Newsletter #36

Local Search Hacks You Probably Haven’t Seen Before

Whitespark's Monthly Local Search Newsletter

Local InsiderMarch 2018

 Local Search Hacks You Probably Haven’t Seen BeforeLocal search has seen an explosion of change over the last year. Tactics that used to work like gangbusters are now just table stakes. If you are looking for ways to increase your local search rankings, check out Darren's tips and tactics that you can implement immediately to give your local campaigns a boost. 

Whitespark Weekly Episodes

Google is bringing back the business description field for Google My Business listings. In this episode of the Whitespark Weekly, Darren reviews GMB’s guidelines and discusses the right way to write a business description.

Reviews that mention specific keywords and services can have a positive impact on your local rankings, and are a competitive advantage. In this Whitespark Weekly episode, Darren discusses how you can start getting keywords in your online reviews.

Asking customers to leave you an online review can sometimes feel like a daunting task, especially if you don’t have a system in place. In this episode of the Whitespark Weekly, Darren breaks down the process, and provides you with simple ways to start encouraging online reviews.

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Around The Web

The core algorithm update on March 9th had an impact on local businesses at the organic level and in 3-pack results. Joy Hawkins has put together the four major effects she has observed since the update. If you're noticing changes for your business or clients, check out this article for insights. 

Learn to incorporate an audience first approach to your link building efforts with help from Jason Acidre. If you find link building challenging and want to design a more holistic approach for your business read this article. If not, read it anyway, because it’s full of really great examples of successful link building ventures. 

This article is a recap of Dana DiTomaso's recent PeepCon 3.0 presentation. Focus your local efforts using these 12 tips to help increase and improve your engagement. "The strongest signal is when someone picks you." 

Is your business maximizing the benefits of Google Posts? If you need convincing in the power of this GMB feature, check out this interview with Patient Pop's Joel Headley, discussing how his team is seeing positive results and incremental gains from consistent use of Google Posts. 

Google announced that they are now rolling out mobile-first indexing to "sites that follow the best practices for mobile-first indexing." Google will send notifications via Search Console. Barry Schwartz reports on this update and breaks down what you need to know about mobile-first indexing.

Upcoming Conferences 

LOCAL UNIVERSITY SMB & LOCALU ADVANCEDApril 11 & 12, 2018Austin, TXBRIGHTON SEOApril 26 & 27, 2018Brighton, UK

LSA18 CONFERENCEApril 30 - May 2, 2018

Chicago, IL