Key Considerations For a Successful Rebranding Strategy (H1)

Rebranding is a significant step for any organization. It serves as an opportunity to refresh your image, attract new customers, and reinvigorate interest among existing clients. In a competitive business landscape, effective branding can set you apart and contribute to long-term success. However, rebranding is more than just changing a logo or updating visuals; it requires a comprehensive understanding of your current position in the market and a strategic marketing plan for moving forward.

The decision to rebrand often arises from various factors, including market dynamics, evolving consumer preferences, or internal changes within the organization. It can also reflect a desire to align the brand with new goals or values. Given the implications of rebranding, it is crucial to approach this process with careful consideration. Before embarking on a rebranding journey, organizations should evaluate several key aspects.

Assessing the Need for Rebranding

The first step is to assess whether rebranding is necessary. Several indicators can suggest that a rebrand is overdue. An outdated image can hinder a brand’s ability to connect with modern consumers. If your logo or visual identity feels outdated, it may signal stagnation in your brand’s relevance. Additionally, changes in the market can necessitate a rebrand. Industry shifts due to new technologies, emerging competitors, or evolving consumer behavior can render your current brand strategy ineffective. Monitoring these changes closely will help determine if a rebrand is essential.

Another important factor is customer feedback. If you consistently hear negative comments about your brand or if customer engagement has declined, these signals might suggest a need for a fresh approach. Gathering data on customer sentiment can provide valuable insights into how your brand is perceived.

Conducting Market Research

Once you’ve assessed the need for rebranding, the next step is conducting thorough market research. Understanding customer perceptions and analyzing competitors is crucial to inform your rebranding strategy.

Conducting surveys, focus groups, or interviews: Gauge how your target audience views your brand. This direct feedback will highlight areas that need improvement or change. Understanding consumer expectations will also guide the development of your new brand identity.

Competitor analysis: Studying your competitors’ branding efforts can Identify what works for them and where they fall short. This analysis will help you define what sets your brand apart and will inform your unique selling proposition (USP).

Defining Brand Values and Mission

Clarifying your brand’s values and mission is a critical component of rebranding. This process involves determining what your brand stands for and how it aligns with your target audience’s values. A clear mission statement guides all branding efforts and helps maintain consistency across all platforms. Consider what makes your brand unique. Your USP should resonate with your target audience and differentiate you from competitors. Defining these aspects will create a strong foundation for your rebranding initiatives and help communicate your brand’s story effectively.

Potential Risks

Rebranding carries inherent risks. One potential pitfall is alienating existing customers. A dramatic change in brand identity might confuse loyal customers who have previously identified with your brand. To mitigate this risk, ensure you communicate the reasons for the rebrand clearly and involve your audience in the transition process.

Another risk involves misalignment between your new branding and your actual products or services. If your rebranding suggests a shift in quality or value that your offerings do not support, this misalignment can damage your reputation. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that your rebranding reflects the true essence of your business.

Implementation Strategy

To ensure a smooth transition during rebranding, develop a detailed implementation strategy. Start with clear internal communication to inform employees about the changes and the reasons behind them. Engaging your team in the rebranding process nurtures a sense of ownership and can lead to greater excitement around the new identity.

Once internal communication is established, plan your external launch strategy. Create a timeline for rolling out the new branding across all platforms, including your website, social media, and promotional materials. Consistent messaging will reinforce the new brand identity to your audience. To further enhance the launch, consider hosting an event or campaign to unveil your rebrand. This approach can generate buzz and excitement around the change, fostering positive engagement from both new and existing customers.

Embrace the opportunity to refresh your brand and engage with your audience more effectively. Understanding your organization’s unique position and values is crucial for achieving long-term success in a competitive landscape. Our team is ready to guide you through the complexities of marketing to ensure a smooth transition and a strong market presence. Connect with us today to get started on your journey to impactful rebranding.

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Benefits of Boosting an Ad on Facebook

One of the main benefits of boosting an ad on Facebook, is the potential for increased visibility. By allocating a budget to a specific post, businesses ensure that their content reaches a larger audience, including those who may not yet follow their page. This extended reach is valued for brand awareness and can drive more traffic to your website or social media. The process itself is straightforward, designed for users of all experience levels. You select a post to boost, establish a budget based on your financial capabilities, and then specify your target audience by demographics, interests, and geographic locations. This targeting allows you to connect with specific groups more likely to interact with your content. It can also be a quick way to promote time-sensitive information, such as sales or events, capturing attention before it’s too late.

