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5 New Year’s Tips to Help Agencies Have a Profitable Year

As 2022 came to an end we looked back at Advice Local’s most popular local search topics of the year. With 2023 officially up and running, we’d like to offer some recommendations on how to ensure a profitable year. From our listing management services to our Enhanced GBP Tool, we always like to give our agency partners an edge over the competition. So with that in mind, here are our five tips for the year ahead.

5 New Year’s Tips for a Profitable 2023 for Your Agency

The prime goal for agencies and local marketers is to help their clients succeed. Here are five ways to achieve this aim.

1. Remember, Offering Better Tools to Your Clients Means Better Results

The online demands of local businesses have grown dramatically in recent years. Of course, local clients want to be found in Google – but they also want visibility on voice apps, popular review platforms, alternative search engines and more. Because a wide-reaching local presence demands the use of tools, integrating these into your agency operations is more important than ever.

2. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Communication is at the heart of a good client-agency relationship. From brand identity and project goals to new milestones and unexpected challenges, talking to your clients ensures that both parties understand the direction of travel. For example, our reporting solutions make it easy to deliver white-label reports to clients with minimal effort.

3. Happy Clients Equals Repeat Clients

In last year’s Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Digital Marketers, over-delivering for clients was a key theme. We’ve found that focusing on local visibility and brand reputation is a path to pleasing customers consistently. We built our listings management tool to boost Google visibility for your local business clients, while allowing us to monitor and quickly respond to changes in a business’ NAP data.

4. Move Quickly Without Sacrificing Quality

In online business, speed of implementation can make all the difference. For an agency or local marketer, clients expect changes to be made quickly and for issues to be resolved without fail. At Advice Local, we like to facilitate this need for fast action using integration tools. From syncing Google Business Profile (GBP) client data to monitoring reputation, influence and engagement, agencies can make smart changes without delay.

5. Partnerships Fuel Your Growth

Scaling your operations is a crucial way to be more profitable this year. And the simplest method for low-risk growth is through strategic partnerships. Our Data Amplifier Network is an excellent example of working with a distribution network of quality partners that helps us distribute data far and wide.

There are many types of service providers you can partner with to offer quality services to your clients. Determine what their needs are – then find the solutions you can resell to them. This will help your clients while also making your own business more profitable.

Take Your Local Agency to the Next Level With Advice Local

If you like the sound of our 2023 tips and want to start implementing them, Advice Local has the tools to help. From our innovative GBP tools to client-friendly reporting, we can help you deliver a first-class local marketing service. Request a demo to try our local presence management tools for yourself, or call us at (214) 310-1356.

The post 5 New Year’s Tips to Help Agencies Have a Profitable Year appeared first on Advice Local.

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2022 local marketing blog posts

2022 was another big year for local marketing, with plenty of new updates, insights and strategies to discuss. As always, a lot was happening within the Google ecosystem, but we also saw innovations across the wider local search marketing sphere. Each year at Advice Local we highlight the most popular blog posts and draw attention to some content you may have missed. So, let’s start our roundup of the year with the post that gained the most traffic in 2022.

10 Most Popular Local Search Posts of 2022

1. Google Business Profile Features You Can’t Get Elsewhere

You probably won’t be too surprised by the topic of our most popular blog post of the year – the Google Business Profile (GBP). An optimized GBP remains one of the most effective ways to improve search visibility and grab an all-important local pack position. In 2022 Google made some significant updates to the service, and Advice Local was on the scene with the product features you need to succeed.

2. Best Practices for Writing Business Listing Descriptions

Business listing descriptions can be one of the most challenging parts of creating a profile – and this point was highlighted by our runner-up for the most popular article. In this post, we offered some best practices for crafting engaging business descriptions, from building a keyword list to demonstrating credibility.

3. The Value of Near Me Search Optimization in 2023

2022 saw a lot of discussion around the topic of “near me” searches in Google. The late 2021 Google Vicinity update led to some sites losing local pack placements after a crackdown on business name spam. But was this the end of “near me” search optimization? In this article, we looked at why hyperlocal optimization still matters.

4. Google Maps Is Now Featuring Updates From Customers

During the early part of the year, agencies and local marketers began to pay attention to a Maps update from Google. An “Updates from customers” feature allowed users to submit their own business photos along with a message. This post focused on the need for close business listing management, as Google looked to roll out additional user-generated content features.

5. Mapping Apps & Navigation Solutions You Can’t Ignore

This blog post looked at one of the core aspects of search visibility for local businesses – mapping apps and in-dash navigation solutions. Along with outlining the importance of a mapping and GPS navigation strategy, we listed our top picks for the best mapping apps your clients should be listed on.

