Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

by | Feb 6, 2025 | Featured Articles, Marketing, SEO

Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

5-easy-ways-to-generate-website-traffic

Marketing a local business requires a strategic approach to connect with potential customers in your area. Unlike online businesses that target a wider audience, local businesses thrive on community engagement, trust, and visibility. Partnering with a Local SEO agency can help you optimize your digital presence and attract your target audience more effectively. 

This article explores the key components of a targeted local SEO strategy and the role of Google Business Profile in helping business owners reach their target audience – strengthening their online presence to drive business growth.

What is Local SEO

Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves using various tools and strategies to boost online visibility and rank higher in local search results, helping attract more customers in your service area. This is especially important for businesses that serve specific geographic locations and are targeting customers searching for relevant products and services near them. 

A comprehensive local SEO strategy involves:

  • Google Business Profile Optimization – Providing accurate business information, engaging with customers through reviews and posts, and keeping your profile updated.
  • On-Page SEO – Using local keywords, optimizing meta tags, and headings, and creating location-specific content on your website.
  • Content Marketing – Creating and sharing relevant, high-quality content, including blog posts, social media updates, and locally focused web pages to engage your community and improve rankings.
  • Local Citations & Directories – Listing your business in local online directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and industry-specific sites.
  • Technical SEO – Optimizing website speed, mobile-friendliness, and structured data for better local search performance.

Local SEO is an ongoing process that requires consistent attention to achieve the best results. These strategies that build visibility work together to attract your target audience to your business, build trust, and persuade them to act.  

For example, when a potential customer discovers your Google Business Profile through search results, an accurate address, positive customer reviews, and relevant posts can encourage them to make an appointment or visit your website for more information. If your website is optimized for local SEO, showcasing local services and feedback from nearby customers will strengthen that trust and motivate them to take the next step by becoming a customer.

What is a Business Profile on Google?

A Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their presence on Google Search and Google Maps. It provides important details such as your business name, address, phone number, operational hours, and customer reviews. However, optimizing your GBP is much more than just adding business information. It involves using local SEO strategies to help you rank higher in local search results, boosting your online presence in the local community.

To get started with a Google Business Profile, simply log into your Google account (or create a new one if you don’t already have one). Ownership of your GBP is vital for maintaining control over your profile and its credibility. Once logged in, visit the Google Business Profile platform, enter your business details, and verify your business with Google.

After verification, you can address key elements like customer reviews, posts about promotions and appointment booking buttons. These features improve the user experience, making it easier for potential customers to take action directly from your profile, such as calling your business or scheduling a visit.

If you’re working with a Local SEO agency, you can add business managers to your profile. This allows them to assist with management while you retain full control over your account. Integrating your GBP with Google Search and Google Maps helps local customers easily find your business, boosting your trustworthiness and increasing your chances of attracting local customers.

Ready to take action? Let’s have a conversation. 

Why Google Business Profiles are Critical for Local SEO

Some of the reasons why Google Business Profiles are essential for your local SEO strategy:

  • Boosts Local Visibility: A well-optimized GBP ensures your business appears in relevant local search results, making it easier for nearby customers to find you when they need local services.
  • Improves Local SEO Rankings: Google uses your GBP to determine how to rank your business in local search engine results. Optimizing your profile helps increase your visibility in Google’s Local Pack (the map and business listing that appear at the top of search results).
  • Increases Trust and Credibility: Customers trust businesses with complete and verified profiles. A professional GBP with accurate information and positive reviews builds reputation and trust in your local community.
  • Direct Communication with Customers: Potential customers can contact you directly via phone calls, and messages, or even request directions to your business through your Google Business Profile. This improves user experience, helping them make quick decisions and your business quicker conversions.
  • Fosters Brand Loyalty: Positive reviews, special offers, and updates help build trust and improve your local search ranking. This helps keep your customers informed and engaged, promoting brand loyalty and long term customers. 
  • Local Search Insights: GBP provides valuable insights into how customers find your business. This data can help refine your local SEO strategy and make more informed decisions on improving your online presence.

Key Features of Google Business Profiles

Your Google Business Profile reflects your business reputation and brand image, cementing your physical and digital presence in the local market. The information on your Google Business Profile can be used to strengthen your local SEO strategy and cement your business standing in the local markets:

  • Business Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) Consistency: Accurate business details can help your business rank higher in search engine results, improve user experience, and foster trust in the local community.
  • Business Category: Selecting the right business category ensures your business name comes up in relevant Google search results for local services.
  • Local Business Listings: Supporting your business profile with local citations from reputable sources and local directories can improve your visibility and authority.
  • Customer Reviews: Positive reviews help your business build credibility and increase your ranking in local searches. Engaging with customer feedback by thanking them or responding to negative reviews, is also important for reputation management.
  • Website Link: Including a link to your website improves the user experience and directs visitors to more detailed information about your business.

