Being Found on Google, competitive advantage, Google Ads, organic SEO, paid search, Search Engine Optimization, search terms, SEO, website

When It Comes To SEO, It’s Healthy To Draw Comparisons

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Many a friend and family member has heard me share this old adage, “comparison is the thief of the joy.” In general, drawing comparisons between your personal or professional life with others just leads to heartache and disappointment. And, as I’m also prone to share, no two people’s lives take the same path, and in keeping with different paths, different outcomes follow. But, most importantly, we all need to forever keep the following in mind. People don’t tend to share the tough stuff that’s going on with their career, job, or personal life on social media. So, drawing comparisons with others, based on what you see or read on social media, again, is pretty pointless and just a recipe for unhappiness.

Okay, coming down from my soap box now about making comparisons between yourself and others, to address the title of this post. While it’s not mentally healthy to draw comparisons with others, when it comes to the products and services your organizations offers, it can be quite fruitful from an SEO standpoint to draw comparisons, and therefore, be “business-healthy.”

In our “Give The People What They Want” blog post about the SEO benefits of answering popular questions people have about the products or services you offer, we called out an SEO tool called “Answer The Public.” Using the tool to create a list of questions that individuals are searching on related to a particular product or service has repeatedly demonstrated to me that many people are either asking Google questions like, “how does abc compare to xyz? and “what’s the difference between abc and xyz?” Or, they are entering into Google statements vs. questions that ultimately still indicate they need answers. An example of the latter is simply “abc vs. xyz.”

Image of The Acronym SEO Which Stands For Search Optimization With A Bright Gold Upward Pointing Arrow Going Through It To Indicate Improving How You Rank In Google

The SEO Win Of Addressing Client Confusion

Given the number of people regularly entering comparison questions or statements into Google, why not make sure your website is found for those questions and statements (and, their answers, of course) by addressing them in an FAQ (frequently asked questions) and/or other sections of your website? Here’s a few examples from our own business:

  • Q: What’s the difference between organic search/organic SEO and paid SEO/paid search? A: Paid search or paid SEO is the practice of purchasing advertising from Google or other search engines so that an ad that links to your website will be served up at the top of search engine results for search terms relevant to the products and services you offer.
  • Q: When to use paid SEO/paid search tactics vs. organic search/organic SEO services? A: As we shared in our “SEM and SEO: Understanding the Difference and When to Employ Each Digital Marketing Tactic” blog post, three key reasons for employing paid SEO tactics vs. organic SEO tactics include: you need your site to rank well immediately on Google and can’t wait for organic tactics to gradually move the SEO needle; your organization is in an extremely competitive environment and no amount of organic SEO tactics is going to get your site ranking above more-established/-entrenched competitors; Google is serving up a particular page of your site for various search terms vs. the page of your site you want it to serve up for those search terms.

Let Us Help You Draw Business-Healthy Comparisons

Need help figuring out what comparison-related content to include on your website, and where to include it? Reach out today to schedule a complimentary SEO discussion.

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Dance To What Is – Part II

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It’s been quite some time since I posted my original “Dance To What Is,” blog post. Results Communications & Research is almost 10 years older than it was at that time. Impossible to believe! But, it is very believable to me that I’m still using the phrases “dancing to what is,” and “dance to what is,” because those phrases describe how I always try to live my life, no matter how much time passes.

I often say the “Cobblers’ Kids Have No Shoes,” which means, sometimes, our Boston digital marketing agency/SEO company is so busy helping organizations of all shapes and sizes with their marketing, we are forced to neglect our own a bit. But, I witnessed something so powerful during a subway ride home to the South Shore from Boston this week, that I just had to make the time to write about it while the experience was still very fresh in my mind.

