We Will Rock You: Whiteboard Friday Episodes That Rocked the Industry in 2023

We had a year full of learnings from all of our Whiteboard Friday presenters. In case you missed them, here are the top 10 episodes from this year!

We Will Rock You: Whiteboard Friday Episodes That Rocked the Industry in 2023

We had a year full of learnings from all of our Whiteboard Friday presenters. In case you missed them, here are the top 10 episodes from this year!

16 Local Search Developments You Need to Know About From Q4 2023

Learn about the most recent local search developments of 2023 to get ready for the year ahead.

16 Local Search Developments You Need to Know About From Q4 2023

Learn about the most recent local search developments of 2023 to get ready for the year ahead.

Here Are the Champions: 25 Top Moz Blogs of 2023

Sit back, grab a cuppa, and check out the top 25 Moz blogs of 2023

Here Are the Champions: 25 Top Moz Blogs of 2023

Sit back, grab a cuppa, and check out the top 25 Moz blogs of 2023

Top 10 Takeaways From Whiteboard Fridays in 2023

Discover the top 10 takeaways you won’t want to miss from the Whiteboard Fridays we published in 2023.

Top 10 Takeaways From Whiteboard Fridays in 2023

Discover the top 10 takeaways you won’t want to miss from the Whiteboard Fridays we published in 2023.

Content Planning and Budgets: Getting Ready for the Year Ahead

With the right approach to content planning and budgets, you can ensure that the money you invest in your content marketing strategy is well-defined, fully accounted for, and aligned with helping you reach your goals.

Content Planning and Budgets: Getting Ready for the Year Ahead

With the right approach to content planning and budgets, you can ensure that the money you invest in your content marketing strategy is well-defined, fully accounted for, and aligned with helping you reach your goals.

User Signals as a Ranking Factor & US vs. Google

Explore the debate of whether or not user signals are a ranking factor in this article with Tom Capper.

User Signals as a Ranking Factor & US vs. Google

Explore the debate of whether or not user signals are a ranking factor in this article with Tom Capper.

2024 SEO and Content Trends: Top Predictions from 27 Industry Experts

Discover the top SEO and content predictions amongst 27 industry experts for the coming year.

2024 SEO and Content Trends: Top Predictions from 27 Industry Experts

Discover the top SEO and content predictions amongst 27 industry experts for the coming year.

What Is Headless SEO? – Whiteboard Friday

In this Whiteboard Friday, learn about headless CMSs, the advantages of using them, and the differences in your approach to SEO.

What Is Headless SEO? – Whiteboard Friday

In this Whiteboard Friday, learn about headless CMSs, the advantages of using them, and the differences in your approach to SEO.

2024 SEO and Marketing Predictions from Moz

The SMEs at Moz bring you their predictions for what to expect in the year ahead in SEO and marketing. We’re talking search, AI, sustainability, economics, SERP features, and more.

2024 SEO and Marketing Predictions from Moz

The SMEs at Moz bring you their predictions for what to expect in the year ahead in SEO and marketing. We’re talking search, AI, sustainability, economics, SERP features, and more.

How to Reach Your First $10k Month as an SEO Freelancer [Free Templates]

Discover the key strategies to thrive as an SEO freelancer. Apply these tips to achieve consistent $10K months and long-term success in SEO freelancing.

How to Reach Your First $10k Month as an SEO Freelancer [Free Templates]

Discover the key strategies to thrive as an SEO freelancer. Apply these tips to achieve consistent $10K months and long-term success in SEO freelancing.

How Will SGE Impact Your Organic Traffic?

Zach discusses Google’s Search Generative Experience, including a step-by-step template that will allow you to estimate the traffic losses or gains your site may experience.

How Will SGE Impact Your Organic Traffic?

Zach discusses Google’s Search Generative Experience, including a step-by-step template that will allow you to estimate the traffic losses or gains your site may experience.

How to Build Your Own SEO Chrome Extension With ChatGPT

Learn to create SEO Chrome extensions with ChatGPT. Use this step-by-step instruction to bring your innovative SEO tool ideas to life.

How to Build Your Own SEO Chrome Extension With ChatGPT

Learn to create SEO Chrome extensions with ChatGPT. Use this step-by-step instruction to bring your innovative SEO tool ideas to life.

On-page Video SEO – Whiteboard Friday

Your video content, the video platform that you use, and your video webpage all contribute to the value of your on-page video SEO. Learn more in this Whiteboard Friday with Crystal Carter.

On-page Video SEO – Whiteboard Friday

Your video content, the video platform that you use, and your video webpage all contribute to the value of your on-page video SEO. Learn more in this Whiteboard Friday with Crystal Carter.

30 Google Business Profile Photos Your Local Business Can Easily Take — Illustrated

Uncover 30 different types of images your local business can use online to demonstrate E-E-A-T to both Google and potential customers.

30 Google Business Profile Photos Your Local Business Can Easily Take — Illustrated

Uncover 30 different types of images your local business can use online to demonstrate E-E-A-T to both Google and potential customers.

Build a Business Case to Get an International SEO Investment Approved for 2024

Have you been wanting to get an international SEO investment approved? Dig into this article to uncover Adriana’s tips on how to build a business case to do so.

Build a Business Case to Get an International SEO Investment Approved for 2024

Have you been wanting to get an international SEO investment approved? Dig into this article to uncover Adriana’s tips on how to build a business case to do so.

How OpenAI Rewrote the Rules: A Brand Story

Discover the surprising impact of brand keywords for OpenAI, showcasing the power of creating demand out of thin air and dominating search results in this insightful brand success story.

How OpenAI Rewrote the Rules: A Brand Story

Discover the surprising impact of brand keywords for OpenAI, showcasing the power of creating demand out of thin air and dominating search results in this insightful brand success story.

How a Small Travel Blog Gained Topical Authority: A Case Study

Explore the journey of a small travel blog's rise to topical authority in this case study.

How a Small Travel Blog Gained Topical Authority: A Case Study

Explore the journey of a small travel blog's rise to topical authority in this case study.

Link Building for Local Businesses — Whiteboard Friday

Learn about link building for your local business in this Whiteboard Friday with Amanda Jordan.

Link Building for Local Businesses — Whiteboard Friday

Learn about link building for your local business in this Whiteboard Friday with Amanda Jordan.

The Complete Guide to Becoming an Authentic Thought Leader

Ready to become the thought leader you've always dreamed of? Use this comprehensive guide to create and execute your thought leadership strategy.

The Complete Guide to Becoming an Authentic Thought Leader

Ready to become the thought leader you've always dreamed of? Use this comprehensive guide to create and execute your thought leadership strategy.

The MozCon 2024 Speaker Line-Up

Looking ahead to MozCon 2024, we’re unveiling the first 15 speakers who will be taking the stage come June.

The MozCon 2024 Speaker Line-Up

Looking ahead to MozCon 2024, we’re unveiling the first 15 speakers who will be taking the stage come June.

Local Business E-E-A-T: Real-world Examples of How This Works

Explore tons of real-world local business examples to help you plan out your own full menu of E-E-A-T opportunities.

Local Business E-E-A-T: Real-world Examples of How This Works

Explore tons of real-world local business examples to help you plan out your own full menu of E-E-A-T opportunities.

When Not to Use Artificial Intelligence in Digital PR

In the field of public relations, the human touch remains essential and irreplaceable. Learn when not to use artificial intelligence in digital PR.

When Not to Use Artificial Intelligence in Digital PR

In the field of public relations, the human touch remains essential and irreplaceable. Learn when not to use artificial intelligence in digital PR.

Whiteboard Friday Recap 2023: AI Edition

The topic of Artificial Intelligence has dominated the industry over the past year, and our Whiteboard Friday presenters in 2023 did not shy away from answering many of the questions we all have.

Whiteboard Friday Recap 2023: AI Edition

The topic of Artificial Intelligence has dominated the industry over the past year, and our Whiteboard Friday presenters in 2023 did not shy away from answering many of the questions we all have.

How to Research, Monitor, and Optimize for Questions (+ Free Worksheet)

When integrated into your marketing and product positioning strategies, questions can transform organic growth, product development, and more.

How to Research, Monitor, and Optimize for Questions (+ Free Worksheet)

When integrated into your marketing and product positioning strategies, questions can transform organic growth, product development, and more.

Build Your Keyword Tool with Python and ChatGPT: A Subreddit Insights Guide

Learn to create SEO Chrome extensions with ChatGPT. Use this step-by-step instruction to bring your innovative SEO tool ideas to life.