How Google Business Profile Fits Into Your Local SEO Strategy

Some important factors to consider when optimizing your Google Business Profile and aligning your local SEO strategy include:

  • Keyword Research: Identify local keywords, conducting detailed research on the most used local keywords and phrases. Integrate them in your Google Business Profile through updates, information, and posts. Use the keywords across your digital platforms, linking them to your business profile to improve local search engine rankings.  
  • On-Page Optimization: Optimize your business website content with local keywords and search terms to ensure your website appears more frequently in search engine results. The objective is to reach your target audience by understanding what they are searching for and giving them those answers through your website and relevant digital marketing content. 
  • Localized Website Content: Create web pages or blog posts that target specific locations or communities and their pain points. Get insights from your keyword research and create high quality relevant content to provide answers, and solutions and give information on the most common topics related to your business category. These could focus on a specific service area, events happening in your community, local trending issues, or holidays. 

A targeted local SEO strategy involves market research, data analysis, A/B testing, and many other methods to ensure businesses rank well in search engine results. Partnering with a digital marketing company that specializes in SEO and marketing strategies can help your business stay visible to its target audience and ahead of its competitors. 

A digital marketing company or a local SEO agency has the skills and professional insights to leverage market data and your business expertise to provide personalized strategies that evolve with your business objectives. They will also adjust your local SEO strategy based on local market insights and Google algorithms to keep your business visible and within easy reach of your target market. 

Optimizing Your Business Listing

To get the most out of your Google Business Profile, you must actively manage and optimize it. Key optimization steps include:

  • Adding Accurate Information: Select the right business category, relevant locations, and local services to help Google search show your profile to your target audience.
  • Adding High-Quality Images: Including professional, high resolution images of your business, products, or services can promote business credibility and enhance business image – attracting more customers.
  • Keeping Your Profile Updated: Regularly update your profile with current business hours, services, and promotions to keep it relevant and fresh. Providing notice for holidays closures also makes it convenient for customers. Introducing new products with offers and highlighting the benefits of having these services near them also captures more potential customers. 
  • Monitoring and Responding to Customer Reviews: Customers feel valued when you respond and listen to them. Be proactive with responses to both positive and negative customer reviews and answer queries without delay to make a lasting business impression. 

It can become challenging to manage a business and stay on top of keeping your Google Business Profile updated. A local SEO agency can help ensure your Google Business Profile is always updated and optimized. Based on customer activity and engagement, your local SEO agency can also make necessary changes when required to protect your business reputation and align with your local SEO strategy. 

Beyond the Profile: Boosting Your Online Presence

The value of a local SEO strategy involves utilizing all the digital elements to support each other and deliver the results according to your marketing objectives. A slow website that’s not optimized for mobile can have a negative impact on your business ranking even if your Google Business Profile is updated and optimized. Some other important factors that contribute to the success of your local SEO strategy include:

  • Technical SEO: Optimizing your website for mobile devices, ensuring fast loading times, and keeping it secure is essential to maintain trust with users. Users will leave your website if it doesn’t load in under three seconds, while security with SSL certificates can also impact your search results as Google search may not show non-secure websites. 
  • Content Marketing: Creating high quality content in your business niche can foster trust and connection with the local markets. Updating promotional events, business updates, and team information that makes local businesses more approachable and trustworthy is vital to boosting your local search rankings. 
  • Building Backlinks: Strengthening local citations and backlinks from trusted websites helps increase your authority and improve search rankings. These links can generate referral clicks from external websites and help establish you as an expert in your field. 

A local SEO agency brings expertise in every aspect of your digital marketing strategy, ensuring that both customer-facing elements, such as your website, Google Business Profile, and social media, and technical aspects like website performance, security, and payment integrations are fully optimized. This creates a seamless and effective local search presence, helping your business attract and retain more customers.

Measuring Success and Tracking Local SEO Performance

Google Business Profile provides metrics to understand customer behavior and use that insight to improve your local SEO strategy and business performance. These metrics track actions like:

  • Customer Interactions: View how many people call your business, request directions, or visit your website from your profile. If your website traffic is high but conversions are low, you can track the visitor path to gauge where the journey is interrupted and how this can be fixed. 
  • Search Performance: Track how often your business shows up in local searches and how it ranks compared to competitors. This can help determine if your search results are delivering high value leads. If you’re coming up in local searches and not getting customers, what could be the cause? Maybe your business category is incorrect or keyword research is not relevant.
  • Customer Engagement: Monitor the level of engagement your business receives through reviews, photos, and posts. Capitalize on the posts that receive high engagement, including internal links to lead customers to other local services.

A local SEO agency can also help interpret these metrics, providing actionable insights to refine and optimize your local SEO strategy. Website analytics, social media statistics, and SEO reports provide direction for digital marketing companies to adjust local SEO strategies and get optimal results. They also conduct competitor analysis to keep you ahead of the curve and highlight your business’s unique selling proposition to stand out in local search engine results.

