138: Mastering Local Business SEO: Expert Tips with Rita Ester

Dolly: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Systems and Workflow Magic podcast. I am Dolly, your systems and workflow BFF and guide. Today, I am honored to be joined by another fantastic SEO expert, Rita Esther, one of the expert contributors to the systems and workflow magic bundle, the SEO edition. Now, here’s a little bit about Rita before we officially kickstart the session. Rita founded Delegate and Accelerate, a boutique virtual assistant agency exclusively for small businesses. With over 25 years of experience in marketing, social media, and web design, she has mastered the art of building and leading high-performing virtual and in-person teams. After working 12 years in a Fortune 500 company, she began her entrepreneurial journey fueled by her desire to apply her corporate skills to the exciting world of small business support. This transition allowed her to leverage her extensive background in high-stakes environments to create innovative solutions for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Wow. That is a fantastic introduction. I’m so excited to have Rita on the podcast. Rita, welcome to the Show.

Rita Ester: Shownk you. I’m excited to be here.

Dolly: Yeah. And right before we hit record, everyone, I just asked it, where she was from, where we were, she was calling, and you all, I have, to like, I have to share this fun fact about her. Rita was born and raised in Louisiana, and she shared with me that she lives four miles away from the hospital she was born in, and that’s very rare in

Rita Ester: I didn’t go far.

Dolly: Yeah. I love that so much. I love that you stayed like in your home roots. Adjust, I love meeting people who are actual natives of their state, which is so cool because you usually don’t meet unico runs from different It’s a fantastic honor to have you on the podcast, especially after all of your extensive background and knowledge So I’m excited to learn more about chatting about local business SEO like how to apply it to your um, project. Business. And I know these. If you’re tuning in as a live listener, you should know we are doing the summer of SEO. So, we are talking about different facets of SEO and how to apply them to your business. SEO is not just for big corporations. It’s small business owners near, especially if you want to be the Google answer to your unique client’s Google inquiry. Please show what the series is dedicated to on the first page of Google. I also want to introduce you to these fantastic SEO experts so you can get to know them further. So, Rita, if you may or may not see every podcast episode I have, I treat it like a masterclass for my listeners so they can take action and know what sort of system or workflow to apply to the back end of their business. So, I’m excited to dig into this area of SEO expertise.

Rita Ester: I agree with what you said about SEO not just being for big corporations. A huge misconception is that you must be wealthy enough to consider SEO. The truth is that very few small businesses put any effort into it. If you put in any effort, you’re already ahead of your competition nine times out of 10.

Dolly: That is so true. And I was also thinking: his, I, a lot of small business owners, like we, especially, I will throw myself in this category. I did not go to college for what I am now doing. Like, I’m like the accidental entrepreneur you, a business owner. I never thought I would own my own business in a million years, but here I am, owning and educating others about systems and workflows. I’m sure high school and college Dolly would laugh, and I cannot believe what I’m doing right. But, I feel like many business owners overcomplicate much to the point that they put it off, and they put it, and they hope and pray that referrals will be their big thing or that social media will be their big thing. But you all like it. Aslike Rshared,g is you can take baby s,teps and you will be legions ahead of other small business owners who are not taking those baby steps.

Rita Ester: The truth is that dollar-for-dollar SEO and email marketing will make you more money than social media every day.

Dolly: Yes. I will use that as a quotation for this specific episode, Rita. That was a perfect point you made. Ad listeners, I know I talk a lot about Evo marketing and SEO, but listening to this will benefit you. So, let’s chat about local businesses, including how to apply them to your business.

