E1218: In this Microsoft Clarity tutorial, you'll learn how to find out why your SEO traffic isn't converting into leads, bookings, or sales.

Josh Silverbauer, Head of Analytics at Intrepid Digital and an early contributor to Microsoft Clarity, shares his screen to show how he investigates conversion problems using Microsoft's free website analytics tool.

We walk through heatmaps, session recordings, conversion funnels, and filters you can use to understand what visitors do on your website, including visitors from organic search.

You'll learn:
- How to use Clarity's dashboard, heatmaps, and session recordings.
- How to filter for organic traffic and examine visitors who reached a specific SEO landing page but didn't convert.
- How to build funnels that track steps such as landing page → booking page → form submission.
- How to watch recordings of visitors who reached a particular step but didn't finish the process.
- How to identify rage clicks and distinguish them from dead clicks.
- How click heatmaps reveal which links, buttons, and page sections get the most attention.
- How first-click and last-click data change your understanding of visitor behavior.
- How to use scroll and attention heatmaps to decide which page elements to move higher.
- How to compare new and returning visitors, or desktop and mobile visitors, side by side.
- How to find where people abandon lead-generation forms and e-commerce checkouts.
- How to investigate whether visitors are reading an article, skimming it, or leaving early.
- Creating Smart Events, funnels, and saved segments for repeat analysis.
- Sending custom data through Google Tag Manager to filter users by role or sign-in status.
- Using Clarity alongside Google Analytics 4 to investigate conversion problems.
- Prioritizing page changes by potential impact, audience size, and ease of implementation.

Josh also shares an example of a shopping-cart recommendation that was displayed more prominently than the product the customer had actually selected, creating confusion at checkout.

I share how Clarity showed me that visitors were spending time reading testimonials on my Compact Keywords sales page. I moved those testimonials higher on the page, and that change made a meaningful difference.

The central lesson: Don't make website changes based solely on assumptions. Find where visitors struggle, form a hypothesis, and test the change.

Want Josh to review your website on a future episode?

We're looking at doing a live Clarity analysis of a listener's site, particularly an SEO page that gets traffic but doesn't convert. Leave a comment with the problem you want diagnosed.

⭐️ Josh on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsilverbauer/
⭐️ Josh's website - https://joshsilverbauer.com/
⭐️ Josh's agency (Intrepid Digital) - https://www.gointrepid.com/

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Meet Josh and Clarity
01:36 What Is Microsoft Clarity
03:37 Core Tabs Tour
06:22 Filtering and Funnels
10:39 Finding Friction Fast
17:47 Heatmaps Compare Mode
21:19 Scroll and Attention
25:26 Heatmap Refresh and AI
30:11 Intent and Reading Signals
34:36 Recordings Done Right
41:58 Funnels for Form Dropoff
47:51 Mobile vs Desktop Insights
53:55 Advanced Custom Filters
56:27 Wrap Up and Next Steps

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#microsoftclarity #conversionrateoptimization #searchengineoptimization #seo

E1218: How do you build local backlinks with a $500 monthly budget? What changes when you can spend $5,000?

I cover practical local link-building tactics for both budgets, with examples for local companies.

Learn how to get backlinks from partners, nonprofits, journalists, directories, and trade associations.

LOCAL LINK BUILDING: UNDER $500/MONTH
- Business partnerships: Partner with complementary companies. A plumber and electrician who refer customers to each other can link through partner pages, articles, or case studies.
- Donate services: Offer free work to local nonprofits, schools, or charities and request a backlink acknowledging your contribution.
- Community projects: A landscaping company can clean up a park, document before-and-after results, and invite residents and local press.
- Sponsorships: Sponsor a youth sports team, nonprofit, or local event. Ask for a linked logo or listing on the organization's website.
- Pitch journalists: Offer useful advice tied to current events. A roofer can explain storm preparation; a locksmith can share home security tips following local burglaries.
- Unlinked mentions: Contact organizations you've previously helped and ask them to link existing mentions of your business.
- Directories: Find relevant local directories and trade associations. Use Claude deep research to organize opportunities by price.
- Social profiles: Set up accounts and publish a few posts to establish an active online presence.

LOCAL LINK BUILDING: UNDER $5,000/MONTH
- More sponsorships: Sponsor five to eight local nonprofits, youth sports teams, charities, or community events.
- Higher-value donations: A South Florida roofer donated a free roof through Habitat for Humanity. The charity linked to his business, local news covered the story, and his Facebook post was shared over 200 times.
- Chambers of commerce: Join organizations with member directories and opportunities to contribute articles or participate in events.
- Trade associations: Consider more expensive memberships with relevant business listings and backlink opportunities.
- Video production: Hire an editor through YTJobs.co to turn footage from jobs into daily videos targeting keywords your website already targets.
- Journalist relationships: Share local journalists' work, credit them, and build familiarity before pitching your own stories.

MORE SEO LESSONS IN THIS EPISODE
- Why links from pages that rank in Google and receive clicks are especially valuable.
- Why even nofollow backlinks can pass authority.
- How sponsorships can build trust, referrals, and brand recognition.
- Why you can build links gradually instead of pursuing every tactic at once.
- Why bottom-of-funnel local keywords may be less competitive than you think.
- How to use your target keyword in the page title, URL, H1, and opening sentence.

⭐️ Ep 1109 - How Local Businesses Build Powerful Backlinks Through Community Sponsorships - https://youtu.be/RBuVt8mqD7U
⭐️ Ep 1155 - He Donated a Free Roof and Got Links You Can't Buy - https://youtu.be/0aZi6sdOD-M
⭐️ Ep 936 - How to Build Local Backlinks That Actually Increase Local Rankings - https://youtu.be/Z0Iq0yG2sIk

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Budget Link Building Plan
00:07 Partner With Businesses
00:44 Nonprofit Service Donations
01:15 Foundational Social Profiles
01:27 Small Local Sponsorships
02:21 Pitch Local Journalists
02:45 Turn Mentions Into Links
03:22 Directories And Associations
03:53 Stay Consistent Weekly
04:11 Scaling Under Five Thousand
04:20 Bigger Sponsorship Portfolio
04:44 Viral Donation Case Study
05:32 Chamber And Trade Groups
05:54 Content To Win Journalists
07:15 What Makes Links Valuable
07:45 Ranking With Few Links
08:25 More Resources And Wrap Up

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#localseo #searchengineoptimization #linkbuilding #seo