Photo by Alizée Baudez

Originally Posted On: https://www.iwriter.com/blog/local-seo-checklist-for-creating-content-that-ranks-in-local-search/

 

The SEO industry is well-matured and married to its best practices.

You don’t have to spend an eternity in the trial and error phase. You also don’t have to spend a ton of money to get great SEO campaign results.

All’s that’s need is a solid local SEO checklist.

Wouldn’t you know! This piece provides a detailed overview of local SEO. Plus, offers a basic checklist to amplify your SEO efforts.

Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Part 1: What is “Rank-Worthy” Local SEO Content?

There’s good content…

…and then there’s rank-worthy content.

Rank-worthy content:

• Targets a keyword, topic, and audience
• Delivers valuable information in an easily digestible format
• Offers valuable resources and solutions to problems
• Is timely and relevant to a user’s needs and desires

Local SEO content really comes down to following Google’s quality guidelines.

1. Make content for users
2. Offer something of value
3. Don’t abuse ranking signals

A good piece of local content connects with those in your area. It matches their local search query and intent. Then, gives them an option to engage a local business.

What you’re doing is meshing local terms + SEO best practices.

Strive for quality content and your site will see real SEO benefits. It finally gets a stronger foothold in its SEO strategy. And, offers exceptional value to its market.

Part 2: Tools to Rank for Local Search Terms

There are a few usual ways people tend to create content:

• Gut feeling – They create what they think people want
• Experience – They create what they know and have done
• User influenced – They create what others are suggesting
• Data – They use tools to know what people want

Can you guess which of these tend to create the biggest impact? If you said the content creation based on data-driven decisions then you win the prize!

SEO tools will tell you metrics like:

• Volume
• Difficulty
• Value

Different tools include proprietary metrics, too, but a lot do the same thing. They pull search data and present it in a way that you’ll find worthwhile keywords.

Start with free tools to get a hang of keyword research:

• Google’s Keyword Planner
• AnswerThePublic
• Ubersuggest

Then, try one of the premium tools to get more detailed data:

• Ahrefs
• SEMrush
• Spyfu

You can use these tools to find broad, local keywords. These are great when starting because you’ll have a lot to work with.

Or:

Narrow it down and go after what SEOs call “long-tail” keywords.

The latter may not get as much search volume. But, there’s often less competition which means an easy way to get SEO wins!

Play around with these SEO tools until you’ve learned their interface. When ready, you can begin using them to craft content topics. Plus, you’ll know exactly which keywords to build content around — so it ranks and brings in leads.

Part 3: How to Create Content for Local SEO

Remember how you’re combining local terms + SEO content strategies? Well, there are a lot of ways to explore this when it comes to local SEO content.

The Content Process

The content creation process gets easier as you go. It will change and adapt to your needs as you figure out what your audience wants. That said, there is a basic way to go about creating local content — and that is:

1. Brainstorm and SEO research tool to pick a keyword and topic
2. Decide which content format suits the topic (blog, video, audio, image, etc)
3. Use competitive and keyword research to find supporting research
4. Create an outline and gather supporting pieces, media, and resources
5. Dictate who creates the content (in-house or outsourced)
6. Quality control the piece and then publish it to an owned platform
7. Bonus: Get the content syndicated across multiple channels

Sprinkle local keywords and terms all throughout the content in its process. Use this opportunity to flex your local knowledge and experience.

Think of the content creation as if you were talking to one of the locals.

Long-tail keywords easily find their way into the piece when it’s conversational. This natural approach, along with keyword research, boosts discoverability. Plus, it gives your brand that true, local image which many will happily support.

The Content Types

What content should you create when building a local search presence?

Start with a few basics:

• News
• Tutorials
• Guides
• How-tos
• Lists

Then, expand:

• Infographics
• Videos
• Landing pages
• Memes
• FAQs

You can explore niche pieces, too, like:

• Ebooks
• Courses
• Events
• Specials
• Pressers

A good approach is to look at what’s ranking in Google for a chosen topic. Chances are, the content type you’re finding is the type that people want. So, why go against the grain when you’re getting told what works, right?

Part 4: Amplifying with a Local SEO Checklist

The trouble with creating content is that it gets tedious. That’s why you’ll see many business blogs fall off after a few, short months.

You need two things to make local SEO content work well:

• A commitment to consistency and growth
• A checklist and streamlined process

You can figure it out when it comes to consistency…

…here is a checklist to cover the other half:

• Discover and create a spreadsheet listing your local keywords and topics
• Fill in existing pages with on-page signals and update its content
• Inject local call-outs and features like Google Maps or Schema
• Update your Google My Business listing and add some fresh content to it
• Update other citations and add localized content to those platforms, too
• Create the best content you can and publish it to owned assets
• Share, distribute, and syndicate your content across local and broad channels
• Build supporting pieces for link building and branding opportunities
• Ask for reviews and feedback or explore user-created content
• Optimize the site for mobile, page load speed, and usability

Develop templates to streamline local SEO content efforts. This creates the consistency you’re going for. Plus, you can hand it off to the team or outside talent and get exactly what you want!

Boost Your Local SEO Campaign Effectiveness

A local SEO checklist offers a good roundup of best practices. But, there’s still that pesky task of putting SEO content strategies into practice!

Let the professionals at Writer boost your campaign.

Hiring writers through iWriter means you’re bringing on vetted talent. You’ll find writers with extensive knowledge of your industry and SEO best practices. You can save time and get everything you want in a campaign in one go.

What are you waiting for? Set up a free client account today!