Elevate Your Business’s Local SEO Strategy Today

Marketing a local business is about building relationships, staying visible, and delivering value to your community while driving profitability and growth. However, executing a successful local SEO strategy requires specialized knowledge and continuous adaptation—something that can be challenging without professional expertise.

A local SEO agency provides the strategic support your business needs to enhance visibility, attract more customers, and build a strong reputation in your market. From analyzing performance metrics and refining strategies to optimizing your Google Business Profile, managing content, and adapting to changing search algorithms, they ensure every aspect of your local SEO works seamlessly together.

Partner with a local SEO agency so you can focus on running your business while experts handle your digital presence, helping you stay ahead of the competition and achieve long-term success.

We hope the tips above are helpful in improving your digital campaigns. Have more questions about partnering with an agency? Reach out to us directly.

Liz-headshot

Meet the Author

Liz Hersh is the founder of Hersh PR and Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Together with a team of marketing professionals she helps clients generate leads and increase revenue. 

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Read 
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How to Choose the Best Marketing Company in 2025: A Complete Guide

How to Choose the Best Marketing Company in 2025: A Complete Guide

The right marketing company can be the driving force behind your success, helping you refine your brand positioning, connect with your target audience, and generate real results. This guide will walk you through the process of selecting a marketing company in 2025, helping you make informed decisions for sustainable business growth.

read more
Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

Marketing a local business requires a strategic approach to connect with potential customers in your area. This article explores the key components of a targeted local SEO strategy and the role of Google Business Profile in helping business owners reach their target audience – strengthening their online presence to drive business growth.

read more
Mastering Local SEO for Contractors: Advanced Strategies for Growing Your Business

Mastering Local SEO for Contractors: Advanced Strategies for Growing Your Business

Marketing as a small business presents several challenges. Between budgetary constraints and a lack of clarity about the right ways to market a business, it’s no wonder that marketing is often a small businesses least favorite business function. But it’s probably the most important. It’s crucial to maintain an ongoing marketing and lead generation strategy to yield beneficial outcomes for your brand.

read more

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Maximize Brand Impact: Integrating Public Relations with SEO

Maximize Brand Impact: Integrating Public Relations with SEO

by | Jun 28, 2024 | Featured Articles, Manufacturing, Public Relations, SEO

Maximize Brand Impact: Integrating Public Relations with SEO

5-easy-ways-to-generate-website-traffic

Combining PR and SEO Leads to Better Visibility 

In a digital era where traditional marketing approaches are often overshadowed by digital tactics, public relations (PR) has become an overlooked strategy. Visibility and thought leadership are critical components of the buyer’s journey—areas where PR excels. 

By integrating PR with search engine optimization (SEO), businesses can enhance their visibility across multiple channels, ensuring that their message not only reaches but resonates with the right audience. This article explores how the strategic integration of PR and SEO empowers businesses to better connect with their audience, fostering trust and establishing a commanding digital footprint.

What is Public Relations?

Public Relations (PR) is the strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. At its core, PR involves managing and disseminating information from an organization to the public to influence their perception and maintain a positive reputation. It encompasses a variety of tactics including media relations, crisis management, event coordination, and content creation, all aimed at shaping the narrative around a brand.

In the digital age, PR extends beyond traditional media outreach. It now integrates digital content, influencer partnerships, and social media strategies, making it a dynamic tool that completes a comprehensive marketing strategy. Effective PR not only informs and engages target audiences but also supports SEO efforts by generating content that earns backlinks, enhances online visibility, and drives website traffic. 

The Importance of SEO for Manufacturers

SEO is crucial for manufacturers aiming to reach the right audience at key decision-making moments. In an industry where procurement cycles are lengthy and highly informed, visibility in search results can significantly influence business outcomes. SEO not only helps manufacturers attract more qualified leads by targeting specific searches related to their products and services but also provides a cost-effective marketing channel with long-term benefits.

Optimizing a website for SEO enhances the user experience by improving site navigation and performance, which can lead to higher customer satisfaction and increased conversions. As a result, a robust SEO strategy not only positions manufacturers competitively in crowded markets but also bolsters their credibility as industry leaders.

The Synergy Between PR and SEO

PR and SEO naturally complement each other. A robust PR strategy can generate high-quality content and media coverage, which are invaluable for SEO. Conversely, SEO techniques can enhance the online visibility of PR content, ensuring it reaches a wider audience. Together, they create a virtuous cycle that enhances brand presence both in the media and on search engines.

Optimizing PR Content for SEO

To maximize the SEO benefits of PR activities, it’s crucial to optimize all PR content. This includes:

Keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords into press releases, articles, and other PR materials to boost their visibility in search queries related to your business.

Content Quality: Ensure that the content is informative, engaging, and provides value to your audience. High-quality content is more likely to be shared and linked to, which enhances its SEO value.

Sharing Across Platforms: Distribute PR content across various channels, including social media, blogs, and news outlets. This not only increases reach but also creates multiple backlink opportunities.

