Randy has been working with me and Thomas on Expand2Web for about a year now. He’s driving a lot of our business development and SEO efforts.
One of the first things he did when we started working together was to take his wife’s business, North Valley Optometry and put it on the map – literally.
When he started, she had no website and zero internet presence. He rolled up both sleeves and used her website as a model while he learned. Now she has a kick-butt WordPress Website, 50+ online reviews and a great footprint on the web. She ranks highly in the Lucky 7-Pack and organic listings for many of her keywords in San Jose, CA – which is a very competitive market. She is also getting new patients every week from the web now.
In this interview I talk with Randy about the things he did for North Valley Optometry. He shares three important tips that any small business owner can follow to improve their local business rankings.
Watch the Video Interview with Randy
You’ll notice that the audio is way quieter for my side of the conversation – I did my best to adjust the tracks and equalize the volume. I know how to fix this for recording the next interview.
Or Listen to the Interview
You can also download the MP3 audio file by clicking the download link below if you’re like me and you listen to interviews on your iPod/iPhone in the car.
“Right Click” here to download the PDF transcript
Please let me know what you think in the comments below!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:46 — 18.0MB)
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks guys, this was great. My two big take aways:
1. The most important thing in a website is that it can be found!
2. What a citation is with reference to seo.
Hope you do more of these!
Thanks Eileen – you’ve been building some great sites. I’d like to have you as a guest too!
-Don
One question I have – North Valley Optometry has 39 reviews, but the Google Maps listing is not at the top of the maps listings. I thought that the more reviews you have, the greater the odds of being the “A” listing in the local business results. Or is that no longer true?
Hi Diana,
Reviews are one factor of many in how Google ranks businesses. They are one of the more important factors, but reviews alone can’t ensure you get the top listing.
North Valley ranks in the “lucky 7 pack” for most of its target keywords, and moves up and down in that 7 pack. Sometimes but not always at the top, and usually on the first page. Google is always tweaking this to you can never guarantee the top spot to anyone.
Once people see you in the 7 pack they tend to click on the results with the most reviews.
Diana, I liked your question. I have found that one of the most exciting parts of working with seo is that it is always evolving. It is so important to stay current with the industry trends and seize all opportunities! Don, thank you for remaining so engaged in the process of educating your followers.