A Great Example Of Making The Most Of Whatever Situation You Find Yourself In

I had the great pleasure of witnessing someone “dance to what is,” both literally and figuratively. I’m tearing up as I type this because the “dancer” gave me a HUGE gift, and I hope somehow, some way this blog post finds its way to her and that I can do justice to the beautiful energy which emanates from her. But we’ll get to her story in a little bit…

I had headed into Boston from Braintree yesterday afternoon to meet some friends for a dinner to celebrate both my birthday (a birthday that occurred earlier in the month) and another friend in our group’s birthday. In order to meet my friends, I had to take two trains — the Red Line from Braintree to Boston, and then, the Green Line from Boston to Chestnut Hill (Brookline/Newton area). Unbeknownst to me, the Green Line trains were not running and they were bussing people instead to the many locations served by the MBTA’s (Boston’s subway system’s) Green Line. I couldn’t catch a bus or a Lyft in time to get out to Chestnut Hill to meet my friends. The traffic in Boston’s Copley Place area was just so congested because of the bussing, and particularly so, because it was rush hour, and everyone who didn’t want to be bussed had probably snatched up all the available Lyft rides.

Making Lemonade From Lemons

Instead of feeling angry and upset, I decided to stay upbeat, i.e., to “dance to what is.” To just focus on my having the opportunity to walk around the City on a nice late-fall night, take advantage of viewing holiday lights, window displays, and decorations, do a little shopping, and treat myself to a nice dinner at “Back Deck” on West Street, which by the way was quite yummy and has a great atmosphere!

I was proud of my ability to “dance to what is” and make the best of the situation I found myself in. It would have been so easy to get really cranky about all the transportation glitches and my missing out on seeing great, life-long friends.

But, my ability to dance to what is pales in comparison to the “dancing to what is” superstar I teased you about above and whom I’m about to describe. After my dinner and shopping, I jumped on the Red Line at Boston’s Downtown Crossing station to head back to Braintree. Note that you can grab a Red Line train from that station that goes to Braintree, or you can grab one that goes to the Ashmont neighborhood in Dorchester. If you’re overtired and don’t check the signage on trains coming thru, you can end up on the wrong train. Believe me, I’ve done it several times, for the aforementioned reason.

The train car in which I found myself was only moderately crowded and I ended up sitting across from a beautiful young woman with exotic features. I don’t know exactly how old she was. I’m guessing late teens or early 20’s. A woman whom I believed to be her grandmother eventually came to sit next to her, but originally, this young woman was sitting by herself. She was wearing headphones, and it was obvious that she was very engaged with whatever she was listening to on her device. Every once in a while, she would shout out with joy. There is no other way to describe her affect than to say she was “sparkly/sparkling.” Her eyes just expressed so much happiness and excitement. Every once in a while, she would startle me with her squeals of joy about something. Her grandmother reminded her to quiet down because she saw that initially her granddaughter’s unexpected outbursts were startling me, but I told her grandmother, not to worry. That it was great to see someone so “happy.”

Dancing To Your Own Beat

Eventually, the girl got up from her seat and started dancing to the music she was listening to. She didn’t care what anyone thought about her dancing in the middle of a subway car, and just continued to show great joy via her eyes and her smile. Of course, I smiled back. In response to my sharing with her grandmother that it was great to see someone so “happy,” the young woman shared with me that she is always “very positive.”

When I was getting off the train in Braintree (the last stop on the Braintree line, of course), I saw they were not getting off. I asked something like “are you heading back in the other direction?” and they just responded “yes,” but as I headed off the train, the young woman with great energy repeated to me numerous times “stay warm,” and kept flashing her beautiful smiles and eyes at me. I don’t know why these two fellow “T” riders didn’t get off the train at the last stop, but I’m guessing they erroneously got on the Braintree vs. Ashmont line, and had to head back into Boston to transfer over to that other line. Other people who had made such a mistake would have ranted and raved while on the wrong line, and then, ranted and raved if asked if they had to reverse their commute. But, there was none of that negative thinking or talk from these two women. They just continued to “dance to what is.”

I will forever remember how this young woman literally and figuratively danced to what is on a cold November night on the Red Line!

I’d love to hear stories from my readers about how you danced to what is, or about “dancing to what is” superstars you’ve had the pleasure to meet or know!