Cons of Boosting an Ad on Facebook

Despite its advantages, boosting posts is not without drawbacks. While it can help spread your message, boosted posts may receive lower engagement rates compared to ads specifically designed for conversion. This may be due to the content, which may not have been crafted with advertising goals in mind. As a result, spending on boosted posts can sometimes lead to a wasted budget if the post isn’t compelling enough to spark interest among viewers. Additionally, the analytics provided for boosted posts can be limited. You may receive basic insights, such as reach and engagement, but lacking deeper metrics makes it challenging to assess overall campaign effectiveness. In situations that demand more precision and control, utilizing Facebook’s Ads Manager for tailored ad campaigns may be a more strategic approach. This platform allows for comprehensive audience analysis and enables businesses to adapt their ads based on performance, ultimately leading to improved results over time.

Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads

Google Ads and Facebook Ads are two leading platforms for digital marketing, each with distinct strengths. Google Ads targets users based on intent, displaying ads when people search for specific keywords. This approach captures demand at critical moments, making it effective for direct response advertising. Facebook Ads, on the other hand, focuses on user demographics and interests, allowing brands to engage potential customers during their leisure activities. The visual nature of Facebook’s platform enhances brand storytelling and audience connection. Choosing between the two depends on campaign goals. Brands seeking immediate conversions may prefer Google Ads, while those aiming for brand awareness might find Facebook Ads more effective. Evaluating audience behavior and objectives is key to selecting the right platform.

When deciding whether to boost a post, consider the context and goals of your campaign. There are instances where boosting can serve as an effective tool. For example, if you have an important announcement, such as launching a new product or service, boosting the corresponding post can ensure it reaches a wide audience quickly. Similarly, for promotions or limited time offers, boosting can help generate immediate awareness and drive traffic. However, if your objective is long-term engagement or conversion, creating dedicated ads through Ads Manager can provide more robust options for strategizing and measuring success. Ultimately, evaluating your specific needs will guide you in deciding whether boosting posts aligns with your marketing goals or if a more comprehensive advertising strategy is necessary.

While boosting posts on Facebook can offer quick visibility and engagement for time-sensitive promotions, it’s essential to weigh its benefits against potential drawbacks. Boosted posts might not deliver the same engagement as tailored ads, and the limited analytics can hinder effective campaign assessment. For businesses looking to maximize their online presence, understanding when to boost and when to invest in a more strategic advertising approach is crucial. If you’re unsure how to optimize your Facebook marketing strategy, we’re here to help! Contact us today for your FREE, no-obligation consultation to explore the best options for your business.

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1.  Choose Your Blog Topic, Based On Keyword & Market Research

As a business, you’re likely to have some often-asked questions from your clients. You may even have an FAQ section on your website. One of the easiest ways to choose engaging and relatable content is to pick a question you often get asked or a question from your FAQs section and stretch the answer into a blog. For example, if you run a roofing company, one of the questions you may be asked is “How Often Should Do I Need A Roof Replacement?” This is a great topic for a blog because 1) it contains a keyword you likely want to rank for (Roof Replacement) 2) it’s posed as a question that mimics the way your prospect would search for your services. If you can imitate a query that might be used on a search network, it makes it easier for the network to see the relevance of your content to the searcher’s query. Other great options for blog topics include listicles, which are easily digestible lists that are fun and engaging to read, i.e.) 5 Signs It’s Time For A Roof Replacement.

2.  Set Up Your Sections

Every good blog has multiple sections, divided by images, infographics or video. You’re likely to start with a title, which is also your H1 heading. Every web page should have a single H1 heading, followed by an intro paragraph. After that, you’ll follow with H2 headings and if it makes sense, break down further into H3’s and so on. It’s important that your H1 heading contain your target primary target keyword. H2 headings should contain primary keywords or secondary keywords. Each blog should also have a conclusion section, marked by a final H2. Be sure when you’re publishing your content that you’re tagging your headings appropriately and never have more than one H1 heading tagged. You should have a natural flow and idea of the content, so it’s often helpful to plan out your headings and then fill in the copy once the basic structure is set up.