Rita Ester: Well, the first the ing, of co,urse I work with many small businesses on their backend. I would say that 90 percent of the time, whenever I start on a project, the first thing we need to do is create a Google My Business profile or Google Business, and they’ve changed the name of it. So, Google Business Pro—le, whatever it’s called—now, I think it’s Google Business Pro, a file called Google My Business, but you know what I’m talking about is the first thing. If you haven’t done that, please do it. Um, and then the same goes for the other search engines, like Bin or Y. They also have business profiles that you can fill out. Of course, Google is the most commonly used search engine. So focus on that. If you only have a little time and energy, you’ll create that business profile. There’s something called NAP, which is name, address, ss, and phone number. So, you want to ensure that the NAP is the same on your Google business profile as on your website or anything else you put on. The very first step is to have that Google business profile. Once you have it, what do you do with it? Right? That’s well. I’ll create and ignore it for many people, but it doesn’t work that way. Your Google business profile, Google treats as its own, as your actual social media feed. So you can post to your Google business profile on your social media. So if you have a special going on, if you have a promotion, if you’re closed because it’s a holiday, put that on your Google business profile. Business profile. What’s to Google is that you are proactive in your business and letting your audience know what’s Going On. So update your hours for holiday changes, or let us know if you’re taking a vacation or what. If there are any questions you would like to answer, you can ask yourself questions and then answer those questions on your Google profile. Google loves it. When you do this, please fill out as much as possible.If you only spend an hour a week on your Google business profile, that’s going to help your local rankings,

Dolly: Going back to your point of setting up a Google, I know the name changes all the time, like Google My Business and Google Business Profile, but I never thought to set one up. And what was the other one?

Rita Ester: Yahoo, any of the other search engines.

Dolly: Are those relatively easy to set up, like for your client? Is it time-intensive?

Rita Ester: Honest for ly; regarding the Google business profile, you probably want to set aside a couple of hours to put that. Once you’ve done it for Google, the information will be the same for all the rest. They ask for a short description of your company, but you can’t promote your company in that description. You have to describe what you do. For example, Delegate Unaccelerated is a boutique marketing agency for small businesses. Still, I wouldn’t know, contact me for this, that, and the other, because that’s promotional. Youu have It, they ask for quite a bit of information, which is a little frustrating because the, all of the information that you feed to Google is usually not public facing. So you spend a lot of time writing it the right way. I think you only have 720 characters or 720 words to do so. But then Google probably won’t even show that to people. So it’s a little frustrating but well worth the effort. That exact information is what you’ll put in all the other search engine profiles.

Dolly: Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. This a random question, and I just thought, sorry if this throws a curve ball at you, but from your experience with your clients and setting these up, have you noticed a difference, even like a good SEO difference, for when your client took the time to set up? Not only Google business but like you were sharing being and Yahoo and the other public-facing search engines.

Rita Ester: Yes. There’s one client in particular who completely ignored her Google business profile. We spent a little time getting it set up, and That same way, she got two new clients who found her through a Google search. And, she was not sold on. She is spending the time and the budget for me working on her Google profile. And I’m like, girl, it is necessary. And a month later, she’s Oh my God, thank you. So now we have it there. We post something on her Google profile, like social media, once a week of a post. Then, once a month, she updates her Google business profile with her latest blog post and then her YouTube vi; whenever she releases a new YouTube video, we also put it on her Google Business Profile, and it’s made a social blog about it. 

Dolly: that is so smart. Rita, I can imagine you going back there in that conversation. You were like, well, well, well, what did I tell you?

Rita Ester: Yes. Yes, I do.

Dolly: Oh, I’ve never thought to do an update for YouTube videos. I also have a YouTube channel, tunnel, and I’ve never considered doing that. Now my wheels are turning, Rita.

Rita Ester: Yeah. Google loves it whenever you cross-promote it with products.

Dolly: I love it. Okay. So, listeners like after this, And when this airs, you know, I’m going to be, I’m going to be like opening up Bing and opening up Yahoo now and zhuzhing up, I call it zhuzhing up my Google, my business profile. And I am excited, Thaust. I never thought of the other search engines being important, either.

Rita Ester: Yes, it sends signals to Google; even though it’s a competing pro, you are more established. So that’s the signal. Regarding SEO, something called E A T. means expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. And whenever you’re same information that N A P name, address, phone number is the same in multiple locations, That signals to Google that you are trustworthy.