Build Your Keyword Tool with Python and ChatGPT: A Subreddit Insights Guide

Learn to create SEO Chrome extensions with ChatGPT. Use this step-by-step instruction to bring your innovative SEO tool ideas to life.

Want to Stand Out From the Herd? Ditch Commodity Content for Proprietary Research

Discover how proprietary research can set your content apart and elevate your brand while building your pipeline.

Want to Stand Out From the Herd? Ditch Commodity Content for Proprietary Research

Discover how proprietary research can set your content apart and elevate your brand while building your pipeline.

A Beginner's Guide to Google Search Console

Discover the value of Google Search Console for SEO, marketing, and business owners. Learn how this free tool provides insights into your site's performance, engagement, and technical issues. Learn how you can use GSC to make more informed decisions for your website.

A Beginner's Guide to Google Search Console

Discover the value of Google Search Console for SEO, marketing, and business owners. Learn how this free tool provides insights into your site's performance, engagement, and technical issues. Learn how you can use GSC to make more informed decisions for your website.

5 Soft Skills SEOs Should Build – Whiteboard Friday

Discover five soft skills you should build as an SEO in this Whiteboard Friday with Noah Learner.

5 Soft Skills SEOs Should Build – Whiteboard Friday

Discover five soft skills you should build as an SEO in this Whiteboard Friday with Noah Learner.

Is the Nearby Filter Nav Actually Making Google’s SERPs More Local?

Is the Nearby filter navigation actually making Google’s SERPs more local? Find out more through Miriam’s research.

Is the Nearby Filter Nav Actually Making Google’s SERPs More Local?

Is the Nearby filter navigation actually making Google’s SERPs more local? Find out more through Miriam’s research.

A Non-Technical Guide to Diagnosing JavaScript SEO Issues

Does JavaScript SEO make your head spin? Use this non-technical approach to diagnose and fix Javascript SEO issues.

A Non-Technical Guide to Diagnosing JavaScript SEO Issues

Does JavaScript SEO make your head spin? Use this non-technical approach to diagnose and fix Javascript SEO issues.

Ensure a Flawless GA4 Setup and Ongoing Tracking Functionality

Discover actionable steps to ensure your GA4 is optimized for long-term tracking success, empowering you to make informed decisions and drive business growth.

Ensure a Flawless GA4 Setup and Ongoing Tracking Functionality

Discover actionable steps to ensure your GA4 is optimized for long-term tracking success, empowering you to make informed decisions and drive business growth.

How to Leverage Content and AI-powered Tools in Your Content Writing

Find the balance between using content and AI tools and human expertise to create high-quality content that connects with your audience and ranks higher in the SERPs

How to Leverage Content and AI-powered Tools in Your Content Writing

Find the balance between using content and AI tools and human expertise to create high-quality content that connects with your audience and ranks higher in the SERPs

Harnessing Generative AI for SEO and Content Success - Whiteboard Friday

Unlock the potential of generative AI for SEO and content success with Alisa Scharf.

Harnessing Generative AI for SEO and Content Success - Whiteboard Friday

Unlock the potential of generative AI for SEO and content success with Alisa Scharf.

The Location Landing Pages Salad Bar: Making Smart Local Business Content Choices in 2024

Navigate the complex world of creating engaging and unique location landing pages in this article with a buffet of content options, a checklist for creativity, and a lightning round of questions and answers.

The Location Landing Pages Salad Bar: Making Smart Local Business Content Choices in 2024

Navigate the complex world of creating engaging and unique location landing pages in this article with a buffet of content options, a checklist for creativity, and a lightning round of questions and answers.

How to Generate Top-Shelf Content with Budget Constraints

Discover proven strategies to create high-quality content on a budget and tight deadlines. Turn constraints into opportunities for growth and innovation.

How to Generate Top-Shelf Content with Budget Constraints

Discover proven strategies to create high-quality content on a budget and tight deadlines. Turn constraints into opportunities for growth and innovation.

The Ultimate Guide to Content Planning

Transform your content marketing strategy into action with a detailed roadmap, clear workflows, and proven tips

The Ultimate Guide to Content Planning

Transform your content marketing strategy into action with a detailed roadmap, clear workflows, and proven tips

How to Drive Traffic in Google Discover: The Ultimate Guide

Lily Ray shares actionable tips to navigate the evolving landscape of Google Discover to help boost your site's visibility.

How to Drive Traffic in Google Discover: The Ultimate Guide

Lily Ray shares actionable tips to navigate the evolving landscape of Google Discover to help boost your site's visibility.

How Google Changes Your Searches (A Study of 10,000 Queries)

Uncover the intricacies of Google's search result modifications, revealing how Google strives to understand and meet searcher intent beyond literal keyword matches.

How Google Changes Your Searches (A Study of 10,000 Queries)

Uncover the intricacies of Google's search result modifications, revealing how Google strives to understand and meet searcher intent beyond literal keyword matches.

How to Incorporate AI Chat and Software into Your SEO Workflow

Want to add AI chat into your workflow but don’t know where to get started? Katherine Watier Ong has outlined prompts you can use today to speed up your deliverables.

How to Incorporate AI Chat and Software into Your SEO Workflow

Want to add AI chat into your workflow but don’t know where to get started? Katherine Watier Ong has outlined prompts you can use today to speed up your deliverables.

A Marketer's Guide to Launching a UGC Strategy for SEO

Learn how to pull the UGC levers to support your SEO. Dive into this punchy yet value-packed marketer’s guide to launching a UGC strategy for SEO.

A Marketer's Guide to Launching a UGC Strategy for SEO

Learn how to pull the UGC levers to support your SEO. Dive into this punchy yet value-packed marketer’s guide to launching a UGC strategy for SEO.

SEO Auditing Success – Whiteboard Friday

Discover five actionable tips to improve your approach to SEO auditing for greater success in this Whiteboard Friday.

SEO Auditing Success – Whiteboard Friday

Discover five actionable tips to improve your approach to SEO auditing for greater success in this Whiteboard Friday.

Why Should I Pay You To Use AI for My SEO?

Already using AI for SEO at your agency? Learn ethical guidelines and strategies to win over the most skeptical clients and show the ROI of AI in SEO.

Why Should I Pay You To Use AI for My SEO?

Already using AI for SEO at your agency? Learn ethical guidelines and strategies to win over the most skeptical clients and show the ROI of AI in SEO.

5 Types of Holiday Local Business Content You Should Promote

Uncover 5 key types of holiday shopping season content to boost your business's visibility and thrive this festive season.

5 Types of Holiday Local Business Content You Should Promote

Uncover 5 key types of holiday shopping season content to boost your business's visibility and thrive this festive season.

What Is Bounce Rate, and Does It Matter in 2023?

Unravel the mystery of bounce rate as we explore its evolution from Universal Analytics to GA4. Discover why Google redefined this metric, how to interpret it, and practical strategies to optimize your website's engagement.

What Is Bounce Rate, and Does It Matter in 2023?

Unravel the mystery of bounce rate as we explore its evolution from Universal Analytics to GA4. Discover why Google redefined this metric, how to interpret it, and practical strategies to optimize your website's engagement.

5 Ways SEOs Can Use ChatGPT - Whiteboard Friday

Dive into this Whiteboard Friday episode with Chris Long as he reveals five ingenious ways SEOs can leverage ChatGPT.

5 Ways SEOs Can Use ChatGPT - Whiteboard Friday

Dive into this Whiteboard Friday episode with Chris Long as he reveals five ingenious ways SEOs can leverage ChatGPT.

Announcing: The Local Business Content Marketing Guide

Unlock the full potential of your local business with The Local Business Content Marketing Guide. Dive into actionable insights, real-world examples, and expert advice to help your business thrive.

Announcing: The Local Business Content Marketing Guide

Unlock the full potential of your local business with The Local Business Content Marketing Guide. Dive into actionable insights, real-world examples, and expert advice to help your business thrive.

How to Use SEO to Build Long-Term Brand Recognition and Visibility

Boost your brand recognition and visibility with SEO. Discover how SEO tactics can enhance brand visibility, drive direct website traffic, and increase brand searches.

How to Use SEO to Build Long-Term Brand Recognition and Visibility

Boost your brand recognition and visibility with SEO. Discover how SEO tactics can enhance brand visibility, drive direct website traffic, and increase brand searches.

How to Use SEO to Build Long-Term Brand Recognition and Visibility

Boost your brand recognition and visibility with SEO. Discover how SEO tactics can enhance brand visibility, drive direct website traffic, and increase brand searches.

