Not just for SEOsThis episode is for the SEOs working at companies where they are not empowered, have little to no budget, and where their voices are not heard or considered.I asked today’s guest Scott Carley to be on the show to speak on how businesses can change from being stagnant to being innovative and, in the process, be agents of change.Having worked in many marketing departments, I have seen businesses that did not adopt innovation and let their competition accelerate past them. The competition who moved past them in Google used newer techniques, had a budget for link building, updated web design, and much more.It is my pleasure to welcome Scott to the show.Scott Carley BioThere’s a reason they call him “The Change Energizer”–Scott Carley has the energy and the knowledge to get big achievements across the finish line! He takes a proactive and innovative approach to problem-solving, overcoming obstacles, and conquering failures. With his emphasis on taking action, Scott helps organizations achieve objectives and increase productivity.A long-time certified Vistage speaker and Trusted Advisor, Scott Carley has spoken nationally to thousands of CEOs and key leaders. He is a two-term President of the Austin Chapter of the National Speakers Association. He is also a three-term Board member of the National Chapter Leadership Council of NSA, supporting Professional Speakers nationwide. He has rallied presenters to innovate with new tools during the Covid-19 Pandemic, exemplifying once again that he knows how to practice what he preaches.  Scott has traveled to over 350 cities stateside and from Australia to Europe as a keynote speaker. His top clients include Wells Fargo, Dell, NYL, and Travel and Tourism Industry. Clients love his clear approach to problem-solving and how he “creates a breath of fresh air” that energizes and uplifts.His three most requested Conference Topics are:Awaken The Giant Within – You’ve Got Super Powers, and You’re Gonna Need a CapeWe Did It – The Science and Strategy Behind Big AchievementsConquer Your Sand Traps – It’s what made Tiger Woods a ChampionScott hosts his We Did It Weekend Breakthrough Retreats once a quarter for Repositioning and Emerging Leaders.ResourcesScott Carley Website – https://scottcarley.com/LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarleyQuestions I asked ScottHow do you get businesses that are overwhelmed working in their companies to work on their business?How do you get business leaders out of funk so that your team is more agile and willing to move toward innovation?The competition is wiping out the business. How do you get the company to take notice and take action?What do you do to help people innovate in their business?What is the catalyst to help people innovate?How do you Energize a Team long-term?How do you help a stagnate leadership team get creative and move forward?How does a leader become decisive in making good decisions?How do leaders say NO to distractions?What was your aha moment or breakthrough with learning how to motivate businesses?How can businesses work with you?See the full episode at: https://emjpodcast.com/moving-forward-with-innovation-by-embracing-change

If you are interested in what makes SEO tick or how to rank a web page or website in Google. You know that this is a moving target, as Google is constantly changing and evolving.To speak directly about these issues, I invited Lily Ray to come on the show and discuss what is new about Google’s E-E-A-T framework.If you are unfamiliar with E-E-A-T? Lily goes into this, as the E-E-A-T framework was recently updated.BioLily Ray is the SEO Director at Amsive Digital, providing strategic leadership for the agency’s SEO client programs. Born into a family of software engineers, web developers, and technical writers, Lily brings a strong technical background, performance-driven habits, and forward-thinking creativity to all programs she oversees. Lily began her SEO career in 2010 in a fast-paced start-up environment and moved quickly into the agency world. She helped grow and establish an award-winning SEO department that delivered high-impact work for a fast-growing list of notable clients, including Fortune 500 companies. Lily has worked across various verticals focusing on retail, e-commerce, b2b, and CPG sites. She loves diving into algorithm updates, assessing quality issues, and solving technical SEO mysteries.Resources:Upcoming Events – https://lilyray.nyc/events/list/LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-ray-44755615/LilyRay’s Website – https://lilyray.nyc/Amsive Digital – https://www.amsivedigital.com/Twitter – https://twitter.com/lilyraynycThe questions that I asked Lily that this podcast episode was based onWhat does E-E-A-T mean?How can E-E-A-T affect a site’s rankings in Google?What can SEOs do to improve the E-E-A-T on their website?What are the most common issues that you see?Can writing more on topic clusters of the site's overarching topic help with E-E-A-T? – semantic SEO.How does having more robust content with supporting keywords, related keywords, and question queries help? – People also ask.Does FAQ schema help with E-E-A-T? – If so, can you explain how.How does adding Author Schema help?How does adding SameAs Author Schema Help?When relevant internal links are implemented, can this help with E-E-A-T by connecting Google entities?How can off-page signals like BBB and Yelp affect the Trustworthiness of a website for E-E-A-T?Can the relevancy of your backlinks from referring domains affect the authority in E-E-A-T?A relevant site and content linking back to your page.A relevant or irrelevant link profile from 3rd party websites.Does Google’s (NLP) play a part in E-E-A-T? If so, could you explain how?Check out the full episode at: https://emjpodcast.com/e-e-a-t-in-2023-and-chat-gpt-with-lily-ray.

