Conference recaps! They’re really for the people who went to the conference, aren’t they? Hopefully this will be a good substitute for those who didn’t make it, and will be a good refresher for people who did! I attended BrightonSEO for the first time in person this year, and it was fantastic. Also big shout out to…
Yoast Diversity fund: updates from Mary, Abel, and David
We’re back again, with even more great news from our Diversity fund 2021 recipients! In this post, we have updates from Mary Job, Abel Lifaefi Mbula, and David Towoju. They’ve all been hard at work on their projects, helping WordPress to reach their communities and making a real impact by sharing their skills. Keep reading…
How to Remove a Permanently Closed Google Business Profile Page from Google Maps for Good
A longstanding gripe of business owners, local SEOs, and others is that Google Business Profile (AKA GMB) pages linger around on the map even after they’re marked as “permanently closed.” Most often it’ll be a page you once created or claimed, or it may be a competitor’s spam page or a page that’s causing some…
Joost transitions to a new position within Yoast and Newfold
Big day for Joost and Yoast! Joost de Valk has decided to move into a different role than his current position as CPO at Yoast. He’ll stay on board as an advisor for both Yoast as well as Newfold. It’s a big change and at the same time it is not such a big change….
Google Maps Spam-Reporting System: the Toilet That Flushes 60% of the Time (on a Good Day)
In the past couple of years, I’ve heard many local SEOs and a few hands-on business owners make a comment to the effect of, “Google Maps doesn’t approve anti-spam edits anymore.” There’s more than grain of truth to that. Google never has been good about policing the local map enough to show businesses that playing…
Realistic Rankings Radii in Local SEO
Often I’m asked a question like, “How can I rank within a 40-mile radius of my business for [such-and-such service/keyword]?” Or maybe it’s a 10-mile radius, or a 70-mile one, or a ring of suburbs. The point is there’s a specific geographical area where you want to be visible to customers in the local search…
What Is PDCA? Understanding the Plan-Do-Check-Act Method
No matter the industry your organization operates in and the products and services you provide, your business needs to be constantly improving to keep up with a competitive marketplace and evolving consumer needs. This process of change isn’t optional. It’s required if you want to succeed. The hard truth is that businesses that do not…
Local Search Rankings Dropped? Follow These 10 Most-Useful Troubleshooting SOPs
You’ve got to figure this out soon, or at least start moving in the right direction. It was a big rankings drop, and one that will cut into business sooner or later. You don’t want general advice, but you also don’t want to look at 172 different things only to be told you need to…