6 Actionable Tips to Build a Sustainable Online Presence in 2024

Learn how to build and sustain a strong online presence in 2024 with these actionable tips. Discover strategies to enhance your authority, create valuable content, and optimize your SEO efforts for long-term success.

6 Actionable Tips to Build a Sustainable Online Presence in 2024

Learn how to build and sustain a strong online presence in 2024 with these actionable tips. Discover strategies to enhance your authority, create valuable content, and optimize your SEO efforts for long-term success.

Brand Entity SEO – Whiteboard Friday

Does Google know who your brand is? Are you a stranger, a familiar face, or a friend of Google? Understand why you should become a well-connected brand entity in the Knowledge Graph in this Whiteboard Friday.

Brand Entity SEO – Whiteboard Friday

Does Google know who your brand is? Are you a stranger, a familiar face, or a friend of Google? Understand why you should become a well-connected brand entity in the Knowledge Graph in this Whiteboard Friday.

Understand Brand Strength With Moz Pro – Next Level

Learn how to measure and track the concept of “brand” in a way that can help you tell a story about growth and opportunity.

Understand Brand Strength With Moz Pro – Next Level

Learn how to measure and track the concept of “brand” in a way that can help you tell a story about growth and opportunity.

AI Risks: Can Artificial Intelligence Affect Your Brand Equity?

Brand equity — that intangible asset that sets your brand apart and directly impacts its success, can either flourish or wither at the hands of artificial intelligence (AI).

Using artificial intelligence in your external communications can be a threat to any brand equity you’ve built up, but does this mean you shouldn’t use it at all?

In this article, we’ll explore the delicate dance between technology and human connection, exploring the AI risks when it comes to your brand equity.

What is brand equity?

Brand equity is the value gained from a consumer's perception of a company, service, or product — beyond its functional attributes. It is the cumulative effect of various factors that contribute to how a brand is perceived, recognized, and differentiated from others within its industry.

There are four main elements of brand equity:

• Brand awareness: The recognition and familiarity consumers have with a brand. If a customer has strong brand awareness, they are more likely to think of it when making purchase decisions — this is the first step to building brand equity.

• Brand associations: The characteristics, qualities, and attributes that consumers associate with a brand. This can be through previous experiences, recommendations, or even online perceptions.

• Perceived quality: The consumer’s perception of the overall quality of the brand. This will differ from person to person and does not always reflect the actual quality, instead being based on parameters that are important to the individual.

• Brand loyalty: When a consumer chooses to buy from a particular brand over others. This could be related to repeat purchases or recommendations for higher ticket items, such as mortgages.

Brand equity will have a significant impact on the company’s success. Stronger brand equity often means brands can justify higher prices, enjoy customer loyalty, and be protected against competitors.

How does brand equity relate to AI usage?

Like everything else in marketing, AI can affect brand equity. With AI tools widely available, the two elements of brand equity that could be impacted are brand awareness and brand associations, i.e. what they see of your brand before having their own experiences.

When AI is harnessed effectively, it can either boost or erode brand equity depending on whether it enhances authentic customer interactions or turns them into robotic, disconnected experiences. In essence, the smart use of AI can either reinforce your brand's value or, if mishandled, risk damaging the trust and emotional connections you've worked so hard to build.

How the overuse of AI can affect your brand equity

Brand equity is the culmination of years of trust-building, consistent messaging, and positive customer interactions. It's the intangible asset that sets your brand apart in the hearts and minds of your audience.

The right AI-driven experiences can drive awareness and solidify positive brand associations in the minds of your customers. But while the temptation is there to utilize AI-generated content to speed up output, it’s important to know when to use it and when to stop.

Dangers of overusing AI for your customer communications

AI can be a valuable asset, but it can also be a potential liability in your marketing toolkit. It's crucial to tread carefully and be mindful of the potential dangers lurking when AI-generated content is used within your communications.

Losing that personal touch

Your brand was made by humans, for humans. If your customers start to feel as if their interactions with your brand are too automated and lacking that vital human empathy, the emotional connection you’ve spent so much time building will begin to weaken. For example, you ask an AI tool to produce an article around a specific topic, and you upload that content straight to your site without fact-checking or personalizing it. That piece will stand out from the articles already on your website, either because of the change in tone of voice or mistakes and inaccuracies within it, leading the reader to question your branding, authority, and trustworthiness.

That loss of personal touch to content can not only affect what your customers feel about your brand but can also impact your site’s ability to rank. A recent AI vs. humans experiment carried out by Reboot found that pages created by copywriters outperformed AI-generated content in search engine result pages (SERPs).

Privacy concerns

Using AI tools to collect and analyze personal data can raise privacy concerns within your customer base. Because artificial intelligence is about always learning and improving, AI tools will store any information put into them, which includes any data. Allowing another party to store customer data opens up more opportunities for it to be viewed, copied, and even stolen by outside sources.

If your consumers believe their personal information is being misused by AI tools or their privacy is compromised, you can erode the trust in your brand and damage your overall brand equity.

To negate these privacy risks, some AI tools give you the option to opt out of this data storage. On ChatGPT, for example, there is a setting you can use to prevent it from saving your chat history.

Not understanding intent

Understanding and fulfilling intent is what helps your content to rank, and keeps your customers happy. AI content tools and recommendation systems might be unable to pinpoint customer intent or preferences. Continually missing the mark of what your customers want could negatively impact their perception of your brand’s competence.

If you’re looking to combat this pitfall, you can try asking the AI tool to create a piece of content with a particular search intent in mind. As with all content produced by artificial intelligence, though, this will need to be thoroughly fact-checked and edited by a skilled copywriter.

Loss of brand identity

Your communications could lack consistency with your brand’s image if they are solely produced by AI tools or even a mix of AI and human-generated content. Recognizable features of your brand are watered down, which could lead to confusion among your customers and a dilution of the all-important brand image.

Not only this but how can you be sure your tone of voice stands out when your competitors have access to the same AI tools? You know your brand best, and it is in your best interest to ensure any information you put out there is accurate, relevant, and on-brand.

Lack of human interaction

For complex or emotionally sensitive issues, customers might prefer human interaction rather than AI. If you don’t offer this option or rely too much on AI for customer service by only offering chatbots or email assistance run by artificial intelligence tools, you may start to notice increased dissatisfaction and reduced loyalty.

Can AI tools recreate recognizable brand communications?

As mentioned before, AI will affect your customers' awareness and perception of your brand, primarily if you use it in your communications. Can you trust AI-generated content to adopt your tone of voice accurately?

Brand tone of voice is a direct manifestation of its personality and values. It’s what drives brand perception and feeds into equity if you take away all of the visuals, logos, and videos.

Let’s see how a popular AI tool, ChatGPT, deals with mimicking the tone of voice of a famous and instantly recognizable brand.

AI tackles Cards Against Humanity

Cards Against Humanity has one of the most identifiable brand voices out there, which feeds into customer perception. There are specific qualities and characteristics that those familiar with the brand would expect from its communications.

To test out the AI tool, we input the prompt:

Please write a 120-word 'About Us' section to be used on the Cards Against Humanity website. Make sure this copy is instantly recognizable to customers by matching the brand's tone of voice and style of writing.

The word limit was to make sure the copy fits in line with the existing page the brand already has. For reference, this is the brand’s current About Us page on the site:

Cards Against Humanity

It’s short, to the point, and has brand-specific humor; it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a tone that anyone familiar with the brand would associate with their messaging. But how will an artificial intelligence tool compare?

Going off the prompt, this is what ChatGPT produced:

While the finished products are dissimilar, you can pick out inspiration from the brand’s existing content. With phrases such as ‘renegades of irreverence’ and ‘inner misfit’, Cards Against Humanity’s somewhat overtly offensive branding comes through.

However, Cards Against Humanity thrives within the sarcasm, self-deprecating space, which is where the ChatGPT content misses out. It doesn’t quite have that tongue-in-cheek humor that is apparent from its existing About Us page.

How this could affect brand equity

Consistent branding is pivotal in constructing and upholding a positive brand perception. If you’ve built up a consumer base familiar with a particular tone of voice and personality but then start to move away from this, you’ll go against their perceptions and chip away at their brand awareness.

Even though Cards Against Humanity has already formed relatively strong brand equity through years of consistent messaging and good-quality products, that doesn’t mean it’s invincible. If the brand decides to go ahead with AI-generated content for its future communications, it risks going against its consumer perceptions and damaging its brand equity in the long run.

Striking the balance between automation and the human touch

AI isn’t the enemy of brand equity. But you do need to be careful when using it. Balancing creativity caution with AI is like finding the perfect blend in your morning coffee — too much AI can leave a bitter taste.

