Adventures in Local Marketing

Areej AbuAli on Building an Engaging and Supportive Brand Community

jamie@brightlocal.com (Areej AbuAli, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 08:13:21 +0000

"If you build it, they will come," right? Haha, no chance. Fostering a truly respectful, supportive, and helpful community full of brand advocates and topic experts is no mean feat—and even harder when you're entering a competitive arena or starting from scratch... but the results, both emotional and statistical, speak for themselves when you get it right.

We spoke to Women in Tech SEO's Areej AbuAli about her experience building her global community of passionate and supportive women, what drove her to get started, what lessons she's learned in the process, and what she's still learning today. This is a must-listen for anyone trying to build a community of any kind—Areej really is one of the foremost voices on the topic.

What you will learn in this episode:

The many and varied benefits of building a community for a brand
How to establish rules and guidelines—and the importance of doing so
How to make a niche community appealing to all
Which brands are doing a great job with their communities
How to celebrate exceptional members of the community—and deal with problematic ones
How best to approach community monetization, if at all
And much more!

About Claire Carlile (Host)

Claire Carlile is a Chartered Marketer (MCIM) and is BrightLocal's Local Search Expert. Her work at Claire Carlile Marketing, where she helps businesses of all sizes make the most of the local search opportunity, allows her to provide real-world skills and expertise to what BrightLocal does.

About Areej AbuAli (Guest)

Areej AbuAli is the founder of Women in Tech SEO, a global digital marketing community. Founded in 2019, Women in Tech SEO has over 10,000 global members and 60,000 followers who connect through online groups and in-person conferences in the UK, Europe, and the USA. Areej is an international speaker, a Google Women Techmaker ambassador, and a UN Women UK delegate.

Resources from this episode:

Women in Tech SEO Community: https://www.womenintechseo.com/
"Community Building for Marketers" by Areej AbuAli - coming March 3rd, 2025: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Community-Building-Marketers-Connect-Engage/dp/1398616931/
Buffer Community: https://buffer.com/community
HubSpot Community: https://community.hubspot.com/
Sanity.io Developer Community: https://www.sanity.io/exchange/community
BrightLocal Local Pack: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelocalpack/
AD - Local Marketing Industry Survey: Agency Edition: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-marketing-industry-survey-agencies/

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile*.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

*Sadly, this is the last episode of Adventures in Local Marketing hosted by Claire Carlile. We thank Claire for all her hard work picking the brains of experts in the industry, and wish her the best for the future. The BrightLocal Podcast will be back in the new year—watch this space!

Dayna Lucio on Combining General and Local SEO for the Best Possible Results

jamie@brightlocal.com (Dayna Lucio, Claire Carlile) — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 23:00:00 +0000

We often forget that, in local business, local SEO and general SEO are all part of the same whole. Your site needs to be as optimized as your Google Business Profile, but how often do these strategies really speak to one another?

We spoke to Amsive Digital's Dayna Lucio for the lowdown on how, particularly in more complex business models like franchises, it's crucial for SEO and local SEO to speak to each other for the best possible outcomes.

What you will learn in this episode:

Understanding the intricate relationship between SEO and local SEO
The challenges faced by franchises in managing their online presence
Common misconceptions about local SEO
Why domain management and backlink strategies are outdated
Why you should focus on a more integrated and strategic approach to local SEO
The importance of tailoring strategies to specific regions and cultural contexts
And much more!

About Claire Carlile (Host)

About Dayna Lucio (Guest)

Dayna is an Sr. SEO Strategist at Amsive and has almost a decade’s experience executing and developing comprehensive strategies for multi-location and franchise brands. Her experience in local SEO has spanned a variety of industries including health, beauty and spa, fitness, home improvement, and more.

Resources from this episode:

Women in Tech SEO: https://www.womenintechseo.com/
BrightLocal's Local SEO Content: https://www.brightlocal.com/insights/
Joy Hawkins: https://twitter.com/JoyanneHawkins
Amanda Jordan: https://twitter.com/amandatjordan
Lily Ray: https://twitter.com/lilyraynyc
Delivering Local SEO as Part of a Wider SEO Strategy: https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/delivering-local-seo-strategy/
AD - BrightLocal's Listings Visibility Study: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/business-listings-visibility-study/

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is the podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile. Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

George Nguyen on Creating a Successful Brand Publication

jamie@brightlocal.com (George Nguyen, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:18:59 +0000

With a deluge of AI-spun content hitting the web today, it's never been more important to ensure you're working with real experts on your brand publication.

Host Claire Carlile is joined by George Nguyen from Wix to discuss how to develop content hubs for brands that want to build their authority and expertise—no matter the vertical.

What you will learn in this episode:

Examples of brands with fantastic content hubs and brand publications
How to overcome the challenges you'll face when starting a content hub
How to approach working with expert contributors
How to make your brand publication sustainable in the long term
The value of diversity in brand publications
...and much more!

About Claire Carlile (Host)

Where to find Claire

About George Nguyen (Guest)

George Nguyen is the Director of SEO Editorial at Wix. He creates content to help users and marketers better understand how search works and how to use Wix SEO tools. He was formerly a search news journalist and is known to speak at the occasional industry event.

