The vast majority (85%) of SMB owners appreciate the value of having a high visibility on search engines, directories, and mobile apps. Going further, over three quarters (78%) believe that it helps them attract new customers.

That being said, a good understanding of local SEO doesn’t necessarily mean that business owners will be able to implement strategies or run a successful campaign.

Of those surveyed above, nearly half knew that director listings were inaccurate yet they still hadn’t updated them. Which is crazy because so many owners lose trust in a brand when their details aren’t correct.

There is a solution, however, and they are called data aggregators.

What is a local data aggregator?

This is a company that excels at gathering and displaying business and consumer data. Below are five of the major aggregators currently in use:

• Acxiom (free)
• Factual (free)
• Infogroup (free)
• Localeze (paid)
• Yext

What does a local data aggregator do?

A local data aggregator scrapes the web for business data, correlates them all and displays the information to users. This can help business owners to see how their local search data is displayed online on various websites, Crucially, business owners are concerned with their NAP:

• Name
• Address
• Phone Number

These local data aggregators distribute the business information to marketers, business owners and location-based service providers like review websites and search engines. Because the data is so widely used, it is crucial that businesses have the correct information out there.

What role do local data aggregators play in local SEO

Search engines, directories and other apps source information from these local aggregators. They are sometimes referred to as local search data providers.

So what do you do if your data isn’t correct? Well you can work with these local data aggregators to change the information or you can do it by hand by building and editing citations. This can be done by you or by a third-party service.

What is a citation building service?

A citation building service is a company that builds references to your business in the most important directories, and ensures all of your information is correct, so you don’t have to.

Benefits of a citation building service

There are several benefits to using a citation building service:

• You don’t have to spend ages getting in touch with dozens of different websites and directories. All you need to do is provide the correct information to one company once and everything else is taken care of.

• It guarantees that your business’ information will be accurate and consistent across the internet. Working with just one or two aggregators means some information or sites may be missed. By having the citations done individually, you ensure they are all accurate.

• You can add even more information about your business into each citation when you do it by hand. This includes:
  
  
  • Business description and tagline
  • Website address
  • Images
  • Operating hours
  • Accepted payment
  • Social media links

It’s the perfect way to make sure your information is correct and you have the best chance of succeeding at local SEO.

It’s been years since Google first revealed how page speed affects website ranking and yet it still applies today. More recently, the search giant rolled out Speed Update – a new algorithm which factors in mobile page speeds when ranking mobile-friendly sites.

With half of the world’s online traffic driven by smartphones and increasing access to fast internet, people’s expectations of page loading speeds have likewise evolved. Now if we take all these into account, you’ll learn how and why page speed has a significant impact on your SEO.

What is Page Speed?

Page speed is the amount of time it takes for a page to load. There’s plenty of online tools which can analyze your page speed. And there are different ways to measure it.

Below are the three most common:

• Full-page loading or the time it takes to load the page completely, including content, images, and all other elements.
• First meaningful or contextual paint which refers to the time it takes to load enough resources on page so that it becomes readable. A page with a full-page loading speed of 10 seconds is slow. But if you can get a First Meaningful Paint in 2 seconds or less, page visitors will be able to jump right into reading and won’t notice the difference!
• Time to first byte or the time it takes for a page to start loading.

Why Page Speed Matters in SEO

Google won’t say exactly, but it is estimated that they get over 2 trillion queries each day. According to Statista (2019) it’s also the world’s leading search engine with a 90% market share. Given their massive user base, it’s no wonder they want to deliver the best experience. By ranking websites based on relevance and performance, Google helps people can find top resources more easily.

Page speed is an important component in site performance. On a technical level, it indicates that you have a reliable hosting service, and that your website is well-designed and properly coded for SEO. But at the core, what it really tells Google is that your site has been optimized for user experience – which is exactly what they’re looking for. This explain why Google considers page speed when ranking sites.