Leveraging PR for Link Building

One of the most significant SEO benefits of PR is link building. High-quality backlinks from reputable news outlets and industry publications can significantly boost a website’s authority and rankings in search results. To leverage PR for link building:

Target High-authority Publications: Focus your PR efforts on media outlets with high domain authority as their endorsements (links) are more valuable.

Press Releases: Use press releases wisely to gain backlinks. Ensure they are newsworthy and include direct links to relevant pages on your website.

Media Relationships: Build and maintain relationships with journalists, bloggers and podcasters who cover your industry. They are likely to provide quality coverage and backlinks.

Boosting Brand Visibility and Searches

Effective PR can lead to increased brand searches, which are a strong signal to search engines of a brand’s credibility and relevance. To capitalize on this:

Brand Mentions: Encourage the media to mention your brand name in their coverage, which can lead to increased organic searches for your brand.

Event Coverage: Participate in or sponsor events and trade shows that attract media attention, increasing the likelihood of mentions and searches.

Reputation Management Through SERPs

PR can significantly influence what appears about a company in search engine results pages. By promoting positive content and diluting negative mentions, companies can improve their online reputation. Techniques include:

Positive Content Promotion: Use SEO to promote positive news and press releases, ensuring they rank high in SERPs.

Crisis Management: Quickly address negative publicity by providing clear, optimized responses and engaging with the community.

Ready to take action? Let’s have a conversation. 

Measuring Success and ROI

The impact of integrating PR and SEO can be measured through several metrics:

Traffic and Engagement: Track increases in website traffic and engagement from PR sources.

Keyword Rankings: Monitor improvements in rankings for key terms associated with PR campaigns.

Backlink Quality: Evaluate the quality and quantity of backlinks generated from PR efforts.

The Power of Storytelling in Manufacturing

Storytelling is a fundamental human experience, and its role in marketing is transformative, especially for manufacturers. In a sector often dominated by specs and data, storytelling can breathe life into your brand, making complex products relatable and engaging to your target audience. 

This emotional engagement not only makes your brand more memorable but also strengthens customer loyalty by making your products feel more relevant and essential. In addition to enhancing brand relatability, storytelling simplifies complex manufacturing processes, making them understandable and interesting to a broader audience.

The strategic use of storytelling has been shown to significantly impact business outcomes. Effective narrative techniques in marketing can increase conversions by as much as 30%, demonstrating the direct benefits of integrating storytelling into your marketing efforts.

Integrating Storytelling, PR, and SEO into Your Manufacturing Marketing Strategy

For manufacturers looking to enhance their market presence and connect more deeply with their audience, integrating storytelling, public relations, and search engine optimization into a cohesive marketing strategy is essential. Here are some concrete steps to get started:

  1. Audit Your Current Content and Strategies

Begin by assessing your existing marketing materials and strategies. Identify areas where PR and SEO can be enhanced through storytelling. Look for content that could be better optimized for search engines or updated to include more engaging narratives.

  1. Define Clear Objectives

Set specific, measurable goals for what you want to achieve through your integrated marketing efforts. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, boosting web traffic, or generating more leads, having clear objectives will help guide your strategies and measure your success.

  1. Develop a Story-Driven Content Plan

Create a content calendar that outlines what stories you will tell, through which formats, and on what platforms. This plan should include a variety of content types such as blog posts, press releases, customer stories, video testimonials, and behind-the-scenes features that highlight your manufacturing processes.

  1. Optimize Content for SEO

Ensure that all your content is optimized for search engines. This includes using relevant keywords naturally throughout your content, optimizing meta tags and descriptions, and structuring content for readability. Also, ensure your stories are easy to share across social media platforms, increasing their reach and backlink potential.

  1. Leverage PR to Amplify Your Stories

Use public relations to get your stories out into the wider world. This could involve pitching articles to industry magazines, arranging interviews with thought leaders in your company, or issuing press releases that highlight innovative aspects of your business or recent successes.

  1. Engage and Train Your Team

Make sure that your marketing and sales teams understand the importance of storytelling and SEO and are trained in how to implement these strategies effectively. This might include training sessions on SEO best practices or workshops on how to tell compelling stories. If you lack have the bandwidth to do this in-house, consider partnering with an experienced agency. 

  1. Monitor, Measure, and Adapt

Continuously monitor the performance of your marketing efforts and measure them against the objectives you have set. Use tools like Google Analytics to track website traffic, engagement metrics, and conversion rates. Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on what is or isn’t working.

  1. Solicit Feedback and Foster Collaboration

Encourage feedback from your audience and collaborate with other departments in your company to ensure that your marketing efforts are cohesive and aligned with overall business goals. This collaboration can lead to richer stories and more effective marketing strategies.