Being Found on Google, blog, Blog, Blogging, keeping up with trends, keywords, lead generation, marketing best practices, marketing consultant, Marketing Planning, online presence, organic SEO, Search Engine Optimization, search terms, SEM, SEO, strategic planning, target audiences, Target Marketing, Understanding Your Environment, User experience, website

Blogging Is Still A Very Effective SEO Tactic

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I recently watched a video from an SEO expert who stated that, for certain organizations, regular blogging may no longer be an effective SEO strategy.

The above is not what I’ve seen in the past and what I continue to see. My clients who make and take the time to write and post new blog posts on topics that their particular target audiences are interested in and need to better understand, continue to drive traffic to their website from audiences who have great potential to buy their products or use their services. And, they are driving those relevant audiences because they are ranking well on Google for desirable search terms (known as keywords) because Google is indexing their blog content and serving it up in search results in relevant geographies.

This is the image of hands that are on a laptop keyword and what is shown on the laptop screen is someone editing something that they are posting to a WordPress website. The image is shown to support our Boston SEO company's blog post about why you should continue to blog and how to blog effectively.

How To Blog Effectively

Anyone can “blog,” but how do you blog effectively to support SEO and actual sales?

  • Employ a keyword planner tool, like Google Ads’, to determine on which high-volume keywords your target audiences are searching
  • Use tools like Ubersuggest, Google Trends, and Answer The Public to see what questions your audiences has or what they are searching most about, and create blog posts that speak to those searches and questions
  • Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to determine what new, or long-time, blog posts on your site individuals are visiting most and make sure that you:

Need Ideas About What To Blog About?

Our team can help you develop a blogging strategy that would include research to determine what you should be blogging about. Depending on the complexity of the products and services you offer, we can even write and post your blog posts for you and make sure they get crawled/indexed by Google.

Reach Out To Our Boston SEO Company Today!

We love a good complimentary discussion about any organization’s marketing challenges or opportunities — whether the organization be a nonprofit or for-profit. To-date, we’ve supported approximately 125 different brands, so there’s very few industries, products, or services for which we don’t have at least some relevant marketing experience; plus, we’re quick to learn new industries, products, and services. So, schedule your free call with our team of SEO experts today!

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Why You Can and You Can’t Stockpile SEO

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As I shared with entrepreneur attendees of a recent webinar I gave with a colleague on “ensuring your website is your workhorse,” search engine optimization (SEO) is not a one and done activity. SEO should be viewed as an activity that continues as long as your business or organization does. That said, there are steps you can take to stockpile some SEO work, while knowing that you can’t fully stockpile SEO because of needing to respond to yet-unknown industry, life, world, and personal events that may impact your organization and the products, services, and solutions you offer. Think about the onset of the 2020 pandemic. None of us really saw that coming, right? And, we had to pivot and put out new information, and/or add or tweak products and services to better serve our customers in a new world/business landscape.

This image shows some kind of large shelving unit for storing logs. The image shows 100 or more logs piled up on top of each other and is shown in keeping with our Boston SEO company's blog post entitled "Why you can and why you can't stockpile SEO."

How You Can Stockpile SEO

Google continues to reward websites who provide fresh/current “helpful content.” This was reinforced by their August 2023 algorithm update that indicated having “helpful content” was a key factor “the king of search engines” would continue to take into consideration when deciding which websites to serve high up in search results for relevant terms.

By creating an editorial calendar that documents future blog post topics for the next quarter, or more, and then, actually writing the posts and creating or identify images for use along with the posts, you can certainly get ahead of the SEO game — by doing all you can to have content that your target audience will value queued up for several or many months. The aforementioned is particularly true if your content management system (CMS)/website platform allows you to schedule posts to be published at a future date.