3.  Use Internal and External Links

A great website has great internal and external links. Internal links are set up to send readers to other related sections on your website, such as service pages, your contact or special offer page or other blogs. Having strong internal linking is a great way to give search engines more context as to what your content is about and improves the crawlability of your site. External links link out to other websites. Ideally, you’d link to pages with authority to lend to the legitimacy of your website and provide insight for readers and crawlers alike. For example, if you’re a roofer who’s an authorized partner with GAF Shingles, you may want to mention this in your blog and link to the GAF Shingles website. It’s important that your external link opens up in a new window to ensure that your site visitor can return to your blog for further interaction. A good rule of thumb is to use at least one internal link and one external link per blog.

4.  Optimize Your Blog Length

Blogs should be no shorter than 300 words and contain a well-planned structure, as previously mentioned. Although Google tends to prefer longer content, articles over 1000 words can be intimidating to the reader and cause them to abandon the page. If you’re writing a longer blog article, be sure to cut up the copy with content like video, infographics and images to support the written content. 500-700 words makes for a quick read with your site visitor in a good place to take further action such as review your service pages or contact you for more information or request services. Make sure your conclusion features a strong call to action to guide your site visitor in the buying process.

5.  Optimize Your Metadata & Metatags

Every web page has metadata associated with it. This data provides content and structure of a webpage to search engines and help improve the visibility and accessibility of a website. Metadata includes your title tag (the H1 or title of the page), a meta-description that summarizes the page content, your focus keyword or keywords, as well as alt-tags for the images on the page. An easy way to test and review the meta-data on your page is by installing the Yoast SEO Plugin on your website. This is a free plug for WordPress sites that reviews the content on your site, alerts you of any errors and allows you to input metadata with relative ease.

6.  Share Your Post

You’re likely to have a set schedule for blogs and it’s a great ideal to post on a monthly basis. Once you’ve published your post, spread the word! Share your blog on your social media platforms and Google My Business profile. Not only does this let your followers know you’ve got new content available, but it also builds quality links to your website on platforms with high value. Include teaser content and a strong call to action to encourage click-throughs to your website.

Want More SEO-Friendly Blog Content, But Don’t Have The Time?

At Frontline Consulting, we have various programs for businesses who want more SEO-friendly content on their site but are too busy to create this content. If you’d like to learn more about our SEO programs, contact us today for a free consultation!

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What Will Your Domain Name Be?

Choosing a domain name is important. Ideally, the URL (your web address) would include a keyword related to your product or service, which is good for SEO, and contain your company name, which is great for brand recognition. You are likely going to choose a .com or .ca URL, depending on your country and audience. You can even choose to purchase both and have one redirect to the other. You can check to see if your preferred URL is available and register your domain through GoDaddy here.

Where is Your Domain Registered?

If you’ve already registered your domain, it’s important to make sure you’re renewing it on an annual basis. Often domain registrars will offer multiple year renewal programs, which are cheaper and give you peace of mind that your domain ownership is protected. File your domain registrar login information in a safe place. You’ll only really need to access this if you need to renew your domain or launch a website. If you’re not sure where your domain is registered, you can use WHOIS for hints:

Where Will Your Domain Be Hosted?

Once you’ve registered your domain, you can choose your hosting set up. If you’ve registered through GoDaddy, you may also want to host through GoDaddy. There are a lot of great reasons to host through GoDaddy, including 24/7 support, optimized servers and having your SSL certificate included. An SSL certificate is essential to encrypt and protect your site’s data and ensure you get found online. Frontline Consulting can offer recommendations on hosting options that suit your individual needs. If you’re building a WordPress site, GoDaddy has some great and affordable options.

Have You Connected Your Domain Name To Your Hosting Account?

Once your domain has been registered and you’ve selected your hosting platform (or in conjunction with this), you’ll begin to build your website. Once this process is complete, it’s time to connect your domain name to your hosting account in order to launch your site.

Basically, if your website is your house, the hosting is the land underneath your house. Your domain registration is the address of your house, and the internet is the street that leads traffic to your house. By connecting your domain name to your hosting account you’re telling your hosting account what your address is. If you’re using GoDaddy, here are the steps you need to take to connect your domain name to your hosting account:

Here’s a breakdown of all the steps from GoDaddy.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

Many businesses either don’t have the time or the patience to build and launch a website. Dealing with the many issues that arise can be enough to make you want to abandon the whole process. Rest assured, regardless of the path you chose for domain hosting and registration, Frontline is here to help! From initial web development and design to website launch, we’ll guide you through the whole process and make recommendations based on what’s best for you.