6. Is “Near Me” Search Optimization Effective in 2022?

A second “near me” search optimization article in our top 10 highlights the interest in hyperlocal search in 2022. This blog post offered a strategy for your business clients who lost search visibility from Google’s updates, and showed why relevance, proximity and prominence are so important.

7. A Refresher on Data Aggregators & Why Businesses Need Them

Citations are still a cornerstone of local search marketing, and this doesn’t look likely to change. However, any approach to citation building needs to focus on data accuracy and distribution to quality listings platforms. In this post from February 2022 we looked at data aggregators – platforms that distribute business data to hundreds of relevant sites.

8. A Google Business Profile Roundup, Including Dispelling a GBP Myth

Straightforward GBP errors consistently prevent quality businesses from achieving significant local pack visibility. We used this particular post to address a couple of GBP myths and mistakes that we have noticed, including a common link-building mistake that keeps reappearing.

9. Justifications Are Appearing in Google Maps, Images & More

In this article from June, we covered two GBP topics to improve search visibility. The first update was Google’s addition of justifications for Maps mobile, which included business categories and review snippets. The second key update demonstrated the importance of adding images to a GBP.

10. These Key Factors Can Influence the Local Pack in Many Ways

The big three ranking factors made up a key local search theme of 2022. These factors are relevance, proximity and prominence, and in this blog post we detailed how they influence local presence – and why they matter to local businesses.

Honorable Mentions Go to These Local Search Articles

These additional popular articles that our readers loved deserve an honorable mention!

How to Improve a Website’s Placement With the Right Content

This article was published back in 2019, but it’s just as relevant today. The post shows the right way to create content to improve a website’s placement.

Why Business Listings Are Essential for Local Businesses

Why do we keep returning to the subject of business listings? To be brief, their importance should never be underestimated. This post demonstrated why business listings are so essential – and which platforms are most crucial.

How to Run a Google Business Profile Audit & Why It Matters

Auditing a Google Business Profile usually highlights opportunities to enhance a listing. Back in November of 2022 we outlined an auditing method for agencies and local marketers to use with their clients’ profiles.

Our Most Popular Local Search Post (Published in 2015)

How to Submit a Business Listing to Foursquare

This post deserves a mention because it was published in 2015 – yet still managed to win over the most visited article of 2022. Follow the step-by-step guide to submitting a business listing to Foursquare.

A Popular Local Search Post Published in 2021

2021 Local Search Ranking Factors – Applying Them in 2022

This local search ranking post (published at the end of 2021) is second runner-up in 2022 over all the other topics for traffic. Interestingly, an article on the Local Ranking Factors made the top 10 last year, receiving the most traffic in 2021.

Most Visited Product Page

Enhanced GBP Tool for Agencies

Our Enhanced GBP Tool was a big success in 2022, with agencies loving the GBP Sync, GBP Auto-Rejection, Google Authority Score and Profile Insights features. Try it for yourself and see how easy it is to optimize a GBP listing.

Most Visited Resource

Applying E-A-T to a Google My Business Listing

Google EAT was as relevant as ever in 2022, and we were pleased to provide a leading resource on the subject. Our downloadable content showed how to apply Google EAT to a GBP listing for an improved Google authority score.

That brings our most popular local search content of 2022 to a close. If you’re looking for our prediction on the big theme for 2023, the safest bet is with the Google Business Profile. Continuing the theme of 2022, the GBP will surely be at the forefront of local search marketing for the upcoming year.


The Top 10 Local #Search Topics of 2022 by @BernieColeman #GBP #SEO
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Level Up Your Local Marketing Strategies in 2023

2023 will be another busy year at Advice Local with new digital marketing insights and strategies. If you want to offer the best services to your local business clients, make sure to stay tuned to our local marketing blog.

We also operate the industry’s leading local presence management tool, providing real-time listings management and data distribution. Request a demo today or call (214) 310-1356 to learn more.

The post The Top 10 Local Search Topics of 2022 appeared first on Advice Local.

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Near me local search optimization

In recent years, one of the most common questions in the local marketing space relates to the value of “near me” search optimization. As developers of Enhanced Google Business Profile tools and listing management services, it is something we are deeply engaged with. Do “near me” searches still matter, or has the search landscape evolved beyond the trend? For a closer look at this subject we’ll start by considering what Google has to say.

The Importance of Near Me Search Optimization

A perhaps surprising statistic released by Google this year was that searches for “open now near me” grew globally by over 400% year over year. While we may have grown accustomed to hyperlocal searches in the digital marketing world, only recently have many consumers shifted their behavior to conducting searches on the go – or with an immediate buying intent.

We can also see similar patterns on the Maps service. Google Maps searches for “shopping near me” grew globally by over 100% year over year. Online shopping may have seen dramatic rises over the last decade, but consumers still want to visit local stores, restaurants, doctors, dentists, car dealerships and a host of other business types.

