The SEO industry is well-matured and married to its best practices.

You don't have to spend an eternity in the trial and error phase. You also don't have to spend a ton of money to get great SEO campaign results.

All's that's need is a solid local SEO checklist.

Wouldn't you know! This piece provides a detailed overview of local SEO. Plus, offers a basic checklist to amplify your SEO efforts.

Ready to get started? Let's go!

Part 1: What is "Rank-Worthy" Local SEO Content?

There's good content...

...and then there's rank-worthy content.

Rank-worthy content:

• Targets a keyword, topic, and audience
• Delivers valuable information in an easily digestible format
• Offers valuable resources and solutions to problems
• Is timely and relevant to a user's needs and desires

Local SEO content really comes down to following Google's quality guidelines.

1. Make content for users
2. Offer something of value
3. Don't abuse ranking signals

A good piece of local content connects with those in your area. It matches their local search query and intent. Then, gives them an option to engage a local business.

What you're doing is meshing local terms + SEO best practices.

Strive for quality content and your site will see real SEO benefits. It finally gets a stronger foothold in its SEO strategy. And, offers exceptional value to its market.

Part 2: Tools to Rank for Local Search Terms

There are a few usual ways people tend to create content:

• Gut feeling - They create what they think people want
• Experience - They create what they know and have done
• User influenced - They create what others are suggesting
• Data - They use tools to know what people want

Can you guess which of these tend to create the biggest impact? If you said the content creation based on data-driven decisions then you win the prize!

SEO tools will tell you metrics like:

• Volume
• Difficulty
• Value

Different tools include proprietary metrics, too, but a lot do the same thing. They pull search data and present it in a way that you'll find worthwhile keywords.

Start with free tools to get a hang of keyword research:

• Google's Keyword Planner
• AnswerThePublic
• Ubersuggest

Then, try one of the premium tools to get more detailed data:

• Ahrefs
• SEMrush
• Spyfu

You can use these tools to find broad, local keywords. These are great when starting because you'll have a lot to work with.

Or:

Narrow it down and go after what SEOs call "long-tail" keywords.

The latter may not get as much search volume. But, there's often less competition which means an easy way to get SEO wins!

Play around with these SEO tools until you've learned their interface. When ready, you can begin using them to craft content topics. Plus, you'll know exactly which keywords to build content around — so it ranks and brings in leads.

Part 3: How to Create Content for Local SEO

Remember how you're combining local terms + SEO content strategies? Well, there are a lot of ways to explore this when it comes to local SEO content.

The Content Process

The content creation process gets easier as you go. It will change and adapt to your needs as you figure out what your audience wants. That said, there is a basic way to go about creating local content — and that is:

1. Brainstorm and SEO research tool to pick a keyword and topic
2. Decide which content format suits the topic (blog, video, audio, image, etc)
3. Use competitive and keyword research to find supporting research
4. Create an outline and gather supporting pieces, media, and resources
5. Dictate who creates the content (in-house or outsourced)
6. Quality control the piece and then publish it to an owned platform
7. Bonus: Get the content syndicated across multiple channels

Sprinkle local keywords and terms all throughout the content in its process. Use this opportunity to flex your local knowledge and experience.

Think of the content creation as if you were talking to one of the locals.

Long-tail keywords easily find their way into the piece when it's conversational. This natural approach, along with keyword research, boosts discoverability. Plus, it gives your brand that true, local image which many will happily support.

The Content Types

What content should you create when building a local search presence?

Start with a few basics:

• News
• Tutorials
• Guides
• How-tos
• Lists

Then, expand:

• Infographics
• Videos
• Landing pages
• Memes
• FAQs

You can explore niche pieces, too, like:

• Ebooks
• Courses
• Events
• Specials
• Pressers

A good approach is to look at what's ranking in Google for a chosen topic. Chances are, the content type you're finding is the type that people want. So, why go against the grain when you're getting told what works, right?

Part 4: Amplifying with a Local SEO Checklist

The trouble with creating content is that it gets tedious. That's why you'll see many business blogs fall off after a few, short months.

You need two things to make local SEO content work well:

• A commitment to consistency and growth
• A checklist and streamlined process

You can figure it out when it comes to consistency...

...here is a checklist to cover the other half:

• Discover and create a spreadsheet listing your local keywords and topics
• Fill in existing pages with on-page signals and update its content
• Inject local call-outs and features like Google Maps or Schema
• Update your Google My Business listing and add some fresh content to it
• Update other citations and add localized content to those platforms, too
• Create the best content you can and publish it to owned assets
• Share, distribute, and syndicate your content across local and broad channels
• Build supporting pieces for link building and branding opportunities
• Ask for reviews and feedback or explore user-created content
• Optimize the site for mobile, page load speed, and usability

Develop templates to streamline local SEO content efforts. This creates the consistency you're going for. Plus, you can hand it off to the team or outside talent and get exactly what you want!