Dolly: Okay, guys, we know what we will do after this episode. We’re going to work on those different profiles. Now, I know we’re just going to talk about optimizing our public-facing profiles on Google My Business and being in Y. Still, you’re also going to talk about optimizing your local SEO for your business by joining local organizations. So chat more about that.

Rita Ester: One of the signals to Google is that you are a trustworthy site that helps you increase your ranking and SEO. It has nothing to do with your website but with your being. You mentioned and linked back to other websites. And this is especially true. If you are a small business that focuses on local clients, this also works if you see peoworldwideorld, but if you are listed in any kind of. Organizations that are local to you or in your niche. For example, I’m here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Suppose my business was featured or linked like the Chamber of Commerce or any organization for business owners or w business owners, or anything I can join. In that case, you may have to pay 47 a year to be a member of whatever it is, but it’s 100 percent worth it for what they call a backlink. And that is one of linkslink. Links back to your site and Links are so crucial for your SE, O, and these are the most accessible backlinks to pick up just by being active in your community and your niche so that way you can be featured and have, like your list, links back to your website. It’s super easy to get those links and join those organizations. And, for your own business, it’s good too. Be active in your community and these organizations. So, so when, when, when,

Dolly: Okay. Rita, I’m going to play devil’s advocate and ask, I guess devil’s advocate. Isn’t the. Right turn. But I’m just going to say, what if I have listeners who are? I know there’s thinking,g Dolly, and I am so introverted. I don’t want to go to these networking events. I want to be behind my computer screen and try to optimize everything from SEO. That’s the point of SEO. So you don’t have to go and network. Can you argue? I know why it’s essential to network locally, but what are some things you tell your clients? Yes, SEO is like being found organically through your search engine, but you should also network locally.

Rita Ester: Okay. So it would d be hard for you to find someone more introverted than I am. I am the epitome of a hermit. I haven’t been further than my backyard. And over a week, I have a car that doesn’t run because I don’t leave the house enough to keep it running. So, I am very introverted. So I a hundred percent understand. So here’s the thing about these local organizations. Let’s get real. Most of these exist as money-making entities. So they collect their membership dues so you can be featured as mothers. But if you don’t want to meet other people, you can pay 47 a year to be a member and have that link back to your website. You don’t have to do anything else unless you want to. Some organizations don’t necessarily like a meetup where you must get out of your shell or do anything uncomfortable. Still, they give you a fat blog post, a great opportunity. They’ll have their social media, which might be like the month’s featured member, and you can get featured in that. So it isn’t, you don’t necessarily have to go to meetings or go to Or do anything that you don’t want to do to get that link juice from these local organizations or, other organizations, but we’re specifically talking about local SEO. So that’s where it would be the most beneficial, but I don’t. This is the most outside of my comfort zone that I will get. And right now, I’m not going to any of these meetings, but I’ve been featured on many of my websites.

Dolly: Gotcha. Okay. Like all my introverted listeners, everybody can breathe a collective sigh of relief. It’s okay. Rita permitted us to say it’s okay to be still introverted. And, so, that’s good to know. I wondered how that tied into building out your; that’s exciting. Again, Rita, I’m learning so much from this conversation. Thank you. That was a perfect point. , so. So let’s then talk about it. You hinted very briefly about being featured. Can you chat more about it, okay? For example, if you’re not attending networking events physically or want to rely on them, Word of mouth is essential because life circumstances happen. You may not be able to go out. You may not be able to get out. I’m in a life phase right now. You want to call it a chapter of life where I can’t get out as much because I have two littles at home, So I do a lot of my own business online. And so, then, how would you recommend getting featured on local media?