Today, consumers are consistently turning to search engines to research local businesses. A recent survey, BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2022, highlighted this fact, indicating that 81% of participants used Google to evaluate a business compared to 63% the previous year.

And with “near me” searches taking place on desktop, mobile and voice search – and with varying intent – it’s more important than ever before for businesses to be optimized across diversified platforms, from Google and Bing to hyperlocal directories – sites like Bubblelife, NextDoor and MapQuest.

Google Is Focused on Hyperlocal

A reason some are skeptical about “near me” search optimization comes from Google’s Vicinity update. One aspect of the update was the push to tackle Google Business Profile (GBP) spam in business names. With some companies adding “near me” to their name, Google took measures to penalize this attempt to hack the popularity of the search term.

The Vicinity update meant that under some circumstances, Google treated “near me” searches as an indicator of proximity instead of a keyword-matching phrase. And some businesses have suffered from this adjustment, but many others have continued to gain visibility in the local pack and maps.

Why? This is because a “near me” search indicates hyperlocal interest. Therefore, Google wants to show GBPs, listings and websites are the closest, most relevant and prominent results.

Taking a Comprehensive Approach to Near Me Search Optimization

You may remember we discussed dominating Google search results using local business listings. The concept involved getting multiple local pack and organic search results for the same keyword. With an optimized GBP, widely distributed listings and a quality website, this approach is highly achievable.

A well-optimized GBP will appear in the local pack when, along with proximity, it also demonstrates quality and relevance. To achieve this you can follow our GBP optimization tips, including name, address and phone number (NAP) details and opening hours. Advice Local partners can use GBP Sync to guarantee data consistency, and use the available auto-reject public edits feature to ensure unwanted changes are not implemented. These are just a few of the GBP features available within our partner dashboard.

However, understand that focusing solely on a GBP is essentially an oversight. Listings sites frequently appear in organic search for locally-relevant searches, increasing the visibility of a business. For example, a study by Fresh Chalk found that for every Google query containing a city and business category, Yelp appears in the top five search results 92% of the time.

Listings platforms are designed to help businesses hit the metrics of proximity (NAP details, integrated maps and local categorization), relevance (business categories, product details and keyword-rich descriptions), plus prominence (reviews and accolades). Consequently, as long as an agency develops and maintains accurate data for a business, with the help of listing management services such as ours, the business is highly likely to be rewarded in “near me” search.

Of course, a business website also provides opportunities to reach local searchers. Citations from business listings still play a role in search visibility, along with locally-relevant content. In fact, data from Sterling Sky indicates that adding “near me” onto a website had positive results for “near me” searches. If a business has multiple locations, developing targeted location pages will also help.


The Value of Near Me Search Optimization in 2023 by @BernieColeman #SEO
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Contact Us for the Best Local Presence Management Solutions

Advice Local helps agencies increase their clients’ visibility with our leading business listing management solution. Get fast results with our listing management service and deeper insights with our Voice Search Readiness Test, Google Authority Score and much more. To get started, request a demo now or call (214) 310-1356.

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Citation building service company

Last time we were here we shared the Special GBP Edition: Google Business Profile Features You Can’t Get Elsewhere. Today, we’re focusing 100% on business listings and more specifically, the questions to ask when hiring a local citation builder.

Hiring a local citation builder is one of the quickest ways to build authority, credibility and trust with search engines. But with numerous listing management services promising to distribute business data far and wide, how can you know who to trust? Unfortunately, making the wrong choice could lead to bad data, incorrect listings – and significantly reduced local visibility. With so much on the line, we have compiled the top five questions to ask a citation builder.

5 Essential Questions to Ask a Citation Builder

Professional citation-building companies typically offer various local presence management services. Here are the questions you can ask to identify well-rounded specialists that can deliver long-term search visibility.

1. How Much Do You Charge to Build Citations?

Understanding the costs of a citation-building campaign allows an agency to budget appropriately. In practice, determining the best value for your money is often a bit difficult, as listing management companies operate different business models. From individual submission costs to monthly or yearly subscriptions, you will need to look closely at what’s being offered.

And while the fees are important, try to put the overall pricing into context. For example, how many quality citations can the company deliver, and do they distribute data to relevant directories?

Crucially, pay attention to whether they offer paid inclusion or paid insertion. At Advice Local, we provide paid insertion, which means links remain intact after the business is no longer a customer. Other providers use paid inclusion, with data remaining intact only as long as you stay subscribed.

With paid insertion, the data will remain intact even after you’re no longer contracting with us for business listing management. However, over time it can be (and usually is) overwritten by other sources that might be delivering bad data. This is exactly why it is extremely important to maintain an active listing management campaign for local businesses.

