SearchLab’s Blog of Awesomeness

Knowledge bombs to help you learn more about Local SEO and PPC

Suds and Search 40 | David Mihm, Founder of Tidings

Also available as a Podcast:

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is David Mihm. David is the founder of Tidings, a software product that automatically generates perfectly-branded email newsletters for small businesses.

For over a decade, David has been one of the leading voices on Local SEO. He founded GetListed in 2009 during the early days of Local SEO. GetListed was acquired by Moz, and David took a role at Moz as their Director of Local Search Strategy.

Over the years, David has been featured in blogs on pretty much every major SEO publication including GatherUp, BrighLocal, Moz, and Street Fight Mag.

He currently serves on the faculty at LocalU. He appears pretty every local SEO conference and on tons of podcasts and webinars.

I heard David present at Whitespark’s Local Search Summit a few weeks before he came on the show. I started our conversation by asking him about his presentation titled, “Email: Your Marketing Lifeline During COVID-19 (and Beyond).” It’s interesting to hear him talk about the ways that COVID has disrupted digital marketing and how email marketing has gained greater exposure.

We also talked about Local SEO. David published the original Local Search Ranking factors study way back in 2008, and a few years ago when he left Moz, he handed the study over to Darren Shaw of Whitespark. I asked him about the importance of reviews, how to set up a good Local SEO foundation and the ways the industry has changed, but also remained the same over the years.

Grab a beer and join me for a conversation with David Mihm. We talk about email marketing for small businesses, Local SEO best practices, and his efforts to remain a scratch golfer during the global pandemic.


How to optimize Google My Business Questions & Answers

In this week’s episode, I share tips for optimizing the Questions and Answers section of your Google My Business profile. By pre-loading questions, answering them, and keeping your answers upvoted to be displayed as primary answers, you can rock a much better user experience on your GMB profile – and capture more local customers.


Suds and Search 39 | Wil Reynolds, Founder of Seer Interactive

Also available as a Podcast:

Donate to Wil’s sleep out: click here

Link to Seer’s YouTube channel where you can learn to use big data: click here
Link to the animated illustration about the CEO swap with Rand Fishkin: click here

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is the incomparable, Wil Reynolds. Wil is the Founder and Vice President of Innovation at Seer Interactive, a 150 person digital marketing agency specializing in using Big Data to improve SEO and Paid media campaigns.


Signals that influence Local SEO: Google My Business

In this week’s episode, I finish my series on signals that influence Local SEO with a segment on Google My Business. Arguably the most important element in your Local SEO strategy, Google My Business is often overlooked by local businesses. Watch and learn which elements have the most influence over your visibility in searches, and learn how to optimize the most important elements.


Suds and Search 38 | Rand Fishkin, Founder of SparkToro

Also available as a Podcast:

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is a man who needs no introduction. Rand is one of – if not the most recognizable personalities in SEO. He is the co-founder and CEO of SparkToro.

Previously, he co-founded SEOMoz, which later rebranded to Moz, along with his mother Gillian. Moz is one of the most important brands in SEO. From Whiteboard Fridays to the Beginner’s Guide to SEO to MozCon and all the impressive tools Moz has created, Rand has been at the center of this incredible company from the start.

Rand resigned from his board position at Moz in October 2020 just after we spoke. You can learn more about his personal journey and that of his company in his incredibly impressive book, Lost and Founder. I’ll spend some of our conversation talking about the book, but honestly, I could’ve talked to Rand all day about it. I couldn’t recommend a book more strongly. It’s not just for SEOs! It’s not just for entrepreneurs. It’s an incredible human story. Rand courageously tells all the great and gory details of his entrepreneurial life.

I’m going to start our conversation talking about his new company SparkToro. I’ll get Rand’s reaction to some use cases for Local SEOs and pick his brain on a post he wrote titled, “Six Ways SparkToro’s Early Customers Use Our Product.”

Grab something cold to drink and join me for a conversation with Rand Fishkin. We talk about the importance of core values in business, how to become less reliant on the duopoly of Facebook and Google, why he chose to make canceling a subscription with SparkToro easier, and we’ll spend a little time talking about his love for pasta and al pastor tacos.


What to do if you’re affected by new COVID restrictions

In this week’s episode, we talk about what you should do if your business is affected by the new round of COVID lockdowns. As the virus is surging in many areas across the country, many areas are increasing restrictions and returning to strict lockdowns. We’re heading into the holiday season, so it’s more important than ever to maintain your visibility online, so we share a few quick tips to ensure your business will be visible and attract customers.


Suds and Search 37 | Will Critchlow, Founder and CEO of SearchPilot

Also available as a Podcast:

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is Will Critchlow, CEO at SearchPilot and SEO Partner at Brainlabs. Will is one of the most famous SEO presenters in the world. His content is ubiquitous on blogs, webinars, and at industry conferences.

Will co-founded Distilled in 2005 with Duncan Morris. Distilled became an iconic brand in SEO, winning numerous industry awards. Will and the team at Distilled started the conference series SearchLove, one of the most popular search marketing conferences with events held in London, San Diego, and New York.

Earlier this year, Distilled’s consulting services were acquired by BrainLabs. I’m going to start our conversation by talking about what it was like to go through an acquisition.

His new project, SearchPilot, was originally software Distilled used to help their clients. Now they’ve developed a really interesting way for SEOs to do A/B tests. A/B testing is popular in Conversion Rate Optimization and Paid Media, but not as much in SEO. I’m going to ask him about some of the findings from the A/B tests he and the team at SearchPilot have performed.

Will and Distilled have had an amazing relationship with Moz and Moz’s co-founder Rand Fishkin that I’ve followed from afar. We talk about how building genuine relationships rather than transactional relationships was a key to Distilled’s rapid growth.

Grab a beer and join me for a conversation with Will Critchlow one of the most important voices in SEO. We’ll talk about how the industry has evolved over his 15-year career, how to do a proper a/b test in SEO, we’ll talk about his love for basketball and what he learned from having his children perform a handful of searches on Google.


Greg’s Top 10 Halloween Horror Movies

This week, we’re taking a break from SEO and digital marketing tips… It’s Halloween this weekend, so I’m sharing my list of top 10 Halloween horror movies. I’m skipping the obvious commercial choices and going with rarely seen and/or underrated horror flicks, so check out the list and have a creepy Halloween!