Running a business can be very rewarding and exciting, but there are also many challenges you have to try to overcome.One of these barriers is the strict level of competition you face, no matter what industry you're in. If you want to be able to compete effectively with rivals, you need to make sure that you have a solid marketing strategy in place and that the solutions use really works.
Unfortunately, only "content creation" will never get you there. To rank on Google, your site will need powerful backlinks to improve your site's domain authority ranking and page authority.Without these, your site will likely be found on Google for a wide range of long-tail keywords, but probably between 10 and 100 pages, which is pretty much useless.
In order to effectively rank online and compete with already established sites, you will need to come up with a very creative and very effective content creation and marketing plan.If you're a single (or small) person, you'll likely find that this business itself could be a full-time business, which is why many organizations outsource the process to a reputable digital marketing agency.
To help with the process of winning the online marketing and SEO war, we cover some of the most important factors when trying to find a reliable digital marketing agency and where/how you might want to focus your efforts and dollar advertising.
Local is extremely effective for targeted ads and SEO
When you look at the internet as a whole, there are more than a billion active sites online, which means they all continuously create new content, get new social shares/backlinks, and rank on Google.If you want to compete on this global scale, be ready for strong competition.
At the same time, many smaller, local companies lack the funds or resources to compete at these levels.For this reason, they should focus heavily on local SEO rankings, paid advertising, and the demographic audience.
Neon Ambition, an SEO from Austin, has been working with companies for years on how to improve local reach and targeting, while explaining the importance of finding a positive ROI with SEO marketing, which can have a virtually unlimited ad spend the cap.
They recommended the following:
"Having worked with hundreds of clients in a specific local advertising campaign, we understand not only how difficult it is for a local business to rank, but also for them to spend a limited budget and see results at the same time.We've seen great success with creating localized content, then targeting and remarketing your location audience to get back to the site again.Through additional social media and occasionally backlinking to those articles and resources, we continue to see progressive SEO growth month after month, without requiring Mom and Dad to spend thousands of dollars a month in the process. "
When it comes to local SEO and handing over your business to a digital marketing agency, it's also important to have a basic understanding of how SEO works for your personal and business experience.You should also look for the following badges and certifications, as they will give you a better indication of how efficient and reliable an advertising agency can be.
A great article on this topic can be found on Forbes, which ranks the following three factors as key elements that should be used when trying to rank in Google, target audiences, and find a positive ROI with local online advertising.
A company's ranking in Google My Business (GMB) results can be reduced to three distinct areas of interest:
- relevance
- Distance
- prominence
How to use content and social networks to improve rankings
As mentioned above, if you want to rank on Google, you need to have a powerful website and/or blog with established backlinks.If you don't have this in place, it's something you can build over time.However, at the moment, all is not lost.
Thanks to the power of social media, you can rank Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and other social profiles or local directories quickly and easily on Google.Since most of these sites are already trusted in the eyes of Google, it doesn't take long to rank such profiles and internal pages on their site.
In the same Forbes article mentioned above, they highlight the following methods to rely on social media and local directories to improve site ranking and be found by the target audience.
- Select a high-volume keyword phrase with position intent.Typically, for a lawyer, it will be a "practice area" plus a "city name". For example, "Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney."
- Create a page on your site addressed to this phrase.
- Include the phrase in the page title, headers, page copy, meta description, and image file names.
- Include your name, address, and phone number on the page.
- Include the phrase on your page as permanent: example.com/city-name/target-keyword-phrase/
By following these simple tips, there is no reason why your brand shouldn't be able to rank for all ten listings on Google's main page for your personal brand or business name.It's something I've been able to do for my name "Zac Johnson" for quite some time.
Social media is available and it's free.So take advantage of it!
Quick ideas and tips to improve local SEO on your own
There are many benefits to using a digital marketing agency when trying to rank and promote your local business, especially if you have no idea where to start.But there are also many things you can do in your spare time to help promote your site and increase site rankings and power over time.
Here are some quick ideas and tips to get you started.
- Have a blog This is a no-brainer, as it will allow you to create content for your site and will also start ranking your site on Google by long-tail keywords.Also remember to effectively promote each blog post and don't expect people to find them on their own.
- Create visuals and infographics for social media. This is a great idea, as everyone is already on social media, and if you have a new recipe or service coming out, if you can make a quick infographic or animated video, they're much more likely to be seen and shared.
- Contribute to collections of experts. Depending on your niche market and your business, this may or may not work. Check out these expert summary examples, and you can learn more about this.
- Guest blogs on other industry/local blogs. Again, this comes down to the process of creating content for your site in your industry, and then gaining exposure and getting backlinks as a way to compensate for your time, experience, and articles.
Chances are your digital marketing agency will handle a lot of this, but there's no reason why you can't start working on this at the same time.If you end up getting some interesting placements and start to get a good feel about how local SEO and audience targeting work, it might be something you want to bring into your home too.
Find the best local advertising agency for your business
When you go with any local advertising agency or digital marketing company, make sure you always do all the necessary research.Also, try to avoid a long-term contract.Most campaigns and SEO work can take 3 to 9 months before you start seeing real results.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me and I can help you with any questions you may have.