{"id":29444,"date":"2024-02-18T01:24:46","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T01:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/how-can-you-begin-to-rank-new-markets-local-national-international\/504626\/"},"modified":"2024-02-18T01:24:46","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T01:24:46","slug":"how-can-you-begin-to-rank-in-new-markets-local-national-international-via-sejournal-rollerblader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/?p=29444","title":{"rendered":"How Can You Begin To Rank In New Markets (Local, National, International) via @sejournal, @rollerblader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s ask an SEO question comes from Mark:<\/p>\n

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\u201cHow can a small company that only ranks in its local markets begin to rank in another market? What would you do to help the small company rank in a new area?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Great question, Mark! The good news is that the answer is fairly easy and can be applied to local, national, and international in the base strategy.<\/p>\n

All three can also require foreign language versions, but that is for another post. I\u2019ll give some hints in this one for that situation, though.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to cover the basics of getting SEO traffic in new markets here, making the assumption it is regional vs. new products, and then share some tips specific to local, national, and international.<\/p>\n

Google Business Profile (GBP)<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re local or have a national footprint, when you expand, make sure to update your area served or serviced by location. This link goes to Google\u2019s guide for how to use a service area.<\/a><\/p>\n

Make sure to keep your hours up-to-date on the website, landing page, and on your GBP.<\/p>\n

This helps the search engines to understand where you\u2019re now offering services, what your footprint is, and when customers can access your offerings.<\/p>\n

You can also launch new profiles for new locations. Just make sure you verify ownership for each one and keep them up-to-date. This includes holiday hours and closings.<\/p>\n

Schema<\/h2>\n

Do you have service area or organization schema on your site or pages? Make sure to fill out and update the \u201carea served\u201d fields by referencing Wikipedia or Wikipedia\u2019s entries.<\/p>\n

Wikidata has almost every city, county, state, country, and region to help you define where your products, services, stores, etc., are located.<\/p>\n

The more you can help the search engines know where you offer services, and the hours you offer them, the better job they can do at showing you as a provider to people in those markets.<\/p>\n

Do you offer services in all of North America (US, Mexico, Canada)? There\u2019s a page for that, too. This way, you don\u2019t have to reference all three.<\/p>\n

But something really weird here is that Wikidata includes \u201cGreenland\u201d as North America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s definitely not accurate for your locations, although it is technically part of the continent (geographically). Politically, Greenland is part of the EU, as it is currently a territory of Denmark.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a screenshot of the page with a date stamp. This likely wouldn\u2019t impact your ability to rank, so don\u2019t second-guess yourself here.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m using this as an example because it could be confusing as to why you may reference this page when you don\u2019t offer services in Greenland.<\/p>\n

\"wikidataScreenshot from Wikidata, January 2023<\/span>\"wikidata<\/div>\n

Localize Or Regionalize Your Titles And Descriptions<\/h2>\n

Meta descriptions are not a ranking signal or used in rankings \u2013 at least, that\u2019s my opinion \u2013 though they do influence how many people click through to your site. But only when a search engine uses the meta descriptions you create.<\/p>\n

Title tags, however, do move the needle, based on my experience, when combined with other on-page elements.<\/p>\n

When the description reinforces the region or market the title displays for, you create an enticing ad for a consumer to click on.<\/p>\n

And meta descriptions are vital.<\/p>\n

If you are optimizing for tourists and mention you\u2019re right by a specific landmark, they will know you\u2019re close to their location and may click on your listing over another business higher up that shares generic titles and descriptions.<\/p>\n

This can work for retailers, pharmacies, restaurants, housing or car rentals, etc. Here\u2019s a guide I created for writing localized meta descriptions and title tags<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Build Citations And Do PR Work<\/h2>\n

This one is a double win! Look up local blogs, newspapers, and magazines, then focus on getting featured and mentioned.<\/p>\n

By being featured, you can get referral traffic and customers to your business and signal to search engines you have a new local location or expansion. In some cases, you may get a backlink.<\/p>\n

Whether the backlink is natural and good or not<\/a> depends on the site linking to you and the type of link.<\/p>\n

As an added bonus, if the new market you have moved into recognizes and trusts the media company\u2019s brand, feature the logo on your page.<\/p>\n

This may help build trust to increase conversions both online or for foot traffic if they\u2019re deciding between two businesses to try.<\/p>\n

If you were to expand into my city (Washington D.C.), focus on Washingtonian Magazine, Popville, or ARLnow. These could be recognizable by locals in our area.<\/p>\n

Other Things To Pay Attention To<\/h2>\n

One thing to keep in mind when you expand your footprint is that demographics may change location by location.<\/p>\n

You may find the new location has a different skew for race, religion, single vs. married, income levels, or age ranges. This means the way you market also needs modifying.<\/p>\n