Pillar Digital Marketing Agency

@JoyanneHawkins Google hates it when people say SEO is dead, but there's something to it.

Is SEO dying? 🤔 I've been in this industry since 2006. When I first started, it wasn't actually that difficult, and I think a lot of people cashed in on that. Tons of people got into SEO, the industry became pretty saturated, and demand was 📈 crazy high. I would see people with 6 months of experience demanding salaries that friends of mine in other industries weren't making with 10+ years of experience. I think we're now seeing a shift in that. SEO has become incredibly more difficult in the last few years. This is going to weed out the people that were in it for the money, who never bothered to learn much about the algorithm. The economy is also crap – leading to businesses cutting their marketing budgets. Tons of agencies and tech companies are doing layoffs. In the end, for those of us that really understand SEO, we'll be okay. Lots of businesses will die, meaning less competition and less saturation. I think if you want to survive, you have to invest a ton of time figuring out things your competitors don't know. Do lots of testing, and don't just learn from what you read online.

@JoyanneHawkins Algos are getting smarter, now for a small business, it's all about Customer Experience Optimization 🤔

Beware of robo calls telling you that your Google Business Profile hasn't been claimed.

@ConnorGillivan You can't trick Google anymore - SEO is really just Customer Experience Optimization (CXO)

SEO has made MAJOR strides. Old SEO: Keyword stuffing, abusing AI, black hat tactics. 2024 SEO: Quality first, relevant backlinks, by the book. I've been in SEO for 10 years. Let me break it all down:

Your customers want to know who they're working with. Don't forget to include a few quality headshots of you and your team on your website. It's one of the best investments you can make in your marketing, and one of the easiest ways to earn trust. #localmarketing #smallbusiness

Between the time we ran the 2 local search grid reports, we made no other changes to their marketing. No website updates, no new posts to GBP, no new citations. So we're comparing apples to apples. Anyone else have recent data on this? #SEO #Google #Marketing

MCAS Roofing was sitting at 92 reviews on 8/31/24 when we ran a local search grid. That week, they got to 104 reviews. On 9/6/24 we reran the search grid and saw a nice bump in local pack rankings after blowing past 100 reviews. It's just 1 test, but seems like 100+ reviews works

Does anyone know if you can still create new business.site on your Google Business Profile? @DarrenShaw_ @JoyanneHawkins 🙏🏻

What's the latest data saying about the number of reviews on GBP before you get a big boost? @DarrenShaw_ and @JoyanneHawkins I believe last we heard, after 10 reviews you saw the biggest impact on rankings? Is that right?

@DarrenShaw_ @mblumenthal At first this drove us nuts. Now it seems like if you wait awhile after you get the image not approved "stamp"...they'll actually approve it. It seems like one of those issues with their algo as they try to improve quality over time. Like when real reviews don't show up.

Even when you follow Google's guidelines diligently, they still might reject your GBP images. But Google's new "Image not approved" form might help. Read @mblumenthal's advice on how to make the most of it, and what to do if it doesn't work👇 #seo #localseo

How to respond to a positive review: 1️⃣ Start with gratitude. 2️⃣ Personalize your response. 3️⃣ Invite your customers to return. Let's break that down further 🧵 #seo #localseo

I'm a Certified Fraud Examiner turned local marketer...for the life of me I can't figure out the motive of scammers when they message your biz on GBP...all of my clienta have this happen to them occasionally....any ideas @DarrenShaw_ @JoyanneHawkins? Just wondering 😃

This story is amazing. 🔸Scammers suggest an edit on airlines' GBP to change the phone #. 🔸Google publishes the change 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🔸Calls now go to the scammers, & they steal credit card details. Delta (and you!) can solve this with the new @whitespark GBP change notification system.

We've used @clickfunnels before, so we're super excited to give @Zoho Landing Page a try.

Google just emailed me a reminder that spam fighting can be extremely effective. That’s at least 40,000 more views for my client since bumping their competitor down in the rankings by removing keywords from their business name. #localseo #seo

Anyone find a good solution to export performance results from new Google Business Profile backend? The insights data from within GBP dashboard is not the same😟 #localseo @DarrenShaw_

@DarrenShaw_ @JoyanneHawkins Thanks for ur thoughts. Definitely a risk, but seems like a huge opportunity especially in our NYC region. The question is once you factor in distance, it gets trickier.

@pillarcommunity @JoyanneHawkins Yes, you will be more relevant for pizza delivery with that as your primary category. The drawback is that you may then be less relevant for just "pizza". I would test with one category for a month, then test the other, and see which is better for business.

Attention local pizzeria owners. Anyone have their Google Business category as "pizza delivery" instead of pizza? Local SEOs @DarrenShaw_ @JoyanneHawkins what's your take on using pizza delivery. When people search pizza delivery will u be weighted as more relevant? #localseo

Local Marketing tip: Your website is your most valuable sales tool. Don't waste valuable real estate. The top of the page should explain what you do... ⏱️ In under 5 sec ✅ What problem do you solve? ✅ What makes your biz unique? ✅ How do I get started? #SmallBusiness #SEO

Too many contractors miss the mark when it comes to your marketing. Your message is everything. Your local marketing is about earning trust from your potential total customers. Show off what you do best. #localmarketing #SmallBusiness #LocalContractor #GoogleBusinessProfile