As an SEO or business owner, if your focus has been on organic SEO or local SEO, or maybe you’ve spent some ad dollars on Google or Facebook, there’s a huge opportunity for you in a search engine called YouTube.You may be saying, what is the big deal?Well, users come to YouTube to research and learn about topics. And it’s not like paid ads on Google or Facebook that use disruption tactics.YouTube videos also show up in Google’s organic search results and Google Local search results.YouTube videos can amplify the organic content message that you have.Today’s guest, Jeremy Vest, has been working to figure out YouTube’s secrets for the past 15 years. And his customers have about 30 billion organic views on YouTube. YouTube, though is kinda an enigma on how you show up.BioJeremy’s been a YouTube coach for almost 15 years. His customers have over 20 billion organic views on YouTube. He’s worked with dozens of the largest brands and creators in the world. He’s spoken at VidSummit, Vidcon, and Social Media Marketing World and founded Video Marketing World. ResourcesYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@creatorunlockLinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/creator-unlock/Creator Unlock Website – https://www.creatorunlock.com/coachingKey Moments1:20 – Jeremy talks about how YouTube serves up content to its users, the importance of watch history, and a niched focus for creators.6:09 – In this section, Jeremy breaks down further the importance of niching down as a creator on YouTube.11:13 – In this section, Jeremy talks about the most common issues creators have when setting up their channels, creating content, or generally where things go wrong.14:12 – How do you get traffic to the YouTube channel and its videos to start with? – What should you focus on first?16:45 – How can a YouTube coach help you improve your appearance on YouTube?18:30 – Learn what’s new on YouTube for 2023.21:26 – How can you work with Jeremy?

It is my great pleasure to bring on the show one of my all-time favorite managers: Michael Impelluso. While working with Mike, I increased my capacity for empathy for my co-workers.  I came to think of my colleagues as customers.Some of the skills I learned to improve upon were soft skills, hard skills, effective communication between team members and leadership, learning to clarify the ask, time management, and work-life balance.This episode covers all of these topics, as I find they are essential whether you are working as a freelance consultant, in an agency, or within an enterprise-level marketing department.BioMike is the Vice President of Marketing at CentralReach, the industry’s leading ABA software and services provider that helps organizations serving individuals with autism and IDD deliver evidence-based and personalized care. Mike has over 20 years of experience in Digital Marketing, Brand Management, and Lead Generation. He has managed agencies that deliver SEO and website services to hundreds of clients and ran corporate teams for privately owned and publicly traded organizations that drove significant bottom-line growth using cohesive digital marketing strategies.Resources:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelimpelluso/Central Reach – https://centralreach.com/Questions For Mike:Can you tell us your background on where you started position-wise in your career and where you have gone?How did soft skills play a par in your career?How did additional training with hard skills play a part in your career?Can you tell us about some challenges you had in getting other teams or senior leadership to align with your vision?How do you keep your teams agile?What were your biggest aha moments for managing team members in marketing?What was your biggest breakthrough in marketing that directly affected how the business performed?What recommendations can you give to young marketing professionals?See the full episode at: https://emjpodcast.com/seo-skills-that-every-seo-needs-that-are-not-found-in-a-toolCheck out more episodes of The EMJ SEO Podcast.

