Scout Local Media

Insights

Notes from running our own local media.

What's working in local search across Western Australia, what we're learning building directories from scratch, and the plays we'd use if we ran your marketing.

AllAI visibilityLocal SEOBuilding directoriesGoogle Business ProfileLead generation
7 articles
A small business owner reading their phone at a workbench, lit by afternoon light through a roller door.
Featured·AI visibility·8 min read

Will an AI Overview name your business?

AI Overviews answer a lot of local research before anyone clicks. Here is how those answers get assembled, and what decides whether you are one of the businesses named in them.

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A tradesperson's van parked on a quiet Perth suburban street outside a small business premises.
Local SEO·9 min

Local SEO in Perth: what it costs, and when it is not worth it

What local SEO actually buys a Perth business, what the going rates are, how long it takes to show up in the bank account, and the situations where we tell people not to do it.

2 Aug 2026
A community noticeboard of small business cards and flyers in a suburban shopfront window.
Building directories·8 min

Are business directories still good for SEO?

The honest answer from people who run two of them. Most directory listings do nothing. A few do a great deal, and the difference is not subtle once you know what to look at.

1 Aug 2026
A tenancy directory board: one large panel above many smaller individual tenant strips.
Local SEO·9 min

Why a directory outranks the businesses inside it, and how to use that

Comparison pages sit above individual service sites for most local queries. Here is why that happens, and why appearing on them is usually faster than trying to outrank them.

1 Aug 2026
A business owner checking their phone on the footpath outside their own suburban shopfront.
Google Business Profile·6 min

The map pack checks nobody in Perth is doing

Eight Google Business Profile settings that quietly decide whether you show up for the suburb next door.

22 July 2026
A quote pad, pen and a phone showing an incoming call on the tailgate of a tradesperson's work ute.
Lead generation·7 min

What a qualified lead actually costs in a fragmented category

Work out what an enquiry is worth to your business before anyone quotes you a per-lead price.

8 July 2026
A row of near-identical small service businesses side by side on a suburban Australian shopping strip.
Building directories·11 min

Choosing a category: the four tests we run before we build

Demand, fragmentation, decision length and enquiry value, and why we walk away from most ideas.

24 June 2026

One email a month. Local search, WA-specific.

What changed in local search, what we tested on our own properties, and what it means if you're trying to get found in your suburb.