Rita Ester: Sure. So, just like Dolly, you and I are talking right now. I don’t have to leave my house. It’s in the afternoon. I am, I do have on a, I fixed my hair and did my makeup. I didn’t know if this would be video recorded, but that’s optional. So, the same thing happens: when it comes to your local area, your local media, podcasts, blogs, and influencers are local to you. So, I know that Dolly, you said you’re in the Nashville area. I promise there are Instagram people who hashtag Nashville or, and you can, like, yeah. Find these people, and they are always looking for content. So you were helping each other out because these people are always looking for content, whether it’s the news or your local magazines. So here in Baton Rouge, we have Parentsents magazine and the Baton RoParentsents magazine. We have something called. 225, which is our area code. And it’s like what’s happening in Baton Rouge. So I like the opening of bands and restaurants or whatever events are happening in our city. There’s something called a register, which is our society magazine. So like the, fancy people are getting married, and who cares, they make a magazine about it. So those are just three I can think of off the top of my head: these people, some editors, are always looking to feature local stories. They want to talk about you. So again, you don’t have to get outside your comfort zone. You don’t have to be interviewed on the local news. If that’s your jam, they’re looking for stories, too, but you can be featured. You can write to these magazines to the editors and say, Hey, you know, Hey, my name is Rita. I was born and raised in Baton Rouge. Here’s my story. I would love to share a bit of wisdom with you. So I might, you know, let’s say I wanted to be featured in 225 magazine. I might write an article about how local SEO is great. And submit that to that magazine. So then I’m being featured in that magazine. I’m getting the link back to my website, which helps with my link juice. So it’s the same thing as joining the local organizations. The strategy is to say, we’re just trying to get links. Back to your website for SEO purposes. And in the meantime, you will also pick up more clients because you’re getting featured. You’re going to be out there. And for whatever reason, the way our brains work, whenever we see someone in a magazine or some cation, we automatically think that this person knows what they’re doing. Google considers the same thing. So whenever you’re featured on these things, Google will automatically bump your rankings and SEO up because you are being featured as an expert in other publications.

Dolly: Wow, that’s so good. Do you have any other? Again, I’m picking your brain for examples of how your clients have done this. For example, how have your clients utilized local media to help their SEO? Ester: SuOne, one of my clients, is part of the Women’s Business Organization for her cyber. I think she pays 97 a year to be in that organization. She has been featured in physical publications and has done guest blog posts on their social media. They have featured her, and that’s just one client. So there, again, there is a content editor. There’s someone whose job it is to fill out this content calendar. I would love for everyone to meet one of these people to understand how desperate they are for content and how desperate they are for people to interview and talk about or talk to. So they are looking for you.

Dolly: Oh, that’s such a good reminder. So listeners, don’t just assume that your area may be more extensive and feel like it’s oversaturated; I feel like Rita is giving us all, again, permission to stretch ourselves, get in, not necessarily get outside of our comfort zone because this is like literally something we can do. In the comfort of our home, reach out to these local media, magazines, and newspapers, and let them know, Hey, this is what our business is about. And this is like who we serve. And it’s a good reminder, Rita, to hear you say that people must create content. So they are hungry to fill out the rest of the quarter and the rest of the calendar. Again, I hope you are all taking notes because I have a lot of ideas now about how I will utilize this.

Rita Ester: Dolly, with your podcast, when you’re looking for guests, sometimes you’re like, Mom, can I interview you? Cause I’m desperate for somebody. Cause my content is just challenging. Sometimes, it can be another good strategy to get you; again, we’re talking about SEO. Of course, I can talk about all the different ways of marketing your business, but just specifically for SEO and getting those backlinks suitable for your lo, SEO is to sponsor. And, a sports team locally, a baseball team, a bowling league, a little league, something. And you can sponsor these for as little as 150 a year. You get your name and logo on their publicItpublication, which boosts your local SEO, too.

Dolly: That’s such a great idea. Hey, we all know, in some way or shape or form, we’re all very close to some small town. I know I’m speaking for myself. It is a small-town parade that always happens every year. And I always notice that all of these different businesses sponsor this flow, and I’m like, Oh, I should call up and see how I can help sponsor it somehow.

