Create a Local SEO Content Calendar That Drives Engagement [How to]

Businesses with a documented content strategy are 3 times more likely to report success in their content marketing efforts?

That’s right – three times!

When I first stumbled upon this stat, it was like a lightbulb moment for me. While I’d always known that planning was important and it’s the whole basis for why we provide our clients an SEO Content Calendar, this really drove it home.

And guess what my Content Calendar has me doing today: sharing some of the key things I’ve learned about creating a local content calendar that’ll help you improve your SEO AND drive engagement.

It’s an awfully self-centered thing for a content calendar to suggest, no?

Such is life.

Grab a cup of coffee (or tea, if that’s your thing - or a can of Liquid Death if you’re trendy), and let’s go through the best ways to create a content calendar for your local business.

I promise it’ll be worth your while!

Table of Contents

• Understanding the Importance of a Local Content Calendar
• Identifying Your Local Audience and Their Needs
  • Conduct local market research
• Content Strategy for an Effective Local Content Calendar
  • Content Types
  • Posting Frequency
  • Seasonal Topics & Themes
  • Content Themes
• Tools for Creating and Managing Your Local Content Calendar
  • Spreadsheet Options
  • Dedicated Content Calendar Software
  • Social Media Management Tools
  • Good Old Pen and Paper
• Key takeaways
• FAQs
  • What does a content calendar include?
  • How do I organize my SEO content?
  • How do I create an SEO content plan?

Understanding the Importance of a Local Content Calendar

A local content calendar guides you if you’re aiming to improve your business’s online presence, get more traffic to your website (and therefore more leads), engage with your local audience.

It serves as a strategic plan that maps out what content to create, when to publish it, and where it should be distributed, all tailored to seasonality, your local audience, and market.

The benefits of using a content calendar for your local business include:

• Consistency: Regular content creation and posting help maintain audience engagement.
• Organization: It eliminates last-minute scrambling for content ideas.
• Strategy: Allows for planning around local events, seasons, and holidays.
• Time-saving: Batch content creation can significantly reduce daily time spent on content.
• Quality: With proper planning, there’s more time to focus on creating high-quality, valuable content.

While creating a content calendar might seem like additional work initially, it can lead to more efficient and effective content marketing efforts in the long run.

Identifying Your Local Audience and Their Needs

You think you know you’re audience, but really, how well do you?

Take this (purely hypothetical and never happened because that’d be too embarrassing) example:

Let’s say I’m working with a local gym. We’re pumping out perfectly search optimized and engaging content like there’s no tomorrow – workout tips, healthy recipes, “How to Get Bikini Fit” guides - you name it.

But engagement? None. Zero. Nil. Nada.

My client’s calling in a panic, wondering why he’s not getting more customers and I’m standing there scratching my head sweating as I get chewed out and then…it hits me – we’re creating content for fitness enthusiasts, but this is a gym right next to a retirement community!

I suddenly regret suggesting we have a campaign asking people to submit their “Bikini Bod Transformation” before and after pictures…

Of course, that’d never happen. Who’d make such a crazy mistake?

Conduct local market research

The lesson is to actually survey your market.

Don’t make assumptions about your local community just because other similar businesses elsewhere target a specific kind of customer.

Your dental office in LA is going to have a completely different kind of customer from your Baton Rouge dentist!

Do the following:

1. Start by surveying your existing customers. There are tons of free and easy options. I use ScoreApp (use that link for a discount on the paid version - the free version is fine for most people) now which has an insanely powerful free version that you can set up in seconds.

2. Check out local forums and social media groups. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn from reading what people discuss on Reddit, Facebook, and more.

3. Analyze your competitors. Who are they targeting and reaching out to? What are they doing right (or wrong)?

4. Create buyer personas:

   • Remember, these aren’t just generic profiles. They’re representations of your local customers. Give them names, backstories, and local hangouts. It makes a world of difference!
   • For example, in that gym example, we could create a “Nervous Nelly” – a 65-year-old local retired grandmother who wanted to workout to stay independent as she aged, but had never worked out before and was scared of judgement.

5. Understand local search intent: Use tools like Google’s “People also ask” or Answer the Public to see what locals are actually searching for and whether the intent is for information, or if they’re ready to buy/signup/purchase.

Pro tip: Don’t just look at generic terms. Add your location to searches to get hyper-local insights!

Here’s the thing – your local audience isn’t just a demographic. They’re real people with real lives in your community. The more you understand them, the better you can serve them with your content.

Back to the gym example one more time. How would we change our content for our actual audience?

We’d shifted our content to focus on beginner-friendly workouts and creating a welcoming gym environment. And we’d focus on functional, everday fitness geared toward an older population who might need balance, flexibility, and mild strength training.

