Benas Leonavicius
Freelance SEO Consultant & Agency Builder
Website | LinkedIn | Substack

Benas Leonavicius has spent 10 years in the SEO trenches—from working with large e-commerce sites to navigating the bureaucratic nightmare of enterprise SaaS SEO. Now he's building an agency focused on keynote speakers, authors, and coaches, where basic SEO fundamentals deliver outsized results.

In this conversation, we dive deep into:

If you're a freelancer trying to scale, a speaker trying to get found, or anyone wondering how AI is changing search—this episode is for you.

On SaaS Scalability:

"Although I can provide a lot of value to SaaS companies, at the end of the day, I might only have one or two clients like that per month, and then I cannot scale."

On AI Search Sources:

"For you to be on ChatGPT, you basically need to be on either the speaker bureau's websites or you need to be on those listicles because that seems to be one of the primary sources."

On AI's Future:

"I think what we're playing with is probably the worst version AI will ever be. I feel like we're still going upwards, not downwards."

On Keynote Speaker SEO:

"Imagine you're a speaker that wants to target keywords such as 'leadership keynote speaker.' They don't even have 'leadership' anywhere mentioned on their website because they want to differentiate themselves."

On Entity-Centric SEO:

"Digital visibility is less centric just to the website, but more towards the entity." - Jeremy Rivera

On SEO Fundamentals:

"Do you actually mention the keywords in the titles and the text? That's probably the highest ROI thing I do for my clients."

In this episode, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Jeremy Yang, founder of Digital Goliath, to explore the often-siloed world of paid advertising and how it intersects with SEO. Managing over $450,000 in monthly ad spend, Jeremy Yang shares brutal truths about Google Ads setup mistakes, the death of exact match keywords, and why most businesses fail at Meta advertising before they even start.

From offshore Google support nightmares to the "bullets in the chamber" framework for platform selection, this conversation reveals what seven years of hands-on PPC experience teaches you about digital marketing that no certification ever will.

Jeremy Yang
Founder, Digital Goliath
Website | LinkedIn

Jeremy founded Digital Goliath seven years ago and currently manages about $450,000 per month in ad spend across Google Ads and Meta platforms. Based in Sydney, Australia, he works with small to mid-sized businesses and white labels for larger agencies, specializing in high-accountability, hands-on campaign management.

"If you really want things to go fast, you got to go into paid ad space."

"For ads, the intensity is a lot higher. When your clients are doing ads, the stakes feel higher. They're more demanding. You have to be hovering around the computer. Things go wrong and things have to be fixed straight away."

"Everything is broad-ish now. Doesn't matter how you set it. Competitor brands can sneak in, whereas that's never happened before. So exact match is no longer exact match."

"How many bullets you got in the chamber? If you go 'Let's do this for three months' and you got like four assets, I'm like 'Where'd you get these four assets?' You go 'We shot it a year ago and the guy's gone now.' I don't know if you're going to last three months."

"Meta is about burnout. So you got to refill and replenish the tank."

"Since I started seven years ago, I only believe in using display ads for remarketing."

"If you have one product line that has 1.2X and 8X ROAS acceptable, that's not going to work because it's too scattered. Law of averages will kill you."

"Bots don't have money to spend. If you want something to happen, you still got to make sure it works for the last person who's going to be in the chain."

"SEO should recognize that this is an essential game now. It's not even optional anymore. They can't be working in silos. They've got to be a communicator."

The SEO-SEM divide persists largely due to operational intensity differences — paid ads require constant monitoring and rapid response, while SEO operates on longer timelines with more methodical testing and community knowledge-sharing.

Google's ad platform has shifted from granular keyword control to theme-based, broad-match campaigns, with Performance Max becoming the dominant model, requiring advertisers to focus on ROAS-based campaign structuring rather than traditional keyword segmentation.

Display advertising should be reserved exclusively for remarketing with clear offers, as the diminishing returns come very quickly on display, YouTube, and discovery feeds — smart advertisers allocate minimal budgets ($10-20) to maintain brand presence across touchpoints.