2. How Do You Identify What Listings to Use?

An indication of a quality citation builder can be seen in the types of platforms included in its distribution network. Plenty of low-quality directories and platforms will accept listings, but they often do more harm than good. In contrast, using a time-tested, proven network of diverse platforms increases a business’ trust and authority with users and search engines.

Advice Local created the Data Amplifier Network with this idea in mind. The network contains only the very best platforms, covering search providers, navigation systems, mobile apps, premier directories, mapping platforms and much more. Syndication across these leading sites ensures a business gets found through the channels its customers are most likely to use.

In addition, Advice Local’s network is made up of directories that are trusted by other data sources. This means that when a business’ data is distributed through our network, it can reach many more data sources than those listed in our network.

3. How Do You Submit the Business’ Information to the Directory?

Business information is submitted manually or through automation, with both solutions having pros and cons. As demonstrated by our citation services compared graphic, leading citation builders take different approaches to data submission.

Submitting listings by hand is a time-consuming process that requires a business to wait for results. In comparison, automated submissions are much quicker – but they require dependable technology to ensure accurate business information.

At Advice Local we take a hybrid approach, using both manual submission and a robust automated process with bulk imports and/or via API. This method is highly effective, as citations are delivered in real time, allowing agencies to show their clients up-to-the-minute progress. And we retain the flexibility to submit by hand for those less accessible platforms.

Since we distribute the data in real time, your client can see their visibility increase almost instantly. Plus, we continually monitor the data we distribute, and if it becomes inaccurate for some reason (such as another data source overriding it), we will correct it automatically.

Here at Advice Local we include many additional features, such as a Voice Search Readiness Test. This will help you understand if your clients are voice-search ready. We know the data sources that voice assistants trust, and we ensure your clients are listed in these sources.

4. Do They Provide Additional Services as Part of Their Listing Management Service?

Agencies and local marketers have come to expect more from citation builders and listing management services. For example, access to white-label features helps agencies communicate with clients and deliver superior results.

Advice Local provides a white-label lead generation widget for local marketers and agencies to place on their website. We have a landing page that can be branded with the agency’s logo and colors. We also offer automated reporting that can be set up to email monthly to the agency’s client, also with agency branding.

Advice Local empowers partners with additional services that enhance citations to maximize visibility. We have Enhanced Google Business Profile tools that are not available elsewhere. For example, the Google Authority Score (GAS) demonstrates the effectiveness of a Google Business Profile (GBP) using metrics like Brand Influence, Engagement Visibility and Influence Velocity. Advice Local partners can use this information to build greater authority and an increased chance of improved local presence.

We offer GBP Sync features to maintain the accuracy of the Google Business Profile, and we have a GBP auto-rejection feature for public edits.

Advice Local includes Bing Places in our network at no additional cost. We make public edits to Yelp for free, and also include distributing to the data aggregators. Most other listing management companies charge additional fees for these services.

In addition, we provide a premium listing on Judy’s Book, which is enabled with voice profile technology. Not only do businesses get free access to the high-quality voice-enabled directory, they also receive 1,000 monthly ad impressions on competitor listings at no extra cost.

5. Will You Help Me Claim any Existing Listings?

Taking control of a listing ensures the business can maintain consistent data and as the owner, make necessary changes. For the listings that are claimed through Advice Local, both the login and password are provided in the partner dashboard. For the directories in our network that are not claimed listings, we can still maintain the accuracy of the data through other methods.


Five Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Citation Builder by @BernieColeman #SEO
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Best Choice Local Citation Builder for Agencies and Brand Partners

Advice Local is a premier listing management and citation-building company for agencies and digital marketing partners. We offer a range of local presence management services, delivering fast, hassle-free improvements to search visibility. To find out more, call (214) 310-1356 or request a demo today.

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Google Business Profile Features You Can’t Get Elsewhere

Last time we were here we talked with you about how to complete a business listing audit. Today we’d like to switch gears and discuss the Google Business Profile.

The Value of the Google Business Profile Is Undeniable

We talk about the Google Business Profile quite often at Advice Local, and yes, there’s a sound reason for that. With the Google Business Profile (GBP) being one of the most important Local Ranking Factors according to the latest study, it’s important to us that our agency and local marketing partners are provided with the best information and resources.

The Google Business Profile needs constant attention, and that’s just a fact. From monitoring changes to publishing GBP posts and getting the best results from it, the GBP can put demands on your time. As you know, the smallest changes to a business’ GBP can significantly impact the local pack and/or Google Maps visibility – so let’s take a look at how we help with this.

You Need These Four Google Business Profile Features Available in Our Partner Dashboard

At Advice Local, we have a few very specific features available within our platform to help you maintain your clients’ Google Business Profiles more easily.

