Watch my kid throw a box at my head

I swear there's a local SEO benefit to that

Hi!

Here’s your weekly dose of local search 👇️

1. Did you catch the AMA I did about the new Local Ranking Factors?

I did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) last Monday where I answered all your burning questions about the 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors (and boy, did you have good questions!).

The thread will stay open indefinitely, so you can still jump in and ask your questions anytime, or bookmark it for future reference.

And while you’re there, join the Whitespark subreddit — I post local SEO tips on there every day.

Join our subreddit here.

2. My first Search Engine Land article

My first SEL piece (long overdue, I know) describes 7 benefits of getting keywords in reviews and contains 3 templates that will help you get those keywords. Check it out 👇️

3. Watch my kid throw a box at my head

My kid helped me film this as part of my new YouTube video that’s coming out tomorrow. Can you guess what it will be about?

@darrenshawseo

This feature hits different (literally) 📦 My kid had too much fun throwing boxes at my head for this short. There’s a whole behind-the-sce... See more

4. Catch up on the pod

Last week’s episode was only 12 minutes and packed with valuable takeaways. I covered the key insights from the 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors, and Claire talked about some fantastic SEO and digital marketing content you don’t want to miss.

In this episode:

  • The 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors

  • The Agentic Capabilities in AI Mode (Rose Yao)

  • Free YouTube Digital Marketing Course (Exposure Ninja)

  • Big visibility update to Google Posts for multi-location brands (Claudia Tomina)

Watch last week’s episode here 👇️

🎧 Or if you prefer listening, you can find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Darren

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