Marketing Guides for Small Businesses

DEC 17, 2025

Local Search Ranking Factors for 2026

🎙 Episode 257 — Local Search Ranking Factors for 2026 Local search is evolving faster than ever, and 2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for small businesses trying to stay visible in Google Search and Google Maps. In this episode of the Marketing Guides for Small Businesses Podcast, the team breaks down the newest insights from the 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors Report by Whitespark and explains what business owners must prioritize now to stay competitive in an AI-driven, answer-engine world. Paul, Ken, Ian, and Jeff explore what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what matters more than ever for ranking locally. Some fundamentals remain rock-solid—like Google Business Profile optimization and accurate business information—but other elements have surged in importance due to Google’s shift toward AI-generated summaries and conversational search journeys. This episode covers essential ranking factors including category selection, NAP consistency, keywords in your business description, and the rising influence of AI-powered engagement signals. You'll hear why Google Business Profile remains the foundation of local visibility, why categories outweigh keywords, and how choosing the wrong primary category can instantly limit ranking opportunities. The team also explores the growing impact of consumer behavior signals such as clicks, calls, website visits, messaging, and real-world interactions—all of which influence Google’s evolving algorithms. You’ll learn how AI uses these signals to determine whether your business is genuinely relevant to a searcher’s intent. Additional topics include reviews, proximity, link building, and on-page optimization—along with how each fits into a future where answer engines increasingly replace traditional search result pages. The team offers practical guidance on positioning your business for today’s search ecosystem and the AI-driven landscape coming in 2026. If you want clarity on where to invest your time, how to future-proof your rankings, and what truly moves the needle in local search, this episode provides a clear roadmap. ⏱ Timestamped Table of Contents 00:00 – Welcome & Overview Paul introduces the episode and the 2026 ranking factor discussion. 00:12 – What’s Changed and What Hasn’t How AI and search behavior are reshaping local SEO. 00:27 – Importance Levels Are Shifting Why some factors matter more in 2026. 00:30 – AI’s Growing Impact If you’re not using AI tools for optimization, you’re falling behind. 00:39 – Source of the Data Overview of Whitespark’s 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors Report. 00:51 – The Foundation: Google Business Profile Why GBP optimization remains the #1 ranking factor. 01:02 – Most Important Elements of GBP Ownership, accuracy, and the basics every business must get right. 01:15 – NAP Consistency Still Matters Not as critical as before, but still a key trust signal. 01:29 – Preparing for Answer Engine Optimization How AI summaries change local strategy. 02:00 – Ownership & Cleanup First Ensure your business info is correct everywhere online. 02:13 – Categories: Still a Power Factor Why your primary category is your most important choice. 02:40 – Choosing Categories Wisely Less is more—avoid category overload. 02:51 – How Categories Drive Calls & Clicks Maps listings generate most interactions, so accuracy matters. 03:10 – Secondary Categories & Keyword-Rich Descriptions Supporting categories help—but descriptions must be strategic. 🌐 Connect With Your Marketing Guides <ul><li>Ian Cantle — Outsourced Marketing & Dental Marketing Heroes</li><li><a href="https://outsourcedmarketing.ca/" target="_blank">https://outsourcedmarketing.ca</a></li><li><a href="https://dentalmarketingheroes.com/" target="_blank">https://dentalmarketingheroes.com</a></li><li>Ken Tucker & Paul Barthel — Changescape Web</li><li><a href="https://changescapeweb.com/" target="_blank">https://changescapeweb.com</a></li><li>Jeff Stec — Tylerica Marketing Systems</li><li><a href="https://tylericasystems.com/" target="_blank">https://tylericasystems.com/</a></li></ul>

63 MIN

DEC 11, 2025

Special Guest Emma Rainville - Marketing Magic Meets Operational Mastery: Turning Leads into Loyal Clients