1. GBP Sync

Are you finding subtle changes that appear on your clients’ profiles? With our GBP Sync feature, we can continuously ensure the data on your clients’ GBPs matches our database. You can either sync the GBP to our dashboard, or sync our dashboard to match the GBP.

gbp selective sync image

For all our clients, to turn off the GBP Sync feature you’ll need to adjust your dashboard settings at the partner level. You can select to schedule a sync within your partner dashboard at the client level. You’ll need access to the client’s GBP, then connect the account in your partner dashboard to use this feature.

2. GBP Auto-Rejection

How many times have you visited one of your client’s GBPs to discover that services they don’t offer were added to their GBP? Or even that a change to the primary category has been made without your knowledge? These types of changes happen to businesses on a regular basis, and if you are not watching a GBP closely they might go unnoticed for quite a while.

While we cannot stop Google from adding more services (services they may detect from the client’s website) onto your client’s Google Business Profile, we can auto-reject public edits for you.

gbp auto-rejection image

These public edits consist of changes to the business categories, address, phone number, website URL and much more.

To use this feature you must turn it on at the partner level in your dashboard. You’ll need access to the GBP, and you’ll need to ensure it is linked in the Google Business Profile tab in your partner dashboard.

3. Google Authority Score

The Google Authority Score (GAS) created exclusively by Advice Local was designed to help you better understand how a business’ GBP is performing.

gas score overview image

GAS looks at Brand Influence, Engagement Visibility, Influence Velocity, Q/A Quality and Reputation Health.

google authority score turn on image

To access this information you’ll need access to the client’s GBP – and ensure the feature is enabled in your partner dashboard.

4. Google Profile Insights Data

With the most recent change to managing the GBP from search, the data you count on to understand how well the actions you’re taking on a client’s GBP perform – the traditional insights data – may have seemed to disappear. But when you turn to your Advice Local partner dashboard, you’ll find this data available in the Google Business Profile tab.

Post views, photo views and combined customer actions taken are just a few examples of the data accessible in your partner dashboard.

post views image

photo views image

Customer actions taken image

As mentioned above, you’ll need direct access to manage the GBP and have it connected in your partner dashboard at the client level.

We can’t close without sharing a few more Google Business Profile resources with you.

And that’s it for the special Google Business Profile edition! We’ve had quite a few partners frustrated with the recent changes to the GBP, and limited access to free GBP tools. Know that all of the features mentioned here are included in the Advice Local partner dashboard at no additional cost.


Google Business Profile Features You Can’t Get Elsewhere by @BernieColeman #GBP #SEO
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Find Out Why Listing Management Partners Choose Us Now

We can help you distribute business listing data to the top directories, data aggregators, mapping apps and much more. Request a demo today to learn about all these features, plus the free GBP tools available in our partner dashboard. Call (214) 310-1356 for help today.

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How to Complete a Business Listing Audit & Why You Need To

Last week we discussed how to complete a Google Business Profile audit. Since we’re all about helping local marketers and agencies support their local business and service area business clients’ places in search results, we’re going to discuss how to complete an audit of their business listings distributed around the web.

Three Methods for Conducting a Business Listing Audit

There are a few ways to conduct a business listing audit. We’re going to start with the most simple and go from there.

1. Run Our Online Visibility Report

Advice Local’s Online Visibility Report is one of the easiest ways to check the visibility of a local business on the top directories, data aggregators and mapping apps. Our free Online Visibility Report will also display if the business is voice search-ready.

2. Search the Business’ Name on Google

By searching the business’ name on Google (using quotation marks around the name), you will be able to identify the sites that mention the business. There’s likely to be a quantity of results to funnel through in order to spot the directories. You’ll need to click through to a directory to manually audit the business’ name, address, phone number and categories. For future reference, we recommend placing the links to these sources in a spreadsheet with the audit results.

3. Search the Business’ Address on Google

To ensure you find all mentions of the business online, you’ll also want to search by address. Searching this way will help you discover any inconsistencies in the business name. Plus, you’ll be able to spot other businesses sharing the address – businesses that may have been located there in the past.

We’ve just hit the high points in a citation audit. However, we have a citation audit and clean-up guide to walk you through each component of a citation audit.

Why Is a Citation Audit Important?

What makes a citation audit such a must-do? Just consider the NAP data. Inconsistencies in name, address and phone number info about a business on the web damages trust with search engines and consumers alike.

While the 2021 Local Search Ranking Factors Survey showed that citations are less important than they once were, they remain significant.

As an example, one of our Advice Local partners was having issues with Google automatically changing their client’s Google Business Profile (GBP) address back to an old one. Because the old address was listed in online directories, the business used postcard verification to confirm the new address. Despite this action, the new address continued to revert to the old automatically! This business hadn’t contracted with the agency for business listing management, and this was causing issues with the GBP and online visibility in the local pack. Today, the partner is having trouble getting Yelp to accept its new address, as the old address still reappears. So how influential are citations? We’ll let you decide for yourself.

