“SEO is very easy to learn, but hard to master. It keeps you on your toes because it’s always changing, and that’s what I love about it.” – Peter Rota
In this episode, Peter Rota shares his journey from sports blogging to becoming a technical SEO expert. He dives into the challenges SEOs face in 2024, especially the rise of AI tools and the fear of redundancy. Peter also highlights his local SEO expertise, offering insights into best practices for local SEO campaigns, particularly for small businesses. The episode ends with practical advice for navigating SEO in an ever-changing digital landscape, emphasizing the importance of continuous testing, local optimization, and link-building strategies.
Key Takeaways
- AI Tools & SEO: AI is advancing rapidly, but SEO roles are far from being fully replaced.
- Google My Business: Optimizing categories, responding to reviews, and using posts are critical for local SEO success.
- Local SEO Strategy: Focus on the right categories, location pages, and ensuring unique, relevant content for each area.
- Testing Over Trusting: Don’t blindly follow Google’s advice; test your own SEO strategies to see what works best.
- SEO is Always Evolving: The key to success is staying adaptable and continuously learning new techniques.
The key moments in this episode are:
- 0:11-1:09 – Introduction by host Russ Macumber, welcoming Peter Rota and discussing the podcast’s focus on SEO thought leaders.
- 1:50-3:17 – Peter discusses the biggest challenge SEOs face today: the rise of AI tools and the need to demonstrate SEO’s value.
- 3:51-6:03 – Peter shares how he stumbled into SEO from a sports blog, leading to a successful career in technical SEO and digital marketing.
- 7:54-9:40 – Discussion on recovering from Google algorithm updates like Penguin and Panda, and how to continually test SEO tactics.
- 17:27-24:32 – Peter explains his approach to local SEO, including the importance of Google My Business and creating location pages for clients.
- 25:02-28:27 – Case study on how Peter helped a client boost their local SEO through optimization, leading to increased revenue and conversions.
- 30:18-32:34 – Quickfire round where Peter shares his thoughts on tools like Loom, link-building strategies, and the Google helpful content update.
