Ep 05: Clicks to Bricks with Steve Wiideman, Founder of Wiideman SEO Consulting
There is so much noise in today’s SEO landscape that it’s often hard to filter out what is valuable from what is not. This is why we have brought in today’s guest, Steve Wiideman, to get into the SEO weeds with us. Steve is an undisputed SEO guru. Not only has he been in the game for as long as SEO has been around, but he has seen the evolution of SEO driving online traffic to websites, to driving off-line traffic to brick-and-mortar businesses of all types. His clients have included everyone from attorneys and auto repair shops to brands like IHOP and Applebee's. In today’s episode, we learn how Steve gained his SEO expertise and how necessity led him to ultimately be a front-runner in the space.
We talk more about how the future of SEO will be about untethering the responsibility for users to be on their phones. With the rise of voice recognition and other technologies, change is inevitable, and SEO practitioners have to keep up. Steve also walks us through some of the changes that have happened in the world of SEO and how it’s gone from the Wild West, where you would just run everything, to now being more calculated. It is so important to put in work that will increase your search ranking and not waste your efforts on areas that do not contribute to this. This is why Steve has given his clients ‘cheat sheets,’ some of which he also shares with us today. Along with this, we also talk about how CMOs view SEO, the importance of holding platform representatives accountable, and some of the ways to better utilize Google My Business to keep the needle moving. After this episode, you will have refreshed insights into just how important SEO and the power it can play in well-rounded, effective marketing. Be sure to tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
Learn more about Steve’s background and how he ultimately founded Wiideman Consulting.
Find out the direction Steve is taking Wiideman Consulting in and the new opportunities.
An overview of SEO and the different changes that have happened over the past 20 years.
The focus areas for Wiideman Consulting and how they’re moving into the future.
How local events can help hyper-competitive brick and mortar industries stand out.
What SEO practitioners can do to get CMOs to understand the importance of SEO.
The similarities and differences between on and offline SEO and how they are converging.
Steve’s take on GMB, its evolution, and the contribution it’s making to local SEO.
How Wiideman Consulting helps its clients and the ‘cheat sheet’ they provide them with.
Learn more about what multi-location brands can do to optimize their local search.
Why reviews are the most important aspect of building a good reputation.
The importance of user behavior in landing at number one and Steve’s optimization tips.
What's currently happening in the location data management space.
The importance of good relationships between who’s running SEO and platform reps.
Why long-tail listings and fourth-tier directories are becoming increasingly less important.
The role that social profiles play in influencing Google ranking for local stores.
Find out about the role that Yelp plays for multi-location stores and Steve’s recommendation for utilizing it.
Dos and don’ts for local landing pages and a successful example from Steve’s own work.
How Wiiderman Consulting engages with brands and clients and the services offered.
Tweetables:
“Having a brand-driven strategy with everything that you’re doing, SEO, media-buying, and everything to build a strong brand is still fundamental.” — @seosteve [0:17:05]
“It's important to have a nice balance of online and offline time because they complement each other.” — @seosteve [0:17:42]
“It's really more about the user behavior signals than anything.” — @seosteve [0:24:44]
“The platform is only as powerful as the person who’s driving it.” — @seosteve [0:28:57]
“Really focus on getting your business listed in places that people are actually going to find it and reference it and share it and link to it so that way it becomes more valuable.” — @seosteve [0:32:39]
“At the moment, directories are still getting more attention. They’re more loved than ever. If they’re going to be there, you probably need to have a presence there.” — @seosteve [0:42:37]
“Subpages make all the difference. If you’re a multi-location brand, you’ve got to figure out a way to scale and create at least three to five subpages that address those really key areas of your business if you want to dominate in organic and in Maps.” — @seosteve [0:52:33]