Platform selection depends on your content fuel supply — if you can't consistently produce fresh video and creative assets, Meta will burn you out quickly; service businesses without video capabilities should focus 80% on Google Search with 20% on Bing once search is optimized.

The future of marketing requires breaking down silos between SEO and paid ads teams, viewing performance through blended ROAS rather than isolated channel metrics, and creating content systems that repurpose assets across multiple platforms rather than treating ad creative as disposable.

In the emerging AI-driven search landscape, the "human-bot sandwich" principle matters most — bots don't have money, so content must ultimately serve humans even as it passes through multiple algorithmic layers, with genuine subject-matter-expert conversations producing far richer content than keyword-optimized articles alone.

Summary

In this episode of the Unscripted SEO podcast, Keith Breseé and Cauveé, the inspiration engineer, delve into the intricacies of content marketing. They discuss the importance of platforms like Substack and Beehive for community building, the necessity of finding one's niche, and the long-term strategies required for effective content creation. The conversation also covers the significance of understanding market gaps, leveraging influencer marketing, and the role of paid advertising. Additionally, they emphasize the importance of crafting effective hooks, storytelling, and utilizing AI tools for content creation. The episode concludes with insights on building relationships and the long game in personal branding.

Takeaways

What happens when a marketing coach who's also an actor sits down to talk about authenticity in business? You get one of the most unfiltered conversations about trust, AI, and human connection in marketing that we've had on this show.

Kyle Merrick doesn't pull punches. As the founder of Anarchy For A Day and a marketing veteran with nearly a decade of agency experience, he's seen it all—and he's not afraid to call BS on what's broken in modern marketing.

In this episode, we dive deep into the tension between performance and authenticity, why AI-generated content is killing trust, and how businesses can differentiate themselves in commodified markets. Kyle brings a unique perspective as both a marketer and an actor, understanding how to build believability while staying within boundaries.

This conversation gets heated, philosophical, and practical all at once. If you're tired of the same sanitized marketing advice, this episode is for you.

Trust & Authenticity in Marketing (00:00-10:02)

AI vs. Human Connection (10:02-22:31)

The Coloring Book Analogy (22:31-27:39)

Market Understanding & Differentiation (27:39-37:23)

Consistency & Long-Term Thinking (37:23-40:15)

"No marketer is really trustworthy until you actually get to know them. So I'm not even going to try to pitch myself on that."

"I don't give a shit about anything your business has to say if you're using AI. Let me see the people behind it, even if they're paid actors."

"Human to human podcast. This is the very important bit."

"Having been in business for myself for a decade now, it's like, this is the only kind of conversation I actually value because I know it's real, because you can sense the pain behind my words."

"People don't truly understand their marketplace. Go talk to the people that you're trying to serve or provide solutions to or sell a product to, whatever. Get to know them, their world."

"I always think about it like a coloring book. The lines are really what is within bound and reason for what is going to be believable."

"If you want real conversation, dish it out. Maybe that's the best answer to how can we get more genuine conversation in corporate marketing. Fucking do it. It ain't that hard."

"Business is still human. And if we're not accounting for that human factor, I wish you the best."

"Consistency is key. You need to be doing it a while for these different robotic entities to deem, 'All right, well, you're human and you do this.'"

Kyle Merrick is a marketing coach, actor, voice artist, and the founder of Anarchy For A Day. With nearly a decade as a marketing agency owner under his belt, Kyle now focuses on educating business owners and nonprofit leaders to think like marketing experts.

Operating at the intersection of communications engineering and resource management, Kyle specializes in helping small to midsize B2B, B2C, and nonprofit organizations craft strategic, data-driven marketing plans and messaging that drive real results. He's served industries including healthcare, hospitality, nonprofit, e-commerce, technology, and SaaS.

