Adventures in Local Marketing: Recent Episodes
BrightLocal
'Adventures in Local Marketing' is the only podcast that tells the stories from the front line of local marketing.
BrightLocal's Director of Product and Marketing, Kristian Bannister chats to industry experts and marketers who are living local marketing day in, day out—the people pushing it further and in new directions. Get inspired by their journeys, uncover new ways of thinking, and deepen your strategic knowledge.
No fluff. No unjustified hype. No gimmicks or 'flash in the pan' tactics.
Just great conversations with the brightest minds in local marketing.
A BrightLocal Podcast.
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)
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.
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:
- Embracing AI with Marie Haynes
- Conversion mindset with Aaron Weiche
- Staying people first with Julian Hooks
Resources
- BrightLocal's Brand Review Index
- Mastering Franchise and Multi-location SEO with Steve Wiideman
- Try BrightLocal FREE for 14 days
- Book your personalized BrightLocal demo
- Create Once, Distribute Forever by Ross Simmonds
- The Power of Local Narratives in Content Marketing by Melissa Popp
- Join Women in Tech SEO community
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.
Copyright 2024 BrightLocal
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
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
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
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/
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/
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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.
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:
- Listen and subscribe to Nudge
- Enroll in the Science of Marketing course
- Grab 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 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
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
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
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.
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
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
‘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
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
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.
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?
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
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’.
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:
- 17 Local SEO Experts You Need to Follow on Twitter
- Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
- Local Search Forum
- Local U
- Pubcon
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.