Why You Can’t Completely Stockpile SEO

As expressed in our blog post intro., there will always be unforeseen circumstances that arise that will cause you to want or need to put out new unanticipated content, or to add or change product, service, and solution offerings. Here’s an example: a blog post I wrote with a colleague about how to best employ social media during the pandemic. Could I have foreseen a need for this post months in advance, and therefore, created and scheduled this, i.e., stockpiled it? No. I don’t think anyone could have anticipated the severity and length of COVID’s impact on organizations and businesses many months in advance.

In sum, you can and should take time to create an editorial calendar detailing future blog post topics and publish dates, and you can and should write those in advance; plus, use CMS capabilities to schedule them to publish on your website at the right time. But, there will always be times when you’ll need to respond immediately to unexpected events that occur — either ones that may pose a challenge to you and your customers, or provide an opportunity for you and your customers that you’ll want to capitalize on quickly.

Need Help Building Out A Blog Post Editorial Calendar?

Not sure where to begin to figure out topics for future blog posts that will provide meaningful, beneficial information to prospective and existing clients?

Schedule a complimentary discussion with our digital marketing team of SEO experts to talk about how to create “helpful content.”

Acceptance of Circumstances, alt-tags, Being Found on Google, blog, Blog, Blogging, Google Ads, Google Nonprofit Ad Grant, keywords, organic SEO, paid search, pull marketing, Search Engine Optimization, search terms, SEM, SEO, SEO tags, User experience, website

How Not To Let Your SEO Strategy & Progress Slide When You’re Short On Time

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The topic of this blog post wasn’t the one I planned to write about next. But, it’s particularly busy at Results Communications & Research, and that’s a good thing and blessing, right? It does mean, though, that the longer, more-detailed post topic I had on my radar will have to wait.

Right before posting this, I was faced with this challenge. I’ve been so busy helping clients with their paid SEO and organic SEO this spring and summer, I haven’t had the physical bandwidth to employ SEO tactics related to my own site that I encourage all my clients to implement — particularly the tactic I wrote about in my “Why It’s Time To Get Back To Internet and SEO Basics” blog post about being “fresh” by adding new content to, or updating existing content on your website.

So, I asked myself, “since I don’t have time to effectively write and post a really informative blog post, what small revisions can I make to my website to let Google know that my business, Results Communications & Research, is still alive & well? That we haven’t abandoned ship or shop? That we’re still open for business? That were not neglectful?

neon signage
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Small Website “Freshening-Ups” Support SEO

I landed on making a couple of simple tweaks. I recently had new, professional headshots taken. So, I added those to the About and Contact pages of my site, and wrote an image alt-tag for both of the photos. Alt-tags support being found on Google since Google will crawl and index such tags. They also make it clear to Google that your site is accessible to visually impaired individuals since alt-tags can be read by screen readers. It’s unknown if Google favors accessible sites over inaccessible ones, but Google does love sites that provide for a good user experience.

In addition to the above photo and tag additions, I added a new client name to the Google Nonprofit Ad Grant Services page of my site. And, I submitted all three revised pages of my site for indexing, using my Google Search Console account, so I and my site don’t have to wait for Google to find my revisions.

None of the above was a big lift, but it should support my site ranking well for relevant terms vs. it sliding as far as where in search results listings Google serves it up for desirable, high-volume search terms, known as keywords.

What small revisions can you make today to your site to support your SEO strategy?

Reach Out To Our Team Of SEO Experts

Need advice about small, less time-consuming tweaks you can regularly make to your site to support maintaining how it ranks in Google? Reach out today for a complimentary conversation.

Being Found on Google, Google Ads, Google Nonprofit Ad Grant, lead generation, Nonprofit Marketing & Communications, online advertising, paid search, pull marketing, Search Engine Optimization, search terms, SEM, SEO, website

How Nonprofit Arts Organizations Can Benefit From A Google Nonprofit Ad Grant

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In our most recent blog post about how to market your organization’s opportunities for someone to enjoy an experience, we talked about how organizations offering classes, performance events, or other experiences can rank better/be found on Google. Nonprofit arts organizations can supplement ranking well “organically” by employing very generous paid search/Google Ads $$ available from a Google Nonprofit Ad Grant.