Your Next Steps

Integrating PR with SEO provides a strategic advantage, ensuring that a brand’s story reaches not only a broad audience but the right audience. By aligning PR initiatives with SEO best practices, businesses can enhance their digital footprint, build lasting relationships with their audience, and improve their overall online reputation. It’s a holistic approach that turns good coverage into lasting search engine visibility and brand recognition.

We hope the tips above are helpful in improving your digital campaigns. Have more questions about partnering with an agency? Reach out to us directly.

Liz-headshot

Meet the Author

Liz Hersh is the founder of Hersh PR and Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Together with a team of marketing professionals she helps clients generate leads and increase revenue. 

Read 
More Articles.

view all

Read 
More Articles.

view all
How to Choose the Best Marketing Company in 2025: A Complete Guide

How to Choose the Best Marketing Company in 2025: A Complete Guide

The right marketing company can be the driving force behind your success, helping you refine your brand positioning, connect with your target audience, and generate real results. This guide will walk you through the process of selecting a marketing company in 2025, helping you make informed decisions for sustainable business growth.

read more
Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

Marketing a local business requires a strategic approach to connect with potential customers in your area. This article explores the key components of a targeted local SEO strategy and the role of Google Business Profile in helping business owners reach their target audience – strengthening their online presence to drive business growth.

read more
Mastering Local SEO for Contractors: Advanced Strategies for Growing Your Business

Mastering Local SEO for Contractors: Advanced Strategies for Growing Your Business

Marketing as a small business presents several challenges. Between budgetary constraints and a lack of clarity about the right ways to market a business, it’s no wonder that marketing is often a small businesses least favorite business function. But it’s probably the most important. It’s crucial to maintain an ongoing marketing and lead generation strategy to yield beneficial outcomes for your brand.

read more

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7 Common Marketing Challenges + How to Solve Them

7 Common Marketing Challenges + How to Solve Them

by | Oct 17, 2022 | Featured Articles, Marketing

7 Common Marketing Challenges + How to Solve Them

5-easy-ways-to-generate-website-traffic

Don’t Let These Challenges Interfere with Growing Your Company

Marketing as a small business presents several challenges. Between budgetary constraints and a lack of clarity about the right ways to market a business, it’s no wonder that marketing is often a small businesses least favorite business function.

But it’s probably the most important. It’s crucial to maintain an ongoing marketing and lead generation strategy to yield beneficial outcomes for your brand. One of the keys to successfully marketing a company is consistency along with a clearly defined strategy.

Marketing is often bumped in priority when client or personnel issues arise. Over the years, we’ve witnessed a handful of challenges again and again. These challenges are common in organizations of all sizes and in different stages of the business lifecycle. By building and an awareness and understanding of these issues, you’ll be better equipped to solve these challenges when they arise.

Biggest Marketing Challenges

The challenges listed below are the most frequently encountered by small businesses, no matter the industry or offering.

Budget

Many small businesses feel the size of their budgets will restrict their marketing efforts. So why try? Big brands usually have larger budgets with more online marketing resources, making smaller companies feel like their efforts will get lost in the shuffle. Despite being a common misconception, budget size doesn’t equate to the outcome of marketing efforts. Larger budgets bring more marketing opportunities to explore, however, the execution is far more important than the budget.

Small businesses may lack the budget, but a solid marketing strategy and execution will still yield excellent results. There is plenty of room on the internet for small businesses and large corporations to co-exist and succeed no matter their budgets.   

Lack of Systems and Processes

No matter the size of the business, finding new ways to organize and streamline operations is key to successful marketing. Marketing in the digital world requires managing multiple channels where you can interact with audiences. It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Developing specific systems and processes will save precious time and ensure brand continuity along the way.

Do you have an onboarding process for new clients or new employees? Utilizing a similar approach to your marketing will ensure you have clear documentation and the foundation for scaling your marketing over time.

Ready to take action? Let’s have a conversation. 

Content for Sales Teams

Is your sales team fully leveraging the content you produce? Many organizations create valuable content for their audiences but fail to use it in the best manner possible. Sales teams can use content as part of the lead nurturing process to help inform prospects about the business. Not many small businesses think about repurposing their content for this purpose, but it is a great way to boost ROI on content creation.

Every great organization requires effective communication to be successful. For sales reps to start utilizing the appropriate content during their pitches, the marketing department should educate them to ensure they are aware of what’s available. Organizing content according to type, audience, and objectives will help sales teams find what they need to bolster their sales

Technology

We are surrounded by endless options for software and hardware to support our companies. There is quite literally an application or technological solution for every aspect of digital marketing. The sheer number of options can lead to paralysis by analysis. And after choosing a specific solution, integrating the technology takes time and expertise to ensure it is implemented properly.

This challenge (and the next three) requires you to either commit to building in-house expertise, or to finding a trustworthy partner who can supplement your team. If these tasks aren’t in your wheelhouse, you should strongly consider partnering with an agency who can build and execute a successful strategy. Having experts in your corner will support online visibility and will naturally assist with lead acquisition.

