Local Seo Tactics And Digital Marketing Strategies

Here we are at episode 50!  A small but significant milestone for the Local SEO Tactics shows so we want to first thank you for the support and feedback on this journey!  In today's episode, we feature our first call-in question.  Evelyn, asks if it is okay to use the same background image on all pages of your website?  We cover this, and some related scenarios, to talk about the SEO impact as well as the user experience for choosing to do this! YOU’LL LEARN Does it hurt SEO to use the same background image Make sure the background image does not slow your page load times It is better to use original photos over stock photos You can use a slider instead of a background image if it makes sense on your page Sometimes a background image does not reformat to a responsive page properly Use a slider with image effects like Ken Burns effect to create movement and animation Find show notes and episode information at https://www.localseotactics.com/using-the-same-background-image-on-every-page-of-your-website-50/

By now we all know online reviews are a necessity for a local business.  Your reputation and public ratings are an instant edification of your business and show potential customers what they can expect if they patronize you.  If you are getting good reviews and have a sizable amount of reviews, you can leverage what we call “review clout” and expand your business into new revenue streams.  In this episode, we talk about how to find the related niches for your business, where your review clout can quickly get you new business and dominate the competition! YOU’LL LEARN Getting reviews is always very important for your business Ask customers face to face for reviews to get as many as possible Use automation like ReviewLead to capture even more reviews for your business Once you have high review count and high review rating you can leverage it for new revenue streams Find niches that you can serve that have low competition Look for competitors in the map pack that have low review scores Add keywords and optimiza

Images and graphics are an important part of any website, landing page, or sales page. Images help tell your story, showcase your brand, or clarify an example. As the adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words! In this episode we will cover some of the basic things you should be doing to optimize your images that you use on your web site. You can get your pages to load faster, and you can take advantage of some very important SEO benefits with image optimization. Take a listen and hopefully you will learn a new trick or two! What You’ll Learn Google can tell if you are using stock photography or not Google Vision AI can determine an image object, relevancy, and topical associations Use your own original photos and graphics whenever possible on your web pages Optimize your images for proper size Optimize your images for maximum loading speed Take advantage of alt tags and file name to benefit your SEO efforts View show notes and all links on the show page at https://www.localseotactics.com/learn-how-to

Optimizing a page for a keyword; it's a topic that comes up weekly here at our agency. There are many elements that go into successful SEO and web page optimization. That said, if you're not doing the basics in relation to the keyword you are targeting, the rest is tough sledding. In this episode we'll walk through the basic block and tackle of what you should focus on for how to optimize a web page for a keyword or phrase. What You’ll Learn To have a successfully optimized page, you must not skip the basics of keyword targeting Getting your keyword into the URL of the page is great if you can do it Be sure to incorporate your keyword phrases into your headings Develop the page content on purpose with the keyword and related phases in mind Adding images with file names and Alt text that uses your keyword is ideal To be targeting the keyword, you must be mentioning the keyword on the page View show notes and all links on the show page at https://www.localseotactics.com/how-to-optimize-your-web-page-for-a-ke

Content is king!  This phrase is virtually beaten to death in the marketing world nowadays.  But, it's true.  At the end of the day, content is what Google serves up, and content is what we need to produce to be found in Google.  Producing content can be very intense, overwhelming, and time-consuming.  Be smart about it, and develop a website content strategy that you can not only execute yourself, but one that you can also delegate internally, or externally to talented experts! What You’ll Learn You must do keyword research to identify the proper phrases to target and incorporate into your content Write pages that answer common questions your customers are asking When you type pages, use the tone of talking to the customer directly Determine the frequency you can stick to for how often to put out new content Determine the size of the page (how many words needed) depending on the market and niche you are in Use in-sourcing to delegate content creation to people on your team Use outsourcing to hire freelancer

In this episode, we will go over two important aspects of properly positioning and optimizing your Google My Business Listing (GMB Listing).  The first topic is how to identify your primary digital competitors, who may be different than the historical competitors you are aware of!  The second topic is how to peek under the hood and discover what categories your competitors are choosing for their Google My Business listings.  The process may seem a bit technical and complicated as we walk through it, but it's actually quite easy once you do it in practice! What You’ll Learn Why it's important to understand your digital competition versus your historical competition How to search on desktop and mobile search to find out who your primary competitors are Look for competition who is dominant in the map pack Choosing your GMB category is very important for your visibility You can also choose multiple subcategories for your business too Learn how to view which categories your competition is using for their GMB When

Joe Anderson of Metaphor Creations is back for part 2 in our discussion about website speed and optimization.  We'll go over page caching for your website, to understand how a cache works, and how using a page cache plugin can speed up your website.  We'll also dig into plugins, for what makes them great and what makes them dangerous!  Keep your site running smoothly by following these best practices and helpful tips. What You'll Learn What caching is and how to use caching on your website Use page caching to make future visits to your web page very fast for users Use WordPress plugins to minimize your script and make your site load faster Using minimizing plugins can help but you must be careful and test your site afterwards When choosing plugins for WordPress make sure you choose quality plugins from known developers If plugins are making your website slow, you can disable plugins to determine the culprit Keeping your plugins updated will ensure your site is free of errors eliminates security holes Visit

