Adventures in Local Marketing

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 strategyHow to use customer insights and pain points to understand and serve customers betterHow to maintain customer focus as a business scales, and why communication is at the heart of itWhich brands and businesses are getting customer-centricity right, and why it works for themHow to use data and analytics to identify trends and address issues at a granular levelResourcesJulian 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-successGet started with Search: a developer's guide, from Google: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/get-started-developersRand Fishkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkinRand 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

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 businessesThe best approach to managing local SEO between HQ and branch levelsA two-level training framework for local SEO and enterprise businessesThe value of third-party vendors in highlighting the importance of local SEOWhat's next for schema and GBP PostsWhen we should be expecting Google to launch SGE, and what it might look likeResources: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/nearmediacoFollow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmihm/

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 2024Why social media isn't the quick fix for multi-location brands that some think it isHow agencies can develop a one-pager that sets out everything the HQ of a brand needs to know about local SEOWhy some brands struggle to get on board with local SEOPreventing roadblocks and getting buy-in when working with enterprise brandsThe multitude of ways brands can use AI, and what to avoid when generating content with AIThe data-backed secrets of success for a brand location pageAdvice for SEOs uncertain about the future of search in a world with AIAs 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-seoWiideman Search Engine Marketing Tutorials and Checklists: https://www.wiideman.com/learnSteve on X: https://twitter.com/seosteveSteve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seoexpert/Steve on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seosteveSteve on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seosteve/

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 worldwideWhat access Product Experts get to Google projects and staff, and how this can help with their workHow 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-GBPost to the help community: https://support.google.com/business/thread/new?hl=en-GB&sjid=915863440136637775-EUGoogle Business Profile Guidelines: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en-GBLocal 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

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 isWhy it's business-critical for some industriesWhat to do (and not do) if you receive a schema warningHow to use a CMS to get schema sorted quickly and easilyHow to validate your schema and which tools to useTake 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!RESOURCESWhat is structured data validation?: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/structured-data-validationThe Strategic Value of Structured Data Implementation on SME Websites: https://moz.com/blog/strategic-structured-data-sme-websitesWix SEO Webinars: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/webinarsSchema.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-2546962Crystal's website: https://www.crystalcarterseo.com/Follow Crystal on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/crystalonthewebFollow Crystal on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/crystal-carter-digital

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 likeWhere to go to improve your Google and Google Business Profile knowledgeThe part ads and monetization play in the future of Google Business ProfilePLUS a surprising fact about what consumers do and don't care about in reviewsRESOURCESFollow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mblumenthalMike's profile on the Google Business Profile Community Help Forum: https://support.google.com/profile/1779682?sjid=8164595187474410917-EUMike has an open email policy: mike@blumenthals.comMike'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

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 fromThe truth about impressions in Google Search ConsoleWhy good reporting needs a combo of soft skills and data analysisHow to react when datasets changeHow to get the most out of Looker Studio and much more!RESOURCESFollow Noah Learner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/noahlearnerFollow Noah Learner on Bluesky: thekrakenNoah Noah Learner on Clubhouse: thekrakenClaire Carlile's BrightLocal Academy course on keyword research: https://academy.brightlocal.com/course/how-to-master-local-keyword-researchBranch 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 

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 locationsAnd much more!ResourcesFollow Krystal on Twitter: @krystal_taingAndrew Shotland and the Local SEO Guide team: https://www.localseoguide.com/Krystal's GBP Help Community Profile: https://support.google.com/profile/1779728

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 tacticsThe biggest mistakes often found in a marketing strategyHow to build a marketing strategy that aligns with your local business strategy Follow Andi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andijarvisFind 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/1846684811Mark Ritson: https://www.marketingritson.com/BrightLocal on the web:www.brightlocal.comwww.twitter.com/brightlocalwww.facebook.com/brightlocalwww.instagram.com/brightlocalwww.youtube.com/brightlocal Claire Carlile on the web:www.clairecarlilemarketing.comwww.twitter.com/clairecarlile

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.

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 SEOHer simple three step process to ensure campaign successThe biggest local link building no-nosLow-effort link building tactics that any business can implementCreative link building tactics that your competitors won’t be able to replicateAbout 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.comEnrol on Dani’s free BrightLocal Academy course: How to Create Relevant and Engaging Local SEO ReportsWatch our Local Search Clinic with Gyi Tsakalakis for more great local linking building tips

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 growthWhy agency owners need to ruthlessly prioritize their timeHow Blake uses partners and relationships to drive leadsWhy digital marketing conferences were terrible for lead generationWhen to hire and how to get it rightResources: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. 

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 cardHow Steve Jobs used anchoring to send the crowd into a frenzy at the iPad launch eventHow KFC sold more fries by limiting the number that customers could buyHow negative social proof caused more people to fossilized ancient wood at a national parkHow 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:Listen and subscribe to NudgeEnroll in the Science of Marketing courseGrab a copy of Robert Cialdini’s Influence

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 pagesWhy citations still play an important roleThe importance of competitor researchThe challenges of managing Google Business Profile at scaleHow to educate stakeholders and get buy-inResources: Check out Amanda’s brand new course in BrightLocal Academy—How to Perform Local SEO Audits for Multi-location Businesses

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 signalsWhat negatively impacts trust within GMBHow to optimize your website to strengthen trust signalsThe top 5 tactics that help you build and maintain trust signalsResources: Read Levi’s in-depth explainer on How to Get the Most Out of Google My Business Q&ACheck out the amazing Women in Tech SEO community

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 playbookThe pitfalls to avoid when using a playbookHow to use your playbook through the first year of working with a clientHow to continue to expand and sharpen your playbookResources: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   

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 solveWhat challenges agencies may face going upmarket and how to overcome themHow to successfully pitch bigger clientsWhether moving upmarket is right for every agencyResources: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.

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 updateThe benchmarks you need to hit to stay on the right side of the updateWhich tools can help you detect issues on your siteGoogle’s motivation behind the update and what might come nextResourcesWant 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 FrogSitebulbGoogle’s PageSpeed InsightsLighthouse for Google Chromethruuu, an Awesome SERP AnalyzerGoogle Page Experience Audit Checklist and Template by Seosly

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 outDetermine if you need a nicheNail your positioningStart getting leads when nobody’s heard of youIf 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 ClientSee the complete picture of local rankings with Local Search Grid

‘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 strategyHow you should be preparing for Google's Page Experience UpdateWhy you need to be cut-throat with content in 2021Resources:Take a deep dive into Lily’s analysis of 1,000+ Winners and Losers of the December 2020 Google Core Algorithm UpdateWatch Lily discuss Google E-A-T Implementation & Authority Signals on Search Engine Journal Live