You can improve local SEO were targeted content writing.

For a few months now I have been helping a cab service improve its local SEO through targeted content writing.

In terms of being “local”, it is not a neighborhood business and being a taxi service, it covers multiple cities.

It provides its services locally in the sense that tourists, business people and pilgrims that come to that particular state, should be able to find the taxi service using Google.

Through continued targeted content writing I have been able to improve the rankings of the business, especially when people search for the service combined with the names of the cities or towns they want to travel to, let’s say, from the airport or the railway station.

Why search engine rankings matter for a local business

You may think that having a local business it must be very easy to get customers.

All you need is, open your shop, retail store or office and all your local business is yours for the taking.

This might be the case if you are the only business in your category and you sell something that is in great demand.

Then, yours being the only business, if someone searches for “find this business near me” your listing should appear at the top of the search results.

But, if there are multiple businesses providing the same thing with small variations, it becomes difficult for you to get higher rankings.

Take food delivery business, for example.

In our neighborhood, there are six big and small restaurants in the same row that deliver food.

If I search for “food delivery near me” at least six restaurants show up in the featured list and the remaining in the normal listing.

My tendency would be to check out the restaurant that appears at the top in the featured listing and only when I don’t get what I’m looking for, I will explore other options.

This goes for any service.

Local SEO matters because it’s people’s natural tendency that they try to contact businesses that appear at the top and once they have found a business that satisfies the need, they don’t explore further.

If you don’t feature among the top listings, it will be difficult for your customers and clients to notice you.

Hence, it is very important that you you use targeted SEO content writing improve your search engine rankings on a continuous basis.

Another reason why you should take your local SEO seriously is because bigger brands are constantly threatening smaller businesses.

For example, many local stores have to close because of the constantly mushrooming malls.

As a local grocery store, how can you compete with the bigger brands or even with a multinational company?

The advantage that you have is a better grip on the local nuances.

Bigger brands have money and they also have bigger marketing budgets, but it is often difficult for them to localize their marketing.

So, through targeted content writing and a continuous effort towards improving your local SEO, if you have maintained your search engine rankings, there is a greater chance that instead of finding a shop in a mall, when people Google your product or service, they are going to find your shop.

Improving your local SEO with targeted content writing

50% customers who search for a local business online physically visit the store on the same day (source). 35% of all search traffic is local.

This is a 2017 report and the figures may have increased further by now.

It is easily understandable that local means lots of references to the name of the city or the town where you do your business.

This is a given.

But there are many other attributes that help people find information regarding your city or town.

For example, is there a famous landmark?

If you do your business in Agra, you don’t always have to write about Agra; you can also talk about the Taj Mahal.

If you provide your business services in Paris, you don’t always have to talk about Paris; you can also talk about the Eiffel Tower.

Is there some famous eatery in your locality that draws people from great distances?

Has it become a part of your city heritage?

Why not write about it in such a manner that you can also talk about your own business?

Coming back to my taxi client, there are various reasons why people may hire a taxi service.

They might be visiting the city for business purposes.

They might be on a pilgrimage (luckily for the client, there are many reasons people may like to visit the geographic area he covers).

Millions of tourists flock the place.

So, I’m writing about the top tourist destinations.

The top hotels to stay.

Different landmarks.

The way people dress up.

The cultural sensitivities.

The various exotic itineraries.

The favorite seasons to visit the place.

The famous festivals and rituals.

The local cuisine.

The legends specific to the area.

There is no end to it.

There are practically unlimited opportunities for writing targeted content to improve your local SEO.

Of course, the central point of reference is your business.

How does your business fit in the scheme of things?

This is something you need to figure out.

Remember that you don’t want to end up as an information portal for your locality because then your business message may get lost and your prospective customers and clients may end up being confused.

Many marketers suggest that you only write about things you do.

Make an impact locally, and then write about it.

This way you get lots of opportunities to generate targeted content writing for local SEO.

For example, there is a local event happening.

Can you participate in that event?

If you do, then write about how you participated and how you contributed.

Is there a cleanliness drive going on in your area?

Why not get involved and create videos and images about your involvement and what a difference you have made?

Positive coverage can do a lot to enhance your local SEO.

Even if you cannot get yourself involved physically, you can write your opinion on how, if your business got involved, what impact it would have and if you’re not getting involved, what is stopping you?

You need to be creative.

The purpose of the entire exercise must be to publish lots of content regarding your local peculiarities and then somehow make the connection with your business.

Something or the other is constantly happening in your area.

This gives you limitless opportunities to write targeted content to improve your local SEO.

Is content writing for local SEO different from the usual SEO writing?

The basic guidelines for writing content for local SEO don’t change.

For example, your main keywords must be in the title of the web page or the blog post your writing.

Your headline must have your primary keywords.

Sprinkle your keywords and its different variations all over your writing.

Use headings and subheadings.

Organize the main points in bullet points. Interlink to your other pages.

Follow SEO guidelines when using images and videos.

You may like to read How to write SEO content for your business.

Add to all these the local references.