Ongoing Education

Trying to keep up with the latest trends in marketing is a full-time job. The internet moves quickly, and marketing is constantly evolving. Just as small businesses catch up, the industry evolves again. Remaining on top of the best marketing techniques requires ongoing education that many small businesses simply can’t handle.

Lack of Time

Is there ever enough time in the day? Most organizations are stretched thin on time and resources, which leaves little time to invest in marketing and to further grow the business. If you consistently push-off your marketing, then you should consider an agency partner that can do the time-intensive work on your behalf.  

Lack of Consistency

Every marketer will tell you consistency is the key to success. Unfortunately, consistency is also one of the problematic elements of marketing for small businesses. Small businesses often are forced to sideline marketing for other priorities.

Your Next Steps

Small businesses are constantly facing new challenges when trying to market their products and services. The lack of expertise can result in many missed opportunities for growth. To keep up with the ongoing marketing trends, small businesses can significantly benefit by partnering with an agency with the right resources and expertise. 

For additional insight, check out our articles about what to look for in an outsourced marketing team and what to look for in an SEO agency.

We hope the tips above are helpful in improving your campaigns. Have more questions about partnering with an agency? Reach out to us directly.

Liz-headshot

Meet the Author

Liz Hersh is the founder of Hersh PR and Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Together with a team of marketing professionals she helps clients generate leads and increase revenue. 

Read 
More Articles.

view all

Read 
More Articles.

view all
How to Choose the Best Marketing Company in 2025: A Complete Guide

How to Choose the Best Marketing Company in 2025: A Complete Guide

The right marketing company can be the driving force behind your success, helping you refine your brand positioning, connect with your target audience, and generate real results. This guide will walk you through the process of selecting a marketing company in 2025, helping you make informed decisions for sustainable business growth.

read more
Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

Google Business Profile: Your Secret Weapon for Local SEO Success

Marketing a local business requires a strategic approach to connect with potential customers in your area. This article explores the key components of a targeted local SEO strategy and the role of Google Business Profile in helping business owners reach their target audience – strengthening their online presence to drive business growth.

read more
Mastering Local SEO for Contractors: Advanced Strategies for Growing Your Business

Mastering Local SEO for Contractors: Advanced Strategies for Growing Your Business

Marketing as a small business presents several challenges. Between budgetary constraints and a lack of clarity about the right ways to market a business, it’s no wonder that marketing is often a small businesses least favorite business function. But it’s probably the most important. It’s crucial to maintain an ongoing marketing and lead generation strategy to yield beneficial outcomes for your brand.

read more

Subscribe to Get The Latest Insights.

What makes marketing so challenging?

Trying to keep-up with the tools, technology and the limited attention span of your target market are all challenging. Get our tips on how to grow leads and revenue, delivered directly to your inbox.

Join The List

Request a Consultation.

Are you ready to take action? Let’s see how we can reach your
goals with a 20-minute introductory call.

GET IN TOUCH!

7 Things to Look for in an Outsourced Marketing Team

7 Things to Look for in an Outsourced Marketing Team

by | Sep 11, 2022 | Featured Articles, Marketing

7 Things to Look for in an Outsourced Marketing Team

5-easy-ways-to-generate-website-traffic

An Outsourced Marketing Team can be a Smart Investment

Outsourcing your marketing is one of the best decisions you can make for your small business. Traditional in-house marketing teams are a great solution for larger organizations that have the resources available to employ experts in the 10+ roles that it takes to run an effective department. Unfortunately, small businesses face a shortage of time and staffing that often places marketing on the back burner.

An outsourced marketing team delivers many benefits.

Save Time: The most restrictive resource every business has is time. There’s never enough time in a day to handle all your business’s needs and still effectively market your services. With an outsourced team, you can focus on the best and highest use of your time as the business owner.

Reduce Costs: To make money, you have to spend, but how much you should spend is the real question. Marketing can become a costly endeavor depending on your industry and strategy, and the cost of hiring employees only adds to the monthly and annual expenditures. Outsourced teams typically cost half the amount of an in-house marketing team and can often produce better results.

Growth Management: Your marketing team needs to be able to drive and manage sustainable growth for your business. Outsourced marketing teams have more resources to dedicate to your marketing growth since in-house teams are limited to the resources provided.

Outside Perspective: It’s easy for business owners and in-house marketing teams to get stuck in a certain way of thinking and doing things. Working with an external team gives you a fresh perspective on your company, product offerings and branding. This will help create more robust marketing initiatives along with an ability to see aspects of your marketing that can be improved.

Ready to take action? Let’s have a conversation. 

What to Look for When Hiring a Marketing Agency

Anyone who begins looking for an outsourced marketing team will quickly become overwhelmed with the thousands of agencies available. Finding the right team for your business is challenging, but knowing what to look for will help you quickly narrow down the top choices. Here are some helpful indicators to look for when you’re ready to find the right outsourced marketing agency.