We’ve already written a number of blog posts about Google Nonprofit Ad Grants, and we invite you to check out this most recent Google Nonprofit Ad Grant post, which contains links to all of them, to learn why your organization might benefit for such a Grant and how they work.

This shows just the middle portion of two people's bodies. One is dark-skinned, the other fair-skinned. Based on colored short-sleeved shirts they are wearing, it appears to be two men who are strumming guitars and standing at one or several mikes. This image of a live music performance is shown in keeping with our Boston SEO services company's blog post about using a Google Nonprofit Ad Grant to support your nonprofit arts organization.

How We Help Arts Nonprofits Optimize Their Google Nonprofit AD Grant

Our Boston SEO Company is currently working with a number of non-profit arts organizations to help them optimize their Google Ad Grant. So, just what does that mean?

  • We make recommendations on how to structure their account, i.e., how many distinct ad campaigns within an account are needed and how many sub-campaigns (known as Google Ads ad groups) are needed.
  • We write Google search ad content/copy for client’s review and approval.
  • We develop and implement search term/keywords lists which will prompt the Google search ads available thru a Grant to be shown to appropriate searchers.
    • We take a creative approach to this, including identifying and employing terms related to people looking for solutions to problems or ideas for local experiences or experiences at places they plan to visit for fun or for work, i.e., we walk in tourists’ and residents’ shoes.
  • We work with clients to put appropriate “conversion” tracking in place.
    • As part of the above, we talk about what activities non-profit organizations want site visitors/ad clickers to take on their site (known as conversions), such as signing up for an e-newsletter, buying tickets, calling, and filling out an inquiry form.
    • We work collaboratively with an organization’s internal webmaster or external web developer to put appropriate tracking in place.
      • The above will likely involve using Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager.
  • We keep a really close eye on how an organization’s Google Ads are performing — are they generating impressions (being served up), are they generating clicks, what does the click-thru rate look like, are conversions being generated?
  • We independently make small tweaks to campaigns to improve performance; we reach out to clients for approval to make larger/sizable/significant revisions.
  • We provide informal (e-mail) updates on how campaigns are performing, more formal Excel, Powerpoint, and/or Google Sheet reports for sharing with nonprofit Board members, and will meet with clients monthly via video-chat services, like Zoom, to discuss Google search ads results and implications.
    • As part of the above, our two teams talk about upcoming events or new website pages to which we want to drive traffic (the aforementioned may require us to set up a new campaign or ad group.)

Learn More About Our Google Nonprofit Ad Grant Services

This shows numerous individuals painting at painting easels at a painting class. This image is shown in keeping with our Boston SEO services company's blog post about using a Google Nonprofit Ad Grant to support your nonprofit arts organization.

You can learn more about our Boston digital marketing agency’s Google Nonprofit Ad Grant services, and client we’ve worked with, on our Google Nonprofit Ad Grant Services page. Our team of Boston SEO experts and Google Nonprofit Ad Grant experts is always here to help, so please don’t hesitate to reach out, or to set up a complimentary discussion about your particular nonprofit organization’s marketing challenges and opportunities.

Being Found on Google, competitive advantage, content marketing, differentiation, keywords, lead generation, marketing best practices, meta tags, organic SEO, pull marketing, Search Engine Optimization, search terms, SEO, target audiences, Target Marketing, website

XYZ Things To Do In Anytown

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We recently wrote a blog post about local SEO (local search engine optimization) entitled “XYZ Near Me” reminding our readers about the importance of ranking for relevant “near me” terms, and what it means to rank for them. We’re keeping the “XYZ” theme going, but this time we’re expanding the geography factor a bit.

As we’ve shared many times on the main pages of our website and in blog posts, our Boston SEO company and digital marketing agency works with a very diverse client base, including for-profit organizations and nonprofit organizations, and organizations that offer tangible, consumer goods, as well as ones that offer services. Included in the aforementioned client mix, are organizations that offer “experiences.” To us, experiences, such as events, shows, and classes are sort of a hybrid between a service and a tangible good. You certainly take something home with you — lots of great priceless memories!