You should aim to avoid your AI-generated content coming across as robotic or inconsistent with your brand identity. By selecting the appropriate AI tool and always referring back to your brand's unique voice, you still have the ability to craft captivating content that truly connects with your audience. Here’s how you do it:

1. Have a solid TOV guide

Why is having a tone of voice (TOV) guide a big deal?

It’s a roadmap for your messaging, ensuring your brand always sounds like, well, your brand!

This consistency is crucial for brand recognition and recall. When your audience can easily identify your style and personality across different channels, it's like having a familiar face in a crowd — feeding into brand awareness and perception.

A well-crafted TOV guide can even set you apart from competitors in a sea of voices, helping you stand tall in your niche.

How to create a TOV guide:

• Start by digging deep into your brand's purpose. What's your mission? Who's your audience? What values drive your business?

• Once you've got those nailed down, pinpoint your brand's personality traits. Are you fun and casual, or all about professionalism?

• Lay down some ground rules. Decide on vocabulary preferences, sentence structures, and even whether to use emojis (yes, they can be part of your TOV!).

But it doesn’t stop there. The key to a good TOV guide is keeping it fresh. Revisit and update it as your brand evolves. Get your team on board, train them up, and keep the dialogue open for feedback and tweaks.

2. Train AI tools to recognize and use your TOV

You can train many AI-content tools to use your brand’s TOV as you would with any new starter. Start by feeding it some of your brand's past content so it begins to understand how you structure your sentences, how informal your messaging is, and how you talk to your audience.

Then, using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning, AI recognizes patterns in your communications and starts to produce similar content. With time and ongoing pointers, amendments, and tweaks, most tools can begin to recognize and use your TOV.

But remember, it's an ongoing practice. You have to continuously fine-tune and review its outputs to keep it singing in perfect harmony with your brand's voice.

3. Monitor AI content and edit

Even after you’ve trained your chosen AI tool to mimic your brand’s TOV, you still have to thoroughly check and edit the content it has created. Just as you would proofread and edit any work from a content writer.

Monitor the output and use your TOV guide to ensure it hits the brand's values, tone, and messaging standards. AI tools occasionally throw out incorrect facts or statements without context. Publishing anything incorrect that can be disproven by your audience will alter brand associations and even perceived quality, so it’s important to have a rigorous fact-checking system in place.

4. Test and give feedback to the AI tool

Think of the AI tool as an eager employee. If you want it to improve, you need to provide thought-out feedback.

Start by conducting structured evaluations of its outputs against predefined criteria, measuring aspects like accuracy, relevance, and adherence to your brand's tone of voice.

Then, maintain a clear and consistent feedback loop, offering specific and constructive comments to help the AI tool learn and improve over time, ultimately aligning it more closely with your brand's unique requirements.

How to safely build brand equity with AI

The good news is that by adopting a thoughtful approach to AI and making some adjustments, you can generate content for your brand that is entirely distinctive and tailored to your identity.

There are some ways you can use AI tools that will work to spot patterns in your analytics to inform your ongoing strategies, as well as improve customer experiences.

Spotting data patterns and unearthing customer insights

Analyze customer data

Some AI tools can analyze large datasets, such as customer churn rates and sentiment analyses on social media, to identify patterns, trends, and correlations. This valuable insight into customer behavior can help to inform your brand to craft personalized marketing strategies and improved user experiences, ultimately leading to better decision-making and enhanced customer satisfaction.

It’s worth keeping in mind the privacy concerns point from above, though, making sure the AI tool you use has the option to not store chat history for this.

Stay in the loop with social media

There are AI tools that can track brand mentions, sentiment analysis, and emerging trends on social media. This will allow your social media marketing team to spend more time elsewhere, crafting perfect campaigns to work with the AI’s findings.

Do market research

Artificial intelligence has reshaped the field of market research, providing tools that can dissect data and generate invaluable insights. This is a great way to save your team time that would otherwise be used to analyze this data.

An example prompt to do so could be:

Generate a report summarizing the current market trends and customer preferences for [specific product, service, or industry]. Include information on key businesses and any notable shifts in consumer behavior. Please provide statistics and insights from the past year.

Improving customer experiences

Personalize content

After you’ve already used AI to sift through customer datasets, you can use the findings to produce personalized content tailored to their needs and preferences. This can span from customized product suggestions to tailor-made marketing messages.

24/7 chatbots

24/7 AI chatbots enhance the customer experience by delivering quick and reliable service around the clock — chatbot conversions are also pretty powerful for your bottom line. You can provide instant, consistent, and cost-effective customer support, handling routine queries efficiently and freeing human agents for more complex issues.

Automatic subtitles and image captions

With video becoming one of the preferred methods of consuming content, AI-powered subtitle generators such as Kapwing and VEED’s tools are getting increasingly popular. This helps with accessibility, which can improve user experience and save your team time.

How to avoid AI risks when it comes to your brand equity

Safely building brand equity with AI involves a strategic approach to harnessing the technology while mitigating potential risks. Here’s how to do it:

1. Define your brand's AI strategy: Begin by setting clear objectives for AI integration in your branding efforts. How will you use it? Will you use the tools to generate content, automate processes, or gather insights? Ensure you have answers for these and the goals behind them. What are you hoping to achieve?
   
   

2. Apply strict quality control: Establishing a robust review and approval process for AI-generated content will help to protect your brand awareness, associations, and perceived quality. Human oversight will always be needed to catch errors and maintain consistency in messaging.
   
   

3. Remain transparent: Maintaining transparency with your audience about your AI use will help to build and keep their trust. If chatbots or automated systems are handling customer inquiries, make it clear that customers are interacting with AI. If a blog post has been produced using AI, add a disclaimer about it highlighting who the piece was checked by to make sure you’re still hitting ‘experience’ and ‘expertise’ in E-E-A-T.
   
   

4. Focus on data privacy and security: Safeguard customer data rigorously. Comply with data protection regulations like GDPR or CCPA, and communicate your commitment to data privacy to enhance brand trust. Similar to the above, share any instances where personal data is handled by AI systems and the steps taken to make sure it remains confidential.
   
   

5. Be prepared for a crisis: Even with the most watertight approval processes, some mistakes still slip through the net. This is no different when using AI. To safeguard the audience trust you’ve built, ensure you implement a plan to address potential AI-related crises, such as misinterpretations or mishandling of sensitive issues.

Key takeaways

There will always be AI risks if using it in customer-facing content, but this doesn’t mean your brand shouldn’t use it.

To successfully integrate AI into your brand's strategies while building brand equity, you should ensure all uses align with the brand's values, messaging, and customer expectations.

Have solid processes in place for everything from proofreading and fact-checking to keeping all customer data confidential. This way, you’ll be able to protect your brand awareness, associations, perceived quality, and, ultimately, your brand equity.

AI Risks: Can Artificial Intelligence Affect Your Brand Equity?

Brand equity — that intangible asset that sets your brand apart and directly impacts its success, can either flourish or wither at the hands of artificial intelligence (AI).

Using artificial intelligence in your external communications can be a threat to any brand equity you’ve built up, but does this mean you shouldn’t use it at all?

In this article, we’ll explore the delicate dance between technology and human connection, exploring the AI risks when it comes to your brand equity.

What is brand equity?

Brand equity is the value gained from a consumer's perception of a company, service, or product — beyond its functional attributes. It is the cumulative effect of various factors that contribute to how a brand is perceived, recognized, and differentiated from others within its industry.

There are four main elements of brand equity:

• Brand awareness: The recognition and familiarity consumers have with a brand. If a customer has strong brand awareness, they are more likely to think of it when making purchase decisions — this is the first step to building brand equity.

• Brand associations: The characteristics, qualities, and attributes that consumers associate with a brand. This can be through previous experiences, recommendations, or even online perceptions.

• Perceived quality: The consumer’s perception of the overall quality of the brand. This will differ from person to person and does not always reflect the actual quality, instead being based on parameters that are important to the individual.

• Brand loyalty: When a consumer chooses to buy from a particular brand over others. This could be related to repeat purchases or recommendations for higher ticket items, such as mortgages.

Brand equity will have a significant impact on the company’s success. Stronger brand equity often means brands can justify higher prices, enjoy customer loyalty, and be protected against competitors.

How does brand equity relate to AI usage?

Like everything else in marketing, AI can affect brand equity. With AI tools widely available, the two elements of brand equity that could be impacted are brand awareness and brand associations, i.e. what they see of your brand before having their own experiences.

