How Can A SEO Consultant Help You Rank On Page 1 For Local Keywords Using Reddit And Other Forums
Since February 2024, the search engines have seen a significant shift in how the first page of results are returned after someone makes a query (search). This is especially true for Google.
What is challenging many local business owners, however, is the degree of first page search results which are showing Reddit and other local forums on the upper half of first page results. Even more concerning to them is the actual result being returned inside Reddit oftentimes is over a decade old and outdated!
Let’s take a look at some page 1 results of for a high population USA city like Dallas Texas. The first result is from the end of May 2024, and the keyword being searched is “laser hair removal Dallas”. I chose this because I have no laser hair removal clients, so there is no bias in the search history on this browser.
Another search (also in May 2024) is “best chiropractor Dallas”.
A Quick Analysis Of Reddit And Other Forums — And What Can Be Done To Help Make Your Phone Ring
In both examples, the “Discussions and Forums” section of these two local searches both appear in the first 3-4 organic rankings, coming after any Sponsored (paid) ad placements and the local Maps section. At the time of this post, the “Discussions and Forums” each have two of their three spots dedicated to Reddit; and the other spots (respectively) are City-Data.com and Quora.
This is very useful information for a number of reasons:
- It means that you can participate on the platforms which are appearing in the “Discussions and Forums” section.
- If the particular threads (topics) are still open for posting, then you can jump into that discussion and gain exposure if you add legitimate value to the discussion
- Your profile page on those platforms (Reddit and others) also can help your overall search engine rankings due to getting links from a high-authority platform
- You may be able to get your phone to ring faster with new business IF (!!) you “play nice” on each platform
Using the “laser hair removal Dallas” example, let’s open one of the Reddit threads/discussions. In this case it is the most recent one which Google listed, in this case a discussion started roughly four months ago.
A few things to note here:
- The thread/discussion was pulled by Google from the r/Dallas sub-Reddit. This is the largest group dedicated to the City of Dallas, with supposedly 407,000+ members who have joined this group.
- The replies to the person’s original question don’t have any links in the replies.
- Note that in these first replies, no one is posting from a company-branded Reddit profile.
- This doesn’t mean that you can’t do so
- It is just an observation that perhaps a happy customer (client) of yours may post a reply to an open thread (discussion) in a relevant sub-Reddit on your behalf
- This is virtually no different than having a happy customer leave a review for you on Yelp, Google Maps/Business, Facebook, TripAdvisor.com or any other review platform
The Benefits Of Taking This Action Step For Your Local Marketing
There are several benefits to doing this kind of value-addition marketing:
- You, or a happy customer/client, can jump immediately into the discussion and get exposure on this hyper-relevant topic
- We know it already is “ranking” well in Google as the thread which appears in the 3 options under the original “Discussions and Forums” section we saw earlier
- You can begin to earn trust in your business locally by those who have notifications set up to be made aware when others participate in this particular discussion
- The 407,000+ members of this one sub-Reddit (the r/Dallas group) could provide you with roughly one-eighth of 1% of that number as possible first-time awareness of your business. In this case 1/8 of 1% = 0.125%. 0.125% of 407,000 people = 509 people (rounded).
- Being even more conservative, reducing that number to less than half still equals a potential 250 people who will be first introduced to your business…..
…. so you had better know how to “play nice” inside Reddit! Otherwise your business can gain some backlash and negative publicity at the local level!
What Is Considered Playing Nice Inside Reddit? Is It The Same For Other Forums Or Platforms Which Google Currently Rewarding With Page 1 Rankings?
Great question! The answer is both “Yes” and “No”.
Starting with the “No” first, one local-oriented platform where you can post content without a lot of concern for “playing nice” is a site like Patch.com. You can’t be a “sleazy salesman”, but you are allowed to post basic ads, upcoming event listings, and standard business profiles provided that Patch has a local section of its website dedicated to your geographic area. Learn more about Patch marketing here:
Reddit and the other “Discussions and Forums” platforms, however, require you to play nice and add a tremendous amount of value & expertise on the topic. It also helps if you reward others’ contributions by liking their posts, replying nicely to their comments, and sharing some value you found.
Just like Facebook, you have some choices on Reddit:
- You can post SEO keyword-optimized content, with links to your website or other website properties (such as YouTube, social media, or even press releases), on your own profile. This would be like posting content on your own Facebook wall/page, and not in a group.
- You are still subject to people leaving comments, but they would have to find your specific post or know about your Reddit profile first
- If you decide to post in the more heavy-volume sub-Reddits, then this would be like posting in a Facebook group relevant to your desired audience.
- This can be both a good and bad thing, so always err on the side of being “nice” and conservative with your postings once inside a group which you didn’t create from the ground up.
Here are some ideas of how to add value in your reply to the original poster as well as those who replied to the original post’s content in a high-volume sub-Reddit group. In no particular order:
- Compliment the original poster and/or someone who has replied in the sub-Reddit
- Clarify any topic if there is confusion, and do so in a nice way. Always double-check before you click the “Submit” button!
- Cite authoritative sources. In the example of laser hair removal, consider citing a small snippet & include a link to a source such as the American Academy of Dermatology website page discussing laser hair removal (example by clicking here)
- Remember that your post may be read by someone months later, long after the original discussion’s participants already have found their preferred local service provider. This is fine!
- You want to build trust in the eyes of ANYONE who reads the thread/discussion
- Just as you found the discussion via the first page of the search engines, so too may someone find the exact same discussion the next day (or even the next year!) after you participate in the conversation
- Share helpful multimedia such as news clips, relevant YouTube videos, podcasts, infographics, or anything else which is helpful to the original conversation
- At first, DON’T place a link to your website inside your actual comment/reply. Instead, just have those links in your profile.
- Most Reddit users are intelligent enough to click on your profile to learn more about you if they find your contributions to be valuable to them
A slightly modified approach to all of this is recommended for the non-Reddit forums which appear in Google’s page 1 search results. Earlier we saw that City-Data.com and Quora appeared; but, for the most part, it has the same approach – just with minor modifications.
Note that your Reddit profile does permit a small amount of text which allows for a business description (1-2 sentences) plus your phone number and business address. The latter is only if you want people to visit your business location.
Can This Be Outsourced Or At Least With Minimal Time Involvement From The Business Owner Or Employees?
Yes. However, any local SEO consultant who uses Reddit and the forums intelligently will want to protect your business from harm as a first priority. There will need to be some conversation on a consistent basis so that any replies made to your business Reddit profile, uploaded by the consultant, are accurate and valuable.
For example, your SEO consultant or agency may not know a single thing about laser hair removal! Therefore, in the early days of your working with the consultant, there will be some questions about trusted sources of information so that the consultant then can craft replies and make initial posts (on your Reddit page’s profile or in the high-traffic groups) with specificity. The last thing you want in Reddit is to come across as rude, not intelligent about your own business, and seem like a “hard selling sales person”.
That may get your profile banned by Reddit, or at least kicked you out of the high-traffic sub-Reddit where your prospects are spending time… especially the city-specific ones with larger membership numbers!
If you need any help with this, or any other local search engine optimization and lead generation needs, then you are welcome to contact us here:
Thank you for your time and we look forward to speaking with you soon.
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