4 Growth Hacks for Local Businesses

Search is still the most targeted source of traffic because buyers love organic results. According to this research, “70% of the links search users click on are organic – not paid.

Yes, email is efficient, the paid search comes with guaranteed traffic (yet 70-80% of users overlook the paid ads, concentrating on the organic traffic), and social is popular, but the visitors you get from Google will be more inclined to buy your product or likely to convert in one of your potential subscribers.

If you feel stuck right now, without knowing where to start, or how to measure your business and produce leads into your sales funnel, here are four proven SEO strategies and ideas that have been proven to work.

These SEO approaches can launch your business website or blog pages to the top of SERPs. Effects may not be seen overnight, but you don’t have to wait 3 months either.

So let’s dive in.

1. Drive Qualified Users Through Long-Tail Search

In 2011, we thought that targeting specific keywords and producing a 500-word article for it was all that Google needed.

However, the game has evolved. It’s not about distinct keyword phrases anymore. Strong SEO strategies now rely on search queries or long-tail keywords.

A company discovered that focusing on long-tail search queries can deliver 2.5x better results than head keyword variations.

Keywords are generic and don’t show any intent. On the other side, queries have intentions behind them and user intents are precisely what Google looks for in today’s SEO.

If you expect your business to experience the immense traffic that comes through search engines, you need to focus on long-tail queries.

The shocking fact is that long-tail queries send about 70% traffic to websites and blogs and it’s a great occasion for business owners who don’t operate with big budgets.

As a business entrepreneur, you need a better way to engage with your prospects. Users with the intention to buy a product or engage with your service type into Google employ long-tail search phrases.

If you understand how to use them, then you will drive highly targeted leads and buyers to your business.

Of course, long-tail keywords may not produce the kind of traffic that head keywords lead. But the efficiency lies in the quantity.

And the more long-tail keywords you target on your business site and produce rich and valuable content, the more qualified traffic you’ll send to your site.

2. Identify Profitable Keywords From Your Competitors

Are you targeting online shoppers with your compelling content?

Because you can’t successfully attract prospects if you don’t identify the search terms they’re typing into Google.

Competitive analysis is the fastest way to know exactly what’s efficient in your industry.

But through a competitive audit, you can analyze your competition, take notes, and design a successful search campaign that generates qualified leads, clicks, and sales.

You need to understand that taking the time to run a competitive keyword analysis is one of the quickest ways to develop your SEO strategies.

Identify your competitor’s most lucrative keywords, and you will easily amplify your SEO strategy and gain a competitive edge in the SERPs.

Knowing how to produce a good keyword list for pay per click and organic search campaigns is your key to succeeding at content marketing.

3. Create a Local Places Page To Attract Local Customers

Have you posted your business in the Local Places yet?

Data infographic shows that 7 out of 10 online consumers rely on the reviews of anonymous users on review websites like Yelp, Yahoo! Local, and Google Places.

Why neglect this opportunity, when you can have a competitive edge over the organic listings for the most profitable keyword phrases if you can create all listings for your business.

Whether it’s local directories, review websites, or Google’s Local Places, the opportunities are unlimited. You can get started today with a Google My Business account. It’s 100% free.

In a research study, the results showed that Local listing distributions can generate a 172% increase in accuracy and a 277% increase in overall presence online.

When you claim a business page in Google, you’re creating a local citation, which Google employs in its search ranking algorithm to discover the relevance of a particular web page or business.

Keep in mind that Google is not the only search engine. You have several at your disposal, but the recommendation is to create a listing on Bing, Yahoo! Local, and other trusted local directories. 

Claiming or creating your business local pages is crucial to your SEO success.

Before you start producing content for your blog or performing all kinds of white hat SEO tactics, you should prepare your local pages.

And when it comes to white hat SEO strategies, let’s examine one of the most compelling and result-oriented ones: the skyscraper technique.

4. Use The Skyscraper Technique To Create Irresistible Content

Are you ready to apply the skyscraper technique to generate impressive content that will exceed your competitors’, produce leads, reliable links, and impact customers and clients all over the world?

Here are the 3 actions you need to take:

  • Discover link-worthy content
  • Produce something even better
  • Connect to the right people who can amplify it

Discover link-worthy content.

There’s a niche that you can leverage in your industry, if only you find it. Users demand more exclusive and comprehensive information. Because they’re probably fed up with generic advice. They need practical and proven solutions. That leads us to the second step.

Produce something even better. 

The purpose of applying the skyscraper technique isn’t to produce another article on the same subject, but to impress the readers, influencers, power users, social media experts, and distinguish itself.

Producing highly valuable content starts with the headline.

Now that we’ve updated the headline, it’s time to work on the content itself. Keep an eye on the prize: creating more valuable, detailed, engaging, shareable, and linkable content.

Remember that users trust specialists who sustain their statements with data and proven results.

Create copy in a conversational way and employ the word “You” in your content constantly. 

Break it with catchy subheadings, and work with images, infographics, charts, and screenshots to divide large sections of content into paragraphs. It’ll encourage the users to read your content from start to finish, but it is still no guarantee.

Connect to the right people who can amplify it.

It’s human nature to be attracted to the best. Having created one of the best pieces of the article for a topic, now you need to reach out to the right people who can magnify its impact.

 Leverage influencer marketing by sending out targeted outreach emails since influencer marketing has shifted a very compelling force in digital marketing, and “84% of global marketers expected to launch at least one influencer marketing campaign in the coming years.”

The best time to start your influencer marketing campaign is after your “impactful” content is published. Whether it’s designed as a short interview, expert quotes, callouts, collaboration, or strategy, you can reach influencers to follow your call. 

Conclusion

After reviewing these SEO strategies and approaches for businesses, you may consider that expanding a successful local business via search is easy.

Being consistent and constant is the secret. It doesn’t matter how impactful the idea is, if you aren’t persistent, you may not get results. Search alone can grow your business, but social alone may not be able to.

So what do you think, should you implement any or all of these business search engine optimization ideas? If you haven’t decided yet, contact us and tell us how we can help you to grow your local business with SEO. We’d love to hear from you.

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