Jason Morgan, Owner of iLocal, a Washington-based web design and local SEO agency, in 2009 after more than a decade selling Yellow Pages advertising. On this episode of E-Coffee with Experts, he explains how that print background still shapes the way he gets plumbers, roofers, auto shops and other local businesses found on Google.
Jason walks through the habits he picked up studying phone books: comparing what the top ads had in common, watching cost per call, and spreading a business across many cities, categories and channels. He explains why he targets smaller towns that bigger competitors ignore, how he once ranked one auto repair client for every listing on the page, and why he doesn’t react to every Google algorithm update.
He also gives a blunt take on AI and local search. He still sees Google search and Maps as the main way customers find local businesses, and tells the story of an owner who rebuilt a $200,000 website with AI for $1,500 and stopped showing up. Jason also covers scaling iLocal with remote teams in Latin America and the numbers owners should track to know their marketing works.
If you run a local service business or handle local SEO for clients, watch the full episode for practical lessons from someone who saw local advertising move from print to Google.
Takeaways:
- Towns of 6,000 to 30,000 people are easier to rank in.
- Study top competitors and list what their ads have in common.
- Don't chase every Google update. Adjust when it actually affects you.
- For local businesses, Google search and Maps still lead discovery.
- Successful local businesses show up in many marketing channels at once.
- Social media rarely works as a local business's main lead source.
- A cheap AI-built website rebuild can erase years of rankings.
- Ask your provider for traffic, phone calls and keyword rankings.
- Owners make money running the business, so hire out the marketing.
- Hiring in your own time zone ended iLocal's three-shift workdays.