5 Tips for Boosting Page Speed

1. Minify resources

Google recommends minifying your CSS, HTML, or JavaScript. Minification removes unnecessary codes and speeds up web pages in the process.

2. Enable file compression

Compress your CSS, HTML, or JavaScript files to reduce their size. This could give your pages a much-needed boost.

3. Optimize images

Use images with just the right size for display. Make sure they’re in the recommended format (i.e. JPEG for photos, PNG for graphics). You should also compress images before uploading them to the page. This reduces their file size without affecting quality.

4. Use PageSpeed Insights

This free Google tool analyzes your page speeds. It creates a page speed report and gives personalized suggestions on how you can further optimize it for speed.

5. Set up AMP

Also known as Accelerated Mobile Pages, it’s another project that Google started for helping mobile versions of your web pages load faster.

Acquiring new SEO customers would mean new opportunities for you. This is your chance to make a good impression, to instruct your customers, to get to know their business, to talk about your SEO strategies, and to establish a strong customer service.

There are specific things you need to convert these ordinary customers to satisfied customers. You will need to accommodate the customer’s need s and you actions to take to deliver and perform well.

1. Be Inspired.

This is the time to get excited because this new business ventures and new partnerships. New customers will come to you for the following reasons…

• This might be their first time to encounter the world of SEO.
• They might be curious what will SEO bring to the table.
• These businesses will be looking forward for the new opportunities that SEO would pick up along the way.

For you, this could be the 100th business you would handle. It could be another mundane project to fix. Treat every business as a unique learning experience.

A new customer would mean another chance for you to improve your skills and learn new things. The SEO industry is always expanding. This is also a once-in-a-lifetime experience to meet new SEO professionals and learn new special skill sets.

Lack of eagerness would imply you are uninterested and would affect how other people will see your business.

Related: SEO Streategies to Consider this 2019

2. Include the Customer to the Equation.

You might think that it helps if you only include the customer at the end when the results are ready.  It is best to include them while you do the project. The best results can only be achieve you collaborate and consider their inputs too!

When you incorporate the customers, it’s not just on the creative side, but also they can help in defining the main focus of the website or project on hand. This is your time to create something unique together. That way, it won’t be just another project to you. There’s something that definitely sets it apart from the rest. It also is easier to:

• make the necessary changes.
• cut out hindrances.
• reinforce that agreement the customers agreed upon.

3. Create New Processes & Improve Existing Ones.

When you have a new SEO customer, you and your team should be clear on the following:

• The goals and the objectives.
• The designation of the different tasks.
• Key personnel. Who to report to if the need arises.
• Project milestones.
• Product information.
• Coherent reports and updates.

4. It’s Okay to Pause and Reflect.

Once you have welcomed everyone to the team and implemented the specific accounts and emails, it is also important to pause and evaluate the current standing of the project. Take a look at the bigger picture.

When a team member is too excited to start with a project, there’s a chance that the whole team will miss a crucial step. So, don’t get too excited to begin with project right away. Approach it with a clear head.

Of course, being excited is a good thing. You look forward to working with the team and start a new adventure. However, if you are quick at making rash decisions, it could cause problems in the future. If you need to, take a step back and the set clearer objectives in terms of SEO and the overall focus of the website.

Better blog posts are not only possible if you earn a writing skill, but it can be attainable using the right tools with you. Aside from researching what to write, you need to make time in enhancing and refining the scheduled content.

If you want to stand out from the rest, you need to be armed with the tools that will help you succeed. There are countless of options for you to choose from. These tools are just my suggestions and I’m not personally affiliated with them. Try and browse the list below because you might end up liking them.