Are You Helping Your Local Business Clients Get Found in Search Results?

Agencies and local marketers love our business listing management solution, and for good reason. Advice Local partners can:

  1. Run unlimited Baseline Reports. This report offers a great way to start a conversation with prospective clients.
  2. Add our lead generation widget to their website. Partners can offer a freebie to those that visit their website, and get leads they can follow up with.
  3. Use a landing page branded with their logo that allows prospects to run a free Online Visibility Report. This is an excellent option when a partner doesn’t want to integrate the widget on their website.

With the options mentioned above, all the leads generated populate in your Advice Local partner dashboard for your follow-up. These leads are yours – we do not contact them, and other partners have no access to view them.


How to Complete a Business Listing Audit & Why You Need To by @BernieColeman #SEO
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Request a Demo of Our Business Listing Management Solution Today

At Advice Local, we’re all about providing the best listing management solutions for our partners. Request a demo and find out more today!

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How to Run a Google Business Profile Audit & Why It Matters

Last week we discussed the top optimization techniques for a Google Business Profile. With Google rolling out a new look for those that manage multiple Google Business Profiles, we thought it was time to examine auditing your clients’ Google Business Profiles.

Are You Performing Google Business Profile Audits for Clients?

We talked with you once before about stress-free audits, and today we want to discuss the importance of auditing the Google Business Profile (GBP) specifically. And yes, this will include cleaning up bad data.

As you’ll know by now, bad data affects the visibility of a business in search. We shared before how a business’ data was impacting the address on a GBP listing. And we have found other instances where Google is definitely looking to business listings to validate the legitimacy of a business.

NAP data – name, address and phone number – is a well-known factor where discrepancies can do severe SEO damage to a business. But there’s certainly more than NAP data to consider, so let’s discuss what to audit on a Google Business Profile.

11 Elements of a Google Business Profile Audit

1. NAP – As mentioned, mistakes are commonly found in NAP data. Check to ensure the business information is accurate across all listings.

2. Business Description – Including products and services, location and credibility is vital. Our GBP business description guide goes into more detail.

3. Categories – The primary category should be closely related to your client’s industry, while smaller niches can be targeted through additional categories.

4. Business Hours – Incorrect business hours will annoy your customers. Make sure opening times are up-to-date.

5. Images – Images should be high-quality and relevant to the business’ products or store.

6. GBP Posts – GBP posts are a way to promote coupons, make announcements – and provide useful, keyword-rich content for readers. Aim to update posts monthly (at minimum) with new content of around 200 words. Note, a GBP post must be less than 1,500 characters including spaces.

7. GBP Services – Create service descriptions that tell about the services the business offers. These cannot exceed 300 characters including spaces.

8. GBP Products – Write keyword-rich product descriptions with custom graphics for the products and services the business offers. The limit here is no more than 1,000 characters (including spaces).

9. Questions & Answers – Adding and responding to Questions & Answers helps increase engagement with users. See our GBP Questions & Answers guide here.

10. Reviews – Not only should you be encouraging customers to leave reviews, you’ll also want to respond to feedback quickly.

11. Website Link – Linking back to the main business website using a call to action moves users closer to a purchase.

Why Is a Google Business Profile Audit so Important?

Regularly auditing a client’s GBP will guarantee there is no bad data to give an advantage to competitors. The combined elements of NAP, business description, reviews, attributes and more allow a business to satisfy Google’s need for relevant, local and quality listings.


How to Run a Google Business Profile Audit & Why It Matters by @BernieColeman #SEO #GBP
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Try the Advice Local Listing Management Solution Today

Advice Local helps agency partners set up and manage listings across a range of platforms. This includes features such as Google Business Profile Sync and auto-rejection of public edits. Our dashboard streamlines the local presence management process. To see for yourself, request a demo now or call (214) 310-1356 for help.

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5 Essential GBP Optimization Tips for Local Pack Visibility

Last week we updated you on all the latest news from Google, Bing and other essential platforms. This week we’re looking at the optimization elements that all successful Google Business Profiles need.

Optimizing a Google Business Profile for Search and the Local Pack

It’s been a while since we’ve focused solely on how an optimized Google Business Profile (GBP) can help your local business clients surface more often in the local pack and search results.

Here are the starting points for an optimized GBP.

1. Setting the Primary Category (And Secondary)

Choosing the right categories can mean the difference between your client showing up high in the local pack – or not showing at all.

Before setting the primary category, evaluate the competition to see the popular choices. Certain industries (a plumber, for example) will have an obvious primary option. But for businesses offering multiple services, you may need to make a difficult choice. Relevancy, competition analysis and keyword data can help you make the best decision.

