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…
The 10 Biggest PPC Stories of ’21 (& What to Do in ’22)
Remember that giddy feeling on the first day of class? The instructor hands out the syllabus of everything that will be covered. Fast-forward a few weeks and you feel like you’re getting curveballs left and right? To put it mildly, that’s how running Google ads felt like in 2021. The platform threw a ton of…
You Sell Widgets, You Rank for Widgets, But You Also Want to Rank for Gizmos. Should Gizmos Get a Separate Site?
“Does Google expect my site to focus on just one thing?” is a common concern people have about their SEO campaigns, both local and non-local. You might also have that concern if you’re thinking about wheeling out a service or product that’s very different from your other services or products. The one offering seems at…