VP, Product @Forstaglobal / @Rio_SEO. Previously @leadferno, @patientpop & @google. I once studied molecular genetics.
Silicon Valley, California
Joined March 2008
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- Followers1.1K
- Likes1.8K
I'd love to hear some of your questions that @BradWetherall and (maybe) I could answer.
I'm interviewing @headley and @BradWetherall - both former leaders within GMB/GBP - for our June podcast! If you have a question you'd love some insight on from those who worked INSIDE Google - now's your chance to ask!
localu.org/podcast-question-…
I'm excited to join @JoyanneHawkins and @BradWetherall on this upcoming podcast.
Don't miss it!
Our June podcast will be an interview with @headley & @BradWetherall - and now is your chance to submit a question for them!
Joel and Brad are former Googlers who led teams in the Google My Business/Google Business Profile ecosystem
Always wanted to bend the ear of someone with inside knowledge at GBP? Now's your chance....
localu.org/podcast-question-…
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Great view from the #GoogleGBPSummitNYC
Love hearing directly from PMs and other Googlers about how to effectively promote local businesses on Google.
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On a business trip in London, often looking @googlemaps - sad to see the spam on a landmark.
Hopefully, my edit gets reviewed quickly. Too bad they don't have @rio_seo to manage their data.
Also, great working with my colleagues across @Forstaglobal in London planning 2025. – at London, England
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But wait, there's more!
We were using Google's Vision API to find images that matched keywords associated with the business (e.g., dentist v. glasses), & that's why we saw an increase in traffic v. adding stock images alone.
Photo diff. were minor to get the right keywords.
How can you get high-quality photos for your Google Business Profile? 📸
Your first instinct might be to turn to stock photos or an AI photo generator. But that's a bad idea.
Google can detect stock photos and is not a fan of them. Research from Joel @headley demonstrated that Profiles with real, locally shot images, outperform Profiles with stock images.
So, here are 2 ways to get high-quality pictures for your Profile:
1️⃣ Your phone's camera takes high-enough quality pictures. Resolution has to be drastically reduced for photos on the web anyway.
You can ask someone at your office to take pictures of you doing your thing at work. This is a quick and easy solution that will get you some authentic photos for your Profile.
2️⃣ If you are willing to pay for stock images anyway, why not just hire a professional photographer?
You can find photographers in any city these days who will do a job like this for a couple hundred dollars.
Of the two options, I highly recommend booking a photographer. You can reuse those photos for your social media, website, print material etc. So the investment is well worth it.
Thoughts?
#seo #localseo
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And, if you want to capitalize on that extra traffic to your site, you need a way to interact with and capture leads.
What better than @leadferno?
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Schema's value to Google was based on the search features it presented based on schema, not the semantic content it could get from schema. It had to do that other ways because schema was never used universally enough to allow that to be the defacto standard in semantic content.
Schema is dead 😵
(for local SEO)
"Schema is only valuable for the SERP features that it triggers" - @headley
I no longer implement or recommend Schema for local business SEO. There used to be value in some schema markup, but not anymore.
🔹 Local business schema
You don't need it unless your business info online is a mess and Google cannot associate your business entity with your website. 99% of businesses don't have this problem, so there is no reason to use it. This schema has never had any SEO impact (see Joel's quote above).
🔹 Review schema
It was amazing while it lasted, but Google doesn't show the stars in the results for smaller sites anymore, so the party's over.
🔹 FAQ schema
It was amazing while it lasted, but Google doesn't show the FAQ snippet in the results for smaller sites anymore, so the party's over.
🔹 Sameas schema
This used to be helpful to get social links on your GBP, but it's no longer needed since you can add social links as a setting in your Google Business Profile now.
☝️🤓 There is still one rare case where I think schema can be helpful, and that is when your GBP Event posts are appearing with incorrect info.
Other than that, I don't waste my time with schema these days. There are higher value SEO activities to do.
#seo #localseo
To say schema is dead is a bit extreme, and I think @DarrenShaw_ knows that.
If I were to read into the statement, he's saying a biz that doesn't have it and is weighing their investments may not want to prioritize this one given other opportunities.
