Let’s be honest here.  How many people enjoy being marketed to? 

Do you ever feel stalked when adverts follow you around on your social channels, or flash up on websites you visit?  How much does this turn you off that brand?

Conversely, what about the brand that is always offering free resources, knowledgeable information or fun and interactive content? 

Which brand are you more likely to purchase from when you are ready to buy?

Understanding this must be the key to defining your content marketing strategy and plan.  It should always be about adding value and never about straightforward selling your services or products.  Of course, your objectives still need to be met, but you will meet them so much quicker if you  build the relationship and trust first, before thinking about that conversion, or sale. 

Before you launch into a content marketing plan, it is worth defining your strategy and objectives.  Below is an overview of how to approach this, and a few tools to get you started or review your existing approach:

!Local SEO is a type of search engine optimisation (SEO) that focuses on improving a business's visibility in local search results. These search results are shown when someone searches for a business or service in a specific area. For example, they might search for ‘financial advisor in Bristol’ or ‘Best restaurant near me’.

Any business with a physical location, be it a country, city or even a local neighborhood, that is looking to increase traffic, can benefit from this. Read on to find out top tips and strategies to help your business succeed in this area.

Avoiding Deceptive SERP Results

Don’t be fooled by the results you see! Before we start, it is important to understand that the results you see on your own computer may not accurately reflect reality. This is due to personalised results. Search engines will often show you results based on your search history and browsing behaviour. This can skew the results you see when you search for your own site in Google, so it is best to use an SEO tool to track your rankings and give you unbiased search results.

Local SEO Strategies

• Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool that allows you to create/claim a listing for your business on Google maps. It is the essential starting point for any local SEO. Make sure your listing is fully optimised with all your business details. Keep the listing up to date with any changes and you can also publish news and promotional items like you can on social media. While filling out this business profile also hop over to Bing and fill out their equivalent on Bing Places.

Below is a comprehensive guide on how to setup Google Analytics 4 on your WordPress and Joomla websites.  

If you set this up to run alongside your existing Universal Analytics account, you will need to opt our of the automatic upgrade that google is planning to do on February 28th.  To opt out you need to:

1. Go to your Google Analytics account, click on Admin
2. Under the Property column click on GA4 Setup Assistant
3. Under ‘Automatically set up a basic Google Analytics 4 property’ click on the toggle button to turn off.
4. Repeat this for any other views you have set up in your account.

Read more about the pros and cons of opting out here.  

GA4 Setup

1. Login to Google Analytics and select your account property
2. Click on Admin