The Death of "Near Me" and the Rise of Conversational Local Search 🧵🧵

A fundamental shift is happening in how consumers discover local businesses.

The 2-3 word keyword era is ending. The conversational query era is beginning.

Here's the complete strategic breakdown of what this means for local search and why businesses need to adapt NOW 🧵🧵 Long-Tail Keywords Are Changing Local Search Forever

The way people find local businesses is changing faster than most realize.
"Roofer near me" is dying.

"I'm looking for a roofer in West Palm Beach" is taking over.

Here's what this means for your business and exactly how to adapt:

Most businesses have a Google Business Profile.
Almost none of them are optimized correctly.

Here's every section that directly impacts your local rankings and exactly how to optimize each one so you actually show up in the Map Pack: 🧵🧵 BUSINESS NAME:

This is the most powerful ranking factor you control.

Google weights keywords in your business name heavily. If your name is "Smith & Sons LLC" you're competing against "Miami Plumbing Pros" and losing.

Here's the play:
Actually change your legal business name. File the paperwork. Update your LLC.

"ABC Services" becomes "ABC Plumbing Services Miami"

Yes, this costs $100-200 in filing fees. Yes, it's worth 10x that in ranking power.

I've seen businesses jump 15+ spots in the Map Pack within 60 days just from this change.

Warning: Don't just change your GBP name without changing your legal name.

Google will catch it, suspend your profile, and you'll spend weeks in recovery hell.

Google Business Profile UPDATE 🚨🚨

Google is testing an “AI Mode” button inside LOCAL Search.

So now a local customer can ask Google’s AI what you charge… without ever touching your website.

And here’s the scary part:

AI is gonna pull whatever data it can find.

If your GBP is outdated, it’ll spit out some made-up range and you lose the job before your phone even rings.

If you’re a local business owner, do this NOW:
>Write actual service descriptions on your GBP
>Add starting prices / ranges on your money services
>Stack cost FAQs in your GBP Q&A and on your site
>Keep the profile active weekly so Google keeps trusting the data

We’re entering the era where the algorithm makes the first impression, not your website or inbound call.

Feed your GMB clean info or get wrecked by ai algo It's super early in the process.

But I honestly think this will be a game changer for the guys who are dialed in online with local SEO.

Most local businesses still don’t understand how Google Maps rankings really work.

Here are the 6 most important factors to rank in the Map Pack in 2025 🧵🧵 Geo-targeted service area pages

You need dedicated, high-intent pages for your top cities optimized for services, city names, and structured content:

-Local testimonials
-Embedded maps
-Service-specific images
-Internal links to related offers

If you're being extorted with 1-star reviews on your Google Business Profile, here's exactly what to do to protect your reputation and fight back the right way: 🧵🧵 Document everything immediately

Take screenshots of every fake review include the profile handle, date/time, and content.

Save all threatening emails, texts, or DMs demanding payment.

Label them clearly (e.g., 2025-11-10_fake-review_01.png) and store in a secure, backed-up folder.

You’ll need these for reporting.

People often ask me what to do with exact match domains. Here's some sauce for you guys:

This is how to use an exact match domain (EMD) like

BocaRatonHouseCleaning(.)com

to strengthen your main brand

BodhiHouseCleaning(.)com Exact match domains still carry weight because Google associates them with clear local intent.

When someone searches “Boca Raton house cleaning,” a domain that matches the query signals immediate relevance.

Instead of forcing your branded domain to rank for every variation, you create a second property that owns that specific keyword 👀

If I launched an electrical company tomorrow…

I’d own the commercial and residential markets in under 12 months.

Here’s my Marketing/Sales Plan 👇

https://twitter.com/irentdumpsters/status/1982191938997493862

MARKET REALITY: Palm Beach County electrical market breakdown:

-180,000 residential properties ($140M+ market)

-15,000 commercial properties ($100M+ market)
47 competing electrical firms (mostly fragmented, poorly marketed)

-Average electrician shortage = price advantage for organized players This is WINNABLE.