🎙 Episode 256 — Special Guest Emma Rainville: Marketing Magic Meets Operational Mastery — Turning Leads into Loyal Clients In this powerful episode of the Marketing Guides for Small Businesses Podcast, the team welcomes Emma Rainville, a 30-year operations veteran known as the Wizard of Ops. Emma brings a rare blend of operational expertise and marketing insight, revealing the hidden reasons why many businesses fail to convert leads—even when their marketing is working perfectly. Emma explains the often-overlooked truth: operations, fulfillment, and internal processes determine whether leads become loyal, high-value clients. Marketing can generate demand, but without an optimized backend, businesses lose sales, damage retention, and stunt growth. This episode uncovers the root causes of lead drop-off, such as unclear delivery processes, misaligned expectations, poor onboarding, and internal gaps between marketing, sales, and fulfillment. Emma walks through how to diagnose these issues, how to ensure handoffs don’t fall apart, and how to build a seamless customer journey that delivers consistency, confidence, and repeat business. You’ll learn why listening to current customers is the key to improving your offerings, how fulfillment insights can inform better marketing, and why many businesses don’t know what problem they actually solve—because the process has never been mapped. Emma also shares how she helps businesses find “operational magic” by identifying missing or broken systems that directly impact revenue. The team digs into the practical side too: effective communication, expectation setting, quality control, and building processes that scale. Emma explains how even small improvements can dramatically improve close rates and lifetime value. Her perspective bridges the gap between the promise marketing makes and the experience fulfillment delivers—creating alignment that fuels growth. If you’ve ever wondered why leads don’t convert, why customers don’t stay, or why your business feels harder than it should, this episode will give you clarity and a roadmap for stronger, more profitable operations. ⏱ Timestamped Table of Contents 00:00 – Welcome & Introduction Ken introduces special guest Emma Rainville and sets up the focus on operations. 00:12 – Why This Conversation Is Different Marketing is only half the puzzle—operations complete the picture. 00:27 – Meet Emma: The Wizard of Ops Emma shares her background and how she earned her nickname. 01:00 – Why Leads Don’t Convert The hidden operational issues that sabotage sales. 01:28 – Mapping the Customer Journey Why businesses struggle when their delivery process isn’t defined. 01:42 – Listening to Existing Customers How customer feedback reveals what to fix and what to sell next. 02:07 – Bridging Marketing and Fulfillment Aligning promises with delivery to build trust and loyalty. 02:28 – Identifying Gaps in Process Where most businesses lose momentum and clients. 02:59 – Improving Sales Funnels Through Operations Operational clarity increases conversion and long-term value. 🌐 Connect With Your Marketing Guides <ul><li>Ian Cantle — Outsourced Marketing & Dental Marketing Heroes</li><li><a href="https://outsourcedmarketing.ca/" target="_blank">https://outsourcedmarketing.ca</a></li><li><a href="https://dentalmarketingheroes.com/" target="_blank">https://dentalmarketingheroes.com</a></li><li>Ken Tucker & Paul Barthel — Changescape Web</li><li><a href="https://changescapeweb.com/" target="_blank">https://changescapeweb.com</a></li><li>Jeff Stec — Tylerica Marketing Systems</li><li><a href="https://tylericasystems.com/" target="_blank">https://tylericasystems.com/</a></li></ul>

67 MIN

DEC 11, 2025

Is your website sabotaging your marketing success?