When AI is harnessed effectively, it can either boost or erode brand equity depending on whether it enhances authentic customer interactions or turns them into robotic, disconnected experiences. In essence, the smart use of AI can either reinforce your brand's value or, if mishandled, risk damaging the trust and emotional connections you've worked so hard to build.

How the overuse of AI can affect your brand equity

Brand equity is the culmination of years of trust-building, consistent messaging, and positive customer interactions. It's the intangible asset that sets your brand apart in the hearts and minds of your audience.

The right AI-driven experiences can drive awareness and solidify positive brand associations in the minds of your customers. But while the temptation is there to utilize AI-generated content to speed up output, it’s important to know when to use it and when to stop.

Dangers of overusing AI for your customer communications

AI can be a valuable asset, but it can also be a potential liability in your marketing toolkit. It's crucial to tread carefully and be mindful of the potential dangers lurking when AI-generated content is used within your communications.

Losing that personal touch

Your brand was made by humans, for humans. If your customers start to feel as if their interactions with your brand are too automated and lacking that vital human empathy, the emotional connection you’ve spent so much time building will begin to weaken. For example, you ask an AI tool to produce an article around a specific topic, and you upload that content straight to your site without fact-checking or personalizing it. That piece will stand out from the articles already on your website, either because of the change in tone of voice or mistakes and inaccuracies within it, leading the reader to question your branding, authority, and trustworthiness.

That loss of personal touch to content can not only affect what your customers feel about your brand but can also impact your site’s ability to rank. A recent AI vs. humans experiment carried out by Reboot found that pages created by copywriters outperformed AI-generated content in search engine result pages (SERPs).

Privacy concerns

Using AI tools to collect and analyze personal data can raise privacy concerns within your customer base. Because artificial intelligence is about always learning and improving, AI tools will store any information put into them, which includes any data. Allowing another party to store customer data opens up more opportunities for it to be viewed, copied, and even stolen by outside sources.

If your consumers believe their personal information is being misused by AI tools or their privacy is compromised, you can erode the trust in your brand and damage your overall brand equity.

To negate these privacy risks, some AI tools give you the option to opt out of this data storage. On ChatGPT, for example, there is a setting you can use to prevent it from saving your chat history.

Not understanding intent

Understanding and fulfilling intent is what helps your content to rank, and keeps your customers happy. AI content tools and recommendation systems might be unable to pinpoint customer intent or preferences. Continually missing the mark of what your customers want could negatively impact their perception of your brand’s competence.

If you’re looking to combat this pitfall, you can try asking the AI tool to create a piece of content with a particular search intent in mind. As with all content produced by artificial intelligence, though, this will need to be thoroughly fact-checked and edited by a skilled copywriter.

Loss of brand identity

Your communications could lack consistency with your brand’s image if they are solely produced by AI tools or even a mix of AI and human-generated content. Recognizable features of your brand are watered down, which could lead to confusion among your customers and a dilution of the all-important brand image.

Not only this but how can you be sure your tone of voice stands out when your competitors have access to the same AI tools? You know your brand best, and it is in your best interest to ensure any information you put out there is accurate, relevant, and on-brand.

Lack of human interaction

For complex or emotionally sensitive issues, customers might prefer human interaction rather than AI. If you don’t offer this option or rely too much on AI for customer service by only offering chatbots or email assistance run by artificial intelligence tools, you may start to notice increased dissatisfaction and reduced loyalty.

Can AI tools recreate recognizable brand communications?

As mentioned before, AI will affect your customers' awareness and perception of your brand, primarily if you use it in your communications. Can you trust AI-generated content to adopt your tone of voice accurately?

Brand tone of voice is a direct manifestation of its personality and values. It’s what drives brand perception and feeds into equity if you take away all of the visuals, logos, and videos.

Let’s see how a popular AI tool, ChatGPT, deals with mimicking the tone of voice of a famous and instantly recognizable brand.

AI tackles Cards Against Humanity

Cards Against Humanity has one of the most identifiable brand voices out there, which feeds into customer perception. There are specific qualities and characteristics that those familiar with the brand would expect from its communications.

To test out the AI tool, we input the prompt:

Please write a 120-word 'About Us' section to be used on the Cards Against Humanity website. Make sure this copy is instantly recognizable to customers by matching the brand's tone of voice and style of writing.

The word limit was to make sure the copy fits in line with the existing page the brand already has. For reference, this is the brand’s current About Us page on the site:

Cards Against Humanity

It’s short, to the point, and has brand-specific humor; it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a tone that anyone familiar with the brand would associate with their messaging. But how will an artificial intelligence tool compare?

Going off the prompt, this is what ChatGPT produced:

While the finished products are dissimilar, you can pick out inspiration from the brand’s existing content. With phrases such as ‘renegades of irreverence’ and ‘inner misfit’, Cards Against Humanity’s somewhat overtly offensive branding comes through.

However, Cards Against Humanity thrives within the sarcasm, self-deprecating space, which is where the ChatGPT content misses out. It doesn’t quite have that tongue-in-cheek humor that is apparent from its existing About Us page.

How this could affect brand equity

Consistent branding is pivotal in constructing and upholding a positive brand perception. If you’ve built up a consumer base familiar with a particular tone of voice and personality but then start to move away from this, you’ll go against their perceptions and chip away at their brand awareness.

Even though Cards Against Humanity has already formed relatively strong brand equity through years of consistent messaging and good-quality products, that doesn’t mean it’s invincible. If the brand decides to go ahead with AI-generated content for its future communications, it risks going against its consumer perceptions and damaging its brand equity in the long run.

Striking the balance between automation and the human touch

AI isn’t the enemy of brand equity. But you do need to be careful when using it. Balancing creativity caution with AI is like finding the perfect blend in your morning coffee — too much AI can leave a bitter taste.

You should aim to avoid your AI-generated content coming across as robotic or inconsistent with your brand identity. By selecting the appropriate AI tool and always referring back to your brand's unique voice, you still have the ability to craft captivating content that truly connects with your audience. Here’s how you do it:

1. Have a solid TOV guide

Why is having a tone of voice (TOV) guide a big deal?

It’s a roadmap for your messaging, ensuring your brand always sounds like, well, your brand!

This consistency is crucial for brand recognition and recall. When your audience can easily identify your style and personality across different channels, it's like having a familiar face in a crowd — feeding into brand awareness and perception.

A well-crafted TOV guide can even set you apart from competitors in a sea of voices, helping you stand tall in your niche.

How to create a TOV guide:

• Start by digging deep into your brand's purpose. What's your mission? Who's your audience? What values drive your business?

• Once you've got those nailed down, pinpoint your brand's personality traits. Are you fun and casual, or all about professionalism?

• Lay down some ground rules. Decide on vocabulary preferences, sentence structures, and even whether to use emojis (yes, they can be part of your TOV!).

But it doesn’t stop there. The key to a good TOV guide is keeping it fresh. Revisit and update it as your brand evolves. Get your team on board, train them up, and keep the dialogue open for feedback and tweaks.

2. Train AI tools to recognize and use your TOV

You can train many AI-content tools to use your brand’s TOV as you would with any new starter. Start by feeding it some of your brand's past content so it begins to understand how you structure your sentences, how informal your messaging is, and how you talk to your audience.

Then, using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning, AI recognizes patterns in your communications and starts to produce similar content. With time and ongoing pointers, amendments, and tweaks, most tools can begin to recognize and use your TOV.

But remember, it's an ongoing practice. You have to continuously fine-tune and review its outputs to keep it singing in perfect harmony with your brand's voice.

3. Monitor AI content and edit

Even after you’ve trained your chosen AI tool to mimic your brand’s TOV, you still have to thoroughly check and edit the content it has created. Just as you would proofread and edit any work from a content writer.

Monitor the output and use your TOV guide to ensure it hits the brand's values, tone, and messaging standards. AI tools occasionally throw out incorrect facts or statements without context. Publishing anything incorrect that can be disproven by your audience will alter brand associations and even perceived quality, so it’s important to have a rigorous fact-checking system in place.

4. Test and give feedback to the AI tool

Think of the AI tool as an eager employee. If you want it to improve, you need to provide thought-out feedback.

Start by conducting structured evaluations of its outputs against predefined criteria, measuring aspects like accuracy, relevance, and adherence to your brand's tone of voice.

Then, maintain a clear and consistent feedback loop, offering specific and constructive comments to help the AI tool learn and improve over time, ultimately aligning it more closely with your brand's unique requirements.

How to safely build brand equity with AI

The good news is that by adopting a thoughtful approach to AI and making some adjustments, you can generate content for your brand that is entirely distinctive and tailored to your identity.

