Richard Beverly's Blog

30-second summary: Something that all of us in the search industry are guilty of is our over-reliance on Google telling us what is coming next. Understanding Google’s considerations as a business, provide context to many of its recent decisions and provides a sense of what is coming down the road. Global digital agency Croud’s Organic Strategy Director looks discusses the future of Google, right from Google’s antitrust lawsuit to Apple as a future rival, and more. It occurs to me that I am part of a cult. Or at least, something that displays the hallmarks of one. An unchallenged authoritarian leadership, prophets and oracles who deign to share only select information from a mysterious entity, who engage in coercive behaviors, who punish for non-compliance, and followership who are indoctrinated into special teachings and practices and whom parrot back the mantras and sayings of the leaders. Yes, I of course refer to the SEO industry and yes, you may take a small pause here to go

Anyone who runs an online business needs to get to grips with search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of working to make your website rank more highly in results pages on search engines such as Google. There are a few strategies you can use to help your site rank better in local search results . In this article, we’ll discuss how you can improve your website SEO through simple WordPress improvements. Why is ranking well for local search queries so important? According to Business Wire , 67% of Americans prefer to shop with local businesses where possible. Additionally, an estimated 46% of all Google searches have local intent. Speaking anecdotally, I have seen the importance of local search results first-hand. 80-90% of the business for my web design agency, Lform Design, comes from within our home state of New Jersey.  Website design makes a big difference in your SEO performance due to a number of factors that we’ll look at in more detail. Fortunately, with a bit of

On Tuesday, January 19th, eagle-eyed SEO Brodie Clark spotted that Google Posts older than seven days were appearing in the local business Knowledge Panel.� Nice one for Local SEOs to be aware of. Now seeing standard Posts appears from months back by default. Would show for 7 days previously, then “expire†and become hidden behind the ‘view all’ button. Glad to see more visibility given to Posts – this change makes sense IMO. pic.twitter.com/H3pQTDG5qH — Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) January 20, 2021 As Brodie mentions, Posts created within Google My Business are now showcased on the business profile, even if they’re months old. In local SEO, we’re used to seeing lots of tests, changes, and updates to Google My Business and its features, but this is arguably the biggest bit of GMB news so far this year. What are Google Posts? First things first, let’s remind you just what Google Posts are (if you’re familiar with them already, skip ahead to the news! ) Introduc

Since May last year, we’ve been releasing Local Quizness every month to help test your knowledge of the previous month’s news. This month, instead of looking back at December’s stories, we’ve created The Quiz of the Year 2020. Twice the size of the monthly quizzes, the jumbo quiz explores the biggest local marketing stories to come out of 2020, so you can be certain you have all the knowledge needed to be successful in 2021. Test your memory in the quiz below, and as always, you can share your score on Twitter using #LocalQuizness . We’ve also compiled a list of every story covered in the quiz so that you can catch up on any news you may have missed. Quiz of the Year 2020 Resources BrightLocal – The State of Local Search 2021 [WEBINAR] BrightLocal – The Year in Local Search 2020 Search Engine Land – Listings that earn featured snippets will not repeat on the first page of Google search Search Engine Land – New local SERP live in Europe BrightLocal – GMB Features Suspended Due

Now that 2020 is well and truly behind us, we can begin looking forward to bigger, better things. That’s right folks, the time is once again upon us to bring out our BrightLocal crystal ball and enlist some of the local search community’s most well-loved experts to help us with some local SEO predictions for the coming year.� But, before we get started thinking about what’s to come for 2021, how did our experts fare with what they predicted in 2020 ? Reflecting on 2020’s Local SEO Predictions A lot happened in 2020 , but how many of our experts’ local SEO predictions came true?  Unfortunately, a lot of our pros had hoped 2020 would see a reduction in spam, but with the introduction of new Covid-19 support, resources, and features, plus limited Google My Business support, it seems Google had other things besides spam-fighting to keep them busy… My prediction for 2020 was right — Google figured it out and eliminated spam! Just kidding — I really said that “I think sp

There’s no doubt content is key to both ranking high in local search and generating more leads, but there’s a lot of mixed messages about the best ways to approach this. And often what ranks and what converts can be very different beasts. Luckily, we’ve enlisted Sterling Sky’s content creating champion Carrie Hill to get answers to questions such as should local businesses be blogging regularly? What kind of content coverts? And what do you do if great content isn’t ranking? On this episode, Carrie reveals her secrets to make the words (and leads!) flow. Listen to learn: How to do effective content research How to ensure content doesn’t just rank, but also converts The mistakes to avoid when creating content The methods Carrie uses to make writing much easier Listen to the episode Subscribe today If you want instant access to the latest episodes, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts Listen and subscribe on Spotify

2020 has nearly come to an end (cue sighs of relief!)� While this year presented many challenges, especially for local businesses, it also created the opportunity for triumph. Google My Business introduced more new features than ever, and we saw the good side of many organizations that strived to provide extra resources and relief to those in need. Although we may all be glad to see the back of what’s been a pretty hectic year, we’d be remiss not to look back on all the exciting things that have taken place. For us, it’s been a year filled with GMB news, updates, and changes, and we even had some laughs along the way too, ( Four Season Total Landscaping anyone?) So, before we say “so long†to 2020 for good, we invite you to join us in reflecting upon the year in local search. What would a year in review be without GIFs? Keep your eyes peeled throughout and let us know how many TV shows or films you recognized in the below! January Suffice to say, the year started out