Where to find George

Room 404

Find out what George puts in Room 404... rest assured, it's a search phrase many will be happy to see/hear the back of!

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

Resources from this episode:

Wix's SEO Learning Hub
Wix's Podcast: SERP's Up
Wix Business Website Templates
The Wix Playground in New York City
Expert Shoutout: Darren Shaw
Expert Shoutout: Krystal Taing
Expert Shoutout: Celeste Gonzalez
Expert Shoutout: Miriam Ellis
Expert Shoutout: Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and David Mihm at Near Media

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

Elizabeth Rule on Scaling Multi-location Brands with Local SEO

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 08:08:52 +0000

Once your brand reaches a couple of dozen locations, the local search tactics you need to employ to grow further only get more intricate and complex.

Host Claire Carlile is joined by Elizabeth Rule from Sterling Sky, to discuss what needs to be in your gameplan when working with a growing brand. They cover what to consider when acquiring another brand, the importance of getting the right information architecture, how reviews and reputation management impact the growth process, and so much more.

You will learn:

✅Common challenges with growing local businesses, and strategies to resolve them
✅How to manage Google Business Profiles for a growing portfolio of locations
✅How reviews can make or break rankings and reputation
✅How good password management can boost efficiencies
✅Pitfalls to avoid when expanding to new locations
✅Factors to consider when expanding to new locations

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:42 Strategies for Scaling Local Businesses

06:22 Acquiring and Rebranding Existing Businesses

08:55 Managing Google Business Profiles for Multi-Location Growth

13:16 Turning Negative Reviews into Opportunities

22:45 Room 404: 'Optimized for SEO'

25:16 Preparing for Growth and Management of Passwords

31:46 Pitfalls to Avoid in Expanding to New Locations

34:27 Managing Google Profiles and Service Area Businesses

37:05 Factors to Consider in Choosing a Location

44:50 Proximity to Competitors and Google's Local Filter

50:00 Resources for Local SEO and Multi-Location Businesses

About Claire (Host)

Where to find Claire:

Website

Twitter (X)

About Elizabeth (Guest)

Elizabeth is an expert local SEO analyst at Sterling Sky. Over the years Elizabeth has been involved with many local businesses as they grow, both through the acquisition of other businesses and by the extension of their own offering as they build out their brick-and-mortar locations on a national scale.

As a Google Business Profile Product Expert, Elizabeth helps businesses crack the code to gain valuable visibility in local search and helps solve complex GBP issues. She is also a faculty member and speaker at the Local U SEO Conference.

Where to find Elizabeth:

Website

Twitter (X)

Room 404

Find out what Elizabeth decides to put into 'Room 404', as it makes their heart race, but for all the wrong reasons!

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

Resources

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing' is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

Melissa Popp on Consumer-Centric Storytelling in Content Marketing

jamie@brightlocal.com (Melissa Popp, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Storytelling plays a crucial role in implementing memorable and effective marketing strategies that stand out from the crowd.

Host Claire Carlile, is joined by Melissa Popp, to discuss how storytelling can connect brands with their local audiences. They also cover the importance of authentic and unique content, how to get buy-in from various departments, common content creation shortcomings for SMEs, measuring ROI, and so much more. Seriously, this episode is jam-packed!

If you are a local marketer looking for an effective way to connect and engage with your audience, this is a must-listen.

You will learn:

What is meant by the terms 'local narratives' or 'storytelling in marketing'
Why unique and authentic content is important in today's SERP landscape, and the impact of the recent Google leak
How 'brand' and 'storytelling' complement one another
How to get that all-important buy-in from various departments
What the common shortfalls in content creation are for SMEs (and even larger brands and enterprises)
How to do storytelling at scale for multi-location businesses and how to effectively measure ROI
Plus so much more...

Timestamps:

02:16 - Explanation of 'Local Narratives'

03:13 - Importance of unique content

03:29 - Google leak and its impact on unique content

06:15 - How brand and storytelling work hand-in-hand

07:49 - Content volume is the wrong metric

09:15 - Common content marketing shortfalls for SMEs (and larger brands)

14:27 - How tone of voice can be a challenge

15:40 - Melissa's 'Buyers Journey Process' specific to SEO

17:47 - Finding your origin story

24:07 - The role of customer stories

25:00 - Being too hung up about keywords

26:10 - 'Room 404' segment

29:00 - How to do it at scale

35:00 - Measuring ROI

36:38 - 'Recipe for Success' segment

About Claire (Host)

Where to find Claire

Website

Twitter (X)

About Melissa (Guest)

Melissa is the Content Strategy Director at RicketyRoo. In this role, she oversees all content initiatives for clients and her responsibilities span from creating high-level content strategies to diving into the minutiae of content creation.

Melissa says she lives and breathes everything related to content. Writing has been her passion since she first picked up a #2 pencil, and she takes pride in making content relevant to readers and illustrating to clients how crucial this connection is for reaching potential customers.

Where to find Melissa

Website

Twitter (X)

Room 404 & Recipe for Success

Find out what Melissa decides to put into 'Room 404', as it makes their heart race, but for all the wrong reasons. She also shares her 'Recipe for Success' with storytelling.