We currently are working with a number of clients offering such experiences. Several are nonprofit arts organizations offering one or several of the following: live music, theatrical performances or shows, classes, and art exhibits. One for-profit client providing a special experience is a perfume shop in New Orleans, offering both residents and tourists the opportunity to take a trip back in time to the Vieux Carre (Old Square) and to Paris via the experience of touring their historic French Quarter shop and choosing a fragrance for themselves, or as a gift or souvenir for someone else.

What do all of these organizations have in common beyond offering “experiences,” great memories, and valuable opportunities for bonding with friends and family? They all want and need to be found in search engines by searchers searching on “xyz things to do in their particular town/city/state region.” Why? Because both residents of, or individuals planning a business trip or vacation to, their area, often don’t know they and their fabulous experiences exist. Appropriate audiences for their particular experiences may not be searching on their name or even the particular experience they offer such as “live music,” but they definitely will be searching on “things list” terms such as the following:

  • fun things to do in Boston MA
  • unique things to do in Harvard Square
  • best things to do on Cape Cod
  • romantic things to do in New Orleans
  • special things to do in Boston Metrowest area

We think you get the picture!

This is a powder blue square image that reads at the top "what "things lists" should your website be found for?" Underneath that heading is a picture of a diverse group of 20- or 30-something men and women of differing ethnicities. They are holding out a map in front of them and pointing to something. They are supposed to represent tourists in keeping with our Boston SEO company's blog post about experience-organization websites wanting to be found for "things lists," therefore things to do lists.

Highlighting The “Things List” You Want To Be Found For On Google

There are two ways you can call out to Google, and other search engines, the “things list” terms you want your website to be found and rank well for:

  • Be creative about including in your public-facing website content those things lists you think your website/organization deserves to be found for. Let’s say you offer dinner and live music in an intimate, cozy atmosphere, why not include a sentence like the following in your website content? “We’re often told by visitors (or customers) that attending one of our dinner shows should be at the top of the list of romantic things to do in Boston.”
  • Include the things list term you want to be found for in your behind-the-scenes SEO/meta page or SEO/post title tag along with a geographic trigger like “MA” or “Copley Place” or “Braintree.”

If you don’t know what things lists your particular target audiences are searching on most frequently and/or how to compose a post or page title tag (or where to enter them on your website), reach out to our SEO services company for help.

Highlighting Solutions To Problems To Support SEO

Being found for right things list terms, is just one of many examples of how your organization needs to think beyond the exact names of your particular products and services, and about the solutions to problems you offer. As we always call out in any informal or more-formal SEO training class we facilitate, many people who conduct a search engine search, are looking to identify an organization or individual who can solve their problem. So, as we recommended above related to appearing for the right things lists, you need to incorporate these solutions to problems in your website content and page title tags. For example, nutritionists might include phrases in content and tags like “how to lose weight,” or “how to have more energy.”

Reach Out For Help With SEO

You can learn more about our various one-time/one-off and ongoing SEO services on our SEO services page, but you can also schedule a free SEO Zoom or phone discussion about your particular challenges and opportunities to be found and rank well on Google, including those related to appearing for the right “things list” terms!

Being Found on Google, blog, Blog, Blogging, lead generation, marketing best practices, Marketing Planning, PR firm, public relations, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, website

How Publicity Supports SEO (Being Found on Google)

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Sure, after reading the above title, you probably immediately thought publicity activities support far more than SEO. Without a doubt that’s true. We’ve always been a huge fan of activities that create or cause publicity (public awareness), particularly ones that lead to online or print coverage like pitching a story to appropriate reporters/media, or sending them a press release. Publicity tends to be a fairly “free” means of creating awareness, or driving sales or engagement, although there’s the cost of time spent drafting a press release or a pitch, and then, time spent outreaching to various media. And, if you use a media service to distribute your press release or there’s an event associated with the publicity, there’s those additional costs. Still, publicity can be far less costly than buying advertising.