A "marketing vigilante" who stands to rebuild trust between organizations and marketers through education, Kyle calls BS on the rampant scams and shortcuts plaguing the industry. His philosophy? Empower through education. Separate with anarchy.

Originally from Chicago and now based in Denver, Kyle brings midwestern modesty to an industry that often rewards the immodest—and he's still figuring out how to navigate that tension.

Connect with Kyle:

Kyle's Services:

From This Episode:

Related Content on SEO Arcade:

Supporting Articles on Authenticity:

Example Referenced:

The Unscripted SEO Podcast features real conversations with SEO professionals, digital marketers, and business owners about what actually works in search engine optimization and content marketing. Hosted by Jeremy Rivera of SEO Arcade, each episode dives deep into authentic strategies, industry insights, and the human side of digital marketing.

We believe the best marketing comes from genuine expertise and conversation, not AI-generated content or cookie-cutter approaches. That's why every episode is transcribed and transformed into comprehensive articles, social content, and resources that preserve the authentic voice of our guests.

About the Host: Jeremy Rivera is the founder of SEO Arcade and host of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, with 19+ years of experience in SEO and digital marketing. He specializes in converting podcast interviews into comprehensive SEO content marketing strategies, helping businesses build authority through authentic conversation.

Listen & Subscribe:

Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by The Cookeville Sunroom Company - Quality craftsmanship, genuine care, and transforming homes one sunroom at a time.

Charlie Sells brings 15 years of experience in brand messaging and positioning to discuss how small businesses can cut through complexity and build authentic brands that show up in search.

Service Business Branding Charlie explains why service-based businesses should "stay hyper local" rather than trying to compete regionally. His advice for finding your competitive advantage? "Don't try to be bigger. Don't try to be flashier. Don't try to be anything other than who you are."

Working with a Florida event staffing company, Charlie discovered their retention rate was in the 80-90% range. "They're the most trusted name in conference and event staff"—that became their differentiator, not trying to be the biggest.

The Two-Part Brand Audit Framework Charlie always looks for two things: "Are we being really consistent? Every touchpoint of our brand—does it look the same, does it sound the same, does it feel the same on a sales call, social media, website, emails, in-person interactions?"

Second: "Are you really leaning into your unique competitive advantage?"

Branded vs. Non-Branded Search From his time at Dave Ramsey's Ramsey Solutions, Charlie learned a crucial lesson: "If they will get their branded terms right, then you can focus on the non-branded terms." He warns that "shiny object syndrome is rampant amongst entrepreneurs" who chase non-branded traffic while neglecting the basics.

His blunt take: "Search engines are the yellow pages today. You want to make it easy for somebody to just find you like that."

The Website Problem Charlie's most surprising piece of advice for clients: "If the weight of your business lands on your website, you have a problem."

Why? Your website is just one piece of your ecosystem. "If everything in your ecosystem is speaking the same language, then it's going to work." But when there's "no cohesive experience, no ecosystem," that's when brands struggle.

Technical SEO Still Matters Charlie shares a story about his staffing client who had keywords "in the graphic at the top of our page. In a designed graphic that can't be crawled, that had no alt text. I'm like, 'Nobody cares about that and Google's not recognizing it.'"

The lesson? "You have to plant a flag in the ground and say, here I am, and make it easy for people to find you."

Is SEO Dead? Charlie's take on the AI/LLM disruption: "I don't think traditional SEO is dead still. I think it still matters." While LLMs are changing search, "somebody is still looking for what you have" and "it still matters that you match intent more than anything else."

His strategy for the AI era? "I'm pushing folks to go way more grassroots and find ways to get on podcasts with niche audiences that are actually in their ICP."

Charlie's Two Essential Switches When onboarding clients, Charlie always starts with:

Redirecting Good Ideas One of Charlie's most valuable skills is helping clients understand placement: "Just because it doesn't belong here doesn't mean it doesn't belong somewhere." A direct-to-camera video might be perfect for an email sequence but wrong for the homepage.

