Plumbing Contractor: October 2019

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Get the Bingeable & Shareable MozCon 2019 Video Bundle!

MozCon 2019 was an absolute blast. There were endless snacks. There were Roger hugs. There were networking opportunities and Birds of a Feather tables and search epiphanies galore. And there were a ton of folks in our community who watched it all unfold from the perspective of a Twitter hashtag — fun to follow along with, but not quite the same impact as seeing the talks unfold in real-time.

If you're still wishing you could've joined us in Seattle this past July, you’ll be happy to know that you can recreate the MozCon experience from the comfort of your home or office (or your home office, but hopefully not your office-home — seriously, Karen, the quarterly reports will still be there in the morning!).

Yep, you got it: the MozCon 2019 Video Bundle is available for your purchasing and viewing pleasure!

Get the MozCon 2019 video bundle

Tell me about the video bundle!

For those of you who attended in-person, good news: you've already got access! The video bundle is always included in the price of your MozCon ticket, so you can relive your three jam-packed days of learning as many times as you want — and if you aren't too bummed that they already made you share your MozCon swag with them, be sure to share the vids with your team!

For the rest of us, the video bundle lets us enjoy the presentations at our own pace. It's condensed MozCon-caliber information in a neat, on-demand package that you can — have we mentioned this? — share with your team. Seriously, we think they'll like it. We were humbled to host some of the very brightest minds in SEO and digital marketing on our stage. With topics ranging from content marketing to technical SEO, PPC to local SEO, and just about everything in between, there are presentations to inspire just about any role in marketing (and your web dev just might be interested in a few talks, too).

What's covered in the videos:

The Golden Age of Search, Sarah Bird
Web Search 2019: The Essential Data Marketers Need, Rand Fishkin
Human > Machine > Human: Understanding Human-Readable Quality Signals and Their Machine-Readable Equivalents, Ruth Burr Reedy
Improved Reporting & Analytics Within Google Tools, Dana DiTomaso
Local Market Analytics: The Challenges and Opportunities, Rob Bucci
Keywords Aren't Enough: How to Uncover Content Ideas Worth Chasing, Ross Simmonds
How to Supercharge Link Building with a Digital PR Newsroom, Shannon McGuirk
From Zero to Local Ranking Hero, Darren Shaw
Esse Quam Videri: When Faking it is Harder than Making It, Russ Jones
Building a Discoverability Powerhouse: Lessons From Merging an Organic, Paid, & Content Practice, Heather Physioc
Brand Is King: How to Rule in the New Era of Local Search, Mary Bowling
Making Memories: Creating Content People Remember, Casie Gillette
20 Years in Search & I Don't Trust My Gut or Google, Wil Reynolds
Super-Practical Tips for Improving Your Site's E-A-T, Marie Haynes
Fixing the Indexability Challenge: A Data-Based Framework, Areej AbuAli
What Voice Means for Search Marketers: Top Findings from the 2019 Report, Christi Olson
Redefining Technical SEO, Paul Shapiro
How Many Words Is a Question Worth?, Dr. Peter J. Meyers
Fraggles, Mobile-First Indexing, & the SERP of the Future, Cindy Krum
Killer E-commerce CRO and UX Wins Using A SEO Crawler, Luke Carthy
Content, Rankings, and Lead Generation: A Breakdown of the 1% Content Strategy, Andy Crestodina
Running Your Own SEO Tests: Why It Matters & How to Do It Right, Rob Ousbey
Dark Helmet's Guide to Local Domination with Google Posts and Q&A, Greg Gifford
How to Audit for Inclusive Content, Emily Triplett Lentz
Image & Visual Search Optimization Opportunities, Joelle Irvine
Factors that Affect the Local Algorithm that Don't Impact Organic, Joy Hawkins
Featured Snippets: Essentials to Know & How to Target, Britney Muller

What you’ll get:

For just $299, you'll get all of the MozCon education and inspiration with none of the air travel or traffic. The bundle includes:

27 full-length presentation videos chock full of leading SEO innovations, thought leadership, and tips & tricks
Instant downloads and streaming to your computer, tablet, or mobile device
Downloadable slide decks for all presentations

If we could include a download of a Top Pot doughnut and some piping hot Starbucks, we would in a heartbeat. Alas, they don't have the technology for that... yet.

Free preview - Running Your Own SEO Tests: Why It Matters & How to Do It Right by Rob Ousbey

Speaking of doughnuts, we wouldn't expect you to buy a dozen sweet treats without taking a little taste first to see if you like 'em. It's important to know that your doughnuts are both delicious, shareable, and relevant to your everyday work as an SEO — almost exactly like the MozCon video bundle. And just like the feeling of warmth and goodwill you receive when you come back to the office with a fragrant baker's dozen, your teammates will thank you when you've got twenty-seven highly actionable talks to share with them — presentations that'll hone your skills and level up your understanding of modern SEO and digital marketing.

That's why we've released a talk we're super proud of as your free preview of all the juicy goodness you can look forward to in the video bundle: Running Your Own SEO Tests: Why It Matters & How to Do It Right, presented by our very own Rob Ousbey.

Google's algorithms have undergone significant changes in recent years. Traditional ranking signals don't hold the same sway they used to, and they're being usurped by factors like UX and brand that are becoming more important than ever before. What's an SEO to do? The answer lies in testing. Sharing original data and results from clients, Rob highlights the necessity of testing, learning, and iterating your work, from traditional UX testing to weighing the impact of technical SEO changes, tweaking on-page elements, and changing up content on key pages. Actionable processes and real-world results abound in this thoughtful presentation on why you should be testing SEO changes, how and where to run them, and what kinds of tests you ought to consider for your circumstances.

