Local Business SEO Generates Leads

Local SEO Paths To Business LeadsWhat Is Local SEO, Why Does It Generate Leads?

Local business owners wish to be visible when prospective new clients search for help. A person with a foot injury might search “Seagirt NJ Foot Doctor”, “Podiatrist Monmouth County NJ” or “Top Foot Doc near me” and any Seagirt NJ area Podiatrist would want to be visible. Heck, so would surrounding area podiatrists in Manasquan, Spring Lake, Belmar, Wall and Avon NJ.

This podiatrist should think about having the best website content PLUS as many trusted off website signals set so that a search engine can identify then recommend them as paths between the injured party and this good doctor. And while our doctor must have analysis to gauge where she sits month over month, these paths are how ‘prospect conversion into a lead’ happens.

Local SEO done right presents our ‘Foot Doctor’ as the visible local subject authority. And geography matters, so please read on!


Local SEO Presents The Local Business As The Solution

Paths to a business that generate a lead include search engines, but also prominent citations (i.e. search & directory listings), reviews, images, video, social network accounts and GREAT websites! Regardless, an effort to use keywords including geography (i.e. keyword plus town or county) should be a priority. The business that invests in this tedious ongoing effort to build a better overall web presence of trusted paths wins more leads!

Different business types do better with different types of content. For instance an interior designer, with its’ inviting images, is going to connect more easily than a mold remediator; however, a mold company should never rule image use out! Not so long as it presents relevant solutions with its’ images, like maybe what the ‘bad mold’ actually looks like. In either case, images must be set up properly for target keywords, so that paths to prospective leads are opened. And it’s time to look at video options, tactics and strategies as well because both people and Google like video!

Contact information must also always be prominent on headers, footers and ‘contact us’ pages; so must layperson- proof navigation to all the subject- specific answers a website content offers.

Good trustworthy reviews are going to help any business appeal to its prospective leads. While most people trust ‘live reviews’ on Google local listings and sites like Yelp, it’s never wrong to present a sampling on a website. A business should just be sure to link to the live reviews in order to demonstrate they are real and not made up. Obviously a business owner has to deliver a quality product or service to get good reviews, but pursuing those reviews must be a proactive effort based upon a standard operating process!

And regardless, there had better be a website full of content that both opens paths as well as satisfies what a discerning lead or prospect might want. Sure a business needs to serve a) those in a rush who will likely just call, but it had better also prioritize b) serving those who do their research. It’s not only the place to answer lots of questions in the most transparent manner, but a means to index tons of target keywords with search engines. An important note here is that a business will NOT see any search engine love unless that website content is determined to be “useful”. Let it be known, crummy content gets a business nowhere!


Geography and Local SEO

Unless be default (i.e. no one else better), assume the reason a business gets ZERO interest from a near bye town full of prospects is because the town itself is never mentioned in content. Sure it’s tedious, but a local plumbing company based in Bergen County NJ wanting to serve the entire area had better start building locally relevant content = per town. Want more business from Ridgewood NJ than a business had better have a competitive stake in why it offers great Ridgewood support.


When Local SEO Works

Local SEO success requires the pursuit of a seemingly endless no. of paths needed to connect a prospective lead and the appealing local answer to a search. A local business that commits its time and/ or money into those paths will win more and more leads! We 

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Evergreen Content Supports SEO!

It’s no surprise to read that without good content there is no competitive search engine optimization (= no SEO). Any chance of competing for visibility in search results begins with content, so let’s define a type of content you may not have heard about called ‘evergreen’, ‘geographic tree’ or even ‘anchor’ content‘. Really just buzzwords in content strategy, the practice has proven to be a key factor in the battle for search visibility. ‘Evergreen content’ is a page (or post) that is NOT necessarily timely so much as it is informative; this content should remain relevant to a degree that it stands the test of time!


What Does Evergreen Content Offer?

Because it will always be considered up-to-date, in theory, ‘evergreen content’ will always be of primary interest to visiting readers. With detail, it should define authority for subjects your company is the leader for. In cases where being relevant in a particular area ( i.e. county, town or city ) is important, evergreen content will define authority for that area or geography.

