Writing
How the unglamorous half of local SEO actually works. Duplicate listings nobody spotted for three years, the seven days Google makes you wait to claim a profile, why "Street" versus "St" doesn't matter and two phone numbers does.
Written from doing it, not from reading about it. Every post is the answer to a question a client actually asked.
Most local sponsorships are a donation with a link attached
The good ones and the worthless ones cost about the same. You can tell them apart in two minutes.
The best local link your client already qualifies for
Your client is probably eligible for four or five of these right now. Nobody ever filled in the form.
Why we built Placemark instead of paying for a listings service
The listings are yours. That is the whole argument, and it has costs.
Citations go stale, and nobody notices for years
Citation work is treated as a project. It is maintenance.
What to do when a client changes address
The move is easy. The forty listings still showing the old address are not.
Duplicate listings are the most expensive local SEO problem nobody notices
Both listings look fine on their own. That is exactly why this goes unnoticed for years.
Finding a client's existing backlinks without paying for Ahrefs
The best free source is the one Google uses. It just has no API.
How to choose Google Business Profile categories
One field decides most of what a profile can rank for. Most people pick the broad one.
Local links that aren't directories
The best local links are membership-gated, which is exactly why they are worth having.
What actually counts as NAP inconsistency
"Street" versus "St" is not the problem. Two different phone numbers is.
Do nofollow citations help local SEO?
Yes, but not for the reason you are measuring.
Taking over a client's listings when nobody knows the passwords
The previous agency is not answering emails. Here is what actually works.
Which citations actually matter, and which are a waste of an afternoon
Ten listings done properly beat a hundred submitted to directories nobody has opened since 2009.