Rita Ester: You get your link on their website because they will have their sponsors page. So you’re paying for, just strictly SEO speaking, you’re paying for that backlink, but you will also be featured. If there’s a parade, you might get to be on the float, and that’s a lot of fun just on its own if you want to get out of those. And go back to the front yard, but the locals, especially regarding children’s sports or activities, are always looking for a little sponsor here in Baton Rouge. We have something called Tiger TownfIt’s beautiful. It’s a tiger town because of LSU, the LSU tig, and Keep Tiger Townown. Beautifist is a local grassroots organization that picks up garbage and age, and people can sponsor it. If you send over a hundred dollars, they will post you all over their Facebook pages. They’re so excited. Oh my gosh, thank you, Rita. And delegate and accelerate for your donation. This is going to buy 2000 trash bags, whatever. There are always opportunities to help your community; in return, you’re helping yourself.

Dolly: Wow. Rita, these have all been wonderful. No, it’s in a strategy session about thinking about SEO in a more local sense. So, listeners, I will say to re-listen to this podcast episode sometime and take lots of notes. And if you don’t take any action and you’re like, what one action should I take? I would say set up your Google business profile and others publicly. Face prof, like and Y, who set up because that’s something that I did not even consider outside of Google business. So, Rita, thank you again for joining the podcast and showcasing all these fun things about local SEO.

Rita Ester: Thank you for having me. I’ve had a perfect time.

Dolly: Awesome. Well, I want to remind listeners again that you are one of the contributors to the systems and workflow magic bundle, the SEO edition. Would you mind teasing out what you will contribute to this bundle and why a person should SEO for the summer?

Rita Ester: Yes. Okay. So summertime is a great time. First of all, because, in general, it’s a terrible time to launch. So, there’s an excellent time to focus on another area of your business. I’m featuring in the bundle a master class all about SEO and local SEO and its step-by-step instructions on what you can do. And these are easy things that anyone can do. If you can run your b and check your email, you can. Optimize your website and your company for local SEO and improve the rankings. You can be featured in the map results. You can be featured. And like the little pictures that come up with, pictures of different businesses. If you’re looking at Baton Rouge dentists and the photos of the dentist’s offices come up, you can get there, and it’s not that hard. So, in the masterclass you’ll take, we’ll outlive all of these things step by step with worksheets to do. I believe anyone can do it, and I explained it as simply as possible for anyone who feels a little overwhelmed by the tech.

Dolly: I’m excited. You shared that there is going to be work she likes accompanying it. That’s good, especially for learners who need something to enjoy and ride alongside as they learn and listen. So,

Rita Ester: I’m a huge nerd. I need a worksheet myself. So

Dolly: I love it. I love it. And Rita, how can listeners find, connect, and work with you?

Rita Ester: sure. So, my website is delegated and accelerated. Com delegates and accelerates all the socials. So, Instagram is at delegates and accelerates Facebook—the same thing. And if you’re interested in working together, I do everything from soup to nuts whenever it comes, ten people. So, everything from blog writing to social launching, ing, to slide decks, to name it. We do it. I am responsible for a lot of the SEO stuff and graphic design in my business, so that is what I bring to the table with my business, but my team does it, and we love what we do.

Dolly: Wow, you guys are like a powerhouse. I did not realize that you guys did all of that.

Rita Ester: If all of it, like literally, we can’t be you, but we will be the man behind the curtain for you.

Dolly: I love that so much. Well, Rita, it was a pleasure meeting you and chatting about SEAgainain. I want to encourage everyone to connect with R and give her a follow-up to sign up for the wait for the systems and workflow magic bundle, the SEO edit, which will be in the show. notPleaseease, feel free to DM both of us and let us know if you’ve taken action from this episode. Because I knShow will—indeed, I, especially YahI, like customizing those two profiles. I’ve never thought of doing that. So, until then, everyone. Have a streamlined and magical week, you amazing muggle, and we will talk next week with a new epi centered around SEO for our summer of SEO series.

So, have a great day, guys. Bye.