Gather the team, grab some snacks, and get ready to binge these presentations Netflix-Original-Series-style.

Get the MozCon 2019 video bundle

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Unique World of Franchise Marketing [Guide Sneak Peek]

Posted by MiriamEllis

Can franchises make good digital marketing agency clients? There are almost 750,000 of them in the US alone, employing some 9 million Americans. Chances are good you’ll have the opportunity to market a business with this specialized model at some point. In this structure:

The Franchisor grants permission to others to operate under its trademark, selling approved goods and services supported by an operating system and marketing.

The Franchisee is the person or group paying the franchisor for the right to use the trademark and the benefits of the operating system and marketing.

Seems simple enough. But it’s this structure that gives franchise marketing its unique complexities. For your agency, the challenge is that you can’t enter these marketing relationships equipped solely with your knowledge of corporate or local search marketing.

You need to deeply understand the setup to avoid bewilderment over why implementation bogs down with franchise clients and why players lose track of their roles, or even overwrite one another’s efforts.

In this post, we’ll give you some quick and useful coaching on the franchise model, but if your agency just got a phone call from Orangetheory or Smoothie King, you can get the bigger playbook right away.

Download The Practical Guide to Franchise Marketing

Roles and goals make franchises unique clients

Imagine a post-game locker room scene. On the field, all players seemed united by the goal of winning. But now, at different press conferences, the owner is saying the coach failed to meet standards, the coach is saying the owner should keep his opinions to himself, and several of the star players are saying they didn’t get the ball enough.

Franchises can be just like that when there’s confusion over roles and goals. Read on to get a peek into the playbook we've prepared to help the team as a whole work better together:

This post is excerpted from our new primer: The Practical Guide to Franchise Marketing.

Franchise marketing is a unique kind of activity. It does share a lot of qualities with corporate marketing (on the awareness side) and with SMB marketing (on the local side) but as we noted earlier, it’s sort of a joint custody arrangement that — like all custody arrangements — can get contentious at times.

Everyone wants the best for the brand, but everyone’s “best” is very much a matter of their own perspective and goals. Typically in this arrangement, there are at least two stakeholders, though sometimes there are more. The stakeholders and their goals tend to play out as follows:

Corporate Franchisor goals

Creating a strong brand to license more franchisors.
Controlling that brand so it isn’t negatively impacted.
Supporting franchisees with strong branding and resources so they succeed.

Master Franchisor goals

Working with corporate to protect the brand.
Licensing more local franchisors.
Supporting franchisees with resources so they succeed.

Regional or Area Franchisee goals

Driving customer traffic and revenue at individual locations.
Growing their portfolio of locations.
Supporting location managers with resources so they succeed.

Owner/Operator Franchisee goals

Increasing location(s) foot traffic.
Increasing location(s) revenue.
Building customer loyalty at the location(s).

In what ways is franchise marketing different from corporate or standard SMB marketing? There are some unique challenges that franchisors and franchisees face which are worth unpacking. Some of them are:

Conflicting goals between franchisor/franchisee
Faster turnover of locations and addresses
Different opening hours, menus and promotions from location to location
Unique local sales and marketing opportunities and challenges
Competitors on both the brand side but also among local SMBs
Lack of clearly defined marketing roles causing work to be overwritten, duplicated, or even neglected

Getting your agency’s head in the game

Your agency can be a better coach to franchises by having a playbook that respects how they differ from corporate or SMB clients at the very outset. But differences don’t have to equal weaknesses. Are you ready to draft a game plan that draws from the strengths of both franchisors and franchisees?

The Practical Guide to Franchise Marketing

Monday, October 28, 2019

Take the 2019 Local Search Marketing Industry Survey

Posted by MiriamEllis

We couldn’t do it without you! In 2018, over 1,400 marketers responded to our State of Local SEO industry survey. We all learned so much from your responses about the day-to-day realities of marketing local businesses. This year, we can do even better because your answers will give us all valuable comparative data to analyze, YoY.

Who can take the survey?

Anyone who markets local businesses in any way is eagerly invited. Whether you market a single location, work for an agency with some local business clients, or are an in-house SEO for a brand with thousands of locations, we would love your participation! Whether you do just a little local search marketing or a lot, are a novice or an adept, your insights have value.

What is the survey about?

Unlike a typical local ranking factors poll, The Local Search Marketing Industry Survey digs deep into marketers’ experiences with tactics, challenges, clients, Google, and the working environment. For example, we learned last year that:

90% of respondents felt Google’s emphasis on proximity was detrimental to SERP quality
62% felt there aren’t enough quality local search marketing training materials available
60% lacked a comprehensive review management strategy
49% felt utilization of Google Business Profile features were impacting local rank
35% had no link building strategy in place
17% of enterprises had no in-house SEO staff

With your help, we’ll see what’s changed and what hasn’t. There are fresh questions, too, which we hope will uncover new stories to spark new strategies for local brands and their marketers.

There will be four lucky winners!

Everyone is a winner with access to the data we’ll be sharing from this large survey. But we’d like to offer a little extra thank-you for your time and knowledge.

Every respondent who completes the full survey will be automatically entered for a chance to win one of four $50 Visa gift cards. Winners will be selected at random, and we hope they will use these gift cards to shop someplace local and awesome this holiday season!

Take the survey

Look forward to seeing the results in early 2020, when we compile them into our State of Local SEO 2020 Industry Report. Curious about last year's insights? Check them out here, and thank you for participating!