📹 Video: Last Week in Local for Week Ending February 21, 2023

Joy Hawkins

Join Mike and Carrie as they discuss the last week in Local SEO! They’re talking about what’s new at Google, the new job selection tool in LSA, Google Posts, Google’s new link best practices, pre-defined services that do impact ranking, and so much more!

Last Week in Local is a look back at the interesting and important articles from the previous week. It is 20-30 minutes long and covers critical industry trends, interesting local news, and tactical insights for anyone interested in Local Search.

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Mike’s Links:

• Mutiny on the Bountiful? Proposed settlement challenges review hijacking
• Why Amazon Will Still ‘Go Big’ on Grocery
• Matt Newberg: True Cost of Last Mile Delivery on Twitter
• My class required AI. Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
• Matt Casady: New job selection tool in LSA on Twitter
• Darren Shaw: The better way to do Google Posts on Twitter
• SEO Link Best Practices for Google | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google Developers
• Google Business Profile Profile Strength Widget Now Live & Many Local SEOs Not Happy
• Mike Blumenthal: New Local 4 (2×2) pack on Twitter

Carrie’s Links:

• Joy Hawkins on The Unscripted SEO Interview series with Mark Preston
• Are You Being Excluded From Local Results – Colan Nielsen via LocalSearchForum
• Webinar On-Demand: The Need For Leads With Aaron Weiche – LocalU.org
• Spam on Google Maps continues to be out of control and can cost legitimate businesses everything – Via Twitter Thread from @Kylepithoud
• Google publishes new link best practices – via Barry Schwartz on SearchEngineLand.com
  • Don’t be afraid of external links!
  • “Linking to other sites isn’t something to be scared of; in fact, using external links can help establish trustworthiness (for example, citing your sources). Link out to external sites when it makes sense, and provide context to your readers about what they can expect.”

Tip of the Week:

• Do Services in Google Business Profiles Impact Ranking? – Joy Hawkins – Sterling SkyTL;DR:
• Services impact ranking.
• They seem to impact both explicit and implicit keywords.
• Explicit keyword ranking impact is more dramatic.
• The ranking impact seems to vary based on the industry and market.
• The ranking impact can take 24-72 hours to take effect.