SafetyDetectives spoke with Nick Quirk, co- owner and COO of SEO Locale, about the challenges that people and businesses face with local SEO, the importance of web security, the number 1 priority when optimizing a website for local search, and more.
Can you talk about your background in digital marketing and SEO?
I’ve been doing digital marketing, web development, and SEO for 20 years now. I started off in Middle School teaching myself how to build websites. Which later evolved into getting an understanding of SEO and digital marketing. The reason I decided to continue teaching myself was the amount of knowledge you needed to be successful in this industry was so large and a goal of mine. Learning everything about how websites and internet marketing are the future of society. Everything already operates by a search on Google or on the computer. Technology is always advancing, and I’ve always wanted to be at the forefront of it all.
What is your current role at SEO Locale, and what makes the company unique?
I am one of the owners. If we want to throw a title at it, you can call me the Chief Operating Officer. Our company is unique because with every hire we make in our company, my business partner Marc Brookland and I always make sure the employee is a cultural fit. I believe in culture first, and then knowledge and experience can come over time. Our company has such a huge drive in every employee that is with us. They all act like each client is their own business, and we keep working hard every single day to make sure we are servicing our clients so they can keep their business afloat during bad times or they can scale during the good times.
The uniqueness of SEO Locale is our employees and drive. I’ve got employees who will work into the night to make sure the client is happy. Our staff is growing every single day, they are learning new things, it reminds me of when I first started in this space, and I was a sponge. I’d put my team up against any other SEO Company and know we would come out on top. We have a team that is filled with superstars. Marc and I are still in the trenches when doing the work for our clients. We believe in being involved as our clients trust us when we pitch them, and I make sure all clients can reach out to Marc or myself for anything, and we will know what is going on 100% of the time.
How can a person trust the results of local search results, ie is this plumber actually reliable, and it’s not a phishing attempt or scam run by someone with SEO knowledge,
A person that is searching should do some due diligence on the company you may have found on Google.
- Does the business have a physical location?
- Does the business have a local number?
- Does it look like a “lead generation” site?
- Does the company have a history or about section?
- Check Google Reviews
- Check Facebook Page
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the “duct cleaning” scam on Facebook groups. They have a local phone number, but if you do some more searching, it is a temporary number, or their location is false, like behind a grocery store. Don’t get fooled by those lead-gen websites or anyone just trying to get more information about you.
How important is web security and having a secure site in the SEO rankings?
Extremely important, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run into sites that weren’t hosted by us and they were hacked. My next question is, when did you discover the hack? Usually, they said immediately, but the hack was there for several months, if not a year. Once you analyze the hack deeper, you may see the SEO rankings dipped months ago. Usually, these types of hacks are trying to redirect users from Google set as a referral, or they are trying to gain “link juice.” I hate the term link juice, but essentially they are trying to reap the benefits from your off-page SEO and link building that you may have on your domain. At the end of the day, these hacks can destroy your SEO. They generate pages and inbound and outbound links that are just complete garbage.
How can a web owner tell that they’re talking with a legit SEO company?
Love this question because I hear the horror stories behind this all the time.
- Does the company organically rank for “SEO in X city”?
- Does the SEO company have a team?
- Run the SEO company in a tool like SEMRush.com or Ahrefs.com – do they have any organic keywords?
There are so many people that say they offer SEO and don’t do anything. This space isn’t regulated, and it is a damn shame it isn’t. I can’t convince some people that have been burned in the past by an SEO company that didn’t do the work or just took advantage of them.
What is the number 1 priority when optimizing a website for local or national SEO?
I have so many number one priorities that I could say because they are equally the same. For local SEO, the number one priority is making sure you have a hyper local SEO strategy set up on your website. Create pages with unique content (do not just replace local modifiers) in the surrounding area and service you offer. For national SEO, the number one priority is website performance and, of course, a national SEO strategy in place. Most people that make an attempt at national SEO make a poor attempt at technical SEO. Your competitors are larger on the national scale, and you need to perform on all fronts to be successful.