The SEO Pay-off of Pitches and Press Releases

But, the purpose of this blog post is not to discuss ALL the merits and benefits of implementing publicity tactics, but rather it’s specifically about why and how publicity activities can support your organization being found on Google, which is what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about. When a news publication or some other organization either publishes information you shared with them in a press release or writes a story (based on a story you pitched them and their interviewing one or several individuals associated with your organization), and then shares it on their website or blog, they’ll almost always include what’s known as a backlink to your organization’s website.

As we discussed in our blog post about the benefits of backlinks, a link to your website or blog — placed on the website or blog of an external organization — increases the likelihood that Google will serve your website up in search results (and higher up in results) as long as the website/blog that is providing the backlink is considered reputable/creditable by Google. This is how publicity directly influences SEO.

But, even if individuals reading the online article/post about you don’t click on a backlink to visit your site, they may Google you later or type the URL they see in an article directly into their browser or search engine and visit your site via those means vs. the backlink. The aforementioned holds particularly true for printed articles, such as articles that appear in a newspaper or magazine. Regardless of how visitors get to/land on your online site or blog, increased traffic volume supports SEO. In general, Google views sites that have greater traffic volumes as ones that are more creditable/reputable, and Google prefers to serve up the aforementioned types of sites. This is how publicity may less directly influence SEO.

In sum, both print and online story and press release coverage can support SEO, even if the support is less direct!

This is an illustration of a newspaper. It shows the typical column set-up that you might see in both printed and online newspapers. It says "Breaking News" at the top and "what's next" in bright red font in the middle of the newspaper, above the fold of the newspaper, which represents the bottom of the image. It is shown in conjunction with our Boston digital marketing agency and SEO company's blog post about how publicity supports SEO/ranking well on Google.

Reach Out To Our Boston SEO Company To Talk About The Overlap Between SEO and Publicity

Our Boston digital marketing agency and SEO company would love to chat with you about how publicity can support SEO success and what type of publicity makes sense for you and your organization to consider and pursue. So, reach out today to schedule a call with our publicity and SEO experts.

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Why I Love A Good Walk ‘n Talk

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I’ve always loved a good walk ‘n talk. Even in my days of working in corporate marketing roles, I enjoyed taking a lunchbreak stroll with co-workers or my direct reports to catch up or touch base on a variety of topics — both work & play.

A friend, to whom I’ve also provided marketing advice related to her small business, and I recently capitalized on a beautiful South-Shore-of-Boston spring day to catch up on everything going on in all aspects of our lives, and it reminded me how much I enjoy walk ‘n talks and how I’ve got to keep scheduling them with friends and business colleagues.

Image of our Boston digital marketing agency and SEO company's founder, Gail Snow Moraski, standing on a pier/wharf on Boston's waterfront. Image is shown in keeping with about blog post about walking. The image shows boats packed on edge pier/wharf.
I particularly love a good walk n’ talk along Atlantic Avenue or Commercial Street among all Boston’s waterfront’s many piers and wharfs.

Benefits Of A Walk ‘n Talk (Walk and Talk)

Here’s my thoughts on the benefits of a good walk ‘n talk, but you may have your own, so please do share!

  • Both exercise and being out in nature are good for destressing, and in this fast-paced world and unsettling times we live in, we’d all benefit from a means to unwind and get centered, right?
  • Particularly on a busy workday, time is capitalized since both work challenges and opportunities can be discussed, while engaging in an activity that keeps you healthy and in shape.
  • Being outdoors is freeing! Escaping the walls of corporate or home offices can cause one to let their guard down a bit, open up more, and be more creative.
  • Camaraderie and collaboration are created when you set mutual goals with your fellow walker — like, “let’s up our distance this walk,” “let’s get 6000 steps in,” “let’s walk four miles today,” or “let’s walk to the North End and back.”