There are some ways you can use AI tools that will work to spot patterns in your analytics to inform your ongoing strategies, as well as improve customer experiences.

Spotting data patterns and unearthing customer insights

Analyze customer data

Some AI tools can analyze large datasets, such as customer churn rates and sentiment analyses on social media, to identify patterns, trends, and correlations. This valuable insight into customer behavior can help to inform your brand to craft personalized marketing strategies and improved user experiences, ultimately leading to better decision-making and enhanced customer satisfaction.

It’s worth keeping in mind the privacy concerns point from above, though, making sure the AI tool you use has the option to not store chat history for this.

Stay in the loop with social media

There are AI tools that can track brand mentions, sentiment analysis, and emerging trends on social media. This will allow your social media marketing team to spend more time elsewhere, crafting perfect campaigns to work with the AI’s findings.

Do market research

Artificial intelligence has reshaped the field of market research, providing tools that can dissect data and generate invaluable insights. This is a great way to save your team time that would otherwise be used to analyze this data.

An example prompt to do so could be:

Generate a report summarizing the current market trends and customer preferences for [specific product, service, or industry]. Include information on key businesses and any notable shifts in consumer behavior. Please provide statistics and insights from the past year.

Improving customer experiences

Personalize content

After you’ve already used AI to sift through customer datasets, you can use the findings to produce personalized content tailored to their needs and preferences. This can span from customized product suggestions to tailor-made marketing messages.

24/7 chatbots

24/7 AI chatbots enhance the customer experience by delivering quick and reliable service around the clock — chatbot conversions are also pretty powerful for your bottom line. You can provide instant, consistent, and cost-effective customer support, handling routine queries efficiently and freeing human agents for more complex issues.

Automatic subtitles and image captions

With video becoming one of the preferred methods of consuming content, AI-powered subtitle generators such as Kapwing and VEED’s tools are getting increasingly popular. This helps with accessibility, which can improve user experience and save your team time.

How to avoid AI risks when it comes to your brand equity

Safely building brand equity with AI involves a strategic approach to harnessing the technology while mitigating potential risks. Here’s how to do it:

1. Define your brand's AI strategy: Begin by setting clear objectives for AI integration in your branding efforts. How will you use it? Will you use the tools to generate content, automate processes, or gather insights? Ensure you have answers for these and the goals behind them. What are you hoping to achieve?
   
   

2. Apply strict quality control: Establishing a robust review and approval process for AI-generated content will help to protect your brand awareness, associations, and perceived quality. Human oversight will always be needed to catch errors and maintain consistency in messaging.
   
   

3. Remain transparent: Maintaining transparency with your audience about your AI use will help to build and keep their trust. If chatbots or automated systems are handling customer inquiries, make it clear that customers are interacting with AI. If a blog post has been produced using AI, add a disclaimer about it highlighting who the piece was checked by to make sure you’re still hitting ‘experience’ and ‘expertise’ in E-E-A-T.
   
   

4. Focus on data privacy and security: Safeguard customer data rigorously. Comply with data protection regulations like GDPR or CCPA, and communicate your commitment to data privacy to enhance brand trust. Similar to the above, share any instances where personal data is handled by AI systems and the steps taken to make sure it remains confidential.
   
   

5. Be prepared for a crisis: Even with the most watertight approval processes, some mistakes still slip through the net. This is no different when using AI. To safeguard the audience trust you’ve built, ensure you implement a plan to address potential AI-related crises, such as misinterpretations or mishandling of sensitive issues.

Key takeaways

There will always be AI risks if using it in customer-facing content, but this doesn’t mean your brand shouldn’t use it.

To successfully integrate AI into your brand's strategies while building brand equity, you should ensure all uses align with the brand's values, messaging, and customer expectations.

Have solid processes in place for everything from proofreading and fact-checking to keeping all customer data confidential. This way, you’ll be able to protect your brand awareness, associations, perceived quality, and, ultimately, your brand equity.

Celebrating Canada’s Small Business Month With Sustainable Local Biz Tips

Happy Small Business Month to the 1.19 million small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Canada! You employ 10.7 million Canadians (88.1% of the private labor force) and contribute to 50.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Your numbers, percentages, and contributions outweigh those of large businesses in many ways, meaning that Canadian SMEs have awesome collective power to be part of the transition to sustainability which we all know we need in order to protect the beautiful earth on which we depend for life.

Localized green production is considered one of the top methods of healing the climate, but in order for customers to discover and choose your sustainable business, you’ve got to have a strong presence in Google’s local results. Today, let’s talk to 3 of my favorite Canadian local SEOs — Darren Shaw, Colan Nielsen, and John Vuong — for expert tips on becoming highly visible in Google’s local pack rankings.

And, if you’re working to green your business or planning to start a new one, we’ll highlight a few sustainable models for your inspiration. The transition off fossil fuels is a narrative of gains, not losses, and as a local business owner, you have the opportunity to play a starring role in this dramatic evolution towards a better future for all of us.

3 expert Canadian local pack ranking tips

I asked my honored colleagues to the north what the top factor they see currently impacting Google’s local pack rankings (shown above) in Canada. You’ll find a diversity of answers, because all local SEOs notice different things as they work with different industries and geographies, making all advice worth listening to. Here are their tips for you:

1. Keywords in Google Business title

Darren Shaw, the CEO of Whitespark, says:

"The top factor I'm seeing driving local rankings in Canada is the same as the top factor I see in any country. Unfortunately, it's keywords in the Google Business Profile business name. Google gives too much ranking weight to this factor, and it's helping businesses spam their way to the top of the search results. It's technically against Google's guidelines to use a business name that is not your business' actual real-world name, but the sad reality is that Google does not police or penalize this, so spamming the business name with additional keywords has become a common practice."

When Darren refers to spamming Google Business Profile names with keywords, he’s talking about this practice:

Google’s guidelines make it clear that the only thing that belongs in this field is your real-world business name. No one in Canada knows local rankings better than Darren, who is the annual publisher of the Local Search Ranking Factors Survey and Report, and he and I both expressed our disbelief that Google is still allowing keyword-stuffed business names to have such influence on visibility.

What is an honest local business owner to do in this scenario? Join in the spam? Report it? I’ve created this graphic to explain the several paths open to you:

This graphic doesn’t represent every possible bend in the road, but it covers the big ones. In sum, if you’re being outranked by a spamming competitor, you could decide to join in the spam. But that could make you lose potential customers who think your name looks untrustworthy, and Google might eventually edit your business name, which could lead to a loss of rankings once your extraneous keywords are removed. If you’re investing in spam instead of other more solid marketing tactics, you’re always on the verge of losing out.

Meanwhile, you do have the option to report spammy competitors to Google by flagging the name right on the listing or via the Business Redressal Complaint form, but even if Google acts on this and edits the keyword-stuffed name, the spammer is all too likely to come back. Spam fighting is a good competitive tactic, but can’t form the whole of your marketing strategy.

If you choose not to spam, you will look authentic to the customers who do see your listing, and you just have to be philosophical about the fact that spammers may outrank you in Google’s system. If your competitors’ business practices are as iffy as their names, you know their disgruntled customers will likely end up coming to you one day, anyway, for better service, and we can all hope that Google may one day utterly downgrade this ranking signal.

Finally, if you’re preparing to launch a brand new business, you could choose to brand it with one or two top keywords in mind, knowing that this could give you a boost in Google’s local packs. However, there are two big conditions to this route. Firstly, don’t go overboard. Don’t name your business Best Organic Farm-to-Table Restaurant With Sustainable Practices And Righteous Poutine in Toronto. This is just going to look silly to anyone who is evaluating whether to become your customer. Stick to just one or two keywords at most, and remember that your business name must be consistent on your real-world signage, website, and how you answer the phone.

The second condition is that brand names that are too specific can sometimes require later rebranding if the business expands. For example, if you name your first restaurant location Toronto Farm to Table and you become successful enough to open a second location in Mississauga, your original branding is going to become a problem in your new setting. If you plan to grow, be wary of city names or other geo-modifiers in your branding that could hold you back in the future.

2. Primary category selection

VP of Sterling Sky, Colan Nielsen, agrees with Darren about keywords in the business name, but don’t miss his second tip because it’s a major one:

“The local algorithms in Canada tend to be driven by most, if not all, the same factors that drive rankings in the USA. Here are a few things that we have seen have a significant impact on rankings recently:

Keywords in the business name. Yes, yes, I know… everyone is tired of hearing about keywords in the name. But even here in the great white north, it has a significant impact.