Today we are going a little bit off the beaten path on the SEO learning path.&nbsp;This episode is dedicated to people who are looking to learn SEO for a family business.When families run their businesses and the business is split between an older and younger generation, there can be stressors between the two groups on how to run and market their business, let alone which tactics to use, which could include SEO, Local SEO, Local Search Ads (LSA), and more.That is why I have brought in an expert on business succession to go over the main issues that face family businesses and pathways to overcome the friction of multi-generation family businesses and business succession.Businesses that align amongst the generations with a succession plan will be able to move forward, working together as a unit, where they can have a strategy on how they are going to market their business.It is my pleasure to welcome Stephen Shortt to the show.Stephen Shortt Bio:Stephen grew up in two family businesses and started a few of his own.&nbsp; Having bought both family businesses from his parents and growing them internationally, Stephen learned a lot about successful succession planning and making some mistakes along the way…Stephen is the former global chair of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, which supports young, emerging entrepreneurs in over 50 countries around the world – which was the basis for the Disney+ / National Geographic Documentary “Own the Room”.&nbsp; Stephen has also served on the global committee for EO Accelerator, which supports entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses to €1m+ per year.&nbsp; He was a founding member and Past President of the Irish chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization.Stephen is a succession planning coach; strategy facilitator; team development coach; leadership coach, and personality profiler. Stephen has delivered keynotes, facilitated workshops, and taught leadership academies in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceana. Stephen is honored to act on several advisory boards; as a coach for accelerator companies scaling up their businesses; as an angel investor, and as a mentor to emerging entrepreneurs in Ireland and internationally.All of Stephen’s projects, businesses, and programs feed into his core purpose “To help people Aspire to a better future and Empower them to get there”. Stephen and his Spanish wife have two bilingual daughters and try to spend as much holiday time in Spain as possible.ResourcesLinkedIn&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenshortt/Successful Succession&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://successfulsuccession.com/Questions for StephenHow do you figure out a future vision for a family business?How do we pick the right NextGen leader for the business?How can we prepare both generations for the transition?What are common pain points when families talk about business succession?Can you discuss how the business's strategy might change based on success?With inflation increasing, how does this impact business succession?Can you discuss what typically happens if a family can’t agree on a business succession plan?Can you talk about your aha moment or breakthroughs you have had while working with businesses on succession?In 2023, what issues do you see impacting business succession?How can businesses reach out to you for help?Check out the full episode at<a href="https://emjpodcast.com/does-your-business-strategy-include-a-succession-plan" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

If you’re struggling on how to build links to your website and its pages, know that you’re not alone. Many of the link building strategies that are online can get your website penalized in Google. And these penalties, well, they’re really difficult to recover from. Today’s episode is all about link building strategies that Google loves.So, you may be thinking, why should I listen to you? Hey, my name is Matt Hepburn, and I’m an SEO professional with 13 plus years of experience working as an SEO consultant, working in agencies both large and small. And for the past seven years, I’ve been working in the enterprise sector for some of the biggest brands out there. Welcome to The EMJ SEO Podcast, where it’s all about you learning SEO so you can get an industry job later.So today we’re joined by Kari DE Phillips, the CEO of the Content Factory. And Kari is going to talk to you about effective link building strategies with PR so that you can get links from top publications and new sites by pitching to journalists. Kari is also going to talk about how this tactic scales with newsworthy content. And if you hang out to the end, you’re going to get a free template that you can use to start pitching PR so that you can capitalize on scaling your link building and land those elusive authority links.Kari’s Bio:Kari&nbsp;DePhillips is the CEO of&nbsp;The Content Factory,&nbsp;an SEO agency specializing in PR.&nbsp;Kari&nbsp;is also the founder of the Sisters in SEO Facebook community, which has grown to over 11,000 members (if you’re a non-dudebro in SEO, you’re welcome to join!). SERPstat named&nbsp;Kari&nbsp;one of the Top 3 Women in SEO, Thrive called her a “limit-breaking female founder,” and NBC news titled her a “CEO who takes job perks to the max” for her approach to business management.&nbsp;ResourcesContent Factory Case Studies&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://contentfac.com/digital-marketing-pr-case-studies/How to Write a HARO Pitch that WORKS&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://contentfac.com/how-to-write-a-haro-pitch-that-works/How to Get $100k+ in Media Coverage for Your Brand (In Just 3 Months!)&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://contentfac.com/how-to-write-a-haro-pitch-that-works/Website &amp; SocialThe Content Factory&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://contentfac.com/LinkedIn&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.linkedin.com/in/karidephillips/Twitter&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://twitter.com/karileedSisters In SEO&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.facebook.com/groups/sistersinseoTCF Twitter&nbsp;– https://twitter.com/ContentFacTCF LinkedIn&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.linkedin.com/company/contentfac/Questions for Kari1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Aside from the SEO benefit of building domain authority, what are PR’s other benefits?”2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What are...

