SF Digital Studios

You’ve done everything the local SEO blogs told you to do. You’ve filled out every field. You’ve collected reviews. You’ve added photos. You’ve been “doing the work” for a year, maybe two. And your Google Business Profile is still stuck on page 2. Or worse, buried in the “More businesses” carousel where almost nobody clicks. The frustrating truth is that most local SEO advice is at least 5 years old, occasionally wrong, and sometimes actively harmful to your rankings. The Map Pack algorithm has shifted significantly since 2022 and a lot of the standard playbook is now myth rather than fact. This guide walks through the seven local SEO myths we see most often in SME audits. Believing any of them puts you on page 2. Fixing them is usually a 90-day window to climb back to page 1. Myth 1: More Reviews Always Means Better Rankings This is the most common myth in local SEO and the one with the most expensive consequences. Businesses with 200 reviews are confidently certain they should be o...

Every Google Ads account has the same quiet question hanging over it. Should you bid on your own brand name? The answer the platform wants you to hear is yes. Bid on it, bid heavily, never let a competitor steal a click. The answer most agencies will give you is also yes, because brand campaigns are easy to manage and produce flattering reports. The honest answer is that it depends. Sometimes brand bidding is the smartest spend in your account. Sometimes it’s pure profit drainage you’ve been paying for for years without realising. The difference between the two scenarios comes down to one number: incrementality. This guide walks through when brand bidding genuinely earns its keep, when it doesn’t, and the simple test that tells you which side you’re on. What “Brand Bidding” Actually Means Brand bidding is the practice of running paid Google Ads campaigns targeting your own company name and close variations. When someone types your brand name into Google, your paid ad appears at the ...