The clearest way to think about omni-channel + omni-presence marketing for SMBs

Most small businesses think “marketing” means running a few ads or posting on social.
That’s why they stay stuck.

Here’s what real omni-channel marketing actually looks like and why it’s the only way to scale in 2025 👇 Omni-Channel ≠ Omni-Presence

Omni-channel means your business operates across multiple connected systems Google, Maps, LSAs, SEO, social, email, SMS, CTV, even direct mail all unified

under one experience:
consistent offers, tracking, CRM, and messaging.

Omni-presence means your brand is everywhere your customer looks before, during, and after the buying moment.

They can’t escape seeing you.

Together: omni-channel is the engine. Omni-presence is the effect.

Here’s a step-by-step thread 🧵 on how I would optimize and manage your Google Profile from start to finish.

Example: Dumpster Rental Business Profile Optimization 🧵 Physical Location (NO LOCATION = NO VISIBILITY)

Methods: phone/email/Search Console/video

If video: show truck, yard/signage, roll-off rails, driver ID, invoices/COI → one clean take

Rejections: fix NAP, remove virtual office traces, reapply with daylight footage

You could get away with a SAB only if you have a exact match or semi exact match name like

"Bodhi's Dumpster Rental Boca Raton"
"Dumpster Rental Boca Raton"

Ever heard of “parasite SEO”? 🤔 It may sound sneaky, but it’s a legitimate strategy for service business owners to boost their Google rankings.

Think of it as leveraging another website’s strength to make your content more visible.

Let’s dive in 🧵 What is Parasite SEO?

It’s when you publish content on high-authority sites instead of your own, so that content ranks higher in search .

Essentially, you “piggyback” on big sites like Medium, LinkedIn, Reddit & Quora, riding their credibility to get your content seen by more people.

HOW AI Search is Disrupting Local Marketing (Thread) 🧵🧵🧵 The AI shift is real: AI-driven search is rewriting local marketing.
13M Americans now use generative AI as their main search tool, projected to hit 90M by 2027.

Traditional Google SEO/PPC won’t cut it alone.

As a marketing lead for home services, I’m pivoting our strategy to keep plumbers, roofers & co. ahead of this curve.

WHY Service Area Businesses (SAB) put you at a significant DISADVANTAGE and make it MUCH harder to rank for LOCAL SEO

THREAD: 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 You did everything right—optimized your Google Business Profile, built a great website, earned 5 STAR reviews.

Yet beyond your neighborhood, you're invisible. 😔 It’s not your fault! If you're a Service Area Business owner, this pain is all too familiar. 😅😅😅

5 Local SEO Myths:
>All business citations are equal
>You don't need a website to rank on Maps
>Local SEO doesn't require backlinks
>More category listings = better rankings
>Local SEO is a one-time job

Read WHY Below👇👇 “All business citations are equal”

Not even close.

-A listing on Yelp, BBB, or Angi is worth way more than a spammy free directory.

Quality > quantity

Citations on trusted, niche, and local sites build authority

Inconsistent NAP info (Name/Address/Phone) across listings? Google will penalize you.

Don’t blast your info everywhere—be intentional and NICHE RELATED.

I recently had someone ask me about migrating their 10 junk removal websites from 48 pages (on Squarespace) to 300+ pages on WordPress. 🧵🧵

The goal: rapidly scale location and service pages, boost E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust), and prepare for national expansion – all without losing SEO traction.

Here is what we planned! 🧵🧵 Starting point:

The Squarespace site (48 pages) was limiting SEO growth.

We needed 80+ city/town/neighborhood pages and dozens of service-specific pages.

Moving to WordPress gave us the flexibility to expand content and implement advanced SEO optimizations that Squarespace couldn’t easily support.

s/o wordpress elementor

🧵 Everything You Need to Know About Google’s Local Guide Program (and How It Boosts Your SEO)

If you’ve seen reviews with a ✨ star icon next to a user’s name on Google, that’s a Local Guide.

