Avoid The Noise: How To Prove That Your SEO Matters with Dan Taylor - EP328

01/19/24 • 46 min

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Join us as we explore how to prove that SEO matters to resistant stakeholders and C-suite executives, along with ways to combat the external noise affecting the outlook on SEO efforts. Dan brings his experience as a leading SEO consultant for top companies to this exclusive interview. He and Loren navigate the complexities of the shifting SEO landscape, and how to set realistic expectations in your business. They also dig into the potential risks and opportunities of AI in search, and what these drastic changes mean moving forward.

I think oftentimes in a lot of organizations, everyone's time poor, everyone has their own set of KPIs and objectives moving towards that bigger goal, and oftentimes SEO is trickled through. - Dan Taylor, 1:53 I think through that communication system framework, however you want to go around it or phrase it, it's about getting that shared buy-in. - Dan Taylor, 8:24 We have people planning their budgets and their SEO plans already, but with a little bit of a turbulent economy, sometimes it's a little bit of a question mark. - Loren Baker, 1:18

[00:43] - Dan's background and expertise [01:53] - SEO planning and visibility tips. [03:18] - Recommendations for visibility in SEO. [04:14] - Managing expectations with AI. [07:02] - Addressing SEO performance comparisons. [08:24] - Effective communication for executive buy-in. [11:17] - Combatting SEO Misinterpretations. [15:52] - Personal Touch in Client Interactions. [26:48] - Adapting SEO to Rich Media in Search Results. [32:06] - Adaptations in the travel industry.

It’s having sincerity and it's actually having a human touch. - Dan Taylor, 14:40

Essentially that kind of battleground which we previously had in search is sort of being lost. Now it's understanding what the impact of that's going to be, whether or not it's going to be a major impact, minor impact, or if the impact overall is going to be redistributive. - Dan Taylor, 18:19 It's about trying to bring in what unique modifiers we can into the actual product pages themselves...So how can we create a differentiator? It was this concept we had called champion products. - Dan Taylor, 21:03

Resources Mentioned:

Mirador Local

Connect with Dan Taylor:

Dan Taylor is a recognized SEO professional, having worked with a number of companies in strategically helping them increase their organic market visibility and overcome technical challenges. Having consulted and worked with companies like Cloudflare, Proton, and China Southern Airlines, Dan has been featured in the leading SEO publications, as well as spoken at a number of SEO and marketing conferences in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and online.

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrwtaylor/

Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/taylordanrw

Connect with Loren Baker:

Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker

Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

It’s having sincerity and it's actually having a human touch. - Dan Taylor, 14:40

Resources Mentioned:

Mirador Local

Connect with Dan Taylor:

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrwtaylor/

Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/taylordanrw

Connect with Loren Baker:

Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker

Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

Previous Episode

Navigating Publisher Policies: Insights from Google's Trust & Safety Expert with John Brown - Special Episode

In this must-listen episode, join us for a sit-down with John Brown from Google's Trust & Safety team. With his rich background in building ad networks and more, John offers exclusive insights into Google's efforts to educate publishers globally.

Discover critical differences between publisher policies and demand restrictions, explore the evolving role of UGC, and learn about Google's initiatives to support publishers.

As you navigate the complexities of policy compliance, you won't want to miss John's expert perspective, honed through years of leadership and mentorship in this realm.

We don't want to misinform folks or trick folks or anything like that. We provide clear narratives around the policies, why do we create it? Where does it fit within the ecosystem? - John Brown 03:46

Really, it's the ease of use for the user because everything that's in the website, or mostly everything that's in the website without some editorializing, it is things that could be found elsewhere on external Google pages. - John Brown, 08:01

That was the number one concern going into this is not just to launch and then leave alone, but to launch and iterate and make sure it's fresh. - John Brown, 09:44

I learned early on at Google, traveling globally and speaking on stage globally, that different users across the world consume information differently. So we can't just have a help center with text and localize it and hope that people understand. - John Brown, 13:30

[00:00] - Introduction to John Brown, Google's Policy Transparency Lead. [01:57] - Significance of John Brown's role in ecosystem health. [02:45] - Overview of transparency.google's key features. [09:44] - Keeping transparency.google current in the digital landscape. [23:02] - Google’s Fair Policy Appeals process: Google highlights fairness and transparency in the policy appeal process. [37:28] - Google's dedication to a mission-driven nature of trust and safety teams.