Website: clarityovereverything.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlie-sells

Free Resource: Download Charlie's brand assessment to see if your brand is clear and aligned or confused and complex. Find "the taxes and the costs that are ruining your brand and your business" at clarityovereverything.com.

"If the weight of your business lands on your website, you have a problem." - Charlie Sells

"Don't try to be bigger. Don't try to be flashier. Don't try to be anything other than who you are." - Charlie Sells

"What is it like to be on the receiving end of your brand?" - Charlie Sells

"Just because it doesn't belong here doesn't mean it doesn't belong somewhere." - Charlie Sells

"I don't think traditional SEO is dead still. I think it still matters." - Charlie Sells

Wyatt Bonicelli of Evolve Agency shares practical local SEO tactics for home service businesses—from Google Business Profile optimization and location page strategy to creative link building through local sponsorships and a clever gift card referral system that turns every customer into a lead generator.

In this episode, Jeremy Rivera on the Unscripted SEO podcast by Be Sharp Digital Marketing sits down with Wyatt Bonicelli, founder of Evolve Agency in Edmond, Oklahoma, to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities in marketing home service contractors. An engineer turned marketer, Wyatt has carved out a niche helping window cleaners, roofers, and other service professionals transition from relying solely on word-of-mouth to building a sustainable online presence that generates leads on autopilot.

The conversation covers the full spectrum of local SEO—from the critical importance of Google Business Profile verification to the age-old question of "how many location pages are too many?" Wyatt shares his approach to building local authority through sponsorship link building, Chamber of Commerce memberships, and creative tactics like using ChatGPT to find partnership opportunities.

Perhaps most valuable are the practical, low-cost marketing wins Wyatt recommends: car magnets, A-frame signs, door hangers with neighbor referrals, and a brilliant gift card system that creates a built-in affiliate program for service businesses. He also drops a Google Maps "driving directions hack" that sends trust signals to Google daily.

The episode wraps with a candid discussion about lead follow-up—why 90% of service calls go unanswered and how the Harvard study showing 400% better conversion within five minutes should change how contractors approach their phones.

"Any page on your website that doesn't have a link internally, externally, it's probably not going to get indexed."

"You're 400% more likely to convert if you call within the first five minutes."

"Let's turn one lead into more. Let's try to get three or four out of every one. And that pyramid will just continue to grow."

"We're kind of in a bubble a lot of times and think that everybody else is using the tools the same way that we are."

"If they don't have any web presence at all, no online reviews or a website talking about what they do and where—it's a little harder to trust them with a big check."

Wyatt Bonicelli is the founder of Evolve Agency, a digital marketing firm based in Edmond, Oklahoma specializing in web development and SEO for home service contractors. With a background in engineering, Wyatt brings a systematic, results-driven approach to helping small businesses—particularly window cleaners, roofers, and renovation contractors—build their online presence and generate leads without relying solely on word-of-mouth marketing.

In this deep-dive conversation, Alejandro Meyerhans shares his journey from Spanish waiter to CEO of a successful link building agency, revealing the mathematical foundations and strategic frameworks that make link building work. We explore the science behind PageRank, the evolving role of links in LLM optimization, Google's HCU updates, and the hard truths about operating within platform ecosystems.

Alejandro Meyerhans is the CEO of GetMeLinks, a strategic link building agency serving agencies and CMOs. Since 2016, Alejandro has built his SEO expertise from the ground up—starting with affiliate sites, becoming a forensic SEO auditor, and eventually leading one of the industry's most respected link building operations. He's known for his data-driven approach, combining mathematics, game theory, and rigorous testing to demystify what actually works in modern link building.

Connect with Alejandro:

Related Resource: How to Start a Link Building Campaign

Related Resource: Link Building for New Websites

Get Your Own Analysis: GetMeLinks Link Report

Related Resource: Local Link Building: 20 Easy Tactics That Actually Work

Key Insight: To rank in ChatGPT, rank on Google first. Then serve robot-readable content and build your online reputation.

