Special guest Blake Denman joins today's podcast to talk about SEO and how to maximize your visibility.

 

 We want to know what your biggest aHa moment from this episode is below! 

It was great having Blake Denman, of RicketyRoo, on this episode of the Digital Marketing Therapy podcast.

Blake Denman is the President & Founder of RicketyRoo Inc, a local SEO agency based in Bend OR. Blake has more than 12 years of local SEO and paid search marketing experience. Blake is a contributor to the Moz Local Search Ranking Factors survey and a local SEO speaker at digital marketing events.

There are so many amazing tips and ideas in this episode, you'll definitely want to get a paper and pen ready to take notes!

Local SEO is defined as a business that is trying to drive local business – not necessarily only working with businesses in one local area. 

Organic search is free results that are driven through keywords.  PPC (paid advertising) are the results that show up the top as ads.  This is shown in map results as well as in general search results.

What's the first step?

Claim your Google My Business Listing and fill it out as much as possible!

Do listings provide a lot of validity for people searching?

Most people go online to search for you, even if it's referral based.  If they see that you have a filled out profile and you're active then they'll take you more seriously.  Reviews go a long way as well to decision making.

How do you navigate changes in Google's algorithm?

Make sure you have fast load speed.  Ensure that it's mobile responsive.  Build out content that people want to see that makes sense with the search query.  Then get into link building.

What are the top 3 ranking factors?

1. Content
2. Links
3. RankBrain

Does Citation Building still matter?

A citation is your name, address and phone number (NAP) that is listed on another website.

This used to be something that could increase ranking.  Now it's a foundational linking factor but won't make you competitive.

If your link building strategy is only about citations then it won't get you to where you want to be.  It does build trust and say you are located where you say you are.

Keywords vs Linking

Both are important.  Traffic is only important if it leads to conversions.

Make sure your content doesn't feel spammy.  Read it out loud and hear how it will sound to your visitor.

Google's AI is getting better and can understand nuance in language.

Think about questions that users might be asking – and answer that in the content on the page.

Link building is a game changer…but what else?

Shift to building a better local brand.

Get involved with the Chamber of Commerce.

Think about what your potential customers care about.  Get involved with the non-profits and other types of business where they are also engaged.  If you can create partnerships and get links it's a major win.

Reach out and get testimonials and when you do – ask for a link.

How do you research your competition?

Do simple Google searches.

What are the main categories that are showing up first?

How many reviews do they have and their star average?

What is the content look like on the page that's ranking?

Use ahrefs to look at the backlink profile.

Don't incentivize people to leave reviews.

Instead, give your staff an incentive for getting reviews.

Location matters.

You'll show up higher in search results if you're in close proximity to the searcher.

You also might not show up if you're in an area that has a lot of the same category of business in the same location.

Top 2 things to do!

#1 – Google My Business listing
#2 – Reviews

Time Stamps

(2:30) Who is Blake and how did he get into SEO?
(3:00) What is local SEO?
(3:30) What is the difference between organic local SEO vs paid search?
(5:03) What's the first step?
(7:16) Rankings are taking longer – does a Google listing help get visibility faster?
(8:26) What core things don't change with algorithm changes?
(10:20) Citation Building
(12:13) Keywords and linking – which is most important?
(13:20) How keywords in copy are changing
(15:13) Voice Search is important – and creating a conversational search
(15:51) What is the strategy you're using now?
(17:41) Getting links quickly!  Is it worth it?
(18:21) Don't try and game the system
(19:06) If you're just getting started – how do you research your competition?
(22:16) Google My Business – get started
(23:11) Where should you get people to leave you reviews?
(26:16) What are Blake's top 3?
(26:59) How do you find more about Blake?
(27:40) Where did the name RickeyRoo come from?

Resources

Google My Business
Site Speed Checker
Mobile-Friendly Checker
Moz Local Search Rankings
Ahrefs
Majestic
Local Falcon
What is RankBrain?

More about Blake

RicketyRoo
Twitter
RicketyRoo Inc Facebook