SEO Archives - LeadPoint Digital

Posted on August 22, 2023August 30, 2023 by Victor

In today’s digital world, being seen online is like having a neon sign for your local business. It’s not just about having a website; it’s about showing up where your potential customers are searching. Local SEO is your secret weapon to unlock the doors of online success. Let’s dive into why local SEO matters, how it works, and how you can harness its magic for your business.

Why Your Business Needs Local SEO

Picture this: someone in your neighborhood craving a slice of pizza, and they pull out their phone to search for the best pizza nearby. That’s where local SEO steps in. It’s like a treasure map for Google to find your business and show it to folks in your area.

When you optimize your online presence with local SEO, your business climbs the ladder of local rankings. This means when someone in your neighborhood searches for a product or service you offer, your business pops up on their screen. It’s like a virtual welcome mat that invites local customers right to your door.

Cracking the Code: How Local SEO Works

Local SEO is like giving your business a superpower in Google’s eyes. It involves a bunch of clever marketing strategies to boost your business listing in Google searches. But how does it work its magic?

Keyword Research

Imagine that potential customers are detectives searching for clues. Keywords are the clues that lead them to your doorstep. When people type in local keywords like “best burgers in town,” local SEO makes sure your burger joint shines in the spotlight. Use tools like SEMrush’s keyword magic tool or Google’s keyword planner, primarily used for Google Ads, to see search volume for a variety of keywords.

Google My Business

Think of Google My Business as your online business card or even it’s own microsite for your business. It’s where you show off your address, phone number, and even post updates. This nifty tool puts you on the Google Maps, making it easy-peasy for people to find you.

Local Keywords

Sprinkling local keywords throughout your website tells Google that your business is a perfect fit for people in your local area. So, if you’re a bakery in Smalltown, USA, and someone looks up “fresh pastries in Smalltown,” guess who’s getting a sweet spot in the search results?

Link Building

It’s like making friends online. When other websites link to your business website, Google sees it as a vote of confidence. The more “votes” you get, the higher you climb in search results.

Unveiling the Benefits

Local SEO isn’t just about impressing Google; it’s about winning the hearts of potential customers. Here’s how it boosts your business:

Attracting Local Customers: Remember that pizza craving? Local SEO helps you be the pizzeria that shows up first, drawing hungry folks straight to your door.
Mobile Search Magic: Everyone’s glued to their phones. Local SEO makes sure you’re right there when they search for “coffee shops near me” on their mobile devices.
Local Pack Power: Ever noticed those neat little boxes with a map and a few businesses when you search? That’s the local pack, and local SEO helps you snag a spot in it, giving you prime real estate in search results.

Mastering the Local SEO Game

Ready to dive into the local SEO adventure? Here are five essential steps to conquer the local search scene:

Polish Your Google My Business: First, claim your Google map listing! After that, fill in all the juicy details – your address, phone number, and even photos of your delicious offerings. The more complete your profile, the more Google will trust you.
Gain Trust through Reviews: Just like you shared your business details, now gather customer reviews. Ask happy customers to write about their experience on platforms like Google My Business. These words show you’re trustworthy and encourage others to give you a try.
Build a Virtual Bridge to Your Website: After setting up your Google My Business, guide people to learn more about you and your offerings. These links to your website are like a bridge that takes them from reading about you to exploring your website, where you can prove your value to them.
Sprinkle Local Keywords: Remember those keywords? Use them in your website content, but make sure it sounds natural. Google loves when you talk like a real person.
Make Friends Online: Link building is like virtual networking. Connect with local bloggers, join local directories, and share your business with the online community.

The Everlasting Relevance of Local SEO

You might wonder, does local SEO still matter? Absolutely! In a world where Google searches rule, local SEO is your ticket to the spotlight. Google keeps fine-tuning its algorithms to show users the best local results, making a local SEO strategy a priority more important than ever.

From Clicks to Cash: The Local SEO Payoff

Local SEO isn’t just about clicks; it’s about turning those clicks into cash. When you appear in search results, more people step into your shop, dial your number, or explore your website. That means more sales, more happy customers, and more business growth.

In a Nutshell

Local SEO is your business’s digital superhero. It boosts your visibility, attracts local customers, and helps you stand out in the vast online world. By mastering the art of local SEO – from keywords to Google My Business and link building – you’re giving your business a fighting chance in the competitive world of local business. So, embrace the power of local SEO and watch your business bloom in the local spotlight.

If you need help optimizing your business’s Google My Business profile, schedule a free consultation with our team at LeadPoint Digital today!

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Posted on October 30, 2022June 5, 2023 by admin

YouTube’s Pros and Cons

We sat down with Marko Zlatic, founder of Whiteboard Finance, social media influencer and friend of LeadPoint Digital to discuss his ranking success on YouTube and how much time you should invest in YouTube versus your own website.