Check Your Site: Google Search Console → Settings → Crawl Stats

"SEO changed my life. I didn't want to go back to being a waiter. It played to all my subjects of special interest: math, statistics, game theory, testing, language—that's how you get good SEO done." — Alejandro Meyerhans

"Building a backlink profile is a lot like chess. You don't start a brand new website and run it with 100 digital PR type of backlinks because that just doesn't fly." — Alejandro Meyerhans

"I always equate traffic with trust. If the traffic is real, not some manipulated keywords to inflate the Ahrefs graphs, then it matters." — Alejandro Meyerhans

"SEO is a game of completeness. Link building, same. You only have to be as complete as the guys in the top three, then this much more. Everything else is excess." — Alejandro Meyerhans

"E-E-A-T is not a signal, it's not something. E-E-A-T equals cluster of what? It's an amalgamation of a certain set of signals in particular." — Alejandro Meyerhans

"LLMs are rewriters of the story. Google is a game of who needs to be on this leaderboard. With LLMs, it's 'I'm going to use whatever sources I feel will tell you the most valuable story to solve your problem.'" — Alejandro Meyerhans

"How do we rank in ChatGPT? Rank on Google. Let's nail the job because all the long tail queries related to your industry, that's how it starts getting additional knowledge." — Alejandro Meyerhans

"Helpful content update—helpful for whom? Helpful for Google's finances. We cannot forget that we are making money in their home through the traffic that goes to their website." — Alejandro Meyerhans

"If you're working in somebody else's ecosystem, to quote Lily Ray, it works until it doesn't." — Jeremy Rivera

"We are going to the platform and saying, 'Hey, platform, look, I've done all these changes. Does this please you more according to the math that I know pleases you?'" — Alejandro Meyerhans

Link building is strategic, not tactical. Successful link building requires analyzing what's already winning in your niche and replicating that pattern while understanding the principles behind why it works. The answer is always in the data—competitive backlink analysis reveals the authority, relevance, and velocity needed to rank.

Core link signals extend beyond PageRank. Modern SEO considers anchor text ratios, reasonable surfer signals (link placement on page), passage rank (surrounding text relevance), link velocity proportional to traffic and brand signals, container page authority, and the proper sequencing of link types as a site matures.

SEO is a completion game, not a perfection game. You only need to be as complete as the top three competitors, then slightly better. Focus on filling gaps in your backlink profile rather than building excess links. Strategic difference matters—having what competitors don't can provide massive advantage.

Geographic and vertical relevance matter differently. Local links from institutions provide trust signals and differentiation. Different niches (locksmiths vs. e-commerce vs. YMYL) require completely different link building approaches. Always analyze the specific competitive landscape for your niche.

LLM optimization follows traditional SEO principles with brand emphasis. ChatGPT uses a tier system (seed list → niche authorities → search aggregation) where traditional Google rankings feed tier 2 and 3 placement. Brand mentions with positive sentiment, consensus across sources, and being featured on authoritative sites matter more than exact match optimization for LLM visibility.

Google's HCU targeted cost vs. value. Sites hit by helpful content updates often shared characteristics: expensive to crawl (bloated URLs, slow response times), didn't generate ad revenue for Google, lacked strong backlink profiles and brand signals. The "helpful" assessment considers Google's business model, not just user value.

Operating in platform ecosystems requires acceptance and adaptation. Whether it's Google, Amazon, or any other platform, you're playing in someone else's house. Strategic SEOs plan for algorithm changes and platform pivots rather than expecting static rules. The game is understanding what the platform needs and giving them slightly more value than you extract.

Distance to seed and trust signals form the foundation. Links from .gov, .edu, and tier one authorities (like Healthline in health) provide outsized value because they're manually vetted by search engines. Building towards and from these trust sources should be prioritized, especially early in a site's lifecycle.

Self-Published and Lousy Knowledge Panel by Jeremy Rivera
A practical guide to establishing entity authority even with minimal traditional credentials.