Joe Anderson of Metaphor Creations is back on the show this week, and this time we're talking about website speed. Specifically, we're talking about how to improve the speed of your Wordpress website.  This is part 1 of a two-part interview with Joe, and in this half, we're going to cover web hosting and using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to make sure your web host and server is running as fast as possible.  Plus, Joe shares a discount for everyone on his Ditty Ticker plugin bundle for Wordpress! What You'll Learn Get 10% off the Ditty Ticker Bundle from Metaphor Creations using the code “intrycksditty” Website hosting makes a difference in your website speed, especially for WordPress websites Using a Content Delivery Network to speed up your website CDN stands for Content Delivery Network Visit the show page for all links and for more information; https://www.localseotactics.com/improving-website-speed-for-wordpress-part-1-interview-with-joe-anderson/

We're talking about the Google Posts feature within your Google My Business (GMB) listing this week.  Previously we discussed the various types of Google Posts you can leverage, but in this episode, we take a deeper look into the "standard" Google posts option.  This is a powerful method to quickly communicate to Google the primary services you offer and the geographical area that you wish to be found for.  Check out and put it into action, whether you are just getting your GMB off the ground, or if you're a GMB veteran! What You'll Learn Use Google Posts to communicate to Google the primary cities you do business in How to identify nearby cities and neighbor hoods that Google will recognize How use Google Posts to communicate to Google the primary services you provide How to use these tactics to launch an initial content strategy for Google posting Visit the show page for all links and for more information; https://www.localseotactics.com/setting-up-your-initial-posting-strategy-for-google-posts/

How To Get More Reviews On Your Google My Business Listing For this week we're talking about reviews again.  Specifically, we're talking about how to get even more reviews on your Google My Business listing.  Just being passive and asking a customer to leave a review, or contacting them a few days after the sales transaction is not enough.  You need to hold their hand, coach them, and even slightly pressure them to leave a review right then and there.  If you can accomplish this, you will outpace your competition, improve your Google rankings, and get more business fast!  Check it out! What You'll Learn You need a Google My Business Listing in order to get reviews on Google Be up front and help walk a customer through how to immediately leave a review in person Some customers may have “technology shame”, not knowing how to leave a review and so they will not leave one Double the amount of reviews you are getting by being a little bit pushy and focused on getting reviews Getting more Google reviews can improv

Learn The Different Types Of Google Posts And How To Best Use Them In this episode we kick off our second season with one of the most important topics for local SEO...Google My Business.  Specifically, we're talking about the Google Posts feature within your GMB listing (Google My Business listing).  There are four primary post types, at the time of this recording at least!  Those are Google Update Posts, Google Offer Posts, Google Even Posts, and Google Product Posts.  We will explore what each one should be used for, the best practices for each, and what using them properly will do for your business and local exposure online. We will also talk about the new domain name and home for the Local SEO Tactics show! What You’ll Learn New domain name and home for the show at localseotactics.com What are the four main areas and types of Google Posts How to use Google Update Posts How to use Google Event Posts How to use Google Offer Posts How to use Google Product Posts View the show notes, resource links, episode

Learn What Plugins We Use To Power Our Websites With Joe Anderson From Metaphor Creations This week Jesse interviews Joe Anderson from Metaphor Creations, talking about Wordpress plugins and taking a peek at some of the powerful plugins we use at Intrycks to power our websites.  These plugins help to create dynamic content on your website, keeping them fresh and engaging for your customers and prospects.  Plus we unveil our newest collaboration, Agile Alerts, and announce the free Beta Registration on the show. What You’ll Learn Interview with Joe Anderson of Metaphor Creations Intrycks collaborates with Metaphor Creations on a regular basis to provide websites and digital marketing services to customers Our new collaboration www.agilealerts.com is now live and taking beta users Joe has been a Wordpress developer since 2011 It's very important to create good and "sticky" content for your website, to keep users engaged Use the Content Duplicator plugin to quickly create new page or post templates for your Wor

Develop A System To Consistently Produce New Content For Your Website Content is king, but producing good relevant content for your website is easier said than done.  Especially if you need to put out that content on a regular basis.  In this episode we share some tips and tactics on how to create a content production strategy that allows you to stay on track and keep putting out fresh content.  Learn how to get easy ideas for content, what type of content you should produce, and how often you should be creating it.  Plus, don't forget to setup your website to automatically alert Google when you have new content on your site, too! What You’ll Learn You need to have a regular content production schedule to continually produce new content for your website Your level or quantity of content production will depend on what your competition is doing You can research your competition to see what their content output is by viewing their blog, or checking their XML sitemaps You need to be active in producing new conte

