WORDPRESS SEO FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND MID-SIZE LEVEL COMPANIES

How We Help You With SEO Specifically

YOAST SEO FOR WORDPRESS

What is Yoast SEO? It’s far and away the number one most used WordPress plug-in used to optimize Search Engine Titles, Meta Descriptions and search engine readability for WordPress websites.

The proof is in the data (show visual / graph / chart of Yoast usage vs. other)

The best thing about Yoast, is that the free version does most of what all websites need it to do…

Yoast SEO inserts a slot to include the search engine title and meta description on each page, post and custom post type of all WordPress sites
Yoast also includes a spot to include a focus keyword that “scores” how well the content is written on each page, and how well that content corresponds with the search engine title and meta description that has been entered.
It also shows a preview of what the user will see when the results appear on Google or Bing for each page. Along with this section, Yoast SEO shows you the character count that is appropriate for each section.
Additionally, a really cool feature of Yoast is that you can toggle to change the featured image and preview text that will show on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets when you embed links on posts.
So if anyone can download and use Yoast SEO for free in their WordPress Websites, why do we specialize in using Yoast, why do we tell you it’s free and that you can do it yourself – and why do we charge you for it?

In other words, why do you need us?

Well, if you’re the type of person that wants to …

Cut your own hair
Change your own oil in your vehicles
Fix your own HVAC unit every time it breaks …
Then you may not ever need us, and we’re happy to provide our free DIY content on our blog for you, but the data shows that 97 out of every 100 WordPress websites we analyze, either don’t have Yoast or any kind of SEO plug-in installed, or they have it installed but do not have it filled out properly.

We use data to understand which keywords make the most sense to be the focus of each page, post and custom post type, and we fill out the Search Engine Titles, Meta Descriptions and Focus Keywords on each page to optimize your Yoast SEO score and put your business’ best foot forward to Google.

In other words, you can by a set of clippers, some box dye, spend less money and more time trying to get it right, or you can come straight to the professionals who optimize things for you for the best possible experience in a cost effective way.

We will work with you on optimizing Yoast SEO on your current WordPress website, AND anyone who redesigns their website with us, ALWAYS gets the full Yoast SEO treatment, guaranteed.

BLOGS ON YOAST SEO

The WordPress Show: How To Further Optimize Your WooCommerce Products For SEO Using Yoast

WATCH READ Recently I’ve published WordPress shows about how to use Yoast SEO to optimize your WordPress Website, and how to implement Schema on your WooCommerce Product pages. Well, now I’m taking it another step further and explaining how to further optimize your WooCommerce Products for SEO using Yoast. Yoast has a plug-in specifically for…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Make The Image I Want From My Website Show In My Social Media Post

Hello WordPress Content Managers, Content Marketers and yes, that means you too Business Owners! Are you frustrated by the fact that Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media outlets don’t always show the correct featured image when you embed/post a link from your WordPress website?
Watch / Read / Listen

WordPress and Yoast SEO Tip – How To Fix Category and Tag Issues In Google Search Console – Data Driven Daily Tip 316

WATCH LISTEN READ Data Driven Daily Tip 316 – The data shows that WordPress is the number one most used content management system in the world, according to Wappalyzer. 🙂 Yoast SEO is a plug-in that has more than 5 million active installations. That means this video blog post is worth my time. 🙂 Many…
Watch / Read / Listen

Data Driven Daily Tip 301: How To Find Your Sitemap In Yoast SEO

WATCH LISTEN READ Have you recently tried to find your sitemap in your WordPress Website using Yoast SEO, but can’t find it anywhere? Recent plug-in updates to Yoast have changed where this is located and it’s not easy to find anymore. This video shows you how to find it. The importance of it is so…
Watch / Read / Listen

WordPress SEO Tip: How To Fix XML Sitemap Issue In Yoast Plug-in

WATCH READ I blog a lot about digital marketing, Google Analytics Tips, Google Adwords Intricacies, Facebook Business Manager Features and Search Engine Optimization. I’ve recently realized that there’s almost an unlimited amount of content for me to blog about in each of those platforms. However, after several years of building and managing content in WordPress…
Watch / Read / Listen

WORDPRESS SCHEMA STRUCTURED DATA

What on earth is Schema Structured Data? It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, right?

