 Bonjour. I hear way too often from future clients. My website does not do anything. It looks great, but nobody comes to it. This has got to change. As the people who create in WordPress, we need to deliver websites that not only look great, but perform well. Many of us in this room can create aesthetically pleasing, well-functioning websites. However, launching with lorem ipson text is never the key to an optimal result. Why is the question of content often reserved until the final stage of website development? Is it because content is created to fit the design? I think that's what many of us tell ourselves, but it simply is not true. Copy can be edited or augmented to fit the desired container, but it should be well developed as its own entity. Is it due to the perceived lack of importance? Often in discussions of copy, code, and design, copy or content is undervalued. And yet website content is the driver of website performance. Is it because it's the client's responsibility? This mindset is very limiting. When you accept the role of providing your client with a website, the end result, which includes copy, becomes your responsibility. Website developers must adjust their workflow to assist clients in creating local, relevant content. Does that mean the developers need to be the copywriters? Not at all. In fact, I would guess that there are many bloggers and writers in the room. Can I see by a show of hands? Perfect. Okay, use them. Content development is not about lining up strings and hooks. It's about utilizing hooks and stringing together phrases that engage your reader. The goal is to transport the reader to the scent of the cafe four blocks away or remind them of the white sand beaches that are only a journey's drive. Content helps the reader to visualize the dream that propels them to click on that call to action button that makes the appointment with the hairdresser or the air conditioning salesman or the mechanic. Localized website content focused on the user pulls them in and transforms the user into a person with specific needs and goals that can be solved by that business. That is the goal and that is why we need local SEO. Local SEO isn't a foreign language. You can learn it without Duolingo. SEO is an acronym that stands for search engine optimization. It is a method of evaluating websites causing scrutiny of code, design, and ultimately each word used on a website. Local SEO causes us to look at words as unique identifiers similar to puzzle pieces and local SEO brings those puzzle pieces into your neighborhood. Once the puzzle pieces are arranged correctly, an image begins to appear and as the more puzzle pieces connect, the end result takes shape and a masterpiece is created. The same can be said of local SEO. The key to creating relatable localized content is crossing over subject barriers to where topics intersect and ideas match up. Returning a broader vision in search. This is not about inserting or stuffing keywords. It's about consensus and community. It's about bringing validity to that website's particular content by giving it relevance in the community. Local SEO without community is just keywords. Keywords by themselves do not deliver results. They must be woven into a message that speaks to the reader on a local level. Locality does not have to be geographical either. It can be defined by industry. You have the power to change your client's results by teaching them to view their website as their community contribution. Explore with them how website topics relate to their audience. Then connect your clients to the people who can write conversion-oriented copy on those topics. Teach your clients that the website is the hub of all of their advertising email and discussion efforts and that it's critical to their success. Quality writing, consistency, social promotion, relevancy, and area-sensitive keywords are essential to converting generalized text into content that matters. You'll discover that that content will elevate their website as it connects to other reef furors such as YouTube, Yelp, iTunes, and more. It's important to understand that your client's mind that local SEO may refer to both paid and organic search results. The quickest way to be seen literally overnight is through paid advertising. Well, typically, organic search takes more time, even months, to really shine. It's important to remember that and to teach that so that your clients have the correct expectations. Organic SEO is a process, not a get rich quick scheme. Organic SEO is about creating a system for getting found in search engines, allowing your website to rank higher for certain terms. The website must be evaluated from a technical and a creative standpoint. New leads come to the site for three main reasons. They want to take action. They need knowledge or they are familiar and go directly to the site because they've already been on the page and they're returning. When businesses use advertising and organic search as companion pieces and audience targeting, they discover their audience is more real, has lasting results, and that the increases that they see are sustainable, not ad dependent. As customers who are local tend to reformar and become repeat buyers. Local viewers return to local websites and share by word of mouth and direct URL with a large regional audience. Local SEO also leads to search based on a location based level and so that clients can receive the most relevant results. These results are ever evolving as voice search becomes more popular. When I mentioned voice search, I'm referring to virtual assistants commonly known as Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and Google Now. How many have used these search tools in the last two weeks? Okay. Some of you may have even used them without realizing it. But I'm not here to talk about voice search. But I bring it up because it's quickly becoming an essential tool for neighborhood businesses in local search. Studies have shown that voice searches for business addresses and local business information are done more often than getting the sports score or even finding out local movie times. Voice search goes hand in hand with semantic search as it relates to local traffic results. Location is essential in semantic search because the search looks beyond the word said and focuses on the intent. Rather than focusing on typical SEO based on keywords, semantic search takes a holistic approach, broadening the search and even offering search suggestions to help the user. This opens the playing field even more in terms of keywords and related terms. In many cases, people use different words when speaking than when writing. For instance, if I were writing that sentence, I may use the word language instead of the word words. See what I mean? Localized content steeps you in your community in intent and environment. You create this by typing and tying in geographical references to your industry keywords. Multmark dry cleaning or emergency spot removal plus 75007 or laundry services plus 4th arrondissement. Localized content creates you as the expert in your community. Blog posts focus on current events, neighborhood hotspots and favorites and nearby locations show that you know the area while at the same time tying those geographical references to your industry keywords. By combining local events and places with industry keywords, you can see success. Be aware that made a matters. When you take the time to create a localized blog post, you must pay attention to the details behind the actual content. Use your chosen localized plugins that will assist you in adding these elements. One of them actually will help you show your clients that your work is optimized and this can be key in distinguishing yourself as a content provider. Once the content is created, correlate social posts if possible and keep it interesting. Earlier I mentioned intent. Make part of your intent to entertain. If a post seems boring, it likely is. People and search engines recognize this. Don't lose views due to a lack of enthusiasm also known as passive voice. Link up to related information. Build the website up to the local to be the local resource by linking it to other valued community websites and you will be successful in local SEO. I'm Jen Miller and I'll be local until the end of June or you can find me on Twitter or LinkedIn at Jen blogs for you. Merci beaucoup.