Boost Your Local SEO Campaign Effectiveness

A local SEO checklist offers a good roundup of best practices. But, there's still that pesky task of putting SEO content strategies into practice!

Let the professionals at Writer boost your campaign.

Hiring writers through iWriter means you're bringing on vetted talent. You'll find writers with extensive knowledge of your industry and SEO best practices. You can save time and get everything you want in a campaign in one go.

What are you waiting for? Set up a free client account today!

Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the most terrifying (yet rewarding) experiences that someone can take part in. Fortunately, though, today's technology has made it easier than ever before to start a company, and you can even run an entire business from a laptop.

It can still be difficult, though, to understand the many nuances of running your own company. Understanding the difference between who's a contractor and who is an employee, for example, can cause issues for those who are unprepared.

Not sure where to start? Don't worry, we’ve got you covered.

Let's take a look at everything you need to know.

So, Who Is An Employee?

There is a unique factor that decides if someone is a legal employee of your company— control. If you can control the work they do, the amount of work they do, and when they complete the work, then that individual is an employee by law.

Even if you give a worker the freedom to choose what they work on (and sometimes when they work), they're still considered an employee if you're able to control the details of their work in completed or performed.

The aforementioned 'freedom,' though, isn't always as explicit as saying "work when you'd like, just have it done by the deadline."

A salesperson, for example, has the freedom to approach or not approach customers on the floor, but the way they operate as a worker must be by the company's guidelines. They also have to report to a superior, meet a quota, etc.

So, they're considered an employee for legal purposes.

Who Is a Contractor?

In stark contrast to how an employee operates as a worker, independent contractors have far more flexibility.

In terms of how a business owner manages independent contractors, they're only able to control the result of the work and not how it's completed. A freelance graphic designer is considered an independent contractor since they provide a service (logos, posters, etc.) in exchange for compensation.

In this scenario, the designer sends drafts and completed projects to their clients, and the people they're working for have no input in how the work is completed.

Business owners typically pay independent contractors per project, meaning there's no established salary. It's important to note that independent contractors file their taxes differently than a conventional employee, and business owners must report any amount paid over $600 to contractors in the past year to the IRS.

How Do I Know Which to Hire?

This largely depends on how your business operates.

If your business structure is relatively disjointed (different workers in different time zones, no established hierarchy among workers, etc.), then hiring independent contractors is often your best course of action.

Since your workers will be performing their duties at different times of day and night, they'll likely need the flexibility to work in a way that's best for them.

If your company needs workers to come to the office every day to provide their services (a secretary, for example), then you'll need to hire employees. In general, if a role is done consistently and requires a worker's physical presence, an employee is best for the job.

It's possible to incorporate both, though. An advertising firm may specialize in graphic design and account management but may not have the talent or resources to shoot commercials for products.

Outsourcing this role to an independent contractor (in this case a videographer) will allow the business to fulfill this obligation without having to hire a dedicated employee to do so.

What Roles Are Best Suited For Independent Contractors?

Temporary projects or large numbers of short projects are the best scenarios to hire an independent contractor. Content creation, for instance, often consists of a one-off project or a handful of assignments (think a brochure or a batch of articles for your site's blog).

Other instances of content creation include reading scripts for videos or ads, music production, etc.

Projects that will only last for a certain period are also ideal opportunities to hire contractors over employees.

What Are The Benefits of Hiring Contractors?

Since your contracted workers aren't official employees, you're not responsible for things like severance pay, health benefits, etc. You'll save money in taxes, office space, etc.

You'll likely find that your projects are completed quickly and with high-quality results due to contractors having the opportunity to work in an environment that suits them best.

Additionally, access to a more diverse range of workers brings plenty of flexibility, meaning you can often have projects outsourced overnight as opposed to waiting for an employee to finish it the next day.

As an indirect result of hiring independent contractors, companies can also reduce the risk of experiencing a lawsuit. Employees have numerous rights that protect them as workers, and one of them is the ability to sue a previous employer for wrongful termination.

Since contractors are independent workers, they don't have the same rights as employees do. While it's always important to function honestly and fairly as a business owner, disgruntled employees can abuse their rights and file a lawsuit over false claims.

You'll Find Better Workers When You Understand Your Needs

With the above information about who is an employee and who is a contractor in mind, you'll be well on your way towards running your company as efficiently as possible.

Want to learn more about how we can help? Feel free to get in touch with us today to see what we can do.