Get Your Website Submitted To Google and Bing And Have Your Pages Indexed For Search Listings Learn how to submit your website to Google and Bing, to make sure your pages are indexed and available to show up on search engine results pages (SERP). The only reliable way to accomplish this is to use the Google Search Console to submit your website to Google, and to use Bing Webmaster Tools to submit your website to Bing. In this weeks episode we'll walk you through the basics on how to get your website submitted, make sure the Google and Bing know about new pages, and ensure that your pages able to be found by the search engines! You'll Learn The only way to submit your website to Google Setup your account in Google Search console (GSC) to submit your website You need to submit a sitemap in your GSC account Your sitemap acts like a Table of Contents for Google, to help them understand your website pages You should be using a Wordpress plugin or some other method to auto-update your sitemap when you create new c

How To Create and Use Category Pages To Improve The SEO On Your Site Use category pages to boost the SEO on your website!  Category pages are very helpful for multiple reasons.  They are an easy way to produce content on your site, and attack specific keyword or phrases you're trying to rank for.  Category pages can boost your SEO by helping to group relevant web pages together, so Google can understand the products and services you provide and better match them up with the searchers intent.  This approach is also great for your actual human web visitors, too, since it gives them natural navigational hubs to learn more or explore your offerings further.  We'll walk you through some easy ideas and concepts, to help you get started making or improving your own category pages. What You’ll Learn Using category pages on your website to round up content on similar topics Improve your SEO and search engine rankings with category pages Begin by looking at the type of products and services you offer and put them into

Hire Top Talent On A Temporary Or Part-Time Basis To Instantly Increase Business Productivity This week we interview Nate Hirsch from FreeeUp.com, who teaches us how you can use freelancers to scale your company on a budget.  Nathan Hirsch is a 28 year old serial entrepreneur who is an expert in hiring online and building eCommerce businesses. He co-founded his first eCommerce company out of his dorm room in 2009  built it to sell over $25 million worth of product over 5 years. While scaling, Nathan discovered the power of outsourcing and ended up building a remote army of freelancers.  In 2015, Nathan co-founded and became the CEO of FreeeUp, an online hiring marketplace that allows business owners fast access to a hand-picked network of top talent freelancers in eCommerce, digital marketing, web development, and much more who have already been vetted for skill, attitude, and communication. Nate shares his story of entrepreneurship, delegation, and scaling a small business on a bootstrap budget.  Using freel

Understand Searcher Intent On Google So You Can Incorporate User Intent Into SEO For Your Website Understanding user intent and searcher intent can be a huge benefit to your SEO.  As Google continues to leverage it's AI and Machine Learning to provide search results, one of it's main focuses is to effectively guess the user intent on any given search term.  For example, someone who often watches DIY videos may be presented with DIY information for a relevant search, even if they are not inputting "DIY" or "DIY videos" into their search.  Gaining a clear understanding of the your audience, and what their intent would be when finding your page, will help you develop clearly identified content.  This makes it much easier for Google to match your content with searcher intent, rather than guessing.  In this episode we'll break this down and digest what it means, so you can create better content, convert more users, and rank higher in Google by incorporating searcher intent into your SEO strategy. What You’ll Learn

The Importance of Using Google Questions and Answers on Google Maps and Your GMB Listings Have you heard of or viewed the Google Questions and Answers area in your Google My Business listing?  This is an area you should be paying attention to!  Anyone with an active Google account can post a question about your business.  Additionally, anyone can also answer that question!  This is pretty cool, but also pretty scary from the standpoint of the business.  Learn how to monitor Google Q&A, how to answer questions in Google Maps via the Q&A area, and how to leverage this to enhance your online exposure.  Learn how to take control of the questions, how to have the best answers, and how to make sure your business content is in your own control. What You’ll Learn What is the Google Question & Answer feature in the Google My Business listing area Anybody with a Google account can ask a question about your business Anybody with a Google account can answer a question about your business It's possible for pe

Reasons Your GMB List Can Get Suspended and How You Can Get Your Listing Unsuspended   You definitely do not want to get your Google My Business page suspended, since your GMB listing is such a crucial part of ranking high in Google for many popular local search terms.  However, if your GMB got suspended, there is hope!  In our first "Beer Friday" episode we'll discuss GMB suspensions, the reasons for getting suspended, and how you can get reinstated using the Google local businesses reinstatement requests.  We'll also drink a beer. Cheers!   What You’ll Learn First Beer Friday episode - where we drink beer and talk SEO Beer is from Bald Man Brewing in Eagan, MN Reasons why your Google My Business listing can get suspended How to get your GMB listing reinstated if it gets suspended One of the more common reasons for getting your GMB suspended is because you check the box that says you have a storefront and serve customers at your location, when you do not have actually have a store front If your business

Improve The Speed Of Your Website To Rank Higher In Google Searches And Get More New Customers Website speed is a ranking factor, for Google.  It's official, Google has confirmed it!  So, if you're not paying attention to how fast your website is, then you're completely ignoring something that can easily help your Google rankings!  In this episode we dig into what can cause your website to slow down, how to test the speed of your website, how to identify exactly how long each element of your website takes to load, and best practices you can implement to maintain a fast website today, as well as into the future. View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode31