In the modern SEO world, it is a given fact that maintaining a website and investing in local SEO is a basic requirement for any company that wants to be successful. But the old days of simply being there and using a few keywords are long gone.

Many people have already taken advantage of building and maintaining a local SEO oriented blog, and since 97% of respondents said that they used the internet when researching local products in a recent survey (BIA/Kelsey), you can bet that they’ve seen success. Still, the local landscape has changed as much as everything else, and we feel like some new tips are needed to dominate in this day and age.

  • Being involved in the local community is extremely important

The good old days of supporting your local little-league team are long gone. It takes a lot more gusto to get to the top in this new world. With your local business blog, it is imperative that you get involved as much as you can with the local community to increase your brand image, make friends, and raise awareness.

Support local sports teams, high schools, charities, or other businesses. Post photos of the events and tag people in them. Make sure to encourage sharing on social media, as this is more important now than it ever has been. Don’t forget about local news and events, either. Allow your blog to be a platform for local people to see what is going in relation to the town, things you are interested in, and things that deal with your corner of the market. Getting involved in the community is the #1 to grow your business through a local blog.

  • Use your blog as a reward for customers

This is a pretty widespread technique that goes down through the ages. People have always been using discounts and vouchers to spread help their business out. In the new world of local SEO, you should be using your blog as a source of rewards for your loyal readers. Encourage them to engage your blog by writing reviews or comments, sharing your posts, or subscribing to your email list.

Offer them in-business rewards like discounts or buy one get ones so that they have incentive for helping you out. “You scratch my back, I scratch yours” is as old as our species, “You follow my blog, I give you 10% off your next visit” is just the newest incarnation. Remember, social media engagement is paramount.

  • Be a friendly neighbourhood business

Optimizing for a city or town is all the rage these days, but what if you could optimize for a neighbourhood or area of town? Defining a major area like New York’s Mid-Town or Harlem is quite easy compared to defining an area like Woodmont in Milford, Connecticut.

That doesn’t mean Google isn’t going to try, though. The Google Neighbourhood function is attempting to further define local neighbourhoods in your area. By using your area’s name as a keyword, making sure to use it in tags, adding it to your My Business page on Google +, and even defining your neighbourhood’s boundaries on Google Maps itself, you can find your company one step of all of the hyper-local competition.

Having a local SEO blog is a great way to promote your local business. The good news is that promoting your business locally is far easier, cheaper, and faster than it is promoting it on a grander scale via the web. A strong social media presence, involvement in the local community, comprehensive rewards for loyal readers, hyper-local optimization, and community updates will go a long in way making sure your business is at the forefront of all of your town’s happenings.

For help with your website’s local SEO, contact the experts at BlueHat Marketing.