No. 1 – Reviews, Testimonials, and Case Studies

One of the quickest ways to determine how well an agency will fulfill expectations is through reviews, testimonials, and case studies. These types of feedback and proof will give you a good idea of what a prospective agency can do for your business.

There’s no better way to know if an agency will follow through on its word than by reading and hearing about the experiences of current and former clients. Understanding what an agency has done for businesses similar to yours will help narrow your search. 

No. 2 – Staff Expertise

When looking for the right agency for your business, it’s important to understand who will be directly involved with working on your account. You want to know that the staff members who will be in charge of your company’s marketing campaigns have the experience, professionalism and skills to ensure that your business is taken care of effectively.

Many agencies make big promises but don’t actually have staff with the right expertise to follow through on those promises. Vetting an agency’s team will give you additional insight to determine if they are going to be the right fit for your business or not.

No. 3 – Specialties and Focus

Just as there are different types of marketing campaigns, there are also different types of marketing agencies that specialize in working with certain types of businesses or marketing campaigns. Do you need a pay-per-click campaign or a perhaps a content-heavy thought leadership campaign? An honest agency will be upfront about what’s in their wheelhouse and when they’ll make an introduction or bring in a strategic partner to ensure that the right minds are at the table.

No. 4 – Systems and Processes

There will always be more than one way to approach marketing for any business. Your prospective agency needs to have clearly defined systems and processes to execute a strategy that will get results. A scattershot approach is never effective. Agencies are responsible for attracting and helping retain customers through streamlined processes that allow the customer to move seamlessly through the buyer’s journey.

Thousands of different marketing-related cloud software solutions are currently available to help businesses streamline their processes. Researching the technologies an agency uses for managing their projects will help you better determine whether an agency’s processes will blend well with your own.

No. 5 – Communication and Availability

Marketing and business are non-stop, around-the-clock operations that can drastically shift directions at any given moment. How available will a prospective agency be for you when you need them most? Will they require you to schedule a meeting or will they provide a direct line of communication for you? Understanding the agency’s communication protocols and the accessibility of your marketing team is key to ensuring that you won’t be caught surprised in a critical moment.

No. 6 – Reports and Analyses

With the oversaturation of the marketplace with content and advertising of all kinds, basic or routine participation is not enough anymore. To see the fruits of your marketing labor pay off, you must consistently analyze your campaign performance to see what’s working, what’s not and make continuous improvements. Will your prospective agency show you monthly reports and analysis on their progress, or will you remain in the dark?

It’s imperative to know how well your marketing team’s efforts are performing, so you can see the direct return on your investment. A good agency is transparent about results and will show you that they’re serious about holding themselves accountable.

No. 7 – Access to Assets

When you start working with a digital marketing agency, it’s important to clarify which assets are already in place and which ones need to be built. Every activity generates data, graphics, content and more, and it’s important for you to maintain access to all your assets and channels. Access to historical data and insights can also help improve your business over time, no matter who you choose to work with. Be sure that provisions are made to give you access to all your social channels, website, graphics, content, data, analytics and so on.

No. 8 – Compatibility (Bonus!)

Do you enjoy conversations with a prospective agency team? Do you feel confident they’ll produce the results your business needs to grow? An important factor in choosing an agency is having a good rapport and to feel like you can effectively communicate with your marketing team. Outsourcing marketing will undoubtedly take an enormous responsibility off your shoulders, but it still requires collaboration and commitment from both parties to work.

Your Next Steps

Delegating your business’s marketing to an outsourced team will take a significant burden off your shoulders. You’ll enjoy the benefits of being able to save time and energy while experiencing growth from the results your marketing team will produce. Starting the search for an outsourced marketing team can be intimidating, but empowering yourself with relevant background information will make your choice easier.

We hope the tips above are helpful in improving your campaigns. Have more questions about partnering with an agency? Reach out to us directly.

Liz-headshot

Meet the Author

Liz Hersh is the founder of Hersh PR and Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Together with a team of marketing professionals she helps clients generate leads and increase revenue. 

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Local vs. National SEO: A Beginner’s Guide

Local vs. National SEO: A Beginner’s Guide

by | Jul 31, 2022 | Marketing, SEO

Local vs. National SEO: A Beginner’s Guide

5-easy-ways-to-generate-website-traffic

Discover the Right Approach for Your SEO Strategy

Local businesses and nationwide companies have a few things in common regarding SEO. They both want to rank on the top of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for specific keywords.

No matter who you target, SEO principles are relatively the same across the board—keyword research, relevant content creation with organic keyword integration and consistent execution of your strategy.

However, when it comes to targeting locally or nationally, the execution tends to differ slightly. It can become tiresome for a small business in Cleveland to target keywords that have no relevance to audiences in Nashville. A large corporation with a national footprint will likely want to target such keywords, which is where audience and keyword relevancy come into play.

Understanding where your business should focus its effort will yield results that place your website high on search rankings and achieve a better ROI.

