Here is today’s roundup of news related to local marketing and advertising, local media, technology, local commerce, consumer behavior and more.

Google Has an SEO Strategy Too – Here It Is (March 4, 2019)
LSA Insider: “Even Google and its various websites are subject to the same search algorithm the rest of our websites are. With over 7,000 websites globally, the company is regularly making changes to these sites, impacting how they rank for relevant searches. So what’s Google’s SEO strategy?”

Can Tesla Sell Cars without Physical Showrooms? (March 4, 2019)
LSA Insider: “Tesla announced that it was closing its showrooms/stores to realize cost savings to support the new lower-priced Model 3. As a consequence, it’s going to sell cars online — exclusively.”

Using Online Reviews to Permanently Boost Client Conversion Rates (March 4, 2019)
LSA Insider: “Do you know how to permanently boost your client’s conversion rates with reviews? This seems like a spammy claim to make. The kind of claim that fly-by-night operators and snake-oil salesmen are prone to make. Is it possible to achieve a permanent boost? Not only is it possible, it’s both a reasonable and achievable goal — if you approach this with a keen awareness of what’s involved.”

Gib Olander joins Vendasta as EVP of Product (March 4, 2019)
Vendasta: “Olander has more than two decades of experience in the local digital marketing ecosystem, specializing in SaaS and data solutions. He most recently led product strategy at Infutor, and also lead product development and strategy for SIM Partners (Reputation,com) Local Viewpoints (PowerReviews), Localeze (Neustar), iCrossing, Advo, and Citysearch.”

Takeaways from LSA19 (March 4, 2019)
Ward PLLC: “This year’s conference featured a variety of speakers, but we found that two topics dominated the conversation (and not just because we talked about them incessantly).  First, businesses want to understand how to communicate their brand message despite the overwhelming amount of white noise in the market.”