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

Resources

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing' is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

Marie Haynes on Embracing Search's AI Future, and Why We Should Be Excited

jamie@brightlocal.com (Marie Haynes, Claire Carlile) — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 12:46:19 +0000

In this month's BUMPER EDITION of Adventures in Local Marketing, Claire speaks to AI and search expert Dr Marie Haynes about all (and we mean all) things Google and AI. We cover how Google Gemini will underpin all of search going forward, dive into the Google API leaks, and take a detour to learn about a surprise meeting at Google I/O...

It's the longest episode we've ever released and for good reason! It's a meaty topic with plenty to chew on, so step inside Marie's mind and get the most up-to-date insights on Google and AI today.

PLUS we go live with this episode on the same day as Marie's brand-new book (and accompanying workbooks) 'SEO in the Gemini Era'. Check it out for yourself now: https://mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/

Listen to learn:

Why Marie thinks Google gave us the API leak data on purpose, and what we should and shouldn't take away from it
Why and how Gemini goes beyond other large language models
Why SEOs shouldn't be scared of the future of AI and SEO
What skills will still be important in the new age of AI and search
How the nature of search is changing, and how marketers can react to it
How to become resilient to changes, and actually benefit from them
A whole lot more, including how advancements in wearables and brain-computer interfaces will change the future

Resources

SEO in the Gemini Era - The Story of How AI Changed Google Search, by Marie Haynes: https://mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/
The Creating Helpful Content Workbook, by Marie Haynes: https://marie-haynes-consulting-inc.ck.page/products/creating-helpful-content
Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines Book, by Marie Haynes: https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
How to Use Bard, by Marie Haynes: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-use-Bard-Prompts-skills-ebook/dp/B0CQBCYM2H/
Google Devising Radical Search Changes to Beat Back A.I. Rivals: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/technology/google-search-engine-ai.html
Ted 2014: Larry Page on Google's robotic future: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26658892
Marie's Newsletter: https://www.mariehaynes.com/marie-haynes-newsletter/
Marie's Podcast, Search News You Can Use: https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12946477/feed
Marie's Training Services: https://www.mariehaynes.com/training
Marie's online community, The Search Bar: https://community.mariehaynes.com/feed
Follow Marie on Twitter: https://x.com/marie_haynes

Aaron Weiche on Developing a Conversion Mindset

jamie@brightlocal.com (Aaron Weiche, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 14 May 2024 10:25:07 +0000

In this episode, Claire chats to Leadferno's Aaron Weiche about how adopting a conversion-focused mindset can benefit agencies and their clients alike.

Listen to learn:

Why businesses often struggle to identify conversion events
The importance of making a business easy to work with
Why agencies should prioritize reporting on leads and conversions
The role testing plays in optimizing conversion funnels
What to look out for in Google Business Profile's conversion points
How authentic media and social proof can skyrocket conversions
Aaron's five quick tips for improving conversions

Resources

Following Aaron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronweiche/
Follow Aaron on X: https://twitter.com/AaronWeiche
Check out the Leadferno blog: https://leadferno.com/blog
The Leadferno podcast, Conversion Cast: https://leadferno.com/conversioncast

Julian Hooks On Staying People-first in an SEO-obsessed World

jamie@brightlocal.com (Julian Hooks, Claire Carlile) — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:17:08 +0000

In this episode, Claire speaks to Julian Hooks, principal SEO consultant at Advertising Commissions and Senior Manager of SEO at Asurion, about the importance of customer-centricity in an industry obsessed with chasing the latest SEO trend or ranking factors study.

Listen to learn:

Julian's five-point guide to a customer-led strategy
How to use customer insights and pain points to understand and serve customers better
How to maintain customer focus as a business scales, and why communication is at the heart of it
Which brands and businesses are getting customer-centricity right, and why it works for them
How to use data and analytics to identify trends and address issues at a granular level

Resources

Julian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianhooks/

Advertising Commissions LLC: https://www.advertising-commissions.com/

Asurion: https://www.asurion.com/

See Julian speak at BrightonSEO San Diego: https://us.brightonseo.com/talks/beyond-algorithms-customer-centric-seo-as-the-key-to-long-term-success

Get started with Search: a developer's guide, from Google: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/get-started-developers

Rand Fishkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin

Rand Fishkin's company, Sparktoro: https://sparktoro.com/

Nicole DeLeon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleldeleon/

Nicole DeLeon's company, North Star Inbound: https://www.northstarinbound.com/

Product-led SEO, by Eli Schwartz:

https://www.elischwartz.co/book

David Mihm on the State of Multi-location GBP Management

jamie@brightlocal.com (David Mihm, Claire Carlile) — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 08:55:22 +0000

In this episode, Claire speaks to Near Media's David Mihm on the obstacles and opportunities that lie in wait when dealing with Google Business Profiles for multi-location businesses.