Here’s why they matter (a lot) for your business ⬇️ What is the Google Local Guide Program?

It’s a program that rewards users for sharing reviews, photos, videos & info about local businesses.

They earn points, level up, and get perks like beta access to Google features & events.

Here is a thread how programmatic SEO (pSEO) can transform your search rankings by generating thousands of keyword-targeted landing pages, driving massive organic traffic to your site! 🌐🧵🧵🧵 What is Programmatic SEO?

Programmatic SEO (pSEO) is an advanced search engine optimization strategy that automates the creation of a large number of landing pages.

Each page is designed to target specific keywords that match your audience's search intent, allowing you to capture a wide range of search queries and significantly boost your organic traffic. 📈

𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀)

Follow these tips to improve a Service Area Business (SAB)'s Google Maps ranking...🧵🧵🧵 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲
𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲: Target the broadest location YOU serve.

𝗛𝟭 𝗧𝗮𝗴: Include relevant keywords and location (e.g., "Top Rated Roofer Staten Island").

𝗛𝟮 𝗧𝗮𝗴: Clearly describe services offered.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁: Include details about services and target location.

Service Area: Build service area pages for all locations and have a map embedded about the target location

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗖𝗧𝗔): Make phone numbers prominent and easy to find.

Footer: Embed google business profile.

The Three Pillars Of Google My Business SEO

If you're new to Local SEO, are confused by too much information, need some inspiration or you're just not sure where to start, keep it simple by building out the 3 pillars below Content: Elements: Website, social media, and Google Business Profile (GBP) posts, including photos, videos, shorts, Q&A, infographics, events, interviews, and discount coupons.

Localized SERPs: Winning traffic and leads with service area pages

Service area pages are now critical for ranking for local search heres a guide on how to RANK your service area pages. How to optimize local pages to win more local traffic

All of your service area pages should target your most important keyword patterns, along with any long-tail supporting keywords you want to rank for in those areas (i.e., “[service] in [city]”).

You should write about your most important services on each page and link to the generic service pages if needed to provide more context.

Don’t sleep on internal linking to and from these service area pages to help Google and users navigate your most important content.

4 Easy Steps to Acquire LOCAL backlinks

If you follow this strategy, you will have an almost limitless supply of great, local backlinks for your website at no cost to you aside from a bit of time and sweat equity. STEP 1

Make a list of all the businesses you know or have used — they could be any type of business, and they don't all have to be local.

You could also have more than one of the same type of business owner on your list. Sit down for 20 minutes and just brain dump. You will be surprised who you know.

Some ideas to get your mind going - Accountant, tree service, trailer sales, mechanic, plumber, HVAC, roofer, web designer (hint hint), CPA, funeral home, lawyer, landscaper, pest control, cleaning services, organizers, party rentals, painter, garage door installer, home inspector, locksmith, mason, fence installer, handyman, real estate agent, pet groomer, pressure washing, insurance, print shop, and the list goes on and on.

5 Web Directories to list your Local Business on:

Web directories, once tools for discovering websites in the early days of the Internet, have evolved over the past two decades.

While the rise of Google led many to assume that web directories would become obsolete, plenty of these online catalogs have adapted to remain relevant.

Local business directories such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Foursquare have gained importance.

These platforms provide valuable information to potential customers and contribute to a business’s online presence and local SEO efforts. 1. BOTW

Best of the Web (BOTW) is a well-established web directory that has been around since 1994.

One of BOTW’s unique aspects is that it charges a fee for listings. While this may seem like a drawback, it helps maintain the directory’s quality by discouraging spam and low-quality submissions.

The directory’s human-edited listings and strict submission guidelines ensure that only high-quality websites are included, which can lend credibility to your site by association.

BOTW’s sub-directories for blogs and local businesses make it an attractive option for those niches.

The local business sub-directory, local(.)botw(.)org, is valuable for small businesses looking to improve their local SEO.