Search engine optimization is everchanging. It is tough to catch up with technology. Once you think you understand everything there is to know about a topic, something new is created/discovered. If you are in the web design/web development/digital marketing space – you better love to learn.

Local SEO tends to be one of those technical areas that changes weekly – if not daily. There are always talks of search engine algorithm tweaks from Google, Bing, and other players in the SEO game. Some minor changes can make huge impacts on your business. Just a few weeks ago, creating a short name on your Google My Business profile caused a bug to get your account suspended. Little changes like this could have you pulling your hair out if you didn’t keep up on the latest news.

Although I subscribe to several email newsletters, I get my news from podcasts. I even subscribe to several SEO podcasts, but I get my weekly news from Last Week in Local.

The Premise of Last Week in Local SEO

Last Week in Local is a quick, efficient look at the news in Local SEO for the week. I discovered this podcast earlier this year and it’s a great resource for staying up-to-date with the latest news without having to dig through a bunch of articles myself.

Last Week in Local appears to be part of a larger network called Local U.

Listen along as Mary Bowling and Mike Blumenthal discuss the latest in Local Search and Local Search Optimization on their Last Week in Local Podcast or as they dig deeper into specific topics with the Deep Dive podcast.

Local U Website

The hosts go back and forth with topics, weigh in with their opinions, and give insights on how this can affect local businesses and/or websites.

Why Did I Pick a Podcast about Local SEO?

When I first got into the SEO space, I thought everything was the same. Most of my training came from Lynda.com and a few books. The general courses I watched talked about SEO in a technical sense and less about intent. I learned about tools like Moz and SEMrush and keywords tracking. It wasn’t until a year later that I learned how I needed to focus on Local SEO for most of my clients.

My local clients want to show up when someone in the region is searching for their keywords. It is unrealistic that someone in Wheeling, West Virginia will rank for “personal injury attorney” in San Francisco. I was using HubSpot’s keyword tracking tool and their training never once indicated that you needed to track locally (not that it was a very good tool for doing that – either).

After watching several additional courses online and finding very helpful podcasts, I realized Local SEO is a totally different beast. A beast I should focus a lot of my time on.

The Podcast: Last Week in Local SEO

I would suggest a subscription to this podcast and I am not recommending a single episode. Some of the topics are complex. Other topics are easily implemented by non-SEO’s. After a few weeks of listening, you should have a good grasp on what’s going on in Local SEO for that week.