Listen to learn:

Why bulk verification can be such a struggle for enterprise businesses
The best approach to managing local SEO between HQ and branch levels
A two-level training framework for local SEO and enterprise businesses
The value of third-party vendors in highlighting the importance of local SEO
What's next for schema and GBP Posts
When we should be expecting Google to launch SGE, and what it might look like

Resources:

BrightLocal's Brand Beacon Report: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/brand-beacon-report/
Near Media: https://www.nearmedia.co/
Near Media's Research and Analysis: https://www.nearmedia.co/tag/analysis/
The Near Memo Podcast: https://www.nearmedia.co/memo/
Is Google's DMA Compliance DOA for Local Searches in Europe?: https://www.nearmedia.co/google-serp-restaurants-eu-dma-analysis/
Don’t Put All Your Eggs In Google’s Basket – Beyond the Google Monopoly: https://www.brightlocal.com/blog/beyond-google-monopoly/
Follow Near Media on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nearmediaco/
Follow Near Media on X: https://twitter.com/nearmediaco
Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmihm/

Steve Wiideman on Navigating Big Brand Local SEO

jamie@brightlocal.com (Steve Wiideman, Claire Carlile) — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 11:47:45 +0000

In response to the findings of BrightLocal's Brand Beacon Report 2024, this episode sees us speak to enterprise expert Steve Wiideman about all things multi-location SEO.

In this wide-ranging and tactical nugget-filled conversation, Steve covers the challenges and opportunities available to multi-location SEOs today, and shares his proven processes for working with brands.

Listen to learn:

Steve's expert take on the findings of the Brand Beacon Report 2024
Why social media isn't the quick fix for multi-location brands that some think it is
How agencies can develop a one-pager that sets out everything the HQ of a brand needs to know about local SEO
Why some brands struggle to get on board with local SEO
Preventing roadblocks and getting buy-in when working with enterprise brands
The multitude of ways brands can use AI, and what to avoid when generating content with AI
The data-backed secrets of success for a brand location page
Advice for SEOs uncertain about the future of search in a world with AI

As you can see from the list above, it's a long one, but absolutely worth getting stuck into if you're working with big brands or looking to do so.

Resources:

BrightLocal's Brand Beacon Report 2024: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/brand-beacon-report/
Wiideman Consulting Group: https://www.wiideman.com/
A Data-Driven Strategy for Optimizing Location Pages to Rank in Google: https://www.wiideman.com/location-pages-for-seo
Wiideman Search Engine Marketing Tutorials and Checklists: https://www.wiideman.com/learn
Steve on X: https://twitter.com/seosteve
Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seoexpert/
Steve on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seosteve
Steve on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seosteve/

Stefan Somborac on The Life and Times of a Google Product Expert

jamie@brightlocal.com (Stefan Somborac, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 13:57:16 +0000

In this episode, we speak to Google Business Profile *Platinum* Expert, Marketing Metrology's Stefan Somborac, about what it's like to volunteer to help, and most importantly learn from, local businesses posting in the Google Business Profile Help Community (what a mouthful!)

Listen to learn:

Why the new EU reinstatement process forms part of a "perfect storm" for GBP managers worldwide
What access Product Experts get to Google projects and staff, and how this can help with their work
How being a Product Expert and helping out business owners is like "a rewarding puzzle"
The best way to get your issue solved efficiently in the GBP Help Community (and things to avoid!)
And much more!

Resources:

Google Business Profile Help Community: https://support.google.com/business/community?hl=en-GB
Post to the help community: https://support.google.com/business/thread/new?hl=en-GB&sjid=915863440136637775-EU
Google Business Profile Guidelines: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en-GB
Local Search Clinic with Stefan Somborac: https://www.brightlocal.com/webinars/local-search-clinic-with-stefan-somborac/
Live Masterclass: GBP Suspension and Reinstatement: https://www.brightlocal.com/webinars/live-masterclass-gbp-suspension-and-reinstatement/
Stefan on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/StefanSomborac

Crystal Carter on Powerful Applications of Schema Markup

jamie@brightlocal.com (Crystal Carter, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 08:28:51 +0000

Schema might not be a ranking factor, but that doesn't mean you can leave it in the 'to do' pile. In this episode, structured markup master Crystal Carter lifts the lid on all things schema:

Why it's not as scary as you think it is
Why it's business-critical for some industries
What to do (and not do) if you receive a schema warning
How to use a CMS to get schema sorted quickly and easily
How to validate your schema and which tools to use

Take a listen to hear two seasoned podcasters (and good friends) diving into a key, but sometimes forgotten, area of local business marketing, and witness the most passionate episode of 'Room 404' yet!

RESOURCES

What is structured data validation?: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/structured-data-validation

The Strategic Value of Structured Data Implementation on SME Websites: https://moz.com/blog/strategic-structured-data-sme-websites

Wix SEO Webinars: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/webinars

Schema.org: https://schema.org/

Local SEO Schema: Types and Templates for Easy Structured Data Markup: https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-seo-schema-templates/

Adding Structured Data Markup to Your Site's Pages: https://support.wix.com/en/article/adding-structured-data-markup-to-your-sites-pages-2546962

Crystal's website: https://www.crystalcarterseo.com/

Follow Crystal on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/crystalontheweb

Follow Crystal on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/crystal-carter-digital

Mike Blumenthal on What Google's Past Can Teach Us About Its Future

jamie@brightlocal.com (Mike Blumenthal, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 5 Sep 2023 11:16:26 +0000

In this episode, Near Media's Mike Blumenthal highlights the Google trends we should all be paying close attention to, discusses the evolution and importance of images in Google Business Profile, and introduces upcoming Near Media consumer research that could change how we look at searcher behavior.