Getting the primary GBP category right. We recently advised a Family Law practice to change the primary GBP category from "Law Firm" to "Family law attorney," and it improved their rankings significantly.”

If you download the free Chrome extension, GMB Everywhere, you’ll be able to make the most of Colan’s tip about getting your primary category right by looking at it in comparison to your competitors’ Google Business Profile listings. The primary category (in this case, garden center) is marked with a star in this useful interface:

It’s almost impossible to rank for your most important local search phrases without selecting the right primary category, so a shop like this garden center in Edmonton has to be sure that the first category they choose when creating their Google Business Profile is of prime importance to the business. They can then add up to 9 additional categories for aspects of secondary importance, and one key way of determining what your primary category should be is by seeing what your top-ranked competitors have chosen. In this example, the top result for this search has, indeed, chosen “garden center” as their primary category:

For more tips on this key area of local listing optimization, read: How to Choose Google My Business Categories with Cool Tools

3. Searcher-to-business proximity

CEO John Vuong of Local SEO Search Inc. says,

“Physical proximity is the top ranking factor for the local pack right now. Google wants to provide users with the most relevant search results possible, and this includes showing them businesses that are closest to them. Make sure that you are optimizing your site for local search to rank best in your local area and try to get solid reviews with local justification trigger terms in them on Google (e.g. close by, near me, neighborhood/city, highly rated, etc.).”

John is referring to two things. The first is the phenomenon of knowing you are likely to rank best in the local packs for searchers nearest you, like this:

This can not only help you determine the ideal spot for your company to be physically located so that it’s closest to your intended audience, but this nearby geography should also feature highly in how you optimize your local business website. City names and neighborhood names matter.

Secondly, John is describing the eye-catching local pack elements known as local justifications, which look like this:

Read: Local Justifications are a Big Deal and You Can Influence Them to get a speedy education on this neat feature that can influence clicks on your listings, and don’t miss this quiet but fascinating recent tip from Colan on how to get Google to show the “provides” justification on your listing.

3 Deeply sustainable Canadian small business models

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to be part of the sustainable transition by founding a Canadian SME? Consider these models:

1. Feeding local people local food

“Farming. It had everything we were looking for; it was a real and concrete way to work at creating change.” — Liz Beasley and Matt Rock

Small organic growers like Joyfully Organic Farm in Markham, Ontario, aren’t merely producing vegetables without synthetic chemicals; they are focusing on regenerative agriculture, which improves land over time while also greatly reducing the fossil fuels required to put meals on neighbors’ plates. When managed organically, farm stands, farm shares, CSAs, farmers' markets, and community gardens can abundantly feed us with the fresh, nearby, unprocessed foods medical experts say are best for us. Farmers say you can even keep eating locally in winter in most of Canada with a combination of cold-weather crops and ancient practices like preserving.

1. Launch a local ReStore for local people

"Thrift stores are idealized as the perfect place to find unique and affordable items, with proceeds benefiting local charities. In reality, 75 percent of your donations are being shipped overseas. Conversely, Habitat’s ReStore operates in a highly transparent way to assure you that. your purchase from our ReStore really does have an impact on local families.” — Habitat ReStore, Ontario

Overconsumption, fast fashion, long-distance shipping, and planned obsolescence are the opposites of sustainability. A really good solution to keeping your neighbors clothed and stocked with basic household necessities could be launching a community ReStore. If you are good at mending and repairing a variety of merchandise, your re-store could significantly reduce the number of times people nearest you have to buy new. This phenomenon has become so popular in Europe that Sweden opened the world’s first recycled mall and it’s about to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

1. Offer green, local production of basic goods

One green trend I’m keeping a close eye on is helping people transition from seeking happiness in owning lots of stuff to pursuing joy through intangible experiences like staycations and community projects. These increase satisfaction in being where you are, the truth is that we all need some basic belongings like clean water, food, clothing, shelter, warmth, and a few simple household goods.

If you’re launching a new venture or looking to transition an existing one, consider how you can emphasize local production of necessities. Squamish Nation-owned Raven and Hummingbird Tea Co. reduce the need for imported drinks by locally growing traditional herbs in their community garden. Customers looking for nearby drinking vessels could go to TAV Ceramics of Vancouver which sources their clay locally and uses lead-free glazes. Another nearby outfit, Just Potters, highlights how diversity, equity, and inclusion are meant to be part of the energy transition; they’re embracing their community by employing neighbors with both physical and mental health challenges.

Look around your home, office, and town and see if you can identify daily-use items that are currently being imported and shipped long distance to your neighbors. Could you produce these items locally? Are there parts of your existing supply chain that you could switch to more local sources? Business ideas, persuasive USPs, meaningful content marketing, and a better future could exist if you have the right vision.

Why I secretly want Canada to lead in healing Climate Change

Canada is so beautiful! Some powers-that-be may see you as the world’s oil can, but Canada is so much more worthy, inspiring, and awe-inspiring than that.

I was personally thrilled when Moz evolved beyond Seattle to include a branch in Vancouver and expanded our Moz Local offering to help Canadian businesses get listed on the major local business directories and platforms. As a California girl, I’ve always been a secret Canada fan. I grew up with a really special feeling for Canadian children’s television like Degrassi Junior High, and wanted to live on PEI with Anne of Green Gables. Your country gave us Rush, one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Your figure skaters and hockey players are global legends, your gardens are gorgeous, and your natural spaces are beyond monumental. You understand my fierce love of both maple syrup and beavers. You spell better. And you might just have the prettiest flag in the world.

Yes, I’ve always felt close to Canada, and in recent years, that kinship has been more deeply forged by the losses we are both suffering in California and Canada due to the wildfires of Climate Change. We know first-hand now what it means to see loved spaces turned to ash, making the transition off fossil fuels immediate and urgent to us both. While penning this column, I haven’t been able to go outside for five days due to air quality alerts from heavy wildfire smoke. Climate Change is, indeed, impacting every aspect of business and life throughout North America.

But, together, by making sustainable local goods and services easier for everyone to find and choose online, we can reduce fuel consumption and, perhaps, bring new meaning to the symbology of both our homelands’ flags. You have a maple leaf, and I have a bear. Let’s do business like people who know we not only depend on nature but are part of it. Wishing you a strong and sustainable Small Business Month in 2023!

Celebrating Canada’s Small Business Month With Sustainable Local Biz Tips

Happy Small Business Month to the 1.19 million small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Canada! You employ 10.7 million Canadians (88.1% of the private labor force) and contribute to 50.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Your numbers, percentages, and contributions outweigh those of large businesses in many ways, meaning that Canadian SMEs have awesome collective power to be part of the transition to sustainability which we all know we need in order to protect the beautiful earth on which we depend for life.

Localized green production is considered one of the top methods of healing the climate, but in order for customers to discover and choose your sustainable business, you’ve got to have a strong presence in Google’s local results. Today, let’s talk to 3 of my favorite Canadian local SEOs — Darren Shaw, Colan Nielsen, and John Vuong — for expert tips on becoming highly visible in Google’s local pack rankings.

And, if you’re working to green your business or planning to start a new one, we’ll highlight a few sustainable models for your inspiration. The transition off fossil fuels is a narrative of gains, not losses, and as a local business owner, you have the opportunity to play a starring role in this dramatic evolution towards a better future for all of us.

3 expert Canadian local pack ranking tips

I asked my honored colleagues to the north what the top factor they see currently impacting Google’s local pack rankings (shown above) in Canada. You’ll find a diversity of answers, because all local SEOs notice different things as they work with different industries and geographies, making all advice worth listening to. Here are their tips for you:

1. Keywords in Google Business title

Darren Shaw, the CEO of Whitespark, says:

"The top factor I'm seeing driving local rankings in Canada is the same as the top factor I see in any country. Unfortunately, it's keywords in the Google Business Profile business name. Google gives too much ranking weight to this factor, and it's helping businesses spam their way to the top of the search results. It's technically against Google's guidelines to use a business name that is not your business' actual real-world name, but the sad reality is that Google does not police or penalize this, so spamming the business name with additional keywords has become a common practice."

When Darren refers to spamming Google Business Profile names with keywords, he’s talking about this practice:

Google’s guidelines make it clear that the only thing that belongs in this field is your real-world business name. No one in Canada knows local rankings better than Darren, who is the annual publisher of the Local Search Ranking Factors Survey and Report, and he and I both expressed our disbelief that Google is still allowing keyword-stuffed business names to have such influence on visibility.