If you drive traffic to a product or service page on your website, you ultimately want a call to action for users to reach out to you. For many websites, this means opening a line of communication with your sales team.Does your website use old fashion forms, or does it use click-to-call or a listed email?What happens to these website leads when your business is closed?Do your form emails go into oblivion?How fast are you getting back to these potential customers?As an SEO, I love it when I can drive relevant traffic to the website I am working on. However, ifthere is a hole in the conversion bucket, how much traffic I drive to the website will not matter.That’s where today’s guest Aaron Weiche of&nbsp;Leadferno, comes in.&nbsp; Aaron is going to show us how we can convert more website leads. This is an important episode on how to grow your business with the traffic you already have.It is my pleasure to welcome Aaron to the show.BioAaron Weiche is the co-founder and CEO of&nbsp;Leadferno,&nbsp;a conversion platform for businesses to close more leads faster with text messaging. Aaron is an entrepreneur, founding and leading multiple software companies and digital marketing agencies over the past 20 years.&nbsp;Before Leadferno, he was CEO of GatherUp, growing it to serve over 25,000 businesses and appearing in the INC 5000. Aaron led GatherUp to an acquisition in 2019. Aaron speaks internationally on digital marketing, customer experience, conversion, and messaging.ResourcesLeadferno&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://leadferno.com/LinkedIn&nbsp;–&nbsp;linkedin.com/in/aaronweicheGatherUp&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://gatherup.com/Aaronweiche.com&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.aaronweiche.com/Questions For AaronAaron, can you talk about your aha moment that led to the idea of Leadferno?Can you tell us how Leadferno helps businesses generate more sales and achieve higher ROI?Can you talk about any major breakthroughs you had as you developed your SaaS software?Can you tell us what differentiates Leadferno from other solutions for connecting website users to the website business?Why is SMS better than live chat?Could you talk about your shortcut feature to request reviews?Could you talk about lead conversion rates for SMS text messages vs traditional website communication tools?Can you discuss how Leadferno connects to CRM’s and why that is critical?What is on the horizon for Leadferno in 2023? Are there updates of new features that are rolling out?How can listeners reach out to watch a demo or just get started?Check out the full episode at: https://emjpodcast.com/aaron-weiche-converting-web-visitors-through-sms-text

Today we are joined by Joy Hawkins a leader in Local SEO. In this interview, Joy talks about the recent changes in Local Search from test data, as well as an update from the State of Local Search in 2023.Episode 10 HighlightsWe get some insight as to how AI might affect content creation in 2023 and different ways that business owners can make unique content that AI can’t make or compete with.We receive insight into some&nbsp;new ranking factors&nbsp;in Local search results around Google Business Profile services.We also got great advice on how businesses can take advantage of video for their local pages, which can help the business have more visibility in Local search results.Listen to the episode so that you can take away these insights to adjust your Local SEO strategy.BioJoy Hawkins has been working in the Local SEO industry since 2006 and loves being a Google Top Contributor. She also loves spending time managing Google Ads accounts and has been certified in both Google Search &amp; Display. She is also a speaker at various search engine marketing conferences such as&nbsp;SMX&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;LocalU, Pubcon &amp; Mozcon.ResourcesTwitter&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://twitter.com/SterlingSkyInc/Sterling Sky&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.sterlingsky.ca/LocalU Advanced Dallas TX – April 26, 2023&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://localu.org/upcoming-events/dfw-23/The State of Local Search 2023&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.brightlocal.com/webinars/the-state-of-local-search-2023/My Questions For JoyCould you tell us a little bit about Sterling SkyWho do your services help?The advanced local training.What do you see changing in the local search ecosystem in 2023?Could you lean into any changes from the recent The State of Local Search 2023?How can business owners get the right training to market their businesses locally?Can you talk about the Local U acquisition and what that means moving forward?What were your aha moments or breakthroughs in local search?If you had a chance to tell yourself as a younger marketer something, what would that be?What is on the horizon in 2023 for Sterling Sky and LocalU?Check out the full episode at:&nbsp;https://emjpodcast.com/whats-new-in-local-seo-in-2023-with-joy-hawkinsCheck out more episodes of&nbsp;The EMJ SEO Podcast.