RESEARCH

• Portent’s Content Idea Generatoris actually a title maker, but it can also give you ideas. This tool isn’t everyone’s first choice. However, if you are just starting blogging, this will give you a good start. Plus, it’s free! So, what’s not to love?
• For example, you will type in the subject “love songs.” It will suggest “How Love Songs Once Saved the World,” “The Ultimate Guide to Love Songs,” or “9 Best Love Songs of All Time.”
• Next on the list is Quora. It is a Q & A website that will tell you what the people are asking. You will have an idea what they need in their life. This way, you can provide direct solutions to these problems. If you have an existing product or service that can greatly help, then that’s better! You can use Quora to suggest and recommend your products and services.
• Reddit is like Quora. You will get a lot of content ideas because it is basically a huge discussion board. People can discuss about anything under the sun. You can even ask fellow Reddit users to evaluate your products. It’s a place for people to give their honest opinions and collaborate with each other.

COLLABORATION

• ProofHub is the place for collaboration and project management. Though it is a paid service, they offer a 30-day free trial with access to all its features.
• The main uses of ProofHub are having: time tracking device, visual time table, calendar, task management tools, discussion boards, group chat, project templates and notes.
• You see? It’s a tool that has everything you can imagine a team needs. There’s no need for a file to go through a long process of editing and approval. Files are shared to everyone, and all the versions are kept and stored.
• Dropbox Paperis another useful tool. If Dropbox is an online storage of all your files, then Dropbox Paper serves as an online workspace. A team, wherever and whenever, can freely collaborate.
• Dropbox Paper, like Dropbox, offers a basic free service. Businesses can opt to upgrade to a larger space with a fee. The basic account can still allow team members to write and edit documents, create concepts, manage project, or even conduct meetings.
• With Dropbox Paper, team collaboration is better because everything is happening in real-time. There’s no need for one member to wait for another member to arrive at the office. As long as you are conducted to the internet, you can review documents anytime and anywhere.

I am sure that you have experienced writing a blog post, and then, it went unnoticed. Despite all the effort and research you provided, the blog post did not gain the expected views, shares, and links. Sadly, this situation does happen more often than not. You cannot let this continue because your rankings will suffer.

With that in mind, I am going to talk about the groundwork for producing the top-notch blog post. If you follow these tops, the quality of your posts will become better and raise the bar higher.

1. Always know the purpose first. 

• Ask the question WHY? What is the use of this blog post?
• It is helpful to know the end so that you can go back to the beginning and clearly define your main points.
• Reflect upon these questions:
  • Is the blog a source of information?
  • Will you talk about certain topics? Will this be more of a commentary blog?
  • Or, is this blog a place where new trends and new technologies start?
• Once you clearly established the purpose of your blog in general, then, you can proceed to defining each blog post.
  • Is it to gain readers or is it about gaining more email subscribers?
  • Is it here to support another page or are you doing this for social shares?
  • Is this post something news related or is it an evergreen article?

Related: The difference between news articles vs. evergreen articles

2. Knowing your audience is the next step.

• Once you are with the purpose, now, you have to define who you are talking to. Of course, if you wish to communicate to the public and give relevant information that will be helpful to everyone, you would NOT fill your posts with jargons and other mechanics.
• Remember that the blog is not about you. It’s about your audience.
  • Know what they would like to read.
  • Know their concerns and their interests.
  • Know what their problems are. Then, offer solutions that will make their life easier.
• If you do not know your audience, you will not be able to connect with them. Grab their attention by posting about something they like, and not something YOU like.

3. Write about a topic you know.

• When you are knowledgeable about a subject matter, you are definitely qualified to share what you know. If you have NO knowledge about it, then don’t even try.
• It’s like a singer giving dance tutorials. Your audience would be doubtful of your tips.
• For you to be an established authority, you need to be an expert, or at least, bear the needed qualifications.
• Don’t pretend to know a lot about basketball when the truth is you are a soccer player. Your audience will not trust your words. They will surely find another authority to talk about soccer. I’m certain that you would do the same if you are facing the same situation. Am I right?

That ends part 1 of the discussion on the important aspects of a superior quality blog post. Stay tuned for the second part. I will talk about other characteristics such as being able to research well, being original, and being informative.