Schema is dead sounds 🤷
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You gotta love this meme is a local photo for a high school. maps.app.goo.gl/tgf8e4v4cCJn…
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The user interface of this article is awesome. missionlocal.org/2024/01/one…
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Ya gotta be in the top three. #localseo #localpack
Look at the data from ranking studies like below. Note that variability with any listing in the top 3 is likely less. Prove me wrong!!! brightlocal.com/research/stu…
I couldn't ask for a better business partner & friend in @AaronWeiche. Working to build @leadferno together has been the best professional endeavor because I'm working with one of the best humans around. He gave a great update & an overly generous note: thesaasventure.com/episodes/…
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I'm not sure what these notes in search are for, but creating images with a note is fun. google.com/viewer/content/6a…
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We've gotten a ton of requests on how @leadferno integrates with LSA. This is a simple way to do it!
Google Local Service Ads now allow leads to come to you by 💬 SMS and reply. Making @leadferno a great tool to manage LSA leads with TONS of features for faster replies (auto replies!), management, & tracking.
leadferno.com/blog/manage-le…
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As a daily user of Maps and being part of its GTM team 18 years ago, having stuff on the mobile app that let's you quickly tap and get things done might actually make more sense, despite the clutter.
Would love to see the usage metrics on these elements too.
15 years ago, I helped design Google Maps.
I still use it everyday.
Last week, the team dramatically changed the map’s visual design.
I don’t love it.
It feels colder, less accurate and less human.
But more importantly, they missed a key opportunity to simplify and scale.
–––
Google Maps has started to widely roll out updated map colors:
- All roads are now gray
- Water changed from blue to teal
- Parks and open spaces are now mint green
It seems the goal was to improve usability and make the maps more readable.
Admittedly, I do think major roads, traffic, and trails stand out more now.
But the colors of water and parks/open spaces blend together.
And to me, the palette feels colder and more computer generated.
But color choices aside…
If the goal was better usability, the team missed a big opportunity:
Google Maps should have cleaned up the crud overlaying the map.
–––
So much stuff has accumulated on top of the map.
Currently there are ~11 different elements obscuring it:
- Search box
- 8 pills overlayed in 4 rows
- A peeking card for “latest in the area”
- A bottom nav bar
(Personally, I would LOVE to see usage metrics for all these overlays.)
The map should be sacred real estate.
Only things that are highly useful to many people should obscure it.
There should be a very limited number of features that can cover the map view.
And there are multiple ways to add new features without overlaying them directly on the map.
–––
Here’s how it could look:
- Keep the search box
- Keep the bottom bar
- Remove everything else from the map
- Roll the most used features into the bottom bar
- Bury the less used features elsewhere in the app
I assume the search box and directions are top priority and should remain prominent.
My Location and map layers (satellite, traffic, etc.) could move to the bottom bar.
The explore overlays (restaurants, gas, etc.) could live in the bottom bar in “Explore” and open as cards.
The additional space in the bottom bar could be used for Saved, as a “More” option, or could be removed entirely.
There are many variations of how features could be arranged.
But the key points are:
- Dramatically simplify
- Strongly prioritize map visibility
- Bury legacy and low use features
–––
It’s normal for products to accumulate features over time.
But it’s also super important to stay vigilant and continually clean them up.
In many ways, it’s interesting to see history repeating itself.
In 2007, I was 1 of 2 designers on Google Maps.
At that time, Maps had already become a cluttered mess.
We were wedging new features into any space we could find in the UI.
The user experience was suffering and the product was growing increasingly complicated.
We had to rethink the app to be simple and scale for the future.
It seems like it’s time for Google Maps to do this again…
–––
For more on design + tips for early stage founders, follow me on X: @elizlaraki
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We need to build more secure walls to keep this kind of riff raff out of our borders. Just recently my cousin's FB account was taken over by some dude in India begging for $100 via CashApp sheesh: ftc.gov/news-events/news/pre…
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Should @googlemaps be penalizing listings for buying fake reviews? What happens when I start buying fake reviews of my competitors? How can one tell the difference? How much should Google care if it's a real business on the planet?
Asking for a former employer.
If you work with small businesses, you really need to watch this. In this video, I outline what happened with a home service business buying reviews on 18 different listings that were reported to Google 3x over the course of a year.
⬇️⬇️
youtube.com/watch?v=uvQDMnPU…
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Who doesn't want to know more about conversion from @AaronWeiche?
🔥 Woot! NEW Podcast from me: How to use AI for SEO and Conversion Audits
Conversion Cast looks at digital marketing with a focus on conversion. First guest is the amazing Andy Crestodina: @crestodina Please give a listen, subscribe, & share!
conversioncast.transistor.fm…