Listen to learn:

What the future of Google Business Profile might look like
Where to go to improve your Google and Google Business Profile knowledge
The part ads and monetization play in the future of Google Business Profile
PLUS a surprising fact about what consumers do and don't care about in reviews

RESOURCES

Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mblumenthal
Mike's profile on the Google Business Profile Community Help Forum: https://support.google.com/profile/1779682?sjid=8164595187474410917-EU
Mike has an open email policy: mike@blumenthals.com
Mike's older local search blog, which he keeps alive as an archive: https://blumenthals.com/blog/
The Near Memo - Near Media's Podcast: https://www.nearmedia.co/memo/
Sterling Sky blog: https://www.sterlingsky.ca/blog/
BrightLocal blog: https://www.brightlocal.com/insights/
Whitespark blog: https://whitespark.ca/blog/
Near Media: https://www.nearmedia.co/
How to Upload and Manage Google Business Profile Photos: https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/google-business-profile/optimization/photos/
Dispute a removed Google Business Profile photo or video with this form: https://support.google.com/business/gethelp

Noah Learner on Telling Client Stories with Data

jamie@brightlocal.com (Noah Learner, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 8 Aug 2023 16:20:51 +0000

In this episode, Sterling Sky's Director of Innovation, Noah Learner, teaches us how to extract meaning when looking at cold, hard data, puts overpromising podcasts (who, us?!) in Room 404, and lays out his 5-point framework for local SEO testing and reporting success.

Listen to learn:

Where Google truly pulls its GBP performance data from
The truth about impressions in Google Search Console
Why good reporting needs a combo of soft skills and data analysis
How to react when datasets change
How to get the most out of Looker Studio
and much more!

RESOURCES

Follow Noah Learner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/noahlearner
Follow Noah Learner on Bluesky: thekraken
Noah Noah Learner on Clubhouse: thekraken
Claire Carlile's BrightLocal Academy course on keyword research: https://academy.brightlocal.com/course/how-to-master-local-keyword-research
Branch Tools Explorer https://branch.tools/
Using Data as the Backbone to Driving ROI: Noah Learner (Two Octobers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J3XVWxmoRk&t=1s

Krystal Taing on Making Multi-location SEO Feel Local

jamie@brightlocal.com (Krystal Taing, Claire Carlile) — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 10:41:24 +0000

In this episode, Uberall's Krystal Taing shares her obsession with multi-location SEO, slings her pet peeves into Room 404, and delivers a rousing 5-point plan for scaling enterprise local SEO success.

Listen to learn:

How to overcome the challenge of building a local voice for each location while keeping the necessary things centralized at corporate.
Why bulk uploading is key to scalability, even at as few as two locations.
How to avoid cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all local SEO by testing across locations
And much more!

Resources

Follow Krystal on Twitter: @krystal_taing
Andrew Shotland and the Local SEO Guide team: https://www.localseoguide.com/
Krystal's GBP Help Community Profile: https://support.google.com/profile/1779728

Andi Jarvis Wants to Poke Bad Strategists in the Eye

jamie@brightlocal.com (Andi Jarvis, Claire Carlile) — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 11:53:39 +0000

In this episode, we drill deep into the brain of Andi Jarvis, a self-confessed strategy nerd.

Andi is the Founder and Strategy Director of Eximo Marketing, a marketing strategy consultancy based in Belfast and Liverpool in the UK. Eximo Marketing primarily works with established manufacturers who want to grow their business via direct-to-consumer.

Listen to learn:

The difference between strategy and tactics
The biggest mistakes often found in a marketing strategy
How to build a marketing strategy that aligns with your local business strategy

Follow Andi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andijarvis

Find Andi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andijarvis/

Eximo Marketing: https://eximomarketingstrategy.com/

The Strategy Sessions Podcast: https://eximomarketingstrategy.com/podcast/

Resources:

Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why it Matters: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/1846684811

Mark Ritson: https://www.marketingritson.com/

BrightLocal on the web:

www.brightlocal.com

www.twitter.com/brightlocal

www.facebook.com/brightlocal

www.instagram.com/brightlocal

www.youtube.com/brightlocal

Claire Carlile on the web:

www.clairecarlilemarketing.com

www.twitter.com/clairecarlile

Adventures in Local Marketing New Season Trailer

jamie@brightlocal.com (Claire Carlile) — Fri, 19 May 2023 09:02:44 +0000

Welcome to Adventures in Local Marketing, the podcast for local marketers. In this trailer, we introduce our brand-new host, Claire Carlile. Claire explains what you can expect in the upcoming episodes, and why you should choose to take your next adventure with us.

Dani Owens on How to Build Local Links

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Tue, 31 May 2022 13:30:44 +0000

Local SEOs have a love-hate relationship with link building.

We love links, but building them is time-consuming, manual, repetitive and ultimately has a relatively low success rate compared to other SEO tactics.

