How to Optimize Your Blog Content For Local SEO

If you have a business blog, odds are you optimize every post for search engine optimization (SEO). However, you may not be optimizing it for local SEO — and if your business services a specific location (or locations), then you should be. Your blog content can be an influential ranking factor for local searches, allowing you to reach local audiences with greater success. The following are ten tips on how you can optimize your blog for local SEO:

Include Geographic Modifiers 

Geographic (geo) modifiers are words or phrases that denote a specific location. To optimize your blog content for local SEO, you should work geo modifiers into each post as often as possible. For instance, suppose you own a catering company and you’re writing a post about your most popular wedding menu items. In that case, you should include geo modifiers like “wedding catering NYC” or “Los Angeles wedding catering.”

Link to Local Pages

A common mistake bloggers make, especially those who write for a broad, general audience, is failing to link to local pages. If you’re writing a blog post about restaurants in New York, be sure to link to local landing pages you’ve set up for all of the restaurants you own in New York. For example, if you have a restaurant in NYC and Albany, you should like that blog post to those pages. 

Download the Local SEO Checklist

Write Local Content

Write blog content that is location-focused. For example, neighborhood guides, spotlights on local events, or local business reviews are all types of content that will appeal to local audiences and that can be easily optimized for local SEO.

Optimize Your Blog With Local Schema Markup 

Schema markup is a type of code that’s embedded in a site’s HTML and contains rich snippets of data. You can use schema markup to provide additional information about certain pages on a site, and it’s beneficial for local SEO. Information that you can embed with schema markup includes business hours, geolocation, payment types accepted, and specialties.

Use Local Business Directories

There are plenty of local business directories online where you can list your blog (for free), some of which let you link back to your site. You should make sure to list your blog on sites like Facebook, Yelp, and YellowPages.com. Many local directories also allow you to include a short bio with each listing. If you list your blog on multiple local business directories, you can link to different pages on your site with each one.

Be Active on Social Media

Social media can be a powerful local SEO ranking factor, which means that if you want your blog content to rank well for local searches, you should be active on social media. Every time you write a new post, promote it across your social media profiles. You should also try to gain social media mentions because the more popular your blog page is among local users, the more powerful a local SEO ranking factor it will become.

Make Sure Your NAP is Consistent

The NAP (name, address, phone number) is essential information when it comes to local SEO. Ensure that your NAP is consistent across the web (on directories, social media profiles, etc). Also, make sure to link back to your site from your NAP because this is yet another local SEO ranking factor.

Earn Local Backlinks

Getting backlinks is an integral part of local SEO, so if you want your blog content to rank better for local searches, you should try to get some backlinks. You can do this by publishing guest posts on other blogs in your industry, or you could try reaching out to local businesses you’ve worked with and ask if they’d be willing to link back to you. Another way to get backlinks is by contacting bloggers in your area and asking them if they would be willing to create a guest post for your site.

Set up a Google My Business Page

Creating a Google My Business page will allow you to include more information about your business on Google, which will help you rank better for local searches. Setting up a Google My Business page is pretty simple, and once it’s set up, you’ll be given a local SEO checklist that will help you optimize your page.

Your Google My Business page is going to show up on the first page of search results every time someone searches for your business’s info on Google Maps, so you must have one.

Make Sure Your Blog is Mobile-Friendly.

Make sure that your blog is properly displayed on mobile devices because when it comes to local SEO, mobile-friendliness is becoming more and more critical. If your blog is not mobile-friendly, it could affect your rankings on Google. Not to mention that local searches are often performed on mobile devices, especially when people are out and about searching for a business to meet their needs.

If you’re trying to reach a local audience, you must optimize your blog for local SEO. The above are ten essential local SEO tips that will help improve your blog’s local SEO rankings. As long as you keep these things in mind when creating new posts, you should be able to increase your blog’s rankings on Google. Just remember, no matter how well optimized for local SEO your blog might be, it won’t do you much good if you’re not creating high-quality content.

You may also like to read:

• Local SEO Services Guides
• How to Attract More Calls to Your Local Business
• Local SEO Reviews
• Local SEO Strategy
• What is Local SEO
• How to Improve Local SEO
• How to Optimize Your Blog Content For Local SEO
• How to Find Local SEO Clients Without Any Cold Calling
• Local SEO with No Physical Address
• Local SEO Citations Tips