Ready to get started? Contact us today for a free custom quote on your web development project.

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1.  Request & Respond to Reviews

If you’ve ever researched a company online, you know how important reviews are in your purchase-making decisions. Whether you’re searching for a product or service online, you’re likely to find yourself reading reviews on Google and other sites. This is why it’s important to request reviews from your clients and respond to them in a timely manner. Not only are Google reviews and a high Google rating important to your potential customers, but they can also help to improve your website visibility and boost SEO. Make it part of your routine to solicit reviews from your customers and follow up with them to ensure you have a consistent stream of reviews being posted to your profile. In addition to soliciting reviews, once reviews are published, it’s important to respond. This let’s Google know you’re engaged with your clientele. It’s always important to respond to negative reviews. Regardless of the outcome, responding to a negative review signifies to both Google and prospects that you’re committed to rectifying the problem. You should respond to both negative and positive reviews alike. When responding to positive reviews, personalize your response to reflect your personalized service to further boost SEO and showcase the wow-factor your company provides!

2.  Add Updates

Do you have a new project you’re really proud of? A new renovation? A special or incentive? A new and informative blog that can aid in the purchase decision process? All of these are excellent ways to keep your Google Business Profile fresh and up to date. You can post these in the Updates section. Remember to add a call to action such as “learn more” or “call now” to ensure you’re prompting the appropriate action from the viewer. Try to update your GBP on a regular basis. It can be as simple as purposing a social media post on your GBP. Just keep in mind the image specifications for a Google Business Profile post are 1200 x 900 pixels and you may need to reformat your social post graphic to conform with these specs. Additionally, you should add photos to your gallery on a regular basis. If you have a location where clients can visit, your gallery should include interior and exterior images of your premise, signage, your logo, products, service and project shots or anything you think your potential customer might see as helpful when they research your company.

3.  Fill Out Your Business Offerings

There are a number of categories you can ask Google to display when you’re completing your profile. Do you offer free parking? Is your establishment wheelchair accessible? Are you a woman-owned company? These are just a few of the add-ons you can select to enhance your profile. This individualized listing enhancement can help prospects see why your company is unique. Take time to select all the options that apply to you.

4.  Makes Sure Your GBP Company Information Matches Your Website & Keep Both Up To Date

Your Google Business Profile should match the business name reflected on your website. This is important for SEO. Your GBP hours of operation should also match your website. If you’re in a crunch and have to update one, update your GBP hours first, as this is the first thing people see when finding you online. However, keeping things consistent is ideal for SEO. Google will allow you to report special hours or holidays ahead of time and may even email you with questions (i.e. “Are you open on Labour Day?”) You can set these holidays ahead of time and even send out specialized messages in your GBP updates section.

Image Source: https://www.creativebloq.com/news/mcdonalds-doordash-posters

5.  Answer Questions and Set Up Messaging

From time to time, you may receive inquiries on your Google Business Profile. You’ll be alerted to these via email. It’s important to respond to these in a timely manner. It doesn’t look great to visit a GBP and see a prospect’s question left dangling unanswered. Answer these questions as soon as possible. They’ll not only be helpful to the prospect but to anyone else who’s viewing your profile. Again, the more proactive you are on your GBP, the more favourable Google will be with your business when determining search engine listing rank. You may even be able to set up a chat function on your profile wherein you can receive and respond to messages directly from customers and prospects. While this only applies to specific businesses and services, it’s worth looking into if you have the time and capability to manage this communication.

Building Out Your Google Business Profile Lets Google &. Your Customers Know You’re Engaged

It’s important to have a fully embellished Google Business Profile that you update on a regular basis with reviews, photos, company updates and responses to customers and prospects. If you don’t have a Google Business Profile or you’re interested in learning more about how an active GBP can boost your SEO and get you found on the web, contact Frontline Consulting today to learn more!

The post How to Boost Your Google Business Profile & Get Found Online appeared first on Frontline Web Consulting.

1. What are your goals?

As a business owner or marketing professional, you should already have a good idea of what you want to accomplish when engaging with a digital marketing agency. For example, you may be trying to expand your online brand awareness. Alternatively, you may want to enhance your digital presence, so you’re more easily found. Perhaps you want to transition or expand to an online sales platform to increase sales volume. Maybe you want to take an aggressive approach to rival your competition through paid advertising campaigns. You may want to take on a combination of a few of these goals. Defining your goals will help you to choose the best package for online success. At Frontline Web Consulting, we can guide you through this process to define your goals, lay out strategic plans for execution and provide measurable, data-driven results to inform future strategies.