🎙 Episode 255 — Is Your Website Sabotaging Your Success? Your website is the digital face of your business—but is it secretly driving customers away, lowering your Google rankings, and quietly sabotaging your success? In this episode of the Marketing Guides for Small Businesses Podcast, the team breaks down the hidden issues that cause even “good-looking” websites to underperform or outright fail. Ian, Ken, Paul, and Jeff explore one of the biggest myths they see in the small-business world: owners believing their website is fine because it looks fine. The truth? A beautiful website can still destroy rankings, kill conversions, and block qualified leads from ever reaching your inbox. This episode reveals the most common website blunders—from structural problems to missing content to poor user experience—that silently hurt businesses every day. You’ll learn why design alone isn’t enough, why Google cares deeply about what’s behind the scenes, and how technical mistakes can tank your visibility without you ever knowing. We cover the fundamentals every business must get right: site architecture, clean navigation, fast load times, mobile usability, security, content strategy, and clear calls to action. You’ll hear why overly complex directories and deep page hierarchies confuse both users and search engines, and how simplifying your structure can immediately improve rankings. You’ll also learn how small-but-critical issues like outdated plugins, bloated builders, and missing schema markup reduce your competitiveness in search results. The team explains how to diagnose these problems and what steps to take to turn your site into the sales and ranking engine it should be. Whether you’re a DIY website builder, working with an agency, or managing an older site that’s “just been sitting there,” this episode will help you bust myths, spot hidden pitfalls, and finally get your website working for you instead of against you. If you’ve ever wondered why your website isn’t performing—or you suspect something is off—this is the episode that will clarify what’s happening and show you how to fix it. ⏱ Timestamped Table of Contents 00:00 – Welcome & Episode Setup Why this topic is critical for business owners. 00:19 – Is Your Website Hurting Your Rankings? Introducing the idea that many websites secretly sabotage success. 00:29 – The “Looks Good = Works Good” Myth Why design alone is misleading—and often dangerous. 00:44 – When Site Designs Hide Serious Problems Real examples of sites owners thought were great but were actually disasters. 00:54 – The Blunders Holding Your Website Back What Google sees that owners don’t. 01:07 – Turning Your Website Into a Sales Machine Fundamentals that transform performance and rankings. 01:15 – Ideal Listeners for This Topic From DIYers to long-time site owners, this episode has value for all. 01:29 – Technical Website Issues That Hurt SEO Ken breaks down structural, organizational, and foundational mistakes. 02:04 – “Pretty” Websites That Perform Poorly Why attractiveness doesn’t equal effectiveness. 02:14 – The Importance of Proper Website Structure How the underlying foundation influences rankings. 02:29 – Businesses With Different Needs When a simple site is acceptable—and when it’s not. 02:42 – Behind-the-Scenes SEO Essentials Why hidden elements matter as much as what users see. 02:57 – Overly Complicated Architecture How deep directories and messy hierarchies confuse Google. 03:03 – Creating Logical, Simple Navigation A better way to organize your pages for humans and search engines. 🌐 Connect With Your Marketing Guides <ul><li>Ian Cantle — Outsourced Marketing & Dental Marketing Heroes</li><li><a href="https://outsourcedmarketing.ca/" target="_blank">https://outsourcedmarketing.ca</a></li><li><a href="https://dentalmarketingheroes.com/" target="_blank">https://dentalmarketingheroes.com</a></li><li>Ken Tucker & Paul Barthel — Changescape Web</li><li><a href="https://changescapeweb.com/" target="_blank">https://changescapeweb.com</a></li><li>Jeff Stec — Tylerica Marketing Systems</li><li><a href="https://tylericasystems.com/" target="_blank">https://tylericasystems.com/</a></li></ul>

70 MIN

DEC 11, 2025

Special Guest Stewart Cohen: Video Production & Personal Connection in Marketing

In this episode of the Marketing Guides for Small Businesses Podcast, we welcome Stewart Cohen, award-winning photographer, filmmaker, and founder of SC Pictures. Stewart shares valuable insights from decades of working with major brands and agencies, highlighting the power of personal connection, relationship-building, and authentic storytelling in today’s fast-moving marketing landscape. Stewart explains why first-time clients often hire based on work or price, but long-term clients return because of the connection you build. He describes how nurturing relationships over months or even years is essential in industries with long sales cycles. We discuss practical strategies for staying top-of-mind without overwhelming prospects, including personal outreach, industry visibility, and thoughtful content that positions you as a trusted authority. As the conversation expands, Stewart outlines how constant industry change—from mergers to shifting buyer roles—makes platforms like LinkedIn essential for staying informed and maintaining relationships. He also shares why he still reads print media and industry reports daily, and how surprising insights often lead to meaningful client touchpoints. Naturally, the discussion turns to AI. Stewart is candid about how AI tools are transforming creative work—from pre-production to content ideation—and why the genie isn’t going back in the bottle. We explore the gray areas of AI-generated content, copyright concerns, and the global differences in how companies are already using AI at scale. Stewart emphasizes that creatives must evolve with technology, just as they did with digital cameras, Photoshop, and mobile photography. The episode also dives into branding lessons. Stewart shares why brands often get tired of their own identity long before customers even recognize it—meaning frequent rebrands often destroy hard-earned equity. We compare small-business identity to big-brand campaigns and discuss why evolution beats revolution in long-term brand building. Next, we explore how video production is changing. Stewart talks about the shift toward vertical formats, low-budget video options, and storytelling that works in today’s fast-scroll environment. He explains how small businesses can use simple, authentic video to create meaningful engagement without massive production budgets. Other topics include: <ul><li>Staying authentic in a world full of overproduced branding</li><li>How industry consolidation affects small service providers</li><li>Why clear expectations improve client satisfaction</li><li>What consistency in deliverables means for production teams</li><li>The importance of respecting clients’ spaces and time during shoots</li><li>The rising cost of paid media and what small businesses must consider before investing in Google or LinkedIn ads</li><li>How to reverse-engineer advertising budgets based on customer acquisition cost</li><li>Why licensing existing content can be a smart, cost-effective option</li></ul> Stewart closes the episode by sharing where listeners can explore his work—at stewartcohen.com, on LinkedIn, on Instagram @scpictures, or through his stock media platform superstock.com. This episode is packed with practical, real-world wisdom for marketers, creators, and small-business owners who want to level up their storytelling, build stronger relationships, and navigate the rapidly changing world of video and content creation. 🌐 Connect With Your Marketing Guides <ul><li>Ian Cantle — Outsourced Marketing & Dental Marketing Heroes</li><li><a href="https://outsourcedmarketing.ca/" target="_blank">https://outsourcedmarketing.ca</a></li><li><a href="https://dentalmarketingheroes.com/" target="_blank">https://dentalmarketingheroes.com</a></li><li>Ken Tucker & Paul Barthel — Changescape Web</li><li><a href="https://changescapeweb.com/" target="_blank">https://changescapeweb.com</a></li><li>Jeff Stec — Tylerica Marketing Systems</li><li><a href="https://tylericasystems.com/" target="_blank">https://tylericasystems.com/</a></li></ul>

