Mark Bealin talks with Jason Barnard about strategic vs tactical local SEO. Mark Bealin is the Founder and Principal of SearchLab. He is an in-demand speaker, podcaster, and educator, sought out for his expertise in Local SEO, Paid Search, and Analytics. He has been a search marketer for over a decade. In this episode Mark talks with Jason Barnard about the tips, tricks … and strategies he has learned for local SEO. There’s a lot to be tackled when it comes to local SEO and you’ll find the main things here. As we often say, there is no single strategy suitable for every client, so the delightful Mark Bealin shared his brilliant way to customise the strategy for his growing number of clients. Teamwork between the clients and the SEO agency is always the key to a successful local SEO strategy. He shares some of the victories, flops, and great strategies that worked for his clients - and a large number of those require getting them more involved offline with the local community. It might seem strange but offline marketing is vital to online local SEO! Links are also essential for local SEO according to Mark, but reviews are vital too… and Mark shares his three ways to manage reviews as well as his non-magical method to deal with horrible and poor reviews. Also! Watch out for the great audience Q&A portion at the end of this episode. What you'll learn from Mark Bealin 00:00 Mark Bealin and Jason Barnard01:37 Where Suds and Search podcast started03:13 Mark Bealin’s Brand SERP and surprising Maps results04:52 Strategic versus tactical local SEO09:16 Reinventing the wheel or a garden variety strategy?10:16 How do you define a great local strategy? 11:55 For the thousandth time: Link building is important13:27 How teamwork works in link building15:01 Are your clients participants in their local communities?16:04 Three ways to manage reviews18:18 4.7 stars is greater than a perfect 5 (in reviews)20:20 Dealing with bad reviews the Mark Bealin way25:22 The benefits in posting on Google My Business26:47 Is the Knowledge Graph and GMB connected in some way?29:09 Yelp is sloping downhill30:37 Are citations still valuable in local SEO?31:51 Where is Apple local/maps heading?  34:04 Advertising on Bing: 2% of Google’s users is still a large number36:01 One-time events in local SEO37:50 Mark Bealin’s favourite local SEO tools 39:32 Additional insights into local SEO strategies41:01 How to incorporate the locals in your SEO efforts? This episode was recorded live on video August 17th 2021 Recorded live at Kalicube Tuesdays (Digital Marketing Livestream Event Series). Watch the video now>>