Client Update - August 2024 - Tribal Core

You might have seen Google's AI Overviews in search results. You might have also read the new where these overviews recommend adding glue to the cheese on your pizza or to eat at least one rock a day.

So yeah, that's a problem (and hilarious).

More concerning for us (and any small business owner) is the effect on business listings. Via Google Labs, we've been watching AI results for over a year, and while progress has been made, AI Overviews are still producing wildly different results than what we've come to expect.

The prudent recommendation here is to focus on what has historically worked: keeping your website fresh, focusing on creating high-quality content, addressing any significant technical issues, and for our clients with a local clientele, ensuring you have Managed Local SEO in place.

We'll continue to invest our time in R&D and work hard to ensure your business is getting in front of your target audience. If you have any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to drop us a line!

~Tyler

We're pleased to have provisioned and invited you in to the new Client Portal!

It has all of the foundational stuff that our current portal has, including files, links, templates and explainers. It'll also have some additional bells and whistles that will allow us to better communicate with and serve you. So we're excited!

The bottom line here is that we're always looking for ways to improve how we do things and how we can best move the needle. We know we need to earn our clients' trust and confidence every day and we appreciate you coming along for the ride!

~Tyler

I touched base with a client yesterday whose dad was in his last days. They had a chance to spend a number of days together.

It was a good reminder of why we all do what we do and what's really important. For most of us, it's some combination of family, friends and doing meaningful work.

Here at Tribal Core, we strive to serve our clients well, knowing your livelihood, abundance and happiness are in the balance. We know we need to earn your trust and confidence every day, and we don't take that lightly. In short, we care, and I sincerely hope that shines through as you interact with us regularly.

If you have any questions at all, or just want to touch base, don't hesitate to get in touch. My schedule is always available here: https://www.tribalcore.com/schedule/

In gratitude for our work together,
~ Tyler

For our clients with a local service area, for whom we are managing Local SEO:

In January 2023, Apple announced the launch of its local listings platform, Apple Business Connect, which is actually a re-launch of the older "Apple Maps Connect" platform launched in October 2014.

Apple Business Connect is a free tool that allows businesses to manage and customize their information across Apple apps, similar to Google Business Profile (GBP), which is primarily used to populate information on Google Search and Maps. Initially, the platform offered a basic listing feature on Apple Maps, but it has since become more feature-rich and useful for businesses.

Depending on the platform a local business is on, there may be integrations that can assist a business like so:

Online reservations
Digital payments
Real-time notifications
Advanced analytics

Additionally, Apple has introduced Apple Showcase Posting, where businesses can add ephemeral promotions and announcements to their Apple Maps listings called Showcases (currently US-only).

We spend 10-15% of our time in R&D, making sure we stay on top of the latest platforms, features and opportunities. Apple Business Connect is yet another example of how quickly things change and how we're there for you to navigate the ever-changing online landscape.

We are significantly upgrading our Local SEO service to include enterprise platform management and Google Business Profiles. We are currently reaching out to our clients that may benefit from Local SEO, or are already using our services, to discuss the upgrade and start rolling out the changes.

In the meantime, check out a couple recent blog posts for context on why Local SEO is so important for businesses with a local service area and how we can be of service.

If you know any small businesses with a local footprint (think doctors, lawyers, restaurants and so on), or businesses that operate multiple locations, put 'em in touch and we'll add you to our referral program. We're offering this with extremely competitive pricing as an essential cost of doing business locally.

You might have seen Google’s new analytics code, GA4, in the news of late. I wrote an article about it here and we've covered it here in our monthly Updates - see the next accordion tab below.

There has been some urgency around implementing this, because Google is going to stop collecting data on the older version, Universal Analytics (UA), on July 1, 2023. This means that in order to have year-over-year data, your site needs to have the new GA4 code installed by July 1 of this year. Every website owner needs to be aware of this.

Because GA4 is in some ways not ready for prime-time, it’s important to us that as we implement this for our clients (gratis!), we have it run concurrently with the older UA code to ensure data continuity. Tricky for us is that Google Analytics code can be implemented in many, many different ways. So one-by-one, we’re auditing, implementing and testing code, learning as we go. It looks a lot like that photo above!

As we successfully implement GA4 on your website, we'll see if initial data is looking as it should. We’ll also connect it up to Google Ads. We’ll then be circling back to further ensure that you’re collecting the data you should be, particularly Conversion Events.

We’re future-proofing your web presence even as the ground constantly shifts. This is yet another benefit for Tribal Core’s clients and a reflection of our gratitude for your business.

If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Here's organic traffic growth from a B2B client of ours:

Our client has seen over 600% growth in organic search traffic over the last year, primarily due to a Content + Authority strategy. We've talked about this before: creating great content, keeping it fresh and building authority via backlinks is incredibly important in growing an organic search presence.

Some key things to think about:

Creating content: we encourage you to blog on a regular basis - once a week if you can! We can help with content procurement, including our Topic Research Roadmaps, Longform Content and additional Blog Posts.
Freshening Content: in your Monthly Report, we maintain a spreadsheet of posts and pages on your website that should be updated and "freshened" on a fairly regular basis, usually every 90-120 days. This might include adding 100+ words, updating content for 2022, adding photos and other ways to add value for your site visitors.
Authority: you benefit from high-quality backlinks. On your own, you might procure backlinks from your broader web presence, including guest posting, trade organization profiles, Chamber of Commerce membership and so on. We can help with backlink procurement via our SEO Campaigns, deployed in a way that maintains your "natural link profile."

If you're on our entry-level OWL Plan, consider our WOLF Plan or contact us regarding an a la carte approach to the Content + Authority strategy outlined above. This is a long-term foundational approach to strengthening your website and growing organic search traffic over time. Get in touch anytime!

By now, you've received your Core Web Vitals report, which outlines performance and next steps for three user experience metrics that Google has incorporated into the algorithm. This is the biggest Google algorithm update we've seen since the mobile-friendly update over six years ago.

Across the web, it appears that 87% of websites are failing one or more of the Core Web Vitals metrics. Anecdotally, we're seeing our clients fall into one of three pretty evenly-sized buckets - modest traffic improvement, modest traffic decline or no change. This tracks quite closely with how well a site is performing in the Core Web Vitals test.

Most recommended Core Web Vitals adjustments will need to be made by a developer. In some cases, you'll just need faster web hosting. We've outlined possible problems and solutions in your report, and we're available for additional questions, anytime. You can schedule time with Tyler here. We're in this with you!

Thank you for the trust and confidence you've placed in us!