In this guest-hosted episode of The Simple and Smart SEO Show, Celeste Gonzales (Director of Roo Labs at Rickety Roo) and Melissa Popp (Content Strategy Director at Rickety Roo) dive deep into local SEO strategies. 

They explore the power of problem-solving content for small businesses and how local companies can stand out against larger competitors. The discussion covers how to identify local pain points, create community-driven content, and balance SEO with engagement-focused strategies.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Problem-solving content builds trust: Addressing real-life local issues makes your brand more credible and relevant to your community.
✅ Go beyond keyword research: Your own team, customer inquiries, and community forums are valuable content sources.
✅ Multi-location businesses must localize content: Even national brands need to engage with community-specific challenges.
✅ Community engagement fosters long-term brand awareness: Covering local issues—even those indirectly related to your business—helps position you as a trusted resource.
✅ Diversify beyond SEO: Businesses that rely solely on organic traffic risk losing visibility. Multi-channel marketing is essential.

Episode Highlights & Memorable Quotes:

📊 On balancing SEO and branding:
"Too many businesses focus only on SEO content. But content should build trust first and rank second."

💡 On social media’s role in local SEO:
"Why are SEOs suddenly ‘discovering’ branding? Multi-channel marketing has always been vital—businesses need to go where their customers are."

Listener Action Items:

✅ Audit your content strategy: Are you focusing too much on generic SEO content? Find ways to localize and address specific pain points.
✅ Mine insights from your team: Ask your customer service reps and technicians what common issues they encounter. These real-world problems make excellent content topics.
✅ Tap into local community discussions and Expand Beyond Organic Search: Monitor Nextdoor, Facebook groups, and local news to identify trending topics that relate to your industry.
✅ Balance SEO with engagement content: Don’t just chase keywords—focus on building relationships through helpful, trust-building content.

Connect With Celeste and Melissa:

🔗 Rickety Roo
🔗 Melissa Popp & Celeste Gonzales on LinkedIn

🚀 Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review & share with your network!

Send me a text!

Support the show

Want to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!

Join the SEO Squad

Apply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line!

AFFILIATE LINKS:
Start your Shopify Store!
Get SurferSEO!

Note:
If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money.
But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!