Phil Risher breaks down how local digital marketing differs from broad marketing. Google uses your location to filter results, so service businesses need location-specific content and a solid Google My Business profile. He walks through using search grids and local ranking data to focus your optimization work on the service areas that matter most.
Today we're going to discuss the difference between local digital marketing and just general digital marketing. And specifically, we're going to look at search engine optimization. And this is a real teller about if the digital marketing company that you're working with or thinking about working with is focused on what's best for you. So typically what we see is that you want to be focused on, if you have a local service business, then you want to be focused on local SEO and local digital marketing. Sometimes digital marketing companies, they blend the two and they don't have a real strategy for gaining new local business. And so we're going to discuss some of the ways to look for to see if the digital marketing company is actually focused on local service businesses. So when someone searches on Google and they type in Delhi, for example, Google knows your location based on your IP address. And also it knows it if you're on mobile based on what it's pinging. So what this allows Google to do is to say deli, but then it also pulls in your location. So we use this resource and it allows us to search for any search term for any location. And what this allows us to do is then go in and search for a specific location and a keyword term. So what we did here was we searched for Delhi in Ashburn, and obviously this looks a lot different than if you were to search for Delhi and Chicago, for example. Right. The results that Google's going to give is different because you're in a different location. However, what this is very important about this is that you're not telling Google anything different in your search term. You're still saying Delhi on both search terms. You're just in a different location. So Google's pulling in your location. So when we talk about local service businesses and local digital marketing, this is a really important point because some people may search for deli in Chicago, some people search deli near me. Well, how does Google know what near me is? And it's because of your location. So as a business and as a digital marketing company, what can we do to help support our businesses that we work with from a local perspective? So when you create content, there is different ways to create content. So this is a tree care company that we work with, commercial tree service in Arlington, Virginia. And this is a case study that tree service that we performed in a specific location. So what this tells Google is that we do commercial tree service and all the stuff that's in here, and we also do it in Arlington, Virginia. So, so it gives us that qualifier, the location qualifier. Tree removal, Falls Church, Virginia. Tree pruning in Leesburg, HOA in Reston. So you get it now there's more general terms that we could look for. So will my construction project kill my trees? This is a global search. People all over the world could search this and we could give them value. Are they converting leads? Not necessarily, because these people could be from all over the world. They they're not in Leesburg, Virginia or Reston, Virginia. And so it's good to have a mix. But what we don't want is just content like this because this is not attracting the people that we necessarily want. This is attracting people that we want. And it's giving Google those qualifiers that, yes, this is the service area that we are doing. These are good to have because they are very important. So one really great example is a good piece of content that is just evergreen and global. How much does it cost to cut down a tree? That's a global. Then you could say, how much does it cost to get your trees pruned in Virginia? Then you could say, how much does it cost to get a maple wood cut in Virginia? Maybe that's a species that's more likely in Virginia. So one way that we've seen this is when you're providing information. So we work with a law firm and so how long does divorce take in Virginia? This is a great question. And this is the company you work with and they have the second organic ranking. So how long does it take to finalize a divorce in Virginia? It gives it that qualifier. And these are people that are potential leads. So that's a really great way. We use this search grid. And what this allows us to do is to pull in different queries. So for example, deli apps, Ashburn Pizza, Ashburn Takeout, Ashburn Restburn, Ashburn. And it shows us the zip codes around where we're currently ranking for different keywords. And what this allows us to do is then create content. This is a newer client that we started working with, but like Takeout Ashburn, for example, we can see that right here at their, at their location, they rank number two down here a little bit, they're number nine. But everyone else, everywhere else, they're in the red. So that's a big emphasis for us. The other thing that we didn't mention was that on here, each one of these is a Google My Business, which we've done several videos about. Google My Business and the importance making sure that your location and your service areas in your Google My Business reflect the actual service area that you provide because that tells Google, hey, they want a deli, they're in your service area. So let me show them. There are a lot of different qualifiers that go in. There's probably 10 different ones that go into what Google is showing here. And one of the important ones is reviews. Posting on your Google My business, having your name, address and phone number consistent across all platforms, hours consistent across all platforms, posting, responding to reviews, getting reviews. All those things we helped out with our clients. If you are a local service business and you have a digital marketing company that's not doing those things, then unfortunately you're missing out on a lot of opportunity from a local digital marketing perspective. So we grow local service businesses. If you're interested in learning more, hit that like and subscribe. We'll put some links down below to help you grow your business.
