Why You Need To Adopt A Localised Digital Strategy

With borders closing internationally over the past couple of years, people in New Zealand have started spending their hard earned money more locally. This means both in-store and online retailers, cafes and tourism providers need to have a greater focus on consumers in their local market. Having a generic digital strategy in the short to medium term will not be as effective as it can be, therefore your business will be leaving behind potential customers and revenue.

What's the difference between a generic digital strategy and a strategy with a local focus?

In short, a localised digital strategy focuses on people near you, meaning all the signals and content on your website and socials need to be local and state that you are a local business. The outcome of this is that you are more likely to show in local results when people are searching and in-market for your service or product.

So, how do you change or set-up your digital and SEO strategy so that it's optimised for local?

Content Content Content.

It’s estimated that roughly 80% of all SEO (showing in Google Search) is down to what content you are producing on your website. If Google deems you have content that is useful to a user, you are more likely to show.

When producing content, you should always be thinking of your audience, which in this case is local. Tailor your website content, articles and blogs so that you are speaking to the New Zealand or even your regional market. This will not only help user experience and conversion rate, but also send signals to Google that you are speaking to people locally and therefore aid your SEO endeavours.

Google My Business.

Keeping your Google My Business up to date with reviews, content and accurate information will take you a long way. When users search for a local product or service on Google, more than likely map locations are what show up due to GPS location and a range of other factors, if your Google My Business isn’t showing in these results, you are losing potential customers in your local market.

PR and amplification. 

Just as important as content, is amplification and PR. Getting backlinks to your website and your content published on local or domestic publications not only gives you widespread visibility, but also enhances your SEO in general. In conjunction with this, running regional ad campaigns on Google Ads, Facebook, Outbrain and Linkedin is a cheap and effective way to get your message out there.

Summary.

In Summary, adopting a localised digital strategy as soon as possible will be what sets you apart from your competitors. Optimising for local first will create greater awareness and revenue for your business in the short term and set the foundations for sustainable growth in the long term.