In contrast, “Current Pay Per Click Advertising Best Practices” is not a good example because it’s meant to be relevant right now. In this case, a blog post might be better suited due to its date- stamp or timely emphasis. Current, by definition, is about things going on NOW and so, for instance, “Current Link Building Best Practices” have become less relevant as platforms & strategies advance or change.

Top Evergreen Content Examples Might Include:

  • Defining A Product or Service
  • Frequent Question & Answers
  • Tutorials Or “How To” guides
  • Useful Resource Lists
  • Support With Related Laws
  • Industry Terminology Definitions
  • Geographic Authority For A Product or Service In A Particular Area (i.e. if you vie for business in the city of Kalamazoo, you must have content saying so) 

Be careful! Even an evergreen topic can change ever so slightly, so periodic reviews in order to be sure they remain 100 percent correct is recommended.

Evergreen Content Does Not Include

  • Evergreen content is not news
  • Evergreen content is not statistics
  • Evergreen content is neither seasonal
  • Evergreen content is no trend
  • Evergreen content is NEVER a bunch of random subjects sprayed all over one page
  • Evergreen content should always be comprehensive coverage & subject specific, so it can stand the test of time!

The chance of competing for visibility in search engine results pages begins with content. When it’s capable of remaining useful to many, if not most, visiting readers for a great deal of time then the likelihood it will motivate signals (i.e. time spent on page, links to the page, bookmarks, likes, shares, pins) search engines use to rank content is much greater.

Needless to say, evergreen content has become an important competitive content strategy that will improve your SEO! Get thinking about what you are authoritative for ( for support see Copywriting | Blogging Services ) and if SEO Services are necessary. Contact Kinetic Knowledge for a consultation!

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What Do You Know About Fundamental Local SEO?

Low Cost SEO = Low Cost Search Engine OptimizationDo Leads Find You? Have You Worked On Search Visibility? 

SEO is NO trick: it’s tedious effort in several areas of optimization, including on and off website. It then requires analysis of several data points in order to see where a business can get versus its’ competition. If the competition is stiff, analysis will show what is necessary to reach a targeted result. In many cases competition is non- aggressive and the fundamentals will suffice, but without ‘Fundamental Local SEO‘ execution a business ( = you! ) is likely invisible to those searching.

SEO doesn’t have to be expensive, but unless the fundamentals are established a targeted result is not going to be possible! 

What Does A Fundamental Low Cost SEO Program Include?

  1. Keyword Research for Target Subjects
    – define the obvious target keywords including in a geographic target area
    – research those keywords for activity, similar keywords and for how competitive they are
  2. Search Optimized Website Pages
    – based upon the above apply keywords, including geographic, to titles, URLs, headers, Meta tags
    – add alternative content using keywords in filenames and in Meta tags
    – add in page relevant anchor text links to other website pages
    – make google search console page submissions
    – plan on updating pages to maintain performance
    – Review and fix website for broken links, set up proper 404
  3. Google My Business Tools Setup, Verification and Optimization
    – get listings setup, verified, optimized and aligned with website via back- links
    – get Plus setup for posts and social activity back- links
    – set up search console and analytics, connect the two for consolidation of search data
    – if necessary, set up optimized YouTube Channel and embed optimized videos into appropriate website pages
  4. Claim, Verify and Optimize Top Search & Directory Listings
    – identify top listing sites, register listings
    – seek out all relevant national listings
    – seek out all locally relevant listings
    – align them all with website via back- links
  5. Plan in Place to Maximize Positive Client Reviews
    – identify satisfied clients and ask for their reviews
    – plan to help them when necessary, possibly with instructions
    – send follow up requests
    – setup alerts for all reviews in order to be informed
    – get informed on dealing with any negative reviews
  6. Measure! – You Cannot Grow What You Do Not Measure!
    – setup reliable keywords ranking software, analyze
    – setup website traffic and search analytics software, analyze
    – setup off- website traffic and search analytics software, analyze
    – report on successes, report on action items where needed for improvement
    – have a plan for updating underperforming keywords and pages

What Can Be Added Beyond Fundamentals?  

