Google My Business (GMB)  is one of the most valuable ways to improve your local search engine optimization efforts. Local businesses should claim their Google my business profile as one of the first steps to strengthen your online presence. After all, it helps give your company free exposure on Googles search engine which is the...Read More

Wen you think back to the early days of voice recognition software, it’s hard not to laugh and imagine mad gabs. I know you mean to say, “He’s a lady’s man.” But the voice recognition software heard, “easel and ease man.” I know people who spent hours reading to their computers to train their software...Read More

In 2016 many Google Algorithm updates reconfigured local search results. The most significant update that affected local SEO was Possum, occurring in September. This update altered local rankings to accommodate the 2016 change in local packs, going from 7 listings to 3, and local organic rankings overall using: local citations, Google My Business (GMB), proximity,...Read More

Online Goals Any Local Business Can (and Should) Track to Improve Their Digital Presence Goal and conversion tracking for Search Engine Optimization in Google Analytics are helpful for any business. For local businesses, however, it’s critical. Understanding where your business is coming from can help you create loyal customers and make more sales. When starting...Read More

Remember the local ranking factors page Google updated last year? Google dove deep into the three main ranking factors for local pages: Relevance, Distance, and Prominence. Although the page is full of information that tells you how to rank better locally, we thought we’d go into some specifics of how to do this. Here’s what we’ll...Read More

Move over, Alfred and Jarvis—Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and Google Home are on the job, and these digital assistants are answering local search queries better than ever before. Digital assistants are great at what’s becoming known as “conversational search”—queries that use actual conversations instead of the two-to-three syllable phrases we’ve been barking into our phones. The...Read More

A significant local algorithm update occurred on September 1, 2016, that had local business listings disappearing—or, more surprisingly, reappearing—from the Local Finder and the local three pack. Dubbed “Possum” by the local search community (because the listings weren’t missing, just filtered, AKA, “dead”), the update is shaking things up for local businesses. Joy Hawkins from...Read More

We think it’s pretty safe to assume you’ve heard about Pokémon Go by now. It’s an augmented reality (AR) game that uses your smartphone’s GPS and camera to find, capture, and battle little monsters called Pokémon. Yes, that Pokémon, the same one that blew up in the late ‘90s. And with Pokémon Go, it’s taking...Read More

Showing up in the local search results is about to get even more difficult. Coming Soon™, an ad is going to sneak its way into the Google local three pack. That’s right—the local three pack that Google cut down from 7 ads is going to include 1 ad and 2 organic listings. Users won’t have to expand...Read More

Have you seen the two recent changes to Google local advertising? Ads in the Local Finder results after clicking “More places.” Google Maps is no longer a Search Partner In both changes, Google has expressed the importance of Local Extensions in Google AdWords. And both can have an impact on your impressions and clicks. Here’s...Read More