As for secondary categories, this is the chance to add supplementary services. You get nine secondary categories in total, but you don’t have to use them all. Plus, they must be relevant to avoid looking spammy. Most Advice Local partners limit secondary categories to two or three.

2. Website Links & Attributes

The primary category selected will also impact the features and even attributes available to the business. For example, the restaurant category will give various dining options for attributes. A GBP also provides more general attributes, such as accessibility and payment options.

Driving traffic to a client’s website is typically the main goal for a GBP. To this end, Google provides various local business links, including booking an appointment, placing an order, looking at a menu and more. To collect data for your clients, you really should be using UTM tracking on the links. And by design, our Enhanced Google Business Profile Tool makes managing multiple GBPs easy.

3. Business Description

We’ve discussed many times the importance of Google EAT for a GBP. The GBP business description gives you 750 characters (with spaces) to engage readers and optimize the profile with relevant search terms. The description lets you detail a business’ brief history plus areas of differentiation and personality, as it targets industry keywords and helps build consumer trust.

4. Services

Keep service descriptions short and to-the-point. Aim to keep them around 250 characters, and stay tightly focused on the service being provided. Currently, the services tab is only visible on mobile, but don’t be surprised if it finds its way to desktop in the future.

Google may even pull services data from a business’ website at times, so make sure to monitor clients’ GBPs periodically. Also, keep in mind that on occasion Google will use services as justifications for why a business is included for a particular local pack.

5. Products

Finally, GBP Products is an underused feature, and one that can significantly enhance a profile. You can write engaging, keyword-rich product descriptions with an enticing call to action that directs consumers to the business’ website (with UTM tracking included, of course). Aim for around 100 words – and don’t forget to edit outdated product information. At this point, Google is perfectly fine with businesses adding services in the products section, so certainly take advantage of this.


5 Essential #GBP Optimization Tips for Local Pack Visibility by @BernieColeman #SEO
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6 Key Google Announcements You Don’t Want to Miss & More

Remember last week? We shared local holiday marketing strategies to help your local business clients reach consumers this year. Well, seems we’re not the only ones suggesting that traditional “holiday shopping seasons” might be a thing of the past.

As Kelly Tyko at Axios points out, the big brands like Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy are starting their sales earlier and earlier. Amazon’s Prime Day might have kickstarted the trend, but Target’s seven weeks of Black Friday deals (and similar approaches) signals the intent to change the way consumers view holiday sales.

Before getting to this week’s news, get this… At Advice Local we know how powerful Judy’s Book and our data amplifier network are for a local business, and it sure feels great when someone else writes about it too. Check out what this author had to say when they researched our business listings management solution.

Major Google Announcements Went Down Last Week

As Google has been making some major moves and suggestions, we’re switching-up from our traditional article this week.

Starting off, we have the news that Google is introducing site names for mobile Google Search results. You’ll need to add structured data on your clients’ homepages to identify the site name for a search result.

Moving forward, Webmaster Guidelines will be known as Google Search Essentials. Google is making moves to be more inclusive and make it easier for everyone to understand how to succeed online. They’ve thinned the guidelines down to make it easier for all to understand.

They also announced a new name for Google Data Studio. Back in 2020 Google acquired Looker, the business intelligence platform – and now they have integrated several products under the Looker brand. Henceforth, Google Data Studio will be known as Looker Studio.

If you’re not familiar with using this tool, it can be quite helpful. One of our Advice Local partners uses it to create real-time reports for their clients, bringing in Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google AdWords data. This is a powerful reporting tool in so many ways.

More on the Google front is a tweet from John Mu. John, a Search Advocate at Google, points out that pinging Google that a sitemap has been updated is a good practice to follow when you want content indexed quickly. And according to a tweet on the same thread, you would hit this URL to complete this. You’ll need to change out the portion after the equals sign (=) with your client’s sitemap URL.

Another individual developed a quick tool that you all can use to ping Google easily. Either way, this is something you may want to consider using for your clients when they publish something relatively important on their website. As a reminder, once it is submitted through Google Search Console, Google does regularly read a website’s sitemap.

Switching gears… Is Google rolling out yet another algorithm update? Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable has seen signs of ranking changes in recent days – and he’s not the only one. Google has really been pushing out a lot of algorithm updates over the last few months, so the release of one more isn’t surprising.

And finally, from Google, YouTube launched handles – unique channel names to make it easier to build a presence on their platform with tagging, mentions and more.

Bing Is Making Moves Too

It seems Bing is trying to get consumers directly engaged in Search with the addition of polls in the knowledge panel. Will it work? Maybe.

But that’s not all Bing is up to. Parent company Microsoft has released an AI image creator. To get early access, you’ll need to sign up.

TikTok is adding a new photo mode feature now. And when video isn’t the best format option, users can add a carousel of images.

But Wait, Here’s More Search News!

