Local SEO Tactics and Digital Marketing Strategies

Rank Higher in the Google Map Pack By Using GMB Categories as Keywords On Your Website Google My Business, also known as GMB, is a crucial part of any SEO strategy in today's world. In order to maximize the relationship between your GMB listing and your website, you need to take advantage of the Google My Business categories. These categories are very important on the SERP (search engine results page), and using these categories like you would a keyword is a great way to increase your exposure, bump your web rankings, and show up in the map pack! YOU'LL LEARN How to bring synergy between your website and your Google My Business listing Get your GMB listing to show in the Google Map Pack more often Choosing the primary category in your GMB listing is critical to your success Checking to see which categories are relevant for your business in GMB Using your primary GMB category as a keyword on your homepage Using variations on GMB categories versus exact match Avoiding over-optimization and over usage of the category keyword Leveraging your secondary GMB categories into new pages on your website Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode17

Use An XML Sitemap Generator To Create and Auto Update Your Website Sitemaps Want your pages to show up in Google? Then you better have a sitemap on your website! A sitemap, or more specifically, an XML sitemap, is like a roadmap or a table of contents for all of the important pages, posts, and images on your website. Having an XML sitemap will tell Google, and other search engines, which pages are on your website - so they can know to include them in their search results. In this episode we'll cover the basics of sitemaps, how to create them, and why you need one! YOU'LL LEARN What is a Sitemap for your website What is an XML sitemap What is an HTML sitemap Why you need both HTML and XML sitemaps Easy plugins for WordPress to generate an XML sitemap How to choose what content to include in your sitemap How sitemaps tell Google you have new pages or images on your website How to generate sitemaps on non-WordPress websites Selecting sitemap generators that auto-update Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode16

Use Google Search Console To Submit Your Website To Google and Report On Google Search Performance Google Search Console (also known as Google Webmaster Tools pre-2015) is a free service, provided by Google, that lets you peek into some great information about your website. If you're not using this right now - you should be! You can use it to submit your site to Google, report on how many people are finding your website from Google, where your pages are ranking on search engine results pages (SERP). Plus, you can view how many people visit on mobile devices versus desktop computers. Check it out! YOU'LL LEARN What is Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) How to get your website into the Google Index faster using Google Search Console, so you can show up on search results ASAP What does Google Search Console do for you How often should you be reviewing Google Search Console Instructions on how to setup your Google Search Console account How to add your website(s) to the console for tracking and reporting How to verify your website to prove that you own it How to submit your sitemap to Google Using the "Fetch as Google" feature to trigger your pages for indexing How to see which pages you have in the Google Search Index Access Google search data to see how many times your pages are shown on the Google search engine results page (SERP) Access Google search data to see how many clicks you're getting from Google SERP Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode15

How To Decide If You Should Refocus Your Homepage Or Make A New Page To Attack Keywords In this weeks episode, we dive into a question that was submitted by Patrick, who listens to the Local SEO Tactics podcast. Patrick was wondering if he should modify his homepage to attack a new keyword target, or if he should create a new page to go after that keyword instead. We'll break down the options and talk about the various situations in which you may choose path over the other. YOU'LL LEARN Which page carries the most weight on your website How Google serves up web pages, not websites, in search results Deciding if you should change your home page or create a new page when going after a new keyword target for your website When you should avoid refocusing your keyword targets on your homepage When it's okay to refocus your keyword targeting on your homepage When you should create a new page to attack a new keyword focus When you should refocus your keyword targeting on an existing page versus creating a new page The danger of deleting pages off your website with out properly informing search engines Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode14

Use Online Reputation Management To Drive More Traffic and Improve Your SEO! Online reviews are very important, not only for helping to build trust with potential customers, but also as it relates to the overall SEO of your website. From Google, Facebook, and Yelp, to Angies List, the BBB, and many more…customers can leave their feedback an a number of places today. As a local service business, you need to take control of these review portals, so you can not only view and manage the customer reviews, but also to leverage them and take advantage of the praises in your marketing strategy! YOU'LL LEARN Overview of automated review capturing systems At what point should you consider using an automated review capturing system How to get more customers to leave you a positive review How to remove the barriers for customers to leave a review for your business How asking for feedback instead of a review will increase your review rates How to get your customers onto the "leave a review" screen within Google (and others) within seconds How to get 2x or 3x more reviews from your customers How to get email alerts when customers leave a review, good or bad, on any review portal Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode13

