While online reviews are heavily used by consumers to make purchase decisions, they have also become a crucial local ranking factor. A recent study from BrightLocal explored Google reviews from over 93,000 businesses over 26 industries. The data included the number of reviews, average star ratings, as well as how both components factor into local…
Local listings management is table stakes for businesses big and small. But the way local data is processed by big platforms is complex and often results in inaccurate information, duplicates and other inconsistencies. The result is low visibility, bad location data or a generally less than optimal consumer experience. In a recent LSA webinar, David Turner…
The financial services industry is at the center of some compelling forces that are changing the way business is done: they include AI, blockchain, the cloud, and cybersecurity. All those issues are important, and they command the attention of anyone who follows this industry closely. But the trend that fascinates me the most is the…
Machine learning and automation are changing the dynamics of delivering marketing services to both small businesses and enterprises alike. Do automated campaign creation and optimization represent “an existential threat”? How should agencies respond and what areas and tasks should they focus on to avoid being commoditized or replaced? During a recent webinar, Greg Sterling of…
On August 1, Google confirmed the release of a broad core algorithm update. Since the announcement, the update is being dubbed the “Medic Update” because of its apparent emphasis on the health and medical spaces. However, according to Google liaison Danny Sullivan, this is a “global” change that doesn’t single out any specific vertical. Moz…
Google has officially launched its Google My Business (GMB) Featured Partners Program. Initially announced at the Local Search Association’s LSA18 event in May 2018, the program is designed to offer more support and access to approved agencies and providers that offer GMB services to local businesses. For partners (below), benefits include customized support to match the…
Domain names are more critical than many people realize. They play a central role in brand image and influence how easy it is for customers to find a business online. Plus, they can be important for ranking well on search engines. This is true even for businesses that have a physical brick-and-mortar location. After all,…
As an off-the-cuff statement, it might be tempting to say that, ten minutes after Google debuted, people were already trying to manipulate search results. Spammy search engine optimization techniques (SEO), though, are even older than the creation of Google, with rudimentary SEO tactics in operation since the early 1990s. It’s now 2018 and we’ve become…
Imagine you have an appointment with a potential new client who is looking for small business marketing services. A week or two before you are supposed to meet in person, you decide to take a look at what the client already has going on, including the website. You lean back in your chair to relax…
In late April 2018, Google Research published a paper titled Ask the Right Questions: Active Question Reformulation with Reinforcement Learning that shares a vision of a new way to rank pages. This research paper is not a notification of a new algorithm being implemented or an announcement that it will be used. But, this new…