Similarities Between Local and National SEO

When comparing a local and national SEO approach, the goal remains the same: Rank First!

Whether you’re a locally owned small business or a national brand serving customers across the country, the steps you take are still the same.

You still need to conduct keyword research and create relevant, optimized content that integrates the keywords organically. It would be best if you obtained credible backlinks from authoritative sources and continually updated on-page elements and image alt tags.

Ready to take action? Let’s have a conversation. 

When Does Local SEO Come Into Play?

Knowing when to focus on local or national SEO tactics depends solely on your business and who you serve. There’s no advantage to targeting potential customers in a state next to you if your business cannot serve those people.

If your target audience is in the same city or metropolitan area as your business, that’s an excellent indication to shift your efforts to local SEO. Typically these businesses include local service providers like contractors and tradesmen, restaurants and brick-and-mortar retail stores.

Local SEO best serves small to medium-size companies that only reach a specific physical area. While there are many similarities between the two approaches, your audience and their search intent will determine how you implement your strategy. Make sure you have a solid understanding of your audience with detailed client personas that can help guide your strategy. 

How Does a Google Business Profile fit Into This?

Did you know that 46% of searches on Google are seeking local information? This is why Google Business listings are prominently featured in SERPs, giving users quick access to the most relevant information.

No one wants a bad dining experience, so what do we do? Turn to Google and search for restaurants in our area. Google Business Profiles help identify local businesses in your area that provide whatever you may be searching for — information such as location, operating hours, Google reviews, a website and services offer almost everything users need to know to decide.

When the Hersh PR team implements a local SEO campaign, we place an emphasis on Google Business Profiles. Giving Google and its properties consistent attention is critical to a successful Local SEO campaign. When your local business is up to date with the freshest information, you empower potential customers with the information they need to make the right decisions to visit your business over everyone else.

How Does Keyword Research fit Into This?

Aside from knowing your target audience, how you approach your keyword research is the deciding variable between taking a Local or National SEO approach.

The keywords you target are determined by where your audience is located and what keywords will help target those areas. It doesn’t serve your local business well if you constantly target keywords that national brands target.

National brands will have the means to reach a larger audience based on various geographic locations. Local SEO keyword research will include more geographic-based keywords, and those keywords will be incorporated through the website. 

Here are some best practices when it comes to keyword research:

Understand User Intent:  Consider your customer’s intent when shopping for a service or product you offer. Evaluate different high-level topics that could shape your strategy. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and understand their journey from start to finish. These understandings will build a more solid SEO foundation.

Use Professional Keyword Tools: Use the right tools to help you research your keywords. There’s no need to bootstrap your keyword research when there are tools designed specifically for this task. Having an agency who knows how to use these tools properly for keyword research is going to yield the best possible results.

Implement and Test Your Strategy: Mapping keywords to specific pages and creating a detailed content calendar will help ensure success. Remember that SEO is not a one-shot effort; you must continuously try different keywords to get the most out of your campaigns.

Bringing It Together

Climbing to the top of a SERP won’t occur overnight given the intense competition online. But with the right strategy and an SEO expert in your corner, you’ll be well positioned for boosting website traffic and ranking.

The best place to start is by determining whether or not you should take a local or national SEO approach. The steps you take to execute local and national SEO campaigns remain relatively the same.

The most significant difference between the two depends on the type of business you have and your customers’ location. Small to medium-size businesses don’t get as much out of their SEO campaigns if they target nationwide keywords.

Constantly updating your Google Business Profile, re-optimizing old content, testing keywords and content, conducting new keyword research, and creating unique content requires significant bandwidth that you may not have in-house. Partnering with an agency gives your business the advantage it deserves while allowing you to focus on running and managing the growth of your business.

Hopefully the tips above will help improve your local or national SEO campaigns. Have more questions about partnering with an agency? Reach out to us directly.

Liz-headshot

Meet the Author

Liz Hersh is the founder of Hersh PR and Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Together with a team of marketing professionals she helps clients generate leads and increase revenue. 

Read 
More Articles.

view all

Read 
More Articles.

view all
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The right marketing company can be the driving force behind your success, helping you refine your brand positioning, connect with your target audience, and generate real results. This guide will walk you through the process of selecting a marketing company in 2025, helping you make informed decisions for sustainable business growth.

read more
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Marketing a local business requires a strategic approach to connect with potential customers in your area. This article explores the key components of a targeted local SEO strategy and the role of Google Business Profile in helping business owners reach their target audience – strengthening their online presence to drive business growth.

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read more

Subscribe to Get The Latest Insights.

What makes marketing so challenging?

Trying to keep-up with the tools, technology and the limited attention span of your target market are all challenging. Get our tips on how to grow leads and revenue, delivered directly to your inbox.

Join The List

Request a Consultation.

Are you ready to take action? Let’s see how we can reach your
goals with a 20-minute introductory call.

GET IN TOUCH!