Years ago, using Facebook for SEO was kinda simple – you’re writing a killer article, post it in a high PR directory, share the link on Facebook, and then here comes the profit. Nowadays, even the profound understanding of FB rules and regulations regarding brands and publishers leaves the concept of sharing vague and uncertain. July 2016 marked the beginning of a friends-and-family oriented change of the algorithm. So what about SEO? What’s in it for me? And how to make the audience share my content? Those are the most frequently asked questions lately, and here are some hints based on the recent 411 Locals practice.

Lighthearted Jokes Trigger Shares

A significant part of the FB users regard the social media as a slightly more diverse version of 9GAG. These people are here to like and share memes, cats, fun stuff, something positive in the form of videos, gifs or some other content that is suitable for a good laugh. The fun-loving users make up for almost half of our sharing audience. (more…)

Many content writers don’t dare questioning the notion that Google loves long content. They hear that same mantra over and over again ad infinitum. But what if there is evidence to the contrary and nobody has noticed it yet? What if a company like 411Locals excels at benefiting from balancing short and long content while the rest of you still dream of reaping the rewards of long articles, which may never come? Is short better than long content or vice versa? Perhaps, they just have different pros and cons, and in capable hands, they can both be very efficient.

The Effects of Syndication

Long content brings long-tail SEO traffic easily – that’s the most frequently heard argument in favor of using it when you want more traffic, more shares, and engagement. However, there’s one tactic that often gets ignored – short articles can be syndicated for better exposure. The latest analysis of Jamesclear.com shows that social shares can be increased with 70% by only syndicating to one site. (more…)

Beyond any doubt, the local reviews are becoming major ranking factors, considered to have already surpassed the importance of social media signals. The latter has been confirmed by the latest Moz’s survey and by Google. It is clear that online reviews are not just dabbling with other key factors such as relevance, distance, and prominence. Brands and businesses registered in the appropriate online review sites have an edge over those that lack that many submissions. So how to improve your local search ranking by using online reviews?

Initial Steps

Once you get your business on Google, by creating or claiming a listing, you are giving a fresh start to a climbing local search performance. Same applies for any other local business directory that emphasizes reviews and ratings. Yelp, Yell, TripAdvisor, even Facebook are good examples. They can add up to your business and yet they cannot replace the importance of your Google my Business account. As a rule of thumb, you must look for relevant reviews sites. Once you submit your business in the biggest places, make sure you also have presence on industry-specific sites. For instance, if you are focusing on car dealing, you’d definitely need to create a listing in Cars.com. (more…)

The SEO specialists all over the world have been waiting for Google to launch the Penguin 4.0 update for over 4 months now. Many of them expected the launch date to be World Penguin Day, which is on 25th April and sounds like the perfect time for that. But since nothing happened on that date, everyone is wondering what to expect from now on. It has been well over a year and a half since Google launched Penguin 3.0, which is why SEO specialists are becoming very impatient.

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