“When you’re creating content for YouTube and generating ad dollars, you’re playing on rented property.” Marko continues to explain that “…if you’re relying on income from being a YouTube influencer, the amount you earn can change at any time. In personal finance, the best investment is property you own and that goes for the web as well.”

However, YouTube is a great place to get started because it’s a Google-owned property and the 2nd largest search engine. Although ranking YouTube videos is still a long game, it tends to rank faster than a new blog or website would rank because of YouTube’s domain value and engagement.

Here are a few things you can do to start earning more views on YouTube:

Topic Selection

Like search engine optimization, success on YouTube begins with in-depth topic research. Strive to find a topic that has a bubble with high-search volume and subpar content ranking towards the top of YouTube and Google. You’ll need to be confident in the fact that you can create better content than what’s already ranking.

Titles

There is a balance and art to writing effective video titles that get found by YouTube, and also interest a viewer enough to watch your video. Your title should be highly relevant to the topic research you performed that ultimately influenced you to settle on it.

You also want to give the viewer a concise insight into what they can expect if they decide to watch. For example, if you create a video on “How to tie a tie?”, an ideal title would be “How to tie a tie? (8 Easy Steps)”.

Thumbnails

We bet a part of you clicked on this article because of the customized hero photo for this article. Here’s the point, YouTube wants more viewers to sell more advertising, a great way of getting more views is to stand out from the competition in the search results by making a customized thumbnail that is enticing and topical enough for the viewer to watch the video.

Engagement

Topic, titles, and thumbnails are all aimed at driving engagement. This is the big factor that ranks your video on YouTube and keeps you at the top. An ideal click rate for a YouTube video is 6-10%, which means every time your video appears in the search results, for every 100 people, 6-10 of them need to click and watch your video.

The same goes for view rates, the longer a viewer watches your video, the better. In addition, you want to earn social approval from your visitors to encourage them to interact by sharing, liking, subscribing, or commenting on your video/channel.

Consistency

YouTube has a real-time analytical dashboard so you can see how many people are watching your videos at different times of the day. Marko has identified that YouTube viewers have similar habits as primetime television (between 4 PM and 10 PM). He recommends creating and publishing videos regularly and posting them around the same time of day.

Video + Audio Quality

Invest in your equipment! The clearer you sound and the higher your video resolution, the better. This is important for multiple reasons outside of looking professional. With advanced technology, YouTube may actually be able to understand what you’re saying in the video which helps them index your video.

In addition, home streaming is becoming more popular with cord-cutters, so more viewers are turning to their HD televisions to browse YouTube and consumer content.

Descriptions, Captions, and Tagging

When it comes to writing descriptions, captions, and tagging your videos – relevancy is the most important takeaway. Don’t dilute the content in your video by listing a bunch of keywords or topics that are related to your video, but not the main topic. All you’re doing is confusing YouTube and the viewer. For captioning, better audio equipment will save you a ton of time because YouTube’s advanced closed captioning is highly accurate.

Here’s the Point

If you follow these best practices you are well on your way to increasing views on YouTube, but Marko emphasized that it’s all about your personality and believability “…you have to practice what you preach. Without that, your content can’t fill the gap that you found. Viewers want someone they can trust and relate to. Just be yourself but be self-aware.”

If you want to learn more about creating a successful YouTube Channel, add yourself to the waiting list for Marko’s YouTube Influencer Course, where Marko will go into detail on how to become a successful YouTuber. You can also follow Marko on his blog, Twitter, and Instagram.

You can see more tips about growing your YouTube channel with this video from Brian Dean on How to Start (And Grow) a YouTube Channel.

If you’re an influencer that’s looking to get off “rented property” and transition your audience to a digital asset you own and control, call us at 540.566.4886 or email us at sales@leadpointdigital.com.

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Posted on January 29, 2022June 5, 2023 by admin

What is Luck?

Luck happens by chance. I used to buy into this idea because it seemed like everyone else had more luck than me – until my luck began to change for the better, both personally and professionally.

I remember specifically sitting in one of our monthly business development meetings and sharing a client success story that I couldn’t really speak to because I felt it all happened by chance. I’ll never forget the next thing that was said: “Luck is a result of preparation and persistence”.

It didn’t resonate with me until I began to think about it deeply over the next few weeks. It became an obsession where I rehashed every instance leading up to many of my “lucky” scenarios – trying to identify where persistence and preparation assisted in my “luck”.

To my shock, I was able to tie behaviors that I was consciously trying to improve upon, to behaviors that ultimately became part of my subconscious mind – creating what most of us would call “luck”.

Here’s the Point …

Ranking in the top positions of the search engine ranking pages (SERPs) doesn’t happen by chance. It is the preparation and persistence offline and online that gets you to the top of the SERPs.

You may not get the results you desire as fast as you like, but with a plan and persistence, your key performance indicators will increase exponentially over the years.

Can you identify a situation where preparation and persistence yielded positive results for you?