60 MIN

DEC 11, 2025

Digital PR for SEO, Brand Visibility, and Authority

Digital PR has become one of the most powerful SEO multipliers for small businesses—but most owners still think PR is just press releases. In this episode of the Marketing Guides for Small Business Podcast, the team breaks down how modern digital PR drives rankings, E-E-A-T authority, brand visibility, and trust at scale. Ken, Paul, Ian, and Jeff dive into real-world tactics including media outreach, expert sourcing platforms like HARO/Help a Reporter Out, link-earning strategies, data-driven storytelling, thought leadership, and how AI is transforming both the PR pitch process and newsroom workflows. You’ll learn how Google evaluates authority, the role of high-quality backlinks, what makes journalists actually respond, and the PR assets every small business should develop right now. If you want more organic traffic, stronger brand credibility, and more people talking about your business—this episode is a must-listen. ⏱ TIMESTAMPED TABLE OF CONTENTS 00:00 – Welcome & Episode Overview The hosts introduce the topic of digital PR, why it's misunderstood, and how it connects to SEO, trust, and visibility. 00:30 – What Is Digital PR? Ken explains how digital PR differs from traditional PR and why online media coverage matters more today. 00:52 – Press Releases vs. True PR Why a single press release isn’t enough—and what modern PR campaigns actually look like. 01:40 – Why Digital PR Matters for SEO How earned media, backlinks, and branded mentions signal authority to Google. 02:40 – High-Value Links, Brand Mentions & E-E-A-T Discussion of link quality, topic relevance, and how PR contributes to Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust. 03:10 – Building Brand Authority Through Thought Leadership How small businesses can position themselves as go-to experts in their niche. 04:20 – Tactics: How to Earn Links & Media Coverage Story mining, sourcing platforms, journalist relationships, pitch structure, and leveraging unique data. 06:30 – The Role of Storytelling in Digital PR How compelling angles increase journalist response rates. 08:45 – Social Proof & Reputation Signals Using PR wins to improve conversions, trust, and brand perception. 10:00 – AI and the Future of Digital PR How AI tools can help build media lists, tailor pitches, and analyze journalist interests. 12:00 – Common PR Mistakes Small Businesses Make And how to fix them fast. 14:30 – How to Measure PR Success KPIs including link quality, DR/DA, referral traffic, brand search lift, and media pickup. 16:00 – Final Takeaways & Action Steps Where small businesses should start with digital PR today. 🎧 Perfect for You If… <ul><li>You want higher Google rankings without pumping money into paid ads</li><li>You need credible backlinks that actually move the SEO needle</li><li>You want to build brand authority and be seen as the expert in your local market</li><li>You’ve heard of PR… but never knew how to make it work for small businesses</li></ul> 🌐 Connect With Your Marketing Guides <ul><li>Ian Cantle — Outsourced Marketing & Dental Marketing Heroes</li><li><a href="https://outsourcedmarketing.ca/" target="_blank">https://outsourcedmarketing.ca</a></li><li><a href="https://dentalmarketingheroes.com/" target="_blank">https://dentalmarketingheroes.com</a></li><li>Ken Tucker & Paul Barthel — Changescape Web</li><li><a href="https://changescapeweb.com/" target="_blank">https://changescapeweb.com</a></li><li>Jeff Stec — Tylerica Marketing Systems</li><li><a href="https://tylericasystems.com/" target="_blank">https://tylericasystems.com/</a></li></ul>

47 MIN

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