So, take the time to really dig into who your local audience is. Trust me, it’ll make creating your content calendar a breeze, and your results will speak for themselves.

In local marketing one size definitely does not fit all. Get to know your people, and plan your content accordingly.

Otherwise your inbox may get flooded with pictures of old women in bikinis…which is fine - all bodies are beautiful and all that - but it makes opening your email on an airplane next to a stranger really awkward.

Content Strategy for an Effective Local Content Calendar

Let’s get to the fun part:

How to develop your local content strategy and apply it to your calendar. It’s easy to overcomplicate this but keeping it simple is the way to go.

Content Types

Mix it up to keep your audience engaged and reach your audience on different platforms. Make sure you’re taking into account your target audiences’/personas’ choice platforms.

There are breakdowns in age, gender, and more for social media use that you can use as a starting point if you’re not sure where your people engage.

Here’s what’s worked well for me:

• Blog posts: Great for in-depth local topics (generally a more evergreen source of traffic)
• Social media posts: Perfect for quick local updates and engagement (“flash in the pan” sources of traffic) - especially using Google Business Profile updates to help increase Google Map Pack rankings
• Videos: These can work wonders for showcasing local events or behind-the-scenes peeks
• Email newsletters: Fantastic for nurturing your local subscriber base - especially if you have hobby enthusiasts (i.e. gardeners)
• User-generated content: Nothing beats authentic local voices!

Posting Frequency

Finding the right rhythm is crucial - especially since this needs to be a long term strategy.

Here’s what I usually recommend for local businesses in areas with average competition (i.e. outside of metro areas but within commuting distance/more suburban than rural):

• Blog: 1-2 times a week
• Social media: 1 platform 3-5 times a week (varies by platform)
• Email: Once a week or biweekly

Remember, consistency trumps frequency. It’s better to post quality content regularly than to burn out trying to post daily.

Important Local Dates and Events:

This is your secret weapon! I always keep a list of:

• Local festivals and fairs
• Community events
• Local sports team schedules

Depending upon who your business serves the following might also be useful to bear in mind:

• School calendars
• Tourism seasons
• Business conference schedules

Pro tip: Add these to your calendar with special color coding or labeling.

Seasonality, Topics & Themes

Of course, one of the biggest factors for many businesses is seasonality. Don’t forget to plan for this ahead of time.

For example, a local ice cream shop might start promoting:

• Summer flavors in spring
• Back-to-school specials in late summer
• Cozy fall flavors in autumn
• Holiday gift ideas in winter

That doesn’t mean the only thing you talk about are your promotions, however.

Promotions are excellent for social media and “ephemeral” content (content that’s not always relevant), but not for blog posts or YouTube videos.

Below we’ll talk a bit more about seasonality and how it relates to your blog posts and “evergreen” content.

Topical Maps & SEO

If you’re looking for SEO benefits (and you should be!), you might be aware of how important topical authority is and that it’s crucial to focus on one topical map at a time.

I won’t dive into the details of what a topical map is here, but the gist is that it’s the comprehensive examination or information on a specific topic.

So for a topical map you’ll want to create maybe 10 or 20 blog posts or pieces of content about that topic, all covering different aspects and angles if you want to increase your topical authority and get the best SEO benefits for searches on that topic.

With seasonality coming into play it actually makes this process easier.

Once you know what topic you want to write about (let’s say “dental hygience for teens”), you can figure out what content might be most relevant to that topic at a given time. For that example, maybe we’re posting about sugar’s effect on teeth in the weeks before Halloween, but in June or July (enough time for Google to index the content) we start posting blogs about ways to whiten your teeth to start the school year bright.

Your blog posts give your business more credibility and authority by providing “evergreen” content - content that will always be valuable. Social media content is more ephemeral - that is your post/tweet/story gets buried after some time and loses relevance.

Content Themes

I also recommend you group your content into themes. These themes can be a consistent part of your content, whereas the seasonal topics or events change. This helps with planning and gives your audience a sense of what to expect.

By planning out these themes and tracking which ones get more engagement, you can account for any seasonal swings such as what our ice cream shop in the example above would see.

Some ideas for weekly themes:

• Monday Motivation: Share inspiring local success stories
• Wednesday Wisdom: Offer tips related to your industry
• Friday Features: Spotlight a local customer or employee

My favorite example is Taco Tuesdays. I have no idea who started it or where, but if it’s a Tuesday and we don’t know what we want to eat, I always lean more toward tacos because it’s just been so ingrained in me (and they’re delicious)!

