In this episode of Local Marketing Secrets, Dan Leibrandt interviews Peter Rota. With over 13 years of experience, Peter currently works as a senior technical SEO for a billion-dollar enterprise and has amassed 50,000+ followers on LinkedIn through consistent, high-value content.

The conversation begins with Peter’s entry into SEO via a sports blog and shows how his early experimentation with Reddit and search optimization led to a full-time career. He explains how he’s tackled both local and enterprise-level projects, noting that local SEO can be surprisingly complex and ever-changing, while enterprise SEO involves careful stakeholder management and longer implementation cycles.

Peter emphasizes the importance of personal branding—his daily LinkedIn posts have attracted clients, podcast invitations, and speaking opportunities. For local business owners unfamiliar with SEO basics, he breaks down key concepts like content strategy, citations, backlinks, and on-page optimization. He stresses that major levers like content quality, good internal linking, and solid technical foundations outshine minor tweaks.

In discussing SEO audits, Peter reveals the depth of his approach, which involves detailed examinations of indexing, sitemaps, robots.txt files, and overall site structure. He outlines tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, and SEMrush, and shares advice on not over-fixating on Core Web Vitals or perfect page speed scores.

Peter also looks at the future of SEO, acknowledging the rise of AI-driven search experiences. While AI may reduce certain click-throughs, diversifying marketing—across platforms like YouTube or social media—and cultivating a recognizable brand can help businesses stand out. He concludes that even as technology advances, trust, authority, and a user-focused approach remain the cornerstones of successful SEO.

Peter Rota, Senior Technical SEO Manager at HUB International:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterrota/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotapeter

Website: https://www.peterrotaseo.com/

Dan Leibrandt, Host of Local Marketing Secrets:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial  

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/   

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt   

Website: https://danleibrandt.com 

Local Marketing Secrets Platforms:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LocalMarketingSecrets 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1TCL0LhZbsJS6mzanqnnT1?si=224075c9fbda42f5  

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/local-marketing-secrets/id1741176782 

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0bb5254-5d6c-4940-8211-085157cc1239/local-marketing-secrets  

Podcast Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Peter Rota

06:12 Understanding SEO Basics

11:35 The SEO Audit Process

20:51 Optimizing Title Tags for SEO

25:06 Crafting Effective Meta Descriptions

30:53 Effective Client Communication and Agency Dynamics

36:04 The Evolution of SEO and AI Integration

42:48 Leveraging YouTube and Social Media for SEO

46:31 Essential SEO Tools and Best Practices

53:00 Maintaining SEO Health and Core Web Vitals

#SEO #TechnicalSEO #LocalSEO #EnterpriseSEO #DigitalMarketing #SearchEngineOptimization #PersonalBranding #AIMarketing #ContentStrategy #OnlineVisibility