2. What is your budget?

Budget obviously plays a role in how to proceed. Having a clearly defined budget can help to avoid scope creep and unexpected costs. You may want to accomplish many goals but may not have the initial budget to take on every strategy all at once. At Frontline Web Consulting, we can identify the most pressing areas of attention and offer a custom package that will get you closer to accomplishing your goals within your budget. For example, you may originally sign on with us for a new website build or website revamp and then follow up with ongoing SEO services, social media services, email marketing services or paid ad campaigns. Alternately, you may have a budget that permits you to take the plunge on more than one of these services at once. As your digital partner, we can create custom plans that suit your goals and budget and we’ll keep you up to date on our progress with regular reporting and progress updates.

3. When signing with an agency, who retains ownership of the content, digital assets and accounts created?

This is an important and often overlooked question that, if not asked up front, can leave a company with unexpected surprises should their relationship with the agency come to an end. Do you own your domain and do you have control of hosting? Are the social media accounts in your control? Who owns the digital assets (i.e. graphics and writing)? Once your website is built, is it your property? If the answer to any of these questions is no, you may be in for a rude awakening if you part ways with your agency. At Frontline Web Consulting, we strive to empower our clients by ensuring that they retain ownership of any accounts or digital assets, including websites, that we develop for them. We enjoy long-standing relationships with our clients but should we ever part ways, our clients can be assured that all their property will remain in their possession.

4. What is the agency’s reputation?

If you’re looking for a new favourite restaurant or buying a new vacuum, you’re more than likely going to do your research and read online reviews for the product or service. Shopping for a digital marketing agency is no different! As an owner, we know you take pride of your online reputation and at Frontline Web Consulting, we’re no different. We work hard to earn the trust of our clients and our reviews speak for themselves!

5. For paid ad campaigns, what is the pay structure for ad spend and campaign management?

If your company wants to run paid advertising campaigns on Google, Meta or another platform, how will your ad spend be charged and how will the campaigns be managed? Some digital marketing agencies run paid ad campaigns through their own accounts and have a rate per spend pay structure applied to the base ad spend. This management fee can run from 10-50 %. The industry average for this pay structure, based on a recent WordStream study, is 15-20 % of ad spend. This means that the higher your budget, the higher the management fee. At Frontline Web Consulting, we charge a flat fee for ad campaign management, and you get to own and control the ad account. This gives you full control and visibility of your campaigns and saves you money, regardless of the ad spend!

Whether you’re looking for a tune up to your existing site, an entire website rebuild, help in improving your online visibility, building out your social media profiles, a jump start to paid digital advertising or all of the above, Frontline Web Consulting offers custom-tailored packages for clients across North America. We take the time to understand your goals to design a one-of-a-kind solution to suit your needs and your budget. Contact us to start the conversation today!

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SEO can be complicated, especially with all the terminology you have to get familiar with. Keywords, as an example. What are long-tail, medium-tail, and short-tail keywords? What’s the difference and what do they do? We have simplified these terms for you to help you understand more about each one.

Short-Tail Keywords

Short-tail keywords are the most broad category of keywords and have much higher search volume. They also have much higher levels of competition. Short-tailed keywords are usually one or two words that cover a broader subject, like ”coffee”. Many users may be searching this term on Google, but not all for the same reason.

Short-tail keywords can fit just about anywhere in your content and are likely to end up in your medium and long-tail keywords regardless.

 Medium-Tail Keywords

Medium-tail keywords are somewhere in between short and long-tail keywords. They are a little more specific than short-tail keywords, but still broader than long-tail keywords. For example; ”organic coffee shop”. You know these users are searching for organic coffee shops, but not whether they are interested in visiting one or merely curious about what they are.

Medium-tail keywords work best in headers and even the slugs in URLs. They’re also great in page titles and, in some cases, may even be great business or website names. “The Organic Coffee Shop” may not sound very creative, but you can bet it will be at the top of search results when users are searching for organic coffee shops.

Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords have the lowest search volume, but that doesn’t make them any less worth your consideration! Long-tail keywords are very specific and represent a user that is more committed to the idea of making a purchase or fulfilling some other conversion you may be looking for. For example; ”best organic coffee shops near me”. They are specifically searching for highly rated coffee shops located nearby them, which is a pretty strong indicator they are interested in visiting one of these coffee shops.

Long-tail keywords can work in h1 headers, but work best in h2 or h3 headers as well as in the body text of your content.

Don’t worry if all the terms and details related to SEO still go over your head a bit at first. It takes time and experience to really get a better understanding of how everything works. Still need help with your SEO? Contact the experts at Frontline Consulting today and book a FREE consultation!

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An often-overlooked aspect of SEO is backlinking. Backlinks can either boost your website’s position to the top of search results or claw it back to the shadows of page six on Google. Since you want your website to see the light of day, let’s take a look at what backlinks are and what you can do to improve your backlink profile.

What Are Backlinks?

Backlinks are links from other domains that direct traffic to your website. Think of it like a recommendation; one store makes a recommendation to a potential customer about another store that may meet their needs. Backlinks are a source of traffic, but they also help build your authority score on Google. The more quality backlinks you have, the more Google sees how good your website is.

Backlink Audit & Toxicity

Knowing what domains are linking to your own domain is incredibly helpful for a couple of reasons. For one, you want to learn more about where your audience is coming from. Secondly, you want to look for more backlinking opportunities. Lastly, you want to make sure your backlink profile isn’t full of toxic backlinks.

Toxic backlinks are linking domains or pages that contain any number of red flags, such as malicious software, spam, or paid backlinks. These backlinks are ‘toxic’ and can harm your SEO.

To find out what your backlink profile looks like, you can use tools such as Semrush, or Google Search Console.

Removing Toxic Backlinks

Removing a toxic backlink is a quick process, but not always a totally straightforward one. One way to remove a toxic backlink is to reach out to the owner of the linking domain and politely ask them to remove the link to your website. But if time passes and you either don’t get a response or the link isn’t removed, what do you do then?

Disavowing backlinks requires the use of Google’s ‘disavow tool’. The disavow tool tells Google and its users that you do not recognize the backlink as valid and don’t associate yourself with it. Using the tool requires submitting a TXT file with specific formatting.

Building Better Backlinks

The only way to build a better backlink profile—other than removing or disavowing toxic backlinks—is to take the time to do so. Backlink outreach is a lot of work, but it will improve your website’s position considerably.

The easiest way to start building a bigger backlink profile is to search for instances where your website or business is mentioned but is not linked. Reach out to the owner of the website and politely ask about adding a link in their article or page to your website where they mention you.

The other, more difficult method of building your backlink profile is to reach out to other, relevant websites that may have some content that relates to your website or business. Be sure that you aren’t reaching out to a competitor, but rather a blogger, or a website that is closely related to your topic but could easily defer to your website.

Backlinking takes a lot of time and it’s a lot of work, but it is so worth it. That’s why you can count on Frontline Consulting to take those extra steps for you as we delve into your backlink profile and take the necessary steps to improve your SEO. Contant us today for and book a free consultation!

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When I began writing for SEO for my local non-profit organization, I found that its specific topics could make it difficult to get its website to rank on Google. That’s because the keywords for it didn’t have as many results or as much traffic as mainstream content. But what if I told you that there’s a way to make SEO work for your local niche interest business, no matter how obscure it is?

Here’s how you can get your unique content to rank on Google.

Related Keywords

When finding keywords for your content, what might be an obvious term for you may be outside of another’s scope of knowledge. For example; let’s say you have a page about ‘bird fanciers’, people who breed and show birds. Those within that community will know what a ‘fancier’ is, but most would know them as ‘bird breeders’. So, instead of trying to rank for ‘bird fancier’, you would want to try for keywords such as ‘bird breeders’ or ‘parrot breeders’.

Keywords From Parallel Topics

Let’s say that you are still having trouble finding keywords directly related to your topic. Even if you aren’t, there’s still another trick you can use to make sure the right audience finds your content. Search for keywords from parallel topics, topics that may not be directly about your topic, but are still indirectly related to your topic. For example; instead of only ranking for ‘bird breeders’, you may have an easier time ranking for ‘pet birds’, or even just pets in general.

