Tag Archives: local

HOW CAN THE OPEN SOURCE APPROACH TO EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE BENEFIT LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND BUSINESSES

An open source approach to developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure has the potential to provide substantial benefits to local communities and businesses. By making the technical standards, software, hardware designs, and other aspects of EV charging stations open and available for anyone to use freely, it lowers the barriers to entry for more widespread adoption.

When infrastructure development is led through cooperative open collaboration rather than limited to just a few large corporations, it allows for much more localized and tailored solutions. Local governments, businesses and organizations are empowered to take EV charging deployment into their own hands in a way that makes the most sense for their specific needs and resources. They can work together to strategize optimal placement of stations that best serves local drivers while stimulate local economic activity.

Rather than relying solely on large network providers that may prioritize more dense urban areas for financial reasons, an open source model enables grassroots “from the ground up” development. Rural and smaller communities that are often overlooked can still advance electrification and the associated community benefits. They have the freedom to customize solutions based on their unique geographies, landscapes, traffic patterns and land-use characteristics.

Localized control over infrastructure also means optimizing placement based on an intimate understanding of local transportation behaviors and synergies between public and private destinations people frequent most. Charging stations can be situated conveniently next to popular shopping areas, parks, attractions and workplaces to encourage EV adoption. With an open framework that welcomes collaboration between all stakeholders, this kind of hyperlocal optimization becomes much more achievable.

Small and medium-sized local businesses also gain greater empowerment to directly participate in and benefit from EV charging growth. Shops, restaurants and other enterprises can choose to host stations on their properties to attract EV drivers looking for a convenient place to charge while patronizing local establishments. This provides new opportunities for small business marketing and promotion. Independent operators of public chargers can also flourish by identifying gaps and demand that major network companies overlook.

An open source model fosters localized business innovation around EV charging technology and services. Enterprises and entrepreneurial teams are free to develop novel hardware add-ons, payment systems, mobile apps and other ancillary solutions without the restrictions of proprietary standards. This spawns new local tech jobs and companies. Independent suppliers and installers can more easily enter the market to meet the demands of customized community solutions. The resulting boosts to local enterprise and employment have significant positive economic ripple effects.

By keeping costs down through open cooperation rather than vendor lock-in, funding and maintaining public charging infrastructure also becomes more financially viable for community groups and local governments. Municipalities get more budget flexibility to support widespread deployment that strengthen their value propositions and attract new residents and businesses in a high-tech sustainable way. Leveraging the efficiencies of volunteerism and public/private partnerships magnifies the impact of scarce tax dollars.

Perhaps most importantly, an open approach emphasizes accessibility and inclusiveness over profitable network growth alone. Used together with creative policies, this can help overcome range anxiety for lower-income drivers who still want to reap the environmental and financial benefits of electric transport. Community-based programs provide opportunities for used EV and public charger sharing that extend electrification more broadly. When charging access is a right not dependent on corporate interests or subscription fees, the clean mobility future becomes available to all.

An open source model for EV charging infrastructure development unlocks immense benefits for local communities and businesses large and small. It empowers localized innovation,optimization and economic opportunity that corporate approaches struggle to match.Most of all, it puts control back in the hands of citizens and stakeholders on the ground to guide electrification in a way that best serves their unique needs and values. When scaled broadly, this citizen-powered approach can accelerate society’s shift to sustainable transportation faster than any top-down framework.

WHAT ARE SOME EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR LOCAL LINK BUILDING

Local link building is an important part of SEO for local businesses. Building links from relevant local websites can help your business rank higher locally in search results. Some effective local link building strategies include:

Reach out to local businesses in your industry or area and look for opportunities to do partnerships, sponsorships, or guest posts that can help cross-link your sites. For example, you could offer to sponsor a local sports team and get a link on their website in return. Or you could do a joint promotion with another complementary local business and link to each other. These strategic partnerships allow you to build relevant links while also promoting your business.

Find and join local organizations, chambers of commerce, industry associations, alumni groups, and any professional networks relevant to your business or target customers. Get engaged by attending meetings, volunteering for committees or leadership roles. Having an active presence in these groups allows opportunities to mention your business on their websites through member directories, event coverage, or contributed content which can often contain links back to your site.

Physically visit local businesses around your target areas to introduce yourself and your business. Share printed marketing materials highlighting the services you offer. A personal touch can help you get your name and website in front of other businesses who may link to you in return one day through citations, recommendations, or organic content they create. Don’t forget to ask for their business card so you can follow up with a thank you email containing a link to your site too.

Target local Review websites, directories, blogs, and local media. Contact them about getting a listing, mention, review, or by pitching yourself as an expert source for a potential article guest post that could contain a link. Make sure any links included meet their content guidelines. Review sites in particular often like to feature local businesses and are a great place for a nofollow link.

Get involved with local events whether you sponsor, volunteer, or just attend. These could include everything from chamber mixers, trade shows, fundraisers, industry conferences to local sports, arts, music or civic events. Wear branded materials and bring marketing materials featuring your website. Introduce yourself and your business to organizers who may have opportunities for you to get mentioned on their sites through event recaps or partner/sponsor pages with links.

Audit Google Maps and ensure your business is completely claimed and optimized with up-to-date info, photos and a link to your site. Also claim your business profile on other local directories like Yelp, Foursquare, Bing Places etc. Get customers to check-in and review your business which can pass link equity.

Outreach to hyperlocal news sites, neighborhood blogs and community websites covering your specific city, town or surrounding areas. See if you can get mentioned or pitch yourself as a potential contributor. Guest posts and byline articles are a great way to gain natural backlinks if relevant to their audience.

Start or join local entrepreneur or business owner networking groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Introduce yourself, engage by liking/commenting/sharing other members’ updates. Over time you may find opportunities to provide them value through resources, guest posts, etc that could earn a link mention. Just be sure not to spam, keep engagements relevant and focus on helping others versus self-promotion.

Target links from any .gov local authority sites like your city/town/county website as well as those of other local political and community representatives in your area. These can help with local SEO authority. Pitch yourself as a relevant source for any business spotlights, event coverage, economic reports they produce online.

Those are some effective local link building strategies focused on tapping into the unique local connections, organizations and media within your specific targeted community and region. With ongoing active engagement and consistent outreach pitched towards providing value versus overt self-promotion, these tactics can help business naturally build citations, mentions, and authority links to boost their visibility and search performance for local customers. Local SEO requires a hyper-focused and boots-on-the-ground approach, but done right it truly pays off.