Fortunately, Dani Owens is here to help. Dani has a wealth of experience building local links for a wide variety of clients and niches. In this episode, she reveals:

The differences between link building for local SEO versus traditional SEO
Her simple three step process to ensure campaign success
The biggest local link building no-nos
Low-effort link building tactics that any business can implement
Creative link building tactics that your competitors won’t be able to replicate

About Dani Owens:

Dani is a local SEO consultant and founder of Pigzilla, a private local SEO training community. Before starting Pigzilla, Dani worked at a digital agency for five years where she gained a lot of enterprise SEO experience for brands such as STIHL, Club Car, and Ariens & Gravely. Dani is currently building a local building service, LocalPR.com, which is launching soon.

Resources:

Join the waitlist for Dani’s local link building service at LocalPR.com
Enrol on Dani’s free BrightLocal Academy course: How to Create Relevant and Engaging Local SEO Reports
Watch our Local Search Clinic with Gyi Tsakalakis for more great local linking building tips

Blake Denman on How to Grow Your Agency (While Avoiding Screwups)

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 07:54:34 +0000

Growing an agency is hard. There are so many things to get right and so many things that can go wrong.

Growth isn’t as simple as getting new clients on the books–and that’s not exactly simple anyway. You also need to focus on client retention, hiring and training staff, managing team workloads, creating efficient processes, and building and nurturing a winning culture–all while keeping a watchful eye on profitability.

On this episode, we chatted to Blake Denman about his first-hand experience of growing his agency, RicketyRoo. He’ll guide us through his successes and missteps as he’s scaled RicketyRoo to a team of ten.

You’ll learn:

Why choosing a niche is key to growth
Why agency owners need to ruthlessly prioritize their time
How Blake uses partners and relationships to drive leads
Why digital marketing conferences were terrible for lead generation
When to hire and how to get it right

Resources:

This isn’t the first time we’ve tapped into Blake’s expertise on agency growth. A couple of years ago we hosted a webinar with Blake and Nifty Marketing’s Mike Ramsey about how they scaled up their agencies.
If your plans to scale up your agency involve landing bigger clients, then make sure you listen to our episode with Jordan Choo.
If you want more great agency content, check out our Advance Your Agency guides which cover a range of topics such as client education and pricing services.

About Blake:

Blake Denman is President and Founder of Rickety Roo, a local SEO agency which he founded in 2009. Blake has more than 14 years of local SEO and paid search marketing experience.

Phill Agnew on the 7 Consumer Psychology Principles Every Marketer Should Know

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Tue, 7 Dec 2021 20:58:13 +0000

We like to think of ourselves as rational people–our decisions are based on logic and facts. But the truth is that we’re all guided by biases that influence the way we think and act.

Being aware of these biases can be extremely powerful in the hands of a marketer. After all, the very practice of marketing is to influence people’s behaviours–whether that’s encouraging someone to buy a product or simply to open an email.

In this episode, Phill Agnew, host of marketing science podcast, Nudge, explains the seven consumer psychology principles that will make your marketing more effective.

You’ll learn:

How a simple tactic made people 82% more likely to complete a loyalty card
How Steve Jobs used anchoring to send the crowd into a frenzy at the iPad launch event
How KFC sold more fries by limiting the number that customers could buy
How negative social proof caused more people to fossilized ancient wood at a national park
How a 73-year-old marketing campaign changed the way we buy engagement rings, forever!

This episode is packed with plenty of practical examples that prove the power of consumer psychology. In fact, we’d be very surprised if you don’t come away with at least one new tactic that you’ll want to implement right away.

Resources:

Amanda Jordan on How to Overcome Multi-location SEO Challenges

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Mon, 8 Nov 2021 18:05:54 +0000

Adventures in Local Marketing is back for a second season!

Throughout season two, we're going to be branching out to cover a broad range of topics to truly help our listeners become a better local marketer.

Amanda Jordan is our first guest of the season, and we have been lucky enough to hear her valuable insights on the local SEO issues of multi-location businesses. This is a topic we haven't had the opportunity to explore in-depth before, so it was great to sit down with Amanda and listen to her advice.

Having worked in the industry for over ten years, Amanda has a great deal of first-hand SEO experience with multi-location businesses. As you'll learn, these businesses face unique challenges with local SEO, but a powerful strategy can combat these problems.

Listen to learn:

How to avoid duplicate content issues with unique local landing pages
Why citations still play an important role
The importance of competitor research
The challenges of managing Google Business Profile at scale
How to educate stakeholders and get buy-in

Resources:

Check out Amanda’s brand new course in BrightLocal Academy—How to Perform Local SEO Audits for Multi-location Businesses

Levi Williams-Clucas on Building Trust Signals Within Google My Business

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 12:39:33 +0000

Is your Google My Business listing sending out strong trust signals?

That’s the question Levi Williams-Clucas, SEO Specialist at StrategiQ, aims to answer in this episode of Adventures in Local Marketing.

Levi views trust signals as a double-header. There are the trust signals your GMB listing gives out to potential customers – would someone buy from your business?

And, there are the trust signals it sends out to Google – does your business seem legitimate and worthy of ranking?