Call-to-Action (CTA) Planning:

Each piece of content should have a purpose. Map out your CTAs in advance. They should make sense with the surrounding content, and match the urgency or message

Oldies but goodies:

• Visit our store
• Book an appointment
• Sign up for our local event
• Share your experience with us
• Request a quote

With all of this planning it’s important to remember that your content calendar isn’t set in stone. Leave some wiggle room for spontaneous local happenings or trending topics.

Even though I like to have my content calendar laid out months in advance, I usually leave about 20% of my calendar flexible for these opportunities.

The key is to create a calendar that works for you, not against you.

Start simple and refine as you go.

Before you know it, you’ll have a well-oiled content machine that resonates with your local audience and drives real results.

So, what topics, local events and themes are you excited to include in your content calendar?

The possibilities are endless!

Tools for Creating and Managing Your Local Content Calendar

Tool Time with Steve the SEO Man Kolock!

I’m not fancy so I use a Google Sheet with their base level template that I modified a little bit. You can make a copy of my Content Calendar template completely free (don’t ask for Edit permissions, go to “File > Make a Copy”).

Spreadsheet Options

Google Sheets: This is my go-to for small businesses and I love it personally. It’s free, easy to use, and great for collaboration. Plus, you can access it from anywhere!

Personally, I love the fact that I can create fancy automations that incorporate my Google Sheets using things like zapier, make.com, or even just Google Apps Scripts…but that’s probably exciting for me because I’ve been doing stuff like this way too long.

Microsoft Excel: If you’re more comfortable with Excel, it works just as well. I’ve created some nifty templates with conditional formatting to color-code content types.

Pro tip: Use different tabs for different platforms or content types. It keeps things organized without overwhelming you. Project Management Tools:

Trello: Even though I never fell in love with Trello, I’ve used it before and have to admire its visual appeal. You can create boards for each month and cards for each piece of content. The drag-and-drop feature is pretty satisfying too. It’s definitely worth a try - some people love it!

Asana: This is great if you have a team. You can assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress all in one place.

Dedicated Content Calendar Software

CoSchedule: This is the Cadillac of content calendars. It’s a bit pricier, but man, does it make life easier. It integrates with WordPress and social media platforms.

Hootsuite Planner: If social media is your main focus, this is a great option. You can plan, schedule, and post all from one dashboard.

Word of caution: While these tools are awesome, don’t get caught up in analysis paralysis. Pick one and run with it!

Social Media Management Tools

Buffer: Great for scheduling social media posts across multiple platforms.

Later: If Instagram is a big part of your strategy, Later is fantastic for visual planning.

Good Old Pen and Paper

Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it! Sometimes, nothing beats a physical planner. I still use one for brainstorming sessions and to be honest, it’s nice to just not have a screen in front of me sometimes.

Remember, the best tool is the one you’ll actually use. Start with something simple and upgrade as needed.

I started with a basic Google Sheet and that’s still what I prefer (although I made it a little fancier).

Here’s a little hack I’ve learned: Whatever tool you choose, set aside some time each week to review and update your calendar.

I call it my “Content Calendar Check-in.” I like to do it Sunday night for just 15-20 minutes to get ready for Monday, but hey - I’m also a workaholic so maybe don’t follow my lead on that.

Whether you’re a spreadsheet person or a project management person, the key is consistency.

Keep at it, and you’ll find you’re less stressed about wondering what to do and can focus on creating incredibly blog posts, social media posts, and more in no time!

Key Takeaways

When you create a local SEO content calendar you organize your content in a way that makes it easier to commit to putting content out.

Local businesses benefit from consistent, engaging, and relevant search engine optimized content because:

• It helps build trust with the community
• Establishes their knowledge, expertise, and authority on different topics
• Gives searchers more ways to find them and boosts SEO rankings

You don’t have to create your whole year right away. I find I like to add big items for the whole year, but only really plan out the next 2-3 months in detail.

The goal is to make creating content for your business less daunting. So if there’s anything in here that intimidates you - toss it out with the garbage!

Like anything else though, creating content gets easier once you have a process.

FAQs

What does a content calendar include?

A content calendar includes the topic, status (in progress, published, etc.), medium, and who is responsible for pieces of content produced over a period of time. It can include additional information and is used to help map out a cohesive content strategy for branding, establishing authority, SEO, and promotions.

How do I organize my SEO content?

A simple content calendar helps organic SEO content around seasonality, topic maps, the target audience, and search intent. A more complex version incorporates other factors such as product launches, business objectives, and more.

How do I create an SEO content plan?

Start by doing market research to identify your target audience. Establish your brand tone and generate a topical map using keyword research to find opportunities. Then, add relevant keyword topics to a content calendar so you can systematically create content that will boost your SEO.