Learn How To Use Improved Call Handling Strategies To Charge More For Your Services! As a local service business, it can be annoying when you get price shopper phone calls. However, the reality is that we are ALL price shoppers! Don't shy away from giving price quotes and estimates over the phone, because that is what customers really want. In this episode we'll cover some of the best tactics and strategies we've uncovered to handle price shoppers, and convert them into great customers while your competition turns them away! YOU'LL LEARN Best practices for new customer call handling to convert more prospects into new customers How to quickly instill confidence in new callers and win them over Tactics to identify "price shoppers" and quickly convey your value Leveraging a call handling script to funnel customers into your sales process Why price checking your competition is so important How to use text message follow up's to convert more prospects into customers The 3 R's - Referrals, Reviews, and Repeat business Using the "bookends" price quoting method to give an estimate to every single inquiry How the "bookends" price quoting method builds confidence and converts more customers How to "tell" a customer you're going to follow up, instead of "asking" them How to avoid providing free tech support and wasting time on the phone for DIY callers Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode12

Use Call Tracking Software To Gain Insights and Increase Customer Conversions A key component to any marketing strategy is trackability. One area that is often overlooked by local businesses is tracking the number of phone calls that come in. This is a huge mistake! However, it is pretty easy to solve with a call tracking software solution. We'll break down the features and benefits of a good call tracking solution, and share the best practices that we've compiled over the years - both from using this technology ourselves, and with the hundreds of clients we've worked with. It's surprisingly affordable, and the benefits are numerous! YOU'LL LEARN Why you should use call tracking software What is call tracking software How to use call tracking and recording to measure your results How to establish a baseline of leads you're currently getting How to obtain a phone number for any area code Using tracking phone numbers to measure marketing campaigns Using tracking phone numbers to test market in specific cities How to use call recordings to train your sales and service teams How to increase your sales conversions using call recordings Best practices for efficient call reviewing as a manager or owner How to alert your team of new customer calls with "whispers" How to use call recordings to find new product or service opportunities Using call tracking software instead of a notepad when you're mobile How to leverage call data to develop call handling scripts or talking points Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode11

Spy On Your Competitions Keyword Strategy Have you ever wondered what your local competitors are going after, regarding their website and keyword targeting strategy? Believe it or not, there is a whole host of services out there just waiting to help you find the answer! In this episode we'll go over some of these tools, and how you can use them to spy on the competition and get new keyword ideas. YOU'LL LEARN Discover who your main online competitors are Find out which keywords your competition is targeting Best practices to study what is working for competitors How to research other markets to find trends Online tools and resources for spying on the competition How to discover niches your competitors are ignoring Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode10

How To Pick The Best Keywords For Your Website Everyone's heard of a keyword, but do you really know what a keyword is? In Episode 9 we'll break down the definition of a keyword, and what that really means for you when it comes to getting traction in search engines like Google and Bing. We'll also talk about how to use free Google tools to research keyword ideas, and how to choose the best keywords for your website. YOU'LL LEARN What is the working definition of a keyword How many keywords you should focus on How to pick relevant keywords How to research for new keywords Keyword research and discovery tools Creative ways to uncover hidden keyword niches Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode9

Creating A Mobile Friendly Website Plus SSL Security We'll tackle two important SEO topics in this episode. Learn what it means to have a "mobile friendly" website, what a a responsive website is, and how to have a "mobile first" design approach to building your website. We will also dig into what it takes to get your website secure using SSL security. Learn why both topics are extremely relevant to your SEO, and how implementing best practices for these areas will help your website search rankings! YOU'LL LEARN What it means to have a "mobile friendly" website The difference between mobile friendly, responsive, and mobile first website approaches How to design a website with best practices for mobile usage in mind Why it's important to design your website for mobile usage What is SSL security for your website Why is SSL security important for your website What will happen if you ignore Google's SSL security warning Thanks for Listening! View the show notes, resource links, episode transcript, and watch the video version at https://www.localseotactics.com/episode8