Being the super geeks we are at Data Driven Design, we landed upon Schema Structured Data back in 2012 as a key differentiator between sites that rank high on Google, and those that don’t.

Structured Data is a categorization system that allows Google to see what kind of site yours is. For example, is it a …

- Local Business with one location
- Local Business with multiple locations
- Regional Business with multiple locations
- National or International Brand
- Publisher
- eCommerce store

In addition, within each top level category, it allows the website content manager to publish a core set of information, some as simple as phone number and address, all the way up to price and description of a product, to the title, topic and author of a blog post.

It’s similar but different to meta data and search engine titles. It’s just as important, but it gives the search engines more context, and for that extra effort, sites with Schema Structured Data are typically rewarded with higher rankings than those that don’t include it.

Similar to YOAST SEO, we use a special premium plug-in that we have a developers license for, in order to efficiently and effectively implement Schema Structured data on all of your pages, posts and custom post types.

As part of our SEO Best Practices Checklist Implementation, we will work with you on optimizing Schema Structured Data on your current WordPress website, AND anyone who redesigns their website with us, ALWAYS gets the full Schema treatment, guaranteed.

BLOGS ON WORDPRESS SCHEMA SEO

The WordPress Show: How To Add SEO Structured Data Schema In WooCommerce Products

WATCH READ Most eCommerce store owners and merchants will agree that their online store needs to be perfectly SEO Optimized in order to have any chance of success. One area that eludes many small business owners with eCommerce stores, whether Shopify or WordPress WooCommerce is getting the Product Structured Data Schema implemented correctly. This video…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Add Schema To WordPress Custom Post Types: Data Driven Daily Tip 248

WATCH LISTEN READ WordPress Has Great Plug-ins To Add Schema.org Structured Data to your website. Our favorite, for many reasons, is WP SEO Structured Data Schema Pro. The main reason we like it is because it adds Schema options to each page at the bottom, similar to Yoast SEO. It also adds it to each post.…
Watch / Read / Listen

GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

What the heck is Google Search Console? It sounds important, right?

Believe me, it is.

Formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console is the most under-utilized free tool for SEO on the face of the planet. Don’t believe me, the proof is in the data. Less than 1% of websites we’ve audited (that aren’t our clients) have even verified themselves with Google Search Console.

This is why we can confidently say you’re better off working with us than your current web developer or SEO provider.

Google Search Console does several things…

Links to your website (called verification) so that Google can see it
Allows you to submit a sitemap and complete URL inspections so that Google crawls it and indexes it
Provides reports on actual search engine visibility and ranking
But perhaps more important than anything else, Google Search Console notifies you of ways to improve your website for better SEO
While all of our website redesign clients get verified with Search Console and have sitemaps and crawl requests submitted, we offer a la carte services in our SEO package (link to pricing grid) to work on this for you even if we didn’t design / develop your website.

I like to describe Google Search Console as a friendly elementary school teacher. Let’s say second grade teacher. Everyone’s second grade teacher was friendly, right? He or she came around and helped you with all of your work to make sure you understood it, improved, and excelled to the maximum of your capabilities.

(Thanks Mrs. Johnson).

So it’s time to smile and use Google Search Console. ☺

As you can see (look to the right – or below on mobile) – we’ve blogged A LOT about Google Search Console.

BLOGS ON GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

The Best SEO Tip Ever!