Jeremy Rivera

Alejandro Meyerhans

Stay tuned for more unfiltered conversations with SEO experts who share real strategies, honest insights, and the mathematical principles behind what actually works in search.

Visit UnscriptedSEO.com

In this episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, host Jeremy Rivera sits down with Alison Ver Halen, founder of AV Writing Services and author of Content Marketing Made Easy. Alison shares how she accidentally fell into content marketing after graduating during the 2009 recession, and how writing blog posts for a law firm led to $75,000 in new business within just six months.

The conversation covers the evolving landscape of SEO and content marketing, including E-E-A-T principles, the Helpful Content Update, the "robot sandwich" of AI-driven search, and why storytelling remains the most powerful tool in a content marketer's arsenal.

Alison Ver Halen is the founder of AV Writing Services and a content marketing strategist with nearly a decade of experience. With degrees in English and Psychology from Lawrence University, Alison helps professional service providers attract, engage, and convert high-quality leads through strategic blog content, landing pages, and brand storytelling. She is also the author of Content Marketing Made Easy.

"After six months, he came back and told me that I had brought in $75,000 worth of business to his law firm just through the blog posts I was writing for him."

"We are primed to connect with stories, we are primed to remember stories. So that is critical for getting your point across and for being memorable."

"I refer to it as proposing on the first date. Like, well we just met, dude. That is way too much way too soon. And you're gonna scare them off."

"AI does not generate anything. It just regurgitates what humans have already created."

"It's still SEO, people. Just because the search engine has changed does not mean that it's not SEO."

Guest Links:

Articles from AV Writing Services:

People & Companies Mentioned:

Additional Resources:

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could benefit from Alison's insights on content marketing strategy.

Will Wang of Black Belt Consulting joins Jeremy Rivera to discuss his journey from corporate IT analyst to accidentally building a seven-figure marketing agency. In this candid conversation, Will shares the expensive lessons he learned about hiring (including a $500,000 mistake), how he's leveraging AI for market research while keeping humans in the loop, and why he's betting big on YouTube and Instagram while going bearish on LinkedIn for 2025.

This episode is packed with practical insights for agency owners, consultants, and entrepreneurs who are scaling their businesses and want to avoid the costly mistakes that come with rapid growth.

Listen to the full episode: Unscripted SEO Podcast

Will Wang

About Will: Will grew up in Sydney, Australia, worked in corporate IT making $130-150K/year before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. After two years of struggles and making every mistake possible, he built a seven-figure marketing agency which he sold 12 months ago. He's also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt (earned 4 years ago) and now runs Black Belt Consulting, helping businesses scale from $25K to $250K per month with strategic marketing consulting.

On Making the Leap:

"If I don't do this now, then it's never going to get done. But how do you replace $130,000 per year salary? Right? Like that's pretty difficult."

On Building Accidentally:

"I accidentally built my previous business into a seven figure business without really meaning to. It was just like the growth happened."

On Making Mistakes:

"I made every single mistake to the point where I couldn't make any more mistakes. And then the business kind of took off."

On the Hiring Disaster:

"I've probably personally lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in terms of hiring the wrong people, setting them up for failure, setting them up in the wrong way."

"We weren't big enough for a GM. Like we just did not need a general manager. We just needed me to spend less time working in a few of the things on the business."

On Team Building:

"I like having a very small core team of highly competent people. People who you don't necessarily have to micromanage or have a look at what they're doing every single day of the week."

On AI Research:

"AI has made research just such an easy thing to do. Rather than taking days, if not weeks, it's now delivered in a matter of minutes."

"Nothing that we do that gets delivered to clients or that we tell clients to deliver for themselves—none of that is actually AI done. So the output is still very hands on human."

On AI Hallucination:

"There's just so much BS with AI. It hallucinates so much stuff all the time. So you've got to be very, very careful."

On Platform Strategy:

"YouTube is the big one for me. I'm investing a lot into that this year."