And once these signals are produced, it’s analysis that determines whether or not they are enough to reach goals and/ or if competition is such that more signals must be deployed, such as: 

  1. Copywriting= content creation:
    1. Geo- Trees,
    2. Authority for products & services
    3. Authority for locations
    4. Blogging on timely subjects
      1. all with an eye on covering the ‘ long tail for targeted subjects and keywords ‘ 
  2. Social Media Campaigns
  3. Alternative Content, Video and Photography
  4. Public Releases
  5. Links Build 
  6. And more- let’s discuss what’s best for your business … and your budget!

It’s work, requires some experience and it must carry on month to month, but when executed this will bring greater and greater visibility to those businesses that commit! Get in touch to discuss how a fundamental SEO program might support your business today! 


Related Posts:
SEO: YOU CANNOT GROW TRAFFIC THAT YOU DO NOT MEASURE!

Related Services:
SEO Solutions

 

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How ‘The Long Tail’ Of Search Drives Leads

Web Design And Development | Kinetic Knowledge

‘Long Tail’ Keywords Can Drive Leads For Your Business

 

The Long Tail theory was developed by Chris Anderson in his Oct 2004 Wired Magazine article describing how the web might influence business. Anderson, Editor of Wired Magazine at the time, later authored his best selling book ‘The Long Tail’ to better detail his theory.

As it applies to better search engine optimization and marketing – the idea with ‘The Long Tail’ is to be visible for as many variations of one’s core business subject focus (via indexed keywords in published website content) as is possible. The proven theory being that, while a business may generate less search discovery per keyword variation (i.e. 3 Bedroom Condos For Sale New York City) than it will for the most obvious & highly targeted keywords (i.e. New York City Condos) due to the amount of competition for those obviously targeted keywords, the collective impact of a broad set of variants might easily exceed that of the most targeted. Again the more varied (or long tail) a search term is, the less competitive it is to be discovered in search results. An SEO strategy focused on long tail keywords is one capable of not only capturing more traffic, but more highly qualified traffic.

This is NOT meant to suggest a business should give up targeting the obvious searches (i.e. New York City Real Estate). On the contrary, the argument is a potentially cost-effective approach to being a great deal more visible in the search engines. It means being visible to extremely qualified people demonstrated by how specifically they search. Search visibility can be some of the cost- effective advertising period; however, pursuing the most competitive search topics can easily become be cost- prohibitive.

Research shows that people do search more specifically. To demonstrate this ‘Long Tail’ theory, here are traffic analytic data drawn (compiled in 2007) from a publish content- committed Vail CO Real Estate agency client. This agency had broad keyword indexing for both the most sought after (and then also the not so sought after) targets. The agent focused on being indexed for everything going on in its’ community as it relates to Real Estate. We examined one month of data to demonstrate ‘long tail’ search discovery success for this (albeit anonymous) agent in Vail, CO.

the long tail supports SEO and leadsA. Total ‘Short Tail’ search discovery equaled 190/ 1,015 searches bringing new visitors to their website = 19%

      • Short Tail being the town’s name and state plus the words property, real estate, home or homes


B. Total ‘Long Tail’ search discovery equaled 825/1,015= 81%

      • Long Tail being as many variations relating to obvious town searches as is possible

a.) different areas of the town were equal to 130 total searchers
b.) condominium complexes equal to 299 total searchers
c.) new developments equal to 89 total searchers
d.) local clubs equal to 101 total searchers
e.) local business news | info equal to 27 total searchers
f.)  listings or specific streets equal to 32 total searchers
g.) developers equal to 56 total searchers

h.) random/ miscellaneous equal to 91 total searchers … hey, they blog about what’s going on locally a lot! 

 

Albeit anonymous, the data above demonstrates the ‘Long Tail theory’ and success based upon discovery for less targeted keyword variations; discovery amounting to 81% of the overall search traffic and 435% more visitors than what the short tail of search delivered. That’s a lot of traffic and potential leads! We’d argue the Vail Real Estate Agency are not only cost- effective marketers, but even better – they are capturing highly qualified eyeballs!


Read more on how to create an effective ‘Long Tail’ & ‘Short Tail’ Keyword lists

 

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