WATCH READ In this short, three minute video, I reveal the best SEO Tip ever! It’s not super complicated. You just need to have your site verified with Google Search Console first. More on that here. Then, you need to log into Google with the account you verified your site with, and make a search…
Watch / Read / Listen

Digital Marketing Hack: Post On Social Media Frequently And Run A Facebook Page Promotion

WATCH READ My mission is to help small business owners with their digital presence. This is the core reason for conducting workshops like the Small Business Website Workshop we held in Nashville, TN in November 2019. The proof is in the data, when you post on Social Media 3-5 times per day, and run a…
Watch / Read / Listen

Small Business Website Workshop

WATCH READ Small Business Owners need all the help they can get, and they simply don’t have the budget to pay agencies to make basic website updates or do Local SEO. If you are a small business owner, start-up founder, entrepreneur, or even a marketer at a mid-size company with a small marketing department, this…
Watch / Read / Listen

WordPress and Yoast SEO Tip – How To Fix Category and Tag Issues In Google Search Console – Data Driven Daily Tip 316

WATCH LISTEN READ Data Driven Daily Tip 316 – The data shows that WordPress is the number one most used content management system in the world, according to Wappalyzer. 🙂 Yoast SEO is a plug-in that has more than 5 million active installations. That means this video blog post is worth my time. 🙂 Many…
Watch / Read / Listen

Google Search Console Domain Properties and How to Use Them – Data Driven Daily Tip 299

WATCH LISTEN READ At Data Driven Design, we love change. It’s our sixth differentiator. And it’s a good thing we do, because Google is changing Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools) all of the time. It used to be that you had to verify your domains for each domain prefix, www., http://,…
Watch / Read / Listen

What Are Google Organic Sitelinks? Data Driven Daily Tip 277

WATCH LISTEN READ I never know what clients are going to ask me about Search Engine Optimization, but inevitably, a couple times a year, someone asks me “what are those nicely tabbed six links to subpages under the homepage on Google Search Results?” The answer “Organic Sitelinks.” The inevitable follow up question: “can we control…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Fix This Site May Be Hacked Message On Google: Data Driven Daily Tip 244

WATCH LISTEN READ Have you ever searched for a website, hopefully not your website, and seen a “THIS SITE MAY BE HACKED” message on the Google Search Results page? If it’s your site, it can be devastating, but it’s actually pretty easy to fix. This video shows you how. Here’s what you’ll need: 1. FTP…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Fix Coverage Issues In Google Search Console: Data Driven Daily Tip 237

WATCH LISTEN READ The world of Google Webmaster Tools has changed. It used to be super easy to find “Fetch As Google” or “Robots.TXT” tester in the old platform, but now that Google has changed their SEO Tool to Google Search Console, it is harder to find these tools. This video not only shows SEO…
Watch / Read / Listen

What Is Google Webmaster Tools? Data Driven Daily Tip #220

WATCH LISTEN READ Don’t worry, you’re not alone. You’re clearly smart. You’re a successful small business owner OR an extremely intelligent marketer at an emerging brand or mid-size company, possibly the director of marketing, VP of Marketing or even VP of IT – but you don’t exactly know what Google Webmaster Tools is. It’s fine.…
Watch / Read / Listen

Marketers: Are Your Google Search Console And Google Analytics Linked Yet? Data Driven Daily Tip #212

WATCH LISTEN READ Between 40 and 52% of all website traffic comes from Organic Search. 95% of Organic Search traffic comes to all websites from Google. This, according to the 2018 Data Download. This makes it critical that all Marketers and Small Business Owners understand where they rank on Google, exactly, and for which search…
Watch / Read / Listen

Hey Google: WTF Is Mobile-First Indexing And What Does This Email Mean?

READ ATTN Small Business Owners and Marketers: Have You Seen This Email? Basically, it’s another “WTF, Google?” email. I mean if you received it, that’s good, because it means that your site is verified with Google Search Console / Webmaster Tools, perhaps the best SEO Tool available. And if you didn’t receive it, it doesn’t…
Watch / Read / Listen

Don't Get Ripped Off By A Shady SEO Company

WATCH              READ I feel super-bad for so many small businesses, and even mid to large size businesses that just completely get ripped off month-after-month and year-after-year by their SEO company. I can’t tell you how many bills and invoices I’ve been asked by my clients to audit that are just full…
Watch / Read / Listen

SEO WTF? Google Search Console's Emails Explained

READ Congratulations! You’re part of history. Welcome to the first ever “SEO WTF?” blog post. After 12 years of SEO work, I’m finally realizing that SEO is actually simple now. SEO Rule 1: Google is Confusing. SEO Rule 2: The DATA in Google Search Console is the only thing that matters. The result: My new…
Watch / Read / Listen

Web Development and SEO Tip: How to Properly Switch SSL to New Primary Domain

WATCH READ Many businesses buy a domain name, like datadriven.design, then at some point in time later, want to buy a different domain name – like dataoveropinions.com, but make it the primary for their preexisting website. This means that instead of simply forwarding dataoveropinions.com to datadriven.design, the business actually needs dataoveropinions.com to host the website,…
Watch / Read / Listen

Google Search Console Tips: How to Remove Your URLs from Google Indexing

WATCH READ Why would you want to block some URLs from Google? Well, you know your website is powerful enough to have certain pages like client invoices, perhaps reports that you don’t want made public, or even pages that should be password protected but aren’t. Another reason may be sitelinks. These are the links that…
Watch / Read / Listen

SEO Tip: Google Improves Search Console

WATCH READ If you’re like me, you’re looking for better free data from Google around how your website is doing in Organic Search (aka, where you’re ranking on Google). Specifically, which landing pages on your site are ranking for which specific keywords, phrases (queries), and how many users are clicking through after seeing your ranking.…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Really Tell Where You Rank Organically On Google

WATCH READ Several years ago, Google starting hiding most organic keyword data under “not provided” in Google Analytics. If you go into Google Analytics and go to Acquisition, Channels, Organic Search, you will see that 98% of your keyword data will show under “not provided.” The way to get around this is to link Analytics…
Watch / Read / Listen

SEO Talk: Behind The Scenes

WATCH READ Such a common problem in the SEO Client Services Game is a lack of communication with the client about what’s really happening. Too many SEO Service Providers simply send a report every month and don’t communicate. This is the easy way out, and the quick way to recurring revenue for the provider, but…
Watch / Read / Listen

Data Driven Daily Tip: You Can Actually Call Google

WATCH READ Small Business Owners and Marketers, did you know you can actually call Google? There once was a time when you couldn’t but the world’s top search engine has actually made itself pretty accessible. I believe this is due to the fact that Google has become extremely self-aware to the following: – People are…
Watch / Read / Listen

Data Driven Daily Tip: Google Search Console Says SSL Needed

WATCH READ Data Driven Daily Tip – August 23, 2017: We’ve already emailed all of our hosting clients and let them know that the debate is over. Not only will having an SSL certificate on your website simply help you with your SEO anymore, but your entire reputation may be damaged if you don’t have an…
Watch / Read / Listen

Podcast Episode 18: What Is Google Webmaster Tools?

Listen Read In this episode I talk about Google Webmaster Tools, now known as Google Search Console. This is a free, critical SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tool. Learn more by listening now! Thanks for listening! Any feedback is welcome and I’m always looking for guests for my podcast. If you’re interested in telling your story,…
Watch / Read / Listen

Data Driven Daily Tip: What Is Google Search Console?

WATCH READ Data Driven Daily Tip – August 16, 2017: If you’ve truly cared about your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) at some point over the last 10 years, then it’s highly likely at least some SEO Expert you’ve talked to has mentioned Google Webmaster Tools, right? How about Google Search Console? No? Well, let’s not overcomplicate…
Watch / Read / Listen

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

Have you heard of Local SEO?

Have you heard of Google My Business?

If your answer to number one was “yes,” but your answer to number two was “no,” then basically that’s the equivalent of knowing about tissue but not Kleenex. Seriously.

Okay, well, at least knowing about running shoes but not Nike.

Got it?

Basically, if you don’t have a VERIFIED Google My Business listing, and you don’t post regularly on your Google My Business page, along with making sure that all of your business information is up-to-date on that page, you are missing out serious low-hanging fruit opportunities to improve your Local SEO.

But my business isn’t local, it’s eCommerce, National, International, and nobody would walk into our office other than our employees.

How does Google My Business help me in this case?

Look, I know it seems weird, but the proof is in the data. Businesses (even if they don’t have storefronts), that don’t pay attention to Local SEO efforts like Google My Business verification, suffer huge in SEO.

Why is Google My Business important to ALL Businesses?

Even if you don’t have storefronts, Google looks for consistency in all business listings. During the history of the internet, many web scrapers have been used to create false business directories that show incorrect information (on purpose) about your business.

Google, however, looks for a source of truth. What do you think Google’s Business information source of truth is? Yep, Google My Business.

If you haven’t verified your listing and ensured your information is correct, then you are essentially telling Google you’re not a reliable business. This will negatively affect your Google ranking over time.

Lastly, and maybe most obviously, when you Google the name of a business and include it’s location, on most desktop and mobile searches, the Google My Business listing (verified or not) gets the most real estate in the results.

Verifying and optimizing your listing(s) ensure your brand is properly represented on search engine results. (and you want this, because the data shows that 65% of all website traffic is generated from Organic Search – and 97% of all of those searches come from Google).

BLOGS ON GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

How To Get Helpful Small Business Data From Google My Business

WATCH READ Small Business Marketers have forever wondered how to get on the Google Map, how to show up big in search results, and how to understand exactly how many people search for and find their business online. All of these questions and more can be answered by using Google My Business. This video, from…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Gain Biz Dev Insights Using Free Google Tools

WATCH READ Marketers, Biz Dev people and Business Owners eyes sometimes glaze over when we talk about data, but in this video we explain how free Google Tools like Google Optimize, Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google My Business can put any small business in a position to optimize their digital presence and grow…
Watch / Read / Listen

Small Business Website Workshop

WATCH READ Small Business Owners need all the help they can get, and they simply don’t have the budget to pay agencies to make basic website updates or do Local SEO. If you are a small business owner, start-up founder, entrepreneur, or even a marketer at a mid-size company with a small marketing department, this…
Watch / Read / Listen

Digital Tools Useful For COVID-19 Updates

As many businesses around the world get ready to reopen / change store services, hours, etc., there are a few key tools I encourage business owners and marketers to be aware of and not lose sight of.
Watch / Read / Listen

How And Why To Reply To Your Google Reviews – Data Driven Daily Tip 331

WATCH LISTEN READ As it relates to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), I love trying a ton of things and seeing what works. One platform I’ve seen work very well for Small Business SEO over the last two years is Google My Business. Having an accurate, optimized profile, as well as posting regularly are things that…
Watch / Read / Listen

What To Do When You See Your Business On Google But It's Not Your Business: Data Driven Daily Tip 303

WATCH LISTEN READ Have you ever Google’d your business, then wondered why you’re looking at search results on the right hand side of the page that have nothing to do with your business at all? Like if your address is being used for someone else’s business, or if it is your business, with incorrect information?…
Watch / Read / Listen

SEO Tip: The Importance Of Posting On Google My Business

WATCH READ How Important Should Google My Business Be To Your Social Media Strategy? Google My Business should be a much bigger part of your social media strategy. Right now, I’d venture to guess that your business may not even know if it has a verified profile. You need to verify your profile, and start…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Add Users To Your Google My Business Account: Data Driven Daily Tip 284

WATCH LISTEN READ Google My Business is a little known platform. Even the most savvy marketers overlook it constantly. It probably gets a bad wrap, as it used to be Google Places and Google Plus, but Google has given it a ton of credence in terms of SEO value for businesses that have verified listings.…
Watch / Read / Listen

The Proof Is In The Data – Post On Google My Business Every Day: Data Driven Daily Tip 260

WATCH LISTEN READ As a digital strategist and marketer, I’m not ever an advocate for one particular platform. I’m simply an advocate for what works. Hence, data over opinions. Additionally, nothing I recommend have I not also done myself. Case in point, posting on Google My Business. After posting on Google My Business for 10…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Get Your Small Business To The Top of Google: Post on Google My Business. Data Driven Daily Tip 249

WATCH LISTEN READ Small Business Owners are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met. Which is why it confuses me why some get so mad when I tell them the best way to get to the top of Google is to blog every day. Nobody knows their business like a Small Business Owner,…
Watch / Read / Listen

How To Tell If A Location Has A Google My Business Listing and How To Link To It – Data Driven Daily Tip 247

WATCH LISTEN READ How To Tell If A Location Has A Google My Business Listing and How To Link To It. Remember Google Places? Remember Google Local? Google Plus? Google Maps? They’re now all the same thing, thank God. If you’ve heard the term “Google My Business,” it’s actually a really good thing for your…
Watch / Read / Listen

WTF Is A Google Beacon And What Can It Do For My Business? Data Driven Daily Tip 239

WATCH LISTEN READ I got an email the other day from one of our clients asking me what the heck a Google Beacon is and if I knew anything about why they received one on the mail randomly. All I know is, we run Google Adwords Express Campaigns for them, also known as Smart Campaigns…
Watch / Read / Listen

Small Business Marketing Tip: How To Make An Offer Post On Google My Business: Data Driven Daily Tip #200

WATCH LISTEN READ I’ve written a lot about the importance of Google My Business, how it’s the number one most important Small Business SEO strategy and even something all marketing directors and VPs of Marketing should pay attention to regardless of the size of their company. I’ve even gone in depth about why it’s important…
Watch / Read / Listen

Does Your Digital Agency Know How To Get Your Business To The Top Of Google? Data Driven Daily Tip #199

WATCH LISTEN READ Make any Google Search now for a local company and you’ll see map results first. If you don’t, it’s likely because there’s some paid ads on top of them. Point being, Google has clearly decided that maps results will outweigh web page results for local business searches that don’t include the company’s…
Watch / Read / Listen

Google Wants Businesses To Post On "Google My Business"

READ I’ve written and talked a lot about Google My Business and how important it is to small business owners and digital marketers. In addition to acquiring and verifying your listing, and the benefits you get from it. we clearly have seen that Google wants businesses to be posting frequently on their verified listing page. See…
Watch / Read / Listen

What Are Google Beacons And Why Did My Business Randomly Get One?

READ I got an email the other day from one of our clients asking me what the heck a Google Beacon is and if I knew anything about why they received one on the mail randomly. All I know is, we run Google Adwords Express Campaigns for them, also known as Smart Campaigns for Small…
Watch / Read / Listen

Don't Get Ripped Off By A Shady SEO Company

WATCH              READ I feel super-bad for so many small businesses, and even mid to large size businesses that just completely get ripped off month-after-month and year-after-year by their SEO company. I can’t tell you how many bills and invoices I’ve been asked by my clients to audit that are just full…
Watch / Read / Listen

How to Download a Cumulative Data Report On All Business Locations from Google My Business: Data Driven Daily Tip 172

WATCH LISTEN READ When it comes down to it, I’ve basically made a career out of using free tools to build shit. 🙂 Seriously, Google Analytics and WordPress are the first two PERFECT examples. Could it be that Google My Business is next? There’s a TON of free data that can help your business within this platform.…
Watch / Read / Listen

What Are Google My Business User Contributions and How To Manage Them: Data Driven Daily Tip 171

WATCH LISTEN READ There seems to be a lot of confusion among business owners about which SEO tactics are the lowest hanging fruit for them to tackle. A number 1 is a verified Google My Business Listing. But even for those of you marketers (from CMOs to Small Business Owners) savvy enough to verify your…
Watch / Read / Listen

Is My Business Showing On Google's Map? The Data Always Tells The Accurate Story

WATCH READ So I’m 100% empathetic to all sides on this issue. The issue is, when a user Google’s a local business name, they don’t ALWAYS see that business on the map results. This doesn’t mean that the business is not on the map. Google controls map results based on several search factors. If you’re…
Watch / Read / Listen

SEO Tip: How To Verify Your Google Business Listing

READ I think small business owners are amazing. They’re responsible for so many different things, and have achieve so much to have made a living and supported other families on their own blood, sweat and tears. They’re so amazing and achieving incredible things that sometimes they miss the simplest of simple things, like Google My…
Watch / Read / Listen

SEO Tip: Benefits Of A Verified Google My Business Listing

WATCH READ Let’s start super simple on this one. Does your business have a Gmail account? What I mean by this is one of two things… 1. Do you have a G-Suite account that hosts your company’s email? If you’re a small to mid size company, there’s a solid chance you do. Many companies I…
Watch / Read / Listen