I’m always up for a good walk ‘n talk, so please reach out anytime to see if we can identify a convenient place for us to walk and talk!

Need More Inspiration To Walk?

I regularly write about both marketing and walking. If you’re looking for more walking inspiration, visit our main blog page, at https://allintheresults.com/ponderings, then scroll down the right hand-side until you can select “walking” as a category, or simply click on this link to see all of our walking blog posts. You’ll see how much we love walking by the many blog posts I’ve written about it over the years.

Being Found on Google, competitive advantage, lead generation, marketing best practices, organic SEO, paid search, pull marketing, Search Engine Optimization, search terms, SEM, SEO

XYZ Near Me

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Conversations I’ve had with clients and prospective clients recently about “local SEO” have prompted me to share the following reminder.

For “near me” terms, Google is going to focus on serving up “Google My Business Profiles/Google Search & Maps Listings” vs. an appropriate organization’s website. It makes great sense since “a near me” search is all about the searcher identifying an organization near them that offers the products, services, or solutions to problems they are seeking.

Ranking Organically (Without Paying For Advertising) For Relevant “Near Me” Terms

While some organization’s products and services lend themselves more to “near me” searching like “real estate agent near me,” “brunch restaurants new me,” “roofing companies near me,” “elder law attorney near me,” and “ice cream near me” — and those organizations definitely want and need to have a Google My Business Profile (GMB Profile) and ensure it ranks well — all organizations should have a regularly updated Profile in place to support overall, broader geographic ranking.

We won’t repeat everything we’ve shared in previous posts about keeping your GMB Profile current and comprehensive, but you can access such information at the bottom of this post.

What we do want to remind organizations about related to “Near Me” searches is to regularly revisit your GMB Profile business categories. When you set up your Profile, you can select a primary “business category” and several secondary “business categories.” Google regularly adds more specific product and service terms to this list. So, make sure your organization appears in local search results for as many of your products and services as you can, by indicating to Google, via your business category selection, what products and services you offer.

This is a powder blue image that says "2 Ways To Rank Locally/For "Near Me" Terms" In Black Letters At The Top. Underneath it says "1. Organically: Via Optimized Google My Business/Google Search & Maps Listing and 2. Paid Advertising: Via Google Search Ads And/Or Google Local Services Ads." At bottom, it has the logo for our Boston SEO services company, Results Communications & Research, and says "we can help with any and all of this!"

Ranking For Relevant “Near Me” Terms Via Paid Advertising

Two forms of Google paid advertising will help your organization appear high up in Google search results for relevant local searches:

  • Google Search Ads – while these primarily-text ads appear at the top of Google search results listing for relevant searches, they also can support your GMB Profile appearing at the top of the list of all Google My Business profiles that Google serves up in what’s known as the “Local Pack,” i.e., the first 3 or 4 listings that Google serves up (see first blog post at bottom of post.)
  • Google Local Services Ads – these ads focus on getting a searcher to call or message you; therefore, cause a pretty immediate conversion. While they don’t directly impact your Google My Business Profile or cause it be served up, they do pull information from your Google My Business profile, i.e., your “reviews.” Unlike Google Search Ads, the goal isn’t to drive traffic to your website or Google My Business profile, the goal is to make someone reach out to you immediately! You can learn more in this excellent article by WordStream.

Feeling Overwhelmed By All Things Local Search/Google My Business?

Reach out today to our Boston SEO services company. We offer both local search and domestic/global search SEO services, and can help you related to ranking better locally, for the whole U.S., and beyond!

Past Blog Posts About Optimizing Your Google My Business Profile

Stay At The Head Of “The Local Pack” By Packing Your Google My Business Profile With Regular Updates
Four Things Getting & Staying In Shape and SEO Have In Common
A 10-Year Look-back: Observations on Social Media Use by Businesses
Why It’s Time To Get Back To Internet and SEO Basics
Why Combining Keyword Research With An SEO Audit Is A Recipe For SEO Success
Spring Clean Your Online Presence to Support Both Sales and SEO — Part I