Listen to learn:

Which Google My Business features send out trust signals
What negatively impacts trust within GMB
How to optimize your website to strengthen trust signals
The top 5 tactics that help you build and maintain trust signals

Resources:

Read Levi’s in-depth explainer on How to Get the Most Out of Google My Business Q&A
Check out the amazing Women in Tech SEO community

Colan Nielsen on Building Your Unique Local SEO Playbook

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Fri, 28 May 2021 12:24:43 +0000

On this episode, we chatted with Colan Nielsen about how to build an effective, and importantly, unique local SEO playbook.

Colan is VP of Local Search at Sterling Sky, and we tapped into his 11+ years of experience to find out the best ways to develop your own playbook.

As you’ll learn, a playbook goes way beyond a simple checklist of actions to take. Your playbook should not only define how you go about local SEO, but also what steps you take to communicate with clients and uncover new tactics.

Listen to learn:

The big benefits of having a playbook
The pitfalls to avoid when using a playbook
How to use your playbook through the first year of working with a client
How to continue to expand and sharpen your playbook

Resources:

Sterling Sky regularly publishes results of their tests on their blog, so be sure to give it a bookmark to keep up to date on local SEO tactics that do and don’t work.
Check out Colan’s book recommendation: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Jordan Choo on How to Land Bigger Clients

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 07:13:04 +0000

Many agencies aspire to move upmarket and work with bigger clients – and for good reason. Bigger clients lead to larger retainers, better budgets, and impressive client logos to show off to prospects.

But what exactly does moving upmarket look like? And is working with big clients all it’s cracked up to be?

That’s what I wanted to find out from Jordan Choo, Managing Partner of Kogneta – a digital marketing agency for franchises and multi-location businesses.

In this episode, Jordan shares his experiences of moving his agency upmarket and the possibilities and perils that this presents.

Listen to learn:

The big differences between working with large and small clients
The problems multi-location businesses are looking to solve
What challenges agencies may face going upmarket and how to overcome them
How to successfully pitch bigger clients
Whether moving upmarket is right for every agency

Resources:

Want to learn more about effective marketing strategies for franchises? Then be sure to listen and subscribe to Jordan’s podcast: The Franchise Marketing Podcast.

Niki Mosier on Google-proofing your Page Experience

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 10:36:02 +0000

We’re only a few weeks away from the rollout of Google’s Page Experience update and, while we don’t yet know what impact it will have on rankings, it’s undoubtedly something that needs to be on the radar of every SEO.

As this is arguably the biggest change to Google’s algorithm we’ve seen in recent years, we enlisted technical SEO virtuoso, Niki Mosier, to get her expert opinion on everything worth knowing about the update.

Listen to learn:

What Core Web Vitals are and the role they play in this update
The benchmarks you need to hit to stay on the right side of the update
Which tools can help you detect issues on your site
Google’s motivation behind the update and what might come next

Resources

Want to check if your site is protected against the Page Experience Update?

These tools and resources (as recommended by Niki) will help you identify and resolve any Core Web Vitals issues:

How to audit Core Web Vitals with Screaming Frog

Sitebulb

Google’s PageSpeed Insights

Lighthouse for Google Chrome

thruuu, an Awesome SERP Analyzer

Google Page Experience Audit Checklist and Template by Seosly

Claire Carlile on Setting Your Agency up for Success From Day One

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 14:22:40 +0000

What’s one topic that comes up time and time again in local SEO?

How to launch and maintain a successful agency.

It’s something we get asked about a lot, and so we enlisted the help of Claire Carlile. Claire’s got 12 years of managing her own boutique agency under her belt, so you’ll be sure to take away some game-changing tips.

Listen to learn how to:

Avoid common mistakes when starting out
Determine if you need a niche
Nail your positioning
Start getting leads when nobody’s heard of you

If you’re at the start of your journey or further down the path, you’re going to learn a lot from Claire in this episode.

Links:

Enroll on Claire's course: How to Land Your First Local SEO Client

See the complete picture of local rankings with Local Search Grid

Lily Ray on Navigating SEO in 2021

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 08:19:27 +0000

‘Adventures in Local Marketing’ is back with a bang for 2021! In our first episode of the year, we're joined by yet another expert guest to take stock of SEO in 2020, and to look ahead to 2021.

Our guest on this episode is seasoned SEO pro and keynote speaker, Lily Ray.

Lily draws from first-hand experience of working with a wide range of clients and her in-depth analysis on 2020’s biggest winners and losers in search, to help us understand where SEO goes from here.

Listen to learn:

How Covid-19 impacted SEO in 2020
How to incorporate E-A-T into your strategy
How you should be preparing for Google's Page Experience Update
Why you need to be cut-throat with content in 2021

Resources:

Take a deep dive into Lily’s analysis of 1,000+ Winners and Losers of the December 2020 Google Core Algorithm Update
Watch Lily discuss Google E-A-T Implementation & Authority Signals on Search Engine Journal Live

Carrie Hill on Creating Kick-ass Local Content

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 19:54:00 +0000

There’s no doubt content is key to both ranking high in local search and generating more leads, but there’s a lot of mixed messages about the best ways to approach this. And often what ranks and what converts can be very different beasts.