"LinkedIn just feels like it's so transactional and kind of day by day at the moment. So I'm a little bit bearish on LinkedIn, but more bullish on video content now."

"I don't like creating content once and then having it just disappear into the ether."

On Content Persistence:

"The fact that we can post a reel up and get long-term growth and every single day it grows—that's kind of surprising to me because it means that the content's sticking around."

On Service Business Marketing:

"As companies start ignoring direct mail or fight to do purely online, I find that the offline has really started to come around and perform a lot better."

On What's Missing:

"With AI coming through, the marketing execution stuff is actually so easy now. What people are missing is the strategic piece."

On His New Approach:

"If you're doing 25K a month and you want to get to 250K, hit me up."

Jeremy Rivera is the founder of SEO Arcade, host of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, and has 19+ years of SEO experience. He specializes in converting podcast interviews into comprehensive content marketing strategies and connecting SEO tactics to actual business outcomes.

Jeremy has worked in-house, at agencies (both good and bad), as a successful freelancer, and now runs SEO Arcade's whitelabel podcast-based content and link building service for agencies and businesses.

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Episode Length: ~47 minutes

Episode Format: Unscripted conversation

Best For: Agency owners, consultants, entrepreneurs scaling service businesses, marketers interested in AI integration and platform strategy

This episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast brings you real conversations with real SEO professionals about their journeys, mistakes, and insights. No scripts, no PR-approved talking points—just honest discussion about what works (and what doesn't) in building marketing businesses.

Jeremy Rivera interviews Kyle Bailey, founder of Front Burner Marketing, about local SEO strategies specifically designed for home service businesses. Kyle brings a unique perspective as one of the few SEO professionals who has actually worked in the trades—framing, roofing, drywall, and kitchen/bathroom remodeling.

Kyle Bailey

Connect with Kyle:

Key Resource: What's Your Story? - Front Burner Marketing

Related Article: Matt Brooks of SEOteric on nexus-based link building

Example Businesses:

Related Service: AI SEO at Front Burner Marketing

Explore Services: Local SEO Services at Front Burner Marketing

"If you're a home service business owner, I can almost guarantee you you're driving past free money every day. Just think—every red light you come to, there's a barrel of $100 bills over there and you just drive right by it."

"Your website's now a vetting device rather than a discovery device because of the changes Google had already made."

"You're out of time. You're in that movie scene where the ferry's pulling away, but the ramp's still down and the car's trying to jump over. That's where you are right now."

"If you could only say one thing to your homeowner, what would it be? That takes some time, some effort, and some meditation."

"When you connect on core values with your ideal customer, they feel something. Even if they never buy from you, they feel it."

✅ Home service businesses need to prioritize storytelling over keyword optimization. The most effective marketing starts with identifying and communicating core values that differentiate you from competitors in commoditized markets.

✅ Co-marketing with complementary businesses is massively underutilized. Simple actions like taking selfie videos with painters, plumbers, or other trades on job sites creates authentic content, builds local authority, and generates natural brand mentions across multiple websites.

✅ AI search is fundamentally changing the discovery process. Business owners can no longer afford to wait—80% of effort should focus on clear storytelling while 20% should go toward strategic positioning in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other LLM platforms.

✅ Neighborhood-level content is free money. Taking 30 seconds to photograph neighborhood signage and create location-specific content for every job creates micro-location pages that dominate local search without significant investment.

✅ Franchise models severely limit local SEO effectiveness. Out of 100 franchise conversations, only about 3 can make the necessary changes to compete effectively in local search due to corporate restrictions on messaging and website customization.

✅ Community involvement must be documented and linked strategically. Sponsoring cleanups, attending galas, and supporting local organizations only generates SEO value when properly documented with photos, links, and cross-promotional content across multiple platforms.

✅ The days of H-tag and keyword optimization are over. If your SEO isn't part of telling your authentic story, you're building on sand. Modern algorithms and AI platforms reward authority, authenticity, and relevance.