Niche Backlinks

A very powerful SEO tool is backlinking. Finding other entities that relate to your niche can present you with an opportunity to get more traffic to your unique content through a link from another creator’s content. For example; let’s say there’s a content creator who has published a resource on the best places to get pet birds in your area. This is your chance to reach out to the creator and offer your own content about bird breeders as a helpful item to include in their content. This way, those looking for compiled information on where to get a pet bird will find that other creator’s content, and in turn will find yours.

SEO, especially for unique or newer hobbies and products, is hard work. It also takes a lot of time. If you are in need of local SEO services, Frontline Consulting is up for the task! Let’s get your wonderfully unique content seen!

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Instead of spreading your efforts too thinly, focus on a few of the most important local ranking factors, first. As experienced digital marketing consultants, we have narrowed the list down to just a few of the top local SEO ranking factors to help get you started.

Keywords

Keywords on their own aren’t a ranking factor, but how they’re used is. But before you can use them, you need to know what they are. Keywords are search terms or phrases that users enter in a search bar to find something they’re looking for. For example; if you are looking for shoes, you might type the word “shoes” into Google. If you are specifically looking to purchase a pair of black sandals online, then you might type “black sandals for sale online”.

Think about what your business is offering and find or come up with keywords that relate to it. Put yourself into your customers’ shoes (no pun intended); what would you type into Google to help you find your services or products? If you have a product or service that sells well, then you might like to focus on terms related to them.

There are many tools out there for researching keywords, such as SEMRush or WordStream. These can help you find out more about how often these keywords are used and how tough the competition is for those keywords.

Another quick and clever way to find more unique keywords is to type in one of your keywords into Google, then scroll to the bottom of the results and see the section called ‘Related Searches’. These are searches people have used that are similar to yours.

Website Content

Now that you know what keywords are and how to find yours, you can use them on your website to rank better. But there is more to your website than keywords. Google’s search engine will prioritize websites that have relevant, quality content. This one can be a bit of a balancing act. You want to include your business’ best keywords in your content so that your site shows up in searches involving those search terms. At the same time, you want your content to be informative and easy to read.

It may be tempting to cram as many of your keywords as possible into your pages, but this won’t help you rank better. Would-be customers will ‘bounce’ from your website, and this can harm your ranking instead.

Remember who your website is for; your customers. Write your content for your customers first and worry about Google after.

Reviews

Potential customers are more likely to check out a business that has reviews, versus a business that has none. They are also more likely to visit a business with 4.8 stars and several hundred reviews than a business with a 5 star rating that only has ten reviews. People like to be informed about how a business is doing, and for that, they like to see a larger sample size of data, even if they’re only skimming it.

If your business isn’t getting reviews, the best way to encourage them is to politely ask your customers if they would like to leave you a review about their experience with your product or service. Make it easy for them to do so by linking directly to your review section.

Don’t be afraid of negative feedback! Treat this as an opportunity to improve your business, and you can start by responding to negative reviews, letting them know that you value their feedback and that you want to improve their experience. When other people come across the review and see your response, they will see that you care.

There is only one way to get better reviews; provide a quality experience for your customers.

Google Business Profile

This is the most important local ranking factor you should work on, and it’s thankfully the easiest. People will trust a complete Google Business Profile more than an empty one, or none at all. That, and Google will prioritize the more informative profiles using relevant categories. The elements contributing to your rank the most include your business name, primary category, and location.

If your business name contains a keyword related to your service, you are more likely to show up closer to the top of searches. However, it is against Google Policy to add any extra information or words to your business name in your profile that isn’t truly part of your business name. If you haven’t settled on a business name yet, consider adding a keyword to it to help people find your business. For example; if you sell shoes, you might name your business “Zappy’s Shoe Store”, instead of just “Zappy’s”.

Make sure to choose the business category that matches what you offer. This is a very simple step, but an important one, as this will determine what users will see your business in searches. If you list yourself as a ‘shoe shining service’, but you don’t actually perform this service, then it doesn’t matter that it’s related to shoes; users are looking for shoe shining, not shoes themselves. You want to show up for users who are in the market for your products.

Your location itself isn’t something you can control, but you can optimize your local SEO by focussing your efforts on the area you are in, rather than trying to encompass the other areas around you. If there is a business like yours in the neighbouring city, they are going to rank higher than you for that area, regardless of what you do. Focus your SEO efforts on your area.

With Google’s new Local Services Ads, it’s going to be more important than ever to get your local SEO down pat. Need more help with your local SEO? Contact Frontline Consulting today to book a free consultation, or explore more of the services we offer!

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