Luckily, we’ve enlisted Sterling Sky’s content creating champion Carrie Hill to get answers to questions such as should local businesses be blogging regularly? What kind of content converts? And what do you do if great content isn’t ranking?

On this episode, Carrie reveals her secrets to make the words (and leads!) flow.

Listen to learn:

How to do effective content research
How to ensure content doesn’t just rank, but also converts
The mistakes to avoid when creating content
The methods Carrie uses to make writing much easier

Cindy Krum on Building a Mobile-first, Future-proof SEO Strategy

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 21:23:59 +0000

In this episode, we talked to mobile SEO expert Cindy Krum about Google’s latest developments and how this is impacting SEO. Learn why you can’t afford to sleep on mobile-first indexing, the best opportunities to claim more search visibility, and how to future-proof your SEO strategy.

Cindy is one of the leading experts in mobile SEO, but her knowledge doesn’t end there. In this episode, we covered:

Why marketers can’t afford to sleep on mobile-first indexing
How Passage-based ranking will impact how we create content
The best opportunities to claim more real estate in SERPs (spoiler: it’s not blue links)
How to start future-proofing your SEO strategy today

Resources:

We covered A LOT of topics on this episode, so here’s some more content to feast on.

Want to go deep on Entity Understanding and Mobile-First Crawling? Then Cindy has a five part series that covers pretty much everything. Start with part one.
Watch Cindy’s webinar on Mobile-First Indexing and The Story Your Data Isn’t Telling You.
Get the full lowdown on Passage-based ranking.
Learn how mobile-first indexing impacted local businesses when it first rolled out.

Ben Fisher on Finding Competitive Advantages in Google My Business

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 14:43:15 +0000

On this month’s episode of ‘Adventures in Local Marketing’, we spoke with Ben Fisher of Steady Demand. Ben is one of only two officially-recognized Platinum Product Experts of Google My Business, so this was an amazing opportunity to find out:

What the basics you have to get right in Google My Business are
The ongoing activities every marketer should be performing
Ben’s tips to give you a competitive advantage

Ben also shared his backstory in SEO, which dates back to 1994 – four years before Google was even founded! With no playbooks to follow at the time, Ben explains how experimentation was key to success back then and how it still rings true today.

Finally, we dived into Darren Shaw’s recently revealed Local Search Ranking Factors Survey (of which Ben was a participant), to find out Ben’s reaction to the findings and his biggest takeaways.

Resources:

Local Search Ranking Factors 2020: What Affects Local Rankings?

Dana DiTomaso on Learning to Love Reporting

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 09:37:41 +0000

Do you consider reporting a chore?

Do you frantically scramble to pull all your data together at the end of the month?

And does your reporting ultimately lead to more questions than answers?

If you answered 'yes' to any of the above, then this is the episode of 'Adventures in Local Marketing' for you.

Dana DiTomaso believes reporting doesn’t have to be so soul destroying! On this episode, we talked to Dana to learn:

Why marketers have a bad relationship with reporting
What you can do to change that relationship
The common mistakes marketers make when reporting
Why reporting less is always more

Resources:

Here’s the Goal Charter post Dana mentions in the episode

Jason Brown on Becoming the Spammer’s Public Enemy #1

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 16:29:42 +0000

We’re back with our second episode of ‘Adventures in Local Marketing’ and this time we’re talking spam, spam, and more SPAM, with Jason Brown.

Jason is the leading expert on all the shady things that go down in local SEO, so we wanted to find out:

What kinds of tricks spammers are pulling
How Jason goes about getting spam eradicated
Why spam has real-world dangers way beyond manipulating rankings
Why Jason decided to specialize in spam fighting

So grab your headphones and saddle up as we take a tour of the darker side of local marketing with the ‘Sheriff of Google’.

Greg Gifford on His Journey Through Local Marketing

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 14:15:29 +0000

Welcome to the very first episode of 'Adventures in Local Marketing'

In our debut episode, we sat down with local SEO expert, Greg Gifford, to chat about, well... everything.

Listen along to learn:

What local SEO was like when he first started out and how it’s changed over time
How he became one of the most popular speakers in digital marketing
How to further your career over the next 1-2 years
His advice to anyone just starting out in local marketing

About Greg Gifford

Greg Gifford is the Vice President of Search Marketing at SearchLab, a boutique marketing agency specializing in Local SEO and PPC. He’s one of the most in-demand speakers at digital marketing and automotive conferences all over the world, with dynamic movie-themed presentations packed full of actionable tactics and information. He's got over 17 years of online marketing and web design experience, and his expertise in Local SEO has helped hundreds of businesses gain more visibility in local searches.

Greg graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BA in Cinema and Communications, and has an obscure movie quote for just about any situation.

Follow Greg Gifford on Twitter

Here are the resources Greg recommended in today's episode:

Introducing Adventures in Local Marketing

jamie@brightlocal.com (BrightLocal) — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 09:23:37 +0000

Welcome to 'Adventures in Local Marketing' – the only podcast that tells the stories from the frontlines of local marketing. In this trailer, host Kristian Bannister, explains why we've launched 'Adventures in Local Marketing' and what to expect from each episode.