Here]” – And shoppers are weary of it too. It’s far from ideal to use this type of language unless it is actually proven and true. If statements like these can be backed up with proof, then you should absolutely use them, but if you look at all your competitors, and everyone’s saying it, it’s better to take the high road.
Find other ways to differentiate your brand. Maybe you offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee. Or you can boast a 5-star average rating on Google Reviews. Be specific and honest. This is also an opportunity to look for local awards.
Win some of these, and advertise the cold hard facts instead.
3. Leverage Technical SEO Everywhere 👨💻
When is the last time you ran an SEO report on your website? If it’s been awhile, you can always get a free automated SEO report from V12 Marketing here. For non-SEO’s, the term “technical SEO” can be a bit confusing. But basically, it’s all the nuts and bolts of your website (and social media) that tell search engines what your content is about.
Good examples of technical SEO work include: Meta Tags, Alt Tags, Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, Page Speed, and more.
You may be surprised the lift that fixing these up can have on Google search rankings over time.
4. Find Niche Keywords 🗣
By using tools such as Google Webmaster Tools (Search Console), Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, RavenTools, and more, you can find out how your customers are getting to your website. But, potentially more importantly, how they are *not* getting to your website.
Where are you ranking for terms that are not getting clicks? Search queries that you are ranking on pages 2 and beyond?
By creating content around more niche and longtail keywords, you may find that these are ‘low-hanging fruit’ and offer quick gains in the SERP.
5. Get Feedback & Publish Results 📊
Asking for feedback, reviews, and testimonials is hugely important in Content Marketing. Not only do reviews websites like Google Reviews, Bing Places, Yelp, and more directly impact SEO ranking, they also provide an opportunity to create content.
Got a new 5 star review? Create a quick graphic template and share this across social media. Maybe aggregate some of your best reviews and share them in a blog post, or a web-page, or a section on a landing page.
Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd!
6. Monitor & Optimize Local Listings 📍
Again, listings sites, which often overlap with reviews, like Google My Business, are supremely important to rank higher in search results in 2020. Did you know there are over 50 local listings that you can place your business on? Need a local listing report? Just ask us!
Many people forget about Yahoo (for good reasons), but Google doesn’t. Plus, the added Local SEO performance benefit isn’t bad either.
You can outmaneuver your competitors by just being in places they are not.
7. Develop Your “Content-First” Mindset 🧠
This is a good place to wrap up our list of tips. A “Content-First” Mindset is one that is always thinking outside the box for ways that marketing and business efforts can be re-purposed as content. Running a 10% discount for new customers? That’s content. Holiday coming up? More content. Just hire a new employee? Again, content.
By thinking about every interaction the business makes, either internal or external, as a chance to create more content, you will naturally create more content, which will cascade into other KPI growth, inevitably improve engagement, and SEO performance. And, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. So the more often you are working towards creating good content, the better it will be over time.
Just be willing to try new things, and the benefits will come!
That’s all for now. We hope that these tips were helpful.
You can learn more about our SEO & Content Marketing Services here. It should be noted that Search Engine Optimization and Content Marketing is generally a long-term strategy, and not overnight web traffic or lead generation like you would expect from Pay-Per-Click Advertising. But, once the investment is made, it can pay off and grow over time.
Ready to get started on your own Content Marketing project with V12 Marketing?
