GatherUp’s third local SEO webinar covering both local search tips and a lengthy AMA section featured Amanda Jordan and Claire Carlile along with myself and hosted by Mike Blumenthal.
Full Webinar Video
Each of our local SEO experts shared three top tips or ideas to leverage right now in your digital marketing and then went on to answer over 30 audience questions.
Google Posts With A Lot Of Attention
Claire Carlile shared some great information on Google posts in her opening tips. One was to use Postamatic for building a library and scheduling Google posts.
In addition to this tip, the panel answered multiple questions on Google posts regarding strategy, content, calls to action, post ideas, and more. It’s easy to see that local SEO’s are looking for as many ways to win with posts as possible. I of course chimed in that GatherUp’s social sharing feature is a great way to use posts for further reputation marketing.
Claire also shared that using Google’s Welcome Offer is a great way to engage prospects and build a following.
Keyword Research Using Google’s Auto-complete
I loved the simple idea Amanda Jordan from Locomotive Agency shared in her slides of using Google’s autocomplete suggestions for keyword research. The Google user behavior study from Backlinko shared that searchers use Google’s suggestions 23% of the time and that people that search for informational and local searches tended to click on an autocomplete suggestion more often than those searching with commercial queries.
Amanda also covered the news of Apple getting into business ratings / reviews in Apple Maps and outlined some great tips for how digital marketing agencies can show and grow their value to their customers right now. These tips included call tracking, lead type valuation, lead qualification, and reporting with organic search values to name a few.
The Biggest Review Acquisition Hack?
In my section I hit upon answering the question we get frequently “What is the best way to get more reviews?”. As marketers we want it to be something we optimize like the subject line of our email request, using SMS for it’s absurd open rates or the content in our ask. But it’s none of these.
While the above can move the needle tenths to maybe a full percent or two, the real results come from giving your customer a “heads-up” you will be asking them for feedback and a review.
Basic, but it’s what we see drive improvement when mastered from 5% to 50% or more. Nobody wants more email, but customers do want to feel heard and know that you will value their time and feedback in any structured format.
Always Learning – The Key To Local SEO
I hope you get a lot from our Local SEO AMA webinars this year. I personally learn something every time we do one and I’m sure we’ll get one more in for 2020. You can watch or rewatch videos of our past AMA’s and our monthly GatherUp webinars on our blog.
You can also catch all of the panel and our host Mike Blumenthal as part of Whitespark’s Local Search Summit airing next week. It’s free to register and also has affordable video packages too so you can rewatch any of the 30+ amazing sessions and speakers. It will be a fantastic event.
