Happiness is infectious in Calgary, the sunniest city in all of Canada. People around the world come to see The Calgary Stampede, which is known as The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. This city enjoys the best of both worlds: to the east are prairie fields, and to the west are the Rocky Mountains. You’ll never run out of things to do in a city with so much to offer.
But what if you run out of things to write about?
Generating content isn’t easy. Some of the key sectors in Calgary include technology, agriculture, and creative industries. But no matter what field your business specializes in, one thing remains the same: your website needs content, and lots of it. We’re going to walk you through the importance of content generation, along with ways you can draft new ideas:
What are the SEO benefits of adding local Calgary content?
If you’re going to all the effort of writing content, you want to make sure that it’s worth your while. Here’s why content and SEO go hand-in-hand:
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Updating your blog with fresh content keeps your website relevant.
Search engines love sites that are up to date. What better way to keep your finger on the pulse of your industry than to constantly update your blog?
If your last blog post was two years ago, consumers might wonder if you’ve been keeping up with new developments. Fresh content shows that your brand is current. Consumers know that you’re relevant when you put effort into updating your content.
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It can get you more backlinks.
Link building is a crucial ranking factor that you can’t overlook. Each link from another website is like a vote of confidence that you provide well-researched, entertaining, and interesting content. If you can generate articles that are original and thought-provoking, other websites will take notice—they might even link to it in their posts. But for this to happen naturally, your content needs to speak for itself. This is a great way to get backlinks without needing to do any outreach.
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Good content is a ranking factor.
To contest with your competitors, you need to outrank them; writing stellar content is one way to do that. For content to rank, it needs to have a few qualities: it must answer a question, provide useful information, be linked to by other websites, and be in-depth.
When you have an updated and relevant blog on your website, more users are likely to click on it. This increases your CTR or click-through rate, an important metric for SEO.
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It engages your customers.
How many times have you answered a question by looking it up on Google? 93% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses. When you write posts that answer common questions, you increase the chances that a user will come across your website in one of these searches. Drawing more traffic to your site is an effective way to boost your sales.
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You can include targeted keywords.
If you want to rank for high-volume search terms in Calgary, then those terms must appear on your website in some form. Writing content is a great way to do that. Don’t go overboard with this one, or it will read like spam—just include keywords wherever they fit naturally.
How do you generate content?
It’s easy to understand the benefits of great content.
But writing it? That’s something else altogether. When you’ve got a case of writer’s block, it seems impossible to produce content all the time. To help you get started on generating new content, here are a few ideas:
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Research relevant topics.
What do we mean by relevant topics? That depends on your industry. Let’s say that you own a carpet cleaning business in Calgary. Do some research to find out what others in your industry are writing, which will help you generate original ideas of your own. Take a look at your competitors to see if you can cover those topics with more depth and a unique spin on the subject. You want to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s trending in your field. That way, when people search for those topics, your post might come up.
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Review a product.
Rather than come up with a new idea, why not review someone else’s?
In many industries, new products are being released all the time. From tech gadgets to cleaning solutions, the market is an ongoing competition. Use this as a way to generate new ideas. For example, a dentist in Calgary can review the latest toothbrushes and toothpaste flavours available at the grocery store. A property maintenance company can talk about the best grass fertilizers at hardware stores. When new products are released, people look for online reviews; if you blog about it, then they might find your post.
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Make a list.
All around the Web, you’ll find content like “Top 10 ___” or “Best ___ in 2020”. Listicles are a popular form of content; they are easily digestible, simple to understand, and relatively easy to write. Ranking items can help you generate ideas for content—just like ranking your website can help you generate new leads!
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Write guest posts.
Adding content to your website is important. It’s also beneficial to write posts for other sites. Doing so can get you a backlink from a domain with high authority and traffic, which signals to Google that your site is credible and relevant. Look for opportunities on other websites in Calgary or those related to your industry.
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Hire an SEO agency.
Even with ample ideas at your disposal, it’s challenging to find the time to write about them. How do you keep your blog current when you’ve got a business to run?
An SEO agency is the answer. First Rank provides SEO services in Calgary. We can keep your website current with fresh content to keep search engines and your customers happy.
firstrank.ca