Over at Search Engine Land, Dan Toplitt discussed the broadening search landscape that extends beyond Google and the traditional search engines. Now more than ever, you must be active where your target consumers can be found.

Meanwhile, Damian Rollison at Street Fight discussed the growing problem of fake reviews and what can be done about it.

And how much attention do you give to anchor text in your clients’ SEO campaigns? Over at Search Engine Journal, you’ll find a helpful anchor text best practices guide that could make a difference to search visibility.

And if you’re thinking about trying some new digital marketing tools, BrightLocal published a comprehensive list covering just about every category an agency could need.

What about the recent BrightonSEO conference? If you missed attending, you can get the next best thing with this Google spreadsheet that includes links to the presenters’ slides. You can also sign up and watch the presentations for free online if you’d like.


6 Key #Google Announcements You Don’t Want to Miss by @BernieColeman #SEO
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Local Marketing Strategies for the Upcoming Holidays

Last week we looked at how to boost local search presence with data amplifiers. This week we’re switching focus to the local marketing strategies that are perfect for securing seasonal buyers.

Local Marketing Strategies for Boosting Holiday Sales

Last year (at around this same time) we spoke with you about how to use a business’ Google Business Profile for holiday marketing campaigns.

And while you’ve seen it, have you ever really considered why stores start putting out their holiday merchandise so early? And yes, we’ve all noticed that this timing seems to be well before the start of each season.

Let’s look at Home Depot. Have you been in a Home Depot in the last two weeks? If so, then you were most likely greeted with Christmas trees – at least this is the case in Texas.

So, just why do stores start their sales earlier and earlier each year? Will the one who starts their holiday marketing first be the biggest winner? The answer to that is… maybe! However, it all starts with a plan – and we’ve actually outlined a seasonal local marketing plan before.

In an article on Street Fight there’s a quote that really sticks out. Paul Brenner said: “Advertisers don’t have to wait until someone is in the right aisle to engage with them. The customer doesn’t need to be anywhere near the seasonal candy section but the message can help guide them there.”

5 Untapped Holiday Local Marketing Techniques

Now apply this to the local marketing strategies for your clients. Where can you engage your clients’ prospective customers to get the results your clients are looking for? Hint: you might not normally engage them there. Let’s explore….

1. The Google Business Profile

Offer posts are not being used to their fullest potential. Consider creating bundled deals, free consultations, downloadable guides and limited-time seasonal coupons. Also, make use of photos or videos to enhance offers.

Event posts for open houses, seasonal sales, product launches and seminars. Be sure to include the benefits of attendance to get the best deals – and include eye-catching imagery.

2. Premium Features on Business Listings

For example, businesses listed in Judy’s Book through Advice Local get a premium Judy’s Book listing at no additional cost. This premium listing includes ad impressions on the free listings. You’ll need to log into the Judy’s Book listing through your partner dashboard to take advantage of this feature.

3. Advertising on Websites That Are Not Chock-Full of Competition

Advice Local’s BubbleLife is just one example here. This hyperlocal online newspaper offers ad space to reach consumers in a very specific geographic area. Take a glimpse at the ads displayed in the Park Cities BubbleLife to get a visual of what we’re talking about.

BubbleLife’s subscribers also opt in to get this online newspaper email delivered to them each day. This is an audience that most definitely wants to hear from local businesses in their area. You should suggest/consider submitting an article to these hyperlocal sites. It’s yet another way to support the business’ local community – and introduce consumers to the business.

Nextdoor is another hyperlocal site to consider. Listing your clients on Nextdoor is easy with Advice Local. Also examine any additional hyperlocal advertising opportunities available in the area in which your clients are located.

4. Supporting Community Events and Organizations

When the kids head back to school, the fundraising and advertising opportunities start up as well. By sponsoring various athletic teams, businesses can get listed as sponsors on banners, t-shirts, team Facebook pages and much more.

And if athletic events aren’t a fit for your clients, look to other local events such as advertising opportunities at the downtown festivals. Quite often these are starting now – and on through to the end of the year. Also, fundraisers like CASA or Boys & Girls Club of America are always an excellent way to support the local community – especially when you can donate items (services) for a raffle or silent auction. Lots of people will see your client’s business name when buying raffle tickets or bidding in the auction.

Consumers want to do business with other businesses that show they care. Supporting the community will go a long way towards this.

5. Don’t Forget the Traditional Methods

While focusing on new ways to reach consumers, don’t skip over the traditional ones.

  • Social media is great for building an engaged audience and increasing brand awareness.
  • The website blog is important for demonstrating credibility with readers.
  • Display banners and downloadable coupons on the business’ website to drive up engagement.
  • Email campaigns that include exclusive deals and offers for those who’ve opted in is always a winning idea.

Local #Marketing Strategies for the Upcoming Holidays by @BernieColeman #SEO
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