Darren Shaw

Whitespark

Whitespark builds online tools and provides services that help businesses and agencies with local SEO. We're known for our Local Citation Finder, Local Rank Tracker, Citation Building & Audit Services, and Local SEO Consulting. Our team often collaborates with other industry leaders and frequently presents at top SEO & Marketing conferences in North America.

Founder

University of Alberta

Networking and system administration and operation, development and management of the relational databases, GIS database development, web site development and maintenance.

Research Computing Coordinator

Hi, I'm Darren! 👋

I've been doing web development and SEO for 27 years (yes, before Google existed)

A bit about me 👇
🔹 Founder of Whitespark: local SEO software and services.
🔹 Local SEO educator with 36,000+ newsletter subscribers, 8,000+ YouTube subscribers, and 2,000+ email course sign-ups
🔹 In charge of the annual Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, one of the most cited resources in local SEO
🔹 Speaker at local search conferences around the globe and contributor to SEO publications

Did you know that the Google API leak says that service areas are NOT used in the ranking algorithm? If you want to expand your ranking radius for real, today’s podcast episode contains some actionable tips:

- build entity strength
- get reviews that mention the locations you want to rank in
- earn unstructured citations (local blogs, sponsorships, etc.)
- write localized website content
- lean into your niche in your website and GBP content (you may not rank for “restaurant” all over your city, but you CAN rank for “cubano sandwiches”)

We discuss these ideas from Miriam Ellis’s new Search Engine Land article, plus:

- Ben Franklin Effect applied to review requests (Sam Knight)
- API Leak reveals that Service Areas are NOT a ranking factor (Claudia Tomina)
- Google Local Pack links to places tab with pagination bug (Barry Schwartz)
- GBP adds scheduling and multi-location publishing to Google Posts (Barry Schwartz)

The full episode is now up on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

And if you like the podcast, please leave us a review and ask IZIPIZI to sponsor us 🙏 (jump to 17:01 for context)

Founder of Whitespark. I share local SEO tips and strategy. Lead researcher behind the annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey. Get everything you need for better local SEO at whitespark.ca

Here’s what you should do now that Google has anonymous reviews…

1. Change how you ask for reviews:

If your business is in an industry where people may be sensitive to leaving a review under their real name (e.g. legal or medical services, psychiatry, counceling, finance), your review collection process just got easier!

When asking for a review, tell customers how they can use a pseudonym when writing it.

2. Monitor and back up your reviews:

Now that Google users can add, remove, and change their custom display name whenever they choose, it is more important than ever export your review history regularly in case Google decides to delete your legitimate reviews.

3. Read Allie Margeson’s new article to fully understand what this anonymity means for both businesses and customers.

Find it on whitespark . ca / blog

25+ years of business optimization experience.

I help businesses stop guessing and start growing by aligning their customer story with their success story.

For over 20 years, I’ve worked with companies from scrappy startups to Fortune 500 giants to turn data into decisions and browsers into buyers. As co-founder of BuyerLegends, my mission is simple: make marketing human again, using storytelling, analytics, and customer-focused design.

I’m a bestselling author of Call to Action, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?, and Be Like Amazon, books that topped The New York Times and Wall Street Journal lists. These books didn’t just sound smart, they helped businesses get smarter about how to engage, convert, and retain customers. My next title coming in the summer of 2025 is “I Think I Swallowed an Elephant: The Stories We Sell, The Success We Build.”

Named an IBM Futurist and one of eConsultancy’s Top 10 UX Gurus, I’ve delivered keynotes at Shop.org, DreamForce, and dozens of global stages. My goal has always been the same: turn complex ideas into simple, actionable strategies that drive real growth.

Beyond the boardroom, I’m co-owner of A Place At Home, North Austin, where we help seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities live with dignity and care. I also co-chair the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and host the Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders podcast, where local stories fuel local success.

Your business has a story. Let’s make sure it’s one your customers want to be part of.

Bryan Eisenberg

Just got my hands on AI-POWERED CONTENT MARKETING AND SEO by my brilliant friend Catherine Seda. I can’t wait to dig in.

We’re at a pivotal moment. Every brand today needs to rethink how content is created, optimized, and delivered in an AI-driven world. This book doesn’t just ride the wave of AI hype. It breaks it down with strategic clarity, insight, and integrity. I keep seeing some shocking disconnects between what the brand thinks of themselves and what AI thinks of them. 

Catherine explores what matters most: not just how AI changes marketing, but how we must adapt our thinking, our systems, and our standards.

If you’re navigating the future of brand, content, and visibility, this is a must-read.

Grab your copy here:

Persuasion Architect | 25+ Years Helping Brands with the Stories They Sell (Google, Disney, GE, Chase, HP) | Keynote Speaker, Customer Experience and Transformation. NY Times Bestselling author

Open article: AI-Powered Content Marketing and SEO by a.co

It’s hard to believe the amazing conversations I have been blessed to have this past year since launching Rock Solid Round Rock with Brent Pierce and Bill Combes.  

We are officially celebrating a years worth of episodes that have been released. We still have many more that will be published in the months ahead as we continue meeting with leaders in the Central Texas community.

Rock Solid was born out of a Round Rock Chamber event, in one of the fastest-growing communities in America. Williamson County’s total appraised value nearly doubled from $89.1 billion to $184.4 billion in six years, and 12,558 new small businesses opened during that same period, even before the full economic impact of Samsung’s massive expansion is reflected.

This surge of growth, entrepreneurship, and investment has made Round Rock a proving ground for the future of Central Texas and the country. The podcast exists to capture the stories behind that momentum; giving founders, civic leaders, and innovators a platform to share how they’re shaping a region that’s expanding faster than almost anywhere else in the country. If you are curious what makes a vibrant community thrive, then tune in to our episodes.

https://lnkd.in/gmkc7Fmq

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“You would not believe the motherload I just dropped.”

That line. From a woman in pearls, sitting on a toilet in a cocktail dress. It didn’t just launch a product. It launched a movement. It did something AI can’t.

It made your brain connect the dots. No graphic. No gross-out. Just tension between elegance and excrement. And your mind had to resolve it.

That wasn’t just a funny line. It was persuasion at the level of instinct. Our brains crave closure. They fill in missing pieces. That’s why the best stories are the ones we help complete. The ones that make us feel smart. Seen. In on the joke.

Poopouri didn’t win by listing ingredients or scientific breakthroughs. They invited us into a moment. A taboo one. They let us finish the punchline.
We laughed. We shared. We remembered. The result? A bathroom product became a brand people talked about at dinner. That’s not luck. That’s layered, emotional storytelling built to spread.

It works because it feels human. And that’s something AI can’t replicate.

Real persuasion happens in the space between what is said and what is implied. Between the brain’s need to know and the joy of figuring it out. So, are you giving your audience a story they want to finish?

Because the biggest “motherload” in marketing isn’t over when the ad ends.
The story leaves just enough scent behind to let the brain do the dirty work.

taplio

The Battle

Darren Shaw

Bryan Eisenberg

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taplio

The Battle

Darren Shaw

Bryan Eisenberg

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Darren Shaw's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreBryan Eisenberg's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDarren Shaw's LinkedIn Performance