Mike’s BioMike has been involved with offering web services since 1995. Prior to specializing in web design and search consulting in 2001, Mike was a principal in a family-owned &amp; operated retail business for over 30 years. That business was very successful until it wasn’t and was crushed by the new reality of retail. Like all small business owners attempting to market to a fragmented clientele, he was continually frustrated by the barriers &amp; costs imposed by the advertising options available. Shortly after Google Maps was released in 2004 he threw out his 9 Yellow Page books and started focusing on Local Search.Mike helped co-found LocalU in 2009 (acquired by SterlingSky in 2019) and co-founded GatherUp.com in 2012 (acquired by ByTraject in 2019).During the week, you can find him at LocalU.org where he does a weekly podcast, and at&nbsp;Near Media&nbsp;where he writes about local search and its impact on the business community.Resources:Near Media–&nbsp;https://www.nearmedia.co/Mike’s Posts at Near Media&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.nearmedia.co/author/mike/Local U&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://localu.org/LinkedIn&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://www.linkedin.com/in/mblumenthal/Twitter&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://twitter.com/mblumenthalBlumenthals&nbsp;–&nbsp;https://blumenthals.com/blog/Questions I ask MikeCould you talk about how you first started in the local industry 20 years ago, and what drove your passion to help businesses compete in their local markets?Can you talk about some of the challenges you had with your agency and with Google’s local environment changing?Can you tell us some of the aha moments and breakthroughs you have had as you researched local search?Can you talk about co-founding Local U, and helping business owners understand the local landscape?Can you explain what GatherUp is, and how you helped start it?Could you explain how Near Media can help businesses?If you had the ability to change something in the local ecosystem, what would it beWhat is on the horizon in 2023 for Near Media and Blumenthals?Check out the full episode at: https://emjpodcast.com/mike-blumenthal-talks-about-his-journey-with-local-seoCheck out more episodes of&nbsp;The EMJ SEO Podcast.

Today we are joined by Amanda Milligan, the head of marketing forStacker.com. Amanda is an experienced growth and content marketing specialistfocusing on audience research, strategic content development, personalizedoutreach, and white-hat link building through acquiring media coverage.Amanda has agreed to share with us strategies around earned syndication.I am pleased to welcome Amanda to the first episode of the EMJ PodcastPodcast.ResourcesLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandamilligan/Stacker - https://stacker.com/Stacker Studio - https://studio.stacker.com/MOZ Article - https://moz.com/blog/content-syndication-case-studyValue Drops3:20 – Amanda talks about the differences between owned syndication, paid syndication and earned syndication.5:36 – Amanda explains why earned syndication is good for building authority with your audience as well as building domain authority.Questions for AmandaWhat is the difference between paid syndication and earned syndication?You’ve said that the earned syndication approach is much better for SEO and authority - can you explain?Can you talk a little bit about earned syndication and how it has changed the traffic on stacker.com?Can you explain how paid syndication can generate link authority back to a publisher’s domain?Do you post content to one 3rd party publisher, or do you syndicate to multiple?Can you recommend a strategy for brands to start connecting with relevant 3rd party publishers for earned syndication?What timeframe should brands realistically plan for to start seeing some benefits from earned syndication?Can you please explain the requirements for canonical Links and do-follow links?Can you outline the process that was used at Stacker to syndicate content?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; How can brands create the type of content that publishers want to run?What would you recommend for brands who want to try their hand at 3rd party content syndication?View the full episode at: https://emjpodcast.com/amanda-milligan-discusses-earned-syndication.Check out more episodes of&nbsp;The EMJ SEO Podcast.