Resources Mentioned:

Google Transparency Center

Make sure you meet people who need the information, and give them the information that they want to consume in their format that they most prefer. - John Brown, 16:29

There's a dedication there. There's a mission that you probably don't find in other parts of organizations just because other teams, not just within Google, but elsewhere. It's quarter to quarter revenue, things like that, trust and safety. - John Brown, 37:28

Connect with John Brown:

John is part of the Trust & Safety team at Google, and leads a team that is focused on educate publisher partners globally on policies, enforcement actions, and best practices to remain policy compliant.

Prior to Google, John built two Ad Networks, has served on two IAB working groups, managed qualitative data for over 90 ad networks, and has mentored dozens of startups through his Techstars accelerator affiliation.

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbrown74/ Connect with Amanda Zantal-Wiener:

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amanda_ZW Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandazantalwiener/

Next Episode

Local Strategies - How Better Online Reputation Drives Revenue with Raj Nijjer - EP329

Join us as we look at how your online reputation and local marketing strategies can drive revenue for your business, while avoiding pitfalls along the way.

With guest Raj Nijjer of Edge, we’ll dive into the revenue impacts that your online reputation can have, and why this reputation building should be crucial in your planning.

Join your host Loren Baker, as he and Raj discuss how to avoid wasteful strategies of local marketing and multi-location businesses, plus a couple tips on how a good reputation can help attract and retain top talent.

[01:14] - Raj's Background and Journey to Edge. [02:44] - Edge's Concept of Employee-Driven Growth and Its Connection to Google Reviews. [10:34] - How Reviews Contribute to Local SEO. [11:27] - Customer-Facing End: In-Depth Reviews and Personalization. [13:24] - Standing Out in Cutthroat Competition: Franchises and Service Businesses. [14:37] - Motivating Employees and Transparent Recognition Through Reviews. [20:49] - Reputation Management and Injecting Employee Recognition. [45:06] - Employee Retention During Challenges Like The COVID-19 Pandemic.

We encourage businesses to amplify positive reviews and learn from the negative reviews. - Raj Nijjer, 5:34

Now not only does the brand win and the business win, but employees can feel great or a person can feel great about the job that they've done. - Raj Nijjer, 9:21

Positive reviews are so important. There's one stat I read on your site...53% of customers won't go to a business rated under four stars. - Loren Baker, 15:21

I think the injection of motivating and recognizing your employees while they're doing this service is something that we're very proud of, because we can see which employees are doing really well. And then you can duplicate that. - Raj Nijjer, 21:44

Our goal is to marry the marketing with operational excellence. You want to hold people accountable, especially if you're rewarding them. - Raj Nijjer, 30:53

I think one thing COVID taught every business owner is employee retention and how hard it's been to find people and when a displacement happens, it really jeopardizes your business if you don't plan it well. So you want to keep your superstars, don't ever lose your superstars. - Raj Nijjer - 41:10

Resources Mentioned:

Edge

Connect With Raj Nijjer:

Raj is Head of Marketing for Edge, an employee-driven growth platform for service brands. Previously, he was the CMO of Refersion (acquired), and held executive marketing roles at Yotpo and Yext (IPO in 2017). Raj also spent over nine years at Godaddy (IPO in 2015) in leadership roles launching innovative product lines with over ten patents issued and leading to a PE buyout and an IPO.

Raj is also fractional CMO to early and mid-stage technology startups. Raj received his Bachelors of Science degree in International Management and his MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajnijjer/ Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RajNijjer

Connect with Loren Baker:

Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker