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SEO Basics: A Beginner’s Guide to RankBrain and SEO Strategies

SEO, or search engine optimization, is nothing new to the online world. For years now, ranking in search results organically has been something websites (businesses, blogs, stores, and more) have worked hard to do. For online users, search engines are often the starting point for whatever it is they are looking for. Whether it’s a…

Web Accessibility Basics

We often hear how the web is constantly changing and evolving. One aspect of the web steadily coming to the forefront is web accessibility. You’ve likely heard the term and about some of the elements that make up an accessible friendly website, but there is a lot to it. In this article, we’ll go over…

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Why is Yelp Banning My Company Reviews?

Yelp’s review filtering is nothing new. It’s been around for some time now. Lately, however, more businesses are finding their reviews marked as “not recommended” by the automated “recommendation software” Yelp uses. Every week we hear from clients who are asking: “Why is Yelp banning my reviews?” If you’ve encountered this issue, here are some…

What is NAP Consistency?

What Does NAP Stand For? NAP is an acronym that stands for “name, address, phone” and is critical when it comes to local SEO. The individual pieces that make up NAP have been important for a long time, however, ensuring your business is consistent across digital platforms and the web is more important than ever.…

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How to Handle Negative Reviews

Regardless of the circumstances, negative reviews are never easy to receive. They come in many forms and it can be hard to know exactly how to respond to them (especially when you don’t believe the review is warranted). The following are common negative review scenarios and ways you can approach them to make the most…

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First-Party Reviews vs Third-Party Reviews: What They Are and Why They Matter

Before We Start… Before we get into first and third-party online reviews, let’s take a quick look at exactly what they are. First-Party Reviews: reviews collected and presented on your own website. Third-Party Reviews: reviews collected and presented on a third-party website, such as a directory listing or social media profile. Back In The Day…

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Google’s Mobile-First Indexing

Each year, more and more people are using their mobile devices to search for the things they need. Google has recognized this trend and is beginning to experiment with mobile-first indexing. This means that they will look first for a site’s mobile version. If one is found, Google will index that version of the site…

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How to Improve Google Rankings Through Reviews

People often ask us what they can do to improve their rankings and how to get more leads. There are many answers to this question, but reviews have become a critical piece of both lead generation and ranking better in Google — especially if you are a consumer facing business providing a product or service.…

Why Microsites Are Not a Good Idea

There are innumerable internet trends out there—some stick, some don’t, some are beneficial, many are not. Internet marketing is an enigma for people who don’t do it every day, and it’s easy to get swayed into a trend that may or may not help your company. Also, because the internet is a rapidly evolving environment,…

Current State of Online Search in 2019

There are almost endless things we could say about online search, so in this short blog I’m going to cover a few items that have come to the forefront in 2019 and really matter to small business owners. When we talk about online search, we speak generally about all search engines but most often specifically…

Google My Business News October 2019

No one can guarantee your company will always or even consistently show up first, second or third in search results or the local map listings. With over 20 years of web experience at BxB Media, we are very suspicious of anyone who make these kind of guarantees. Of course, most of our clients do amazingly…

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Don’t Stress Over First Page Rankings

Click Image to Enlarge There is a great paradigm shift in the world of the internet––from developers to SEOs and everyone in between. We used to beat each other over the head with FIRST PAGE RANKINGS! We used to beat you over the head with FIRST PAGE RANKINGS! And you used to beat us over…

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SEO Strategies You Need to Know in 2019

As we have reached the second half of 2018, there are more search engine optimization (SEO) strategies than ever before. Some sources will give you a handful of strategies while others will give you hundreds. This is greatly due to the fact that, in addition to individuals having more ways to search, SEO changes more…

A Brief Breakdown of the GDPR (and How We’re Taking Action)

A new regulation known as the GDPR, which stands for General Data Protection Regulation and aims to protect European Union (EU) citizens from privacy and data breaches, will go into effect on May 25, 2018. While this (at the time of this writing) applies primarily to member states of the EU, it is important that…

3 Things Your Competitors Can Teach You About Brand Awareness

Every business has its own strengths and weaknesses, which is why closely watching your competition isn’t always necessary or a good use of your time. If you’ve noticed your competitors popping up more frequently online and off, however, chances are you could learn a thing or two from them regarding brand awareness. 1. Impressions Matter…

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Understanding and Avoiding Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are nothing new in the world today, and with advancements in technology growing exponentially, it’s no surprise that scams of all types are increasing in their sophistication and quantity. While many of them have relied heavily on scare tactics and providing vague “details” to target victims, nowadays the challenge in spotting them often…