What is an honest local business owner to do in this scenario? Join in the spam? Report it? I’ve created this graphic to explain the several paths open to you:

This graphic doesn’t represent every possible bend in the road, but it covers the big ones. In sum, if you’re being outranked by a spamming competitor, you could decide to join in the spam. But that could make you lose potential customers who think your name looks untrustworthy, and Google might eventually edit your business name, which could lead to a loss of rankings once your extraneous keywords are removed. If you’re investing in spam instead of other more solid marketing tactics, you’re always on the verge of losing out.

Meanwhile, you do have the option to report spammy competitors to Google by flagging the name right on the listing or via the Business Redressal Complaint form, but even if Google acts on this and edits the keyword-stuffed name, the spammer is all too likely to come back. Spam fighting is a good competitive tactic, but can’t form the whole of your marketing strategy.

If you choose not to spam, you will look authentic to the customers who do see your listing, and you just have to be philosophical about the fact that spammers may outrank you in Google’s system. If your competitors’ business practices are as iffy as their names, you know their disgruntled customers will likely end up coming to you one day, anyway, for better service, and we can all hope that Google may one day utterly downgrade this ranking signal.

Finally, if you’re preparing to launch a brand new business, you could choose to brand it with one or two top keywords in mind, knowing that this could give you a boost in Google’s local packs. However, there are two big conditions to this route. Firstly, don’t go overboard. Don’t name your business Best Organic Farm-to-Table Restaurant With Sustainable Practices And Righteous Poutine in Toronto. This is just going to look silly to anyone who is evaluating whether to become your customer. Stick to just one or two keywords at most, and remember that your business name must be consistent on your real-world signage, website, and how you answer the phone.

The second condition is that brand names that are too specific can sometimes require later rebranding if the business expands. For example, if you name your first restaurant location Toronto Farm to Table and you become successful enough to open a second location in Mississauga, your original branding is going to become a problem in your new setting. If you plan to grow, be wary of city names or other geo-modifiers in your branding that could hold you back in the future.

2. Primary category selection

VP of Sterling Sky, Colan Nielsen, agrees with Darren about keywords in the business name, but don’t miss his second tip because it’s a major one:

“The local algorithms in Canada tend to be driven by most, if not all, the same factors that drive rankings in the USA. Here are a few things that we have seen have a significant impact on rankings recently:

Keywords in the business name. Yes, yes, I know… everyone is tired of hearing about keywords in the name. But even here in the great white north, it has a significant impact.

Getting the primary GBP category right. We recently advised a Family Law practice to change the primary GBP category from "Law Firm" to "Family law attorney," and it improved their rankings significantly.”

If you download the free Chrome extension, GMB Everywhere, you’ll be able to make the most of Colan’s tip about getting your primary category right by looking at it in comparison to your competitors’ Google Business Profile listings. The primary category (in this case, garden center) is marked with a star in this useful interface:

It’s almost impossible to rank for your most important local search phrases without selecting the right primary category, so a shop like this garden center in Edmonton has to be sure that the first category they choose when creating their Google Business Profile is of prime importance to the business. They can then add up to 9 additional categories for aspects of secondary importance, and one key way of determining what your primary category should be is by seeing what your top-ranked competitors have chosen. In this example, the top result for this search has, indeed, chosen “garden center” as their primary category:

For more tips on this key area of local listing optimization, read: How to Choose Google My Business Categories with Cool Tools

3. Searcher-to-business proximity

CEO John Vuong of Local SEO Search Inc. says,

“Physical proximity is the top ranking factor for the local pack right now. Google wants to provide users with the most relevant search results possible, and this includes showing them businesses that are closest to them. Make sure that you are optimizing your site for local search to rank best in your local area and try to get solid reviews with local justification trigger terms in them on Google (e.g. close by, near me, neighborhood/city, highly rated, etc.).”

John is referring to two things. The first is the phenomenon of knowing you are likely to rank best in the local packs for searchers nearest you, like this:

This can not only help you determine the ideal spot for your company to be physically located so that it’s closest to your intended audience, but this nearby geography should also feature highly in how you optimize your local business website. City names and neighborhood names matter.

Secondly, John is describing the eye-catching local pack elements known as local justifications, which look like this:

Read: Local Justifications are a Big Deal and You Can Influence Them to get a speedy education on this neat feature that can influence clicks on your listings, and don’t miss this quiet but fascinating recent tip from Colan on how to get Google to show the “provides” justification on your listing.

3 Deeply sustainable Canadian small business models

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to be part of the sustainable transition by founding a Canadian SME? Consider these models:

1. Feeding local people local food

“Farming. It had everything we were looking for; it was a real and concrete way to work at creating change.” — Liz Beasley and Matt Rock

Small organic growers like Joyfully Organic Farm in Markham, Ontario, aren’t merely producing vegetables without synthetic chemicals; they are focusing on regenerative agriculture, which improves land over time while also greatly reducing the fossil fuels required to put meals on neighbors’ plates. When managed organically, farm stands, farm shares, CSAs, farmers' markets, and community gardens can abundantly feed us with the fresh, nearby, unprocessed foods medical experts say are best for us. Farmers say you can even keep eating locally in winter in most of Canada with a combination of cold-weather crops and ancient practices like preserving.

1. Launch a local ReStore for local people

"Thrift stores are idealized as the perfect place to find unique and affordable items, with proceeds benefiting local charities. In reality, 75 percent of your donations are being shipped overseas. Conversely, Habitat’s ReStore operates in a highly transparent way to assure you that. your purchase from our ReStore really does have an impact on local families.” — Habitat ReStore, Ontario

Overconsumption, fast fashion, long-distance shipping, and planned obsolescence are the opposites of sustainability. A really good solution to keeping your neighbors clothed and stocked with basic household necessities could be launching a community ReStore. If you are good at mending and repairing a variety of merchandise, your re-store could significantly reduce the number of times people nearest you have to buy new. This phenomenon has become so popular in Europe that Sweden opened the world’s first recycled mall and it’s about to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

1. Offer green, local production of basic goods

One green trend I’m keeping a close eye on is helping people transition from seeking happiness in owning lots of stuff to pursuing joy through intangible experiences like staycations and community projects. These increase satisfaction in being where you are, the truth is that we all need some basic belongings like clean water, food, clothing, shelter, warmth, and a few simple household goods.

If you’re launching a new venture or looking to transition an existing one, consider how you can emphasize local production of necessities. Squamish Nation-owned Raven and Hummingbird Tea Co. reduce the need for imported drinks by locally growing traditional herbs in their community garden. Customers looking for nearby drinking vessels could go to TAV Ceramics of Vancouver which sources their clay locally and uses lead-free glazes. Another nearby outfit, Just Potters, highlights how diversity, equity, and inclusion are meant to be part of the energy transition; they’re embracing their community by employing neighbors with both physical and mental health challenges.

Look around your home, office, and town and see if you can identify daily-use items that are currently being imported and shipped long distance to your neighbors. Could you produce these items locally? Are there parts of your existing supply chain that you could switch to more local sources? Business ideas, persuasive USPs, meaningful content marketing, and a better future could exist if you have the right vision.

Why I secretly want Canada to lead in healing Climate Change

Canada is so beautiful! Some powers-that-be may see you as the world’s oil can, but Canada is so much more worthy, inspiring, and awe-inspiring than that.

I was personally thrilled when Moz evolved beyond Seattle to include a branch in Vancouver and expanded our Moz Local offering to help Canadian businesses get listed on the major local business directories and platforms. As a California girl, I’ve always been a secret Canada fan. I grew up with a really special feeling for Canadian children’s television like Degrassi Junior High, and wanted to live on PEI with Anne of Green Gables. Your country gave us Rush, one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Your figure skaters and hockey players are global legends, your gardens are gorgeous, and your natural spaces are beyond monumental. You understand my fierce love of both maple syrup and beavers. You spell better. And you might just have the prettiest flag in the world.

Yes, I’ve always felt close to Canada, and in recent years, that kinship has been more deeply forged by the losses we are both suffering in California and Canada due to the wildfires of Climate Change. We know first-hand now what it means to see loved spaces turned to ash, making the transition off fossil fuels immediate and urgent to us both. While penning this column, I haven’t been able to go outside for five days due to air quality alerts from heavy wildfire smoke. Climate Change is, indeed, impacting every aspect of business and life throughout North America.

But, together, by making sustainable local goods and services easier for everyone to find and choose online, we can reduce fuel consumption and, perhaps, bring new meaning to the symbology of both our homelands’ flags. You have a maple leaf, and I have a bear. Let’s do business like people who know we not only depend on nature but are part of it. Wishing you a strong and sustainable Small Business Month in 2023!