Small Businesses, Stop Worrying About Your Google Ranking Trying to beat the web search giant's mysterious algorithm is a massive time-sink for any small business. July 30, 2012 Everyone knows that a high rank on Google for your small business can mean loads of potential customers. But achieving those rankings can be difficult, and the rankings can change in the blink of an eye. So how much, if at all, should you worry about search engine rankings for your company? Web Access Has Changed It used to be that using Google meant heading to your computer and doing a search from within a browser. Results are tailored geographically, making them more localizedResults are listed differently, giving you one-click features to call businesses and get directions Also, Google has "personalized" search, which takes into account whom your friends are and tailors search results based on your social profile. How Google Has Changed It used to be relatively simple to appear high in Google results, as the ranking algorithm was much simpler. How Google Hasn't Changed
Search Engine Marketing - How to Optimize for Local Search With Post-Venice Citation-Building Strategies The importance of local search has been growing steadily for some time now. Google pointed out in 2010 that location-related searches make up over 20% of all desktop searches, and that number was closer to 40% for mobile users. And with the much-talked-about recent release of Google's Venice update, which sought to improve local search results, those figures have surely increased. All of which means one thing: If you don't have a strategy for local search optimization, you're doing it wrong. The Breakdown Based on David Mihm's most recent survey of local search ranking factors, the following are the Top 5 factors that impact local search results: Physical address of the business Manually owner-verified Google Place page Proper category assignments on the Place page Volume of traditional structured citations Crawlable address matching Place page address Notice that nowhere in the Top 5 do "inbound links" or "website homepage authority" appear (though they are No. 6 and No. 7, respectively).
Local Search Optimization | Six Viral Local Marketing Ideas | Powered by Local Market Launch Why Mobile Integration Must Be On Your Marketing Roadmap The world is increasingly moving toward the mobile Web--and you should be, too. July 30, 2012 These days, just about every demographic is using a mobile device to access the Web. Take out your phone and look up your company website. If your website is built on a content management system, like WordPress, you can make use of plugins, such as WPTouch, which renders your site on a mobile theme. Many local sites can also benefit by creating a custom, mobile-only version of their site using tools like the mobile builder from Network Solutions. Having a mobile-friendly site is not the only step you can take to integrate mobility into your business. Mobile Visits As of May 2011, the number of mobile visits to business sites and social media accounted for 20 percent of all Web traffic. Mobile Shopping As people become more dependent on their smart phones, mobile shopping is surging in popularity for a number of consumers. Mobile Search Mobile Messaging Photo credit: Thinkstock
50 Ways To Optimize Your Blog I wrote an article earlier this year on “30 Tips To Make Your Companies Blog Rock” and I had quite a few comments by readers and some added more tips on other keys to making a blog successful. So I have taken their suggestions, added them to the list and provided some more that I have discovered recently. Blogging is a journey and as technology develops there will be more ways to optimize your blog. You will also find other keys to keep the blog pumping and energised as you mix with other bloggers both online and offline and hear their stories and hints. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Gini Dietrich from Spinsucks.com contributed to the list with the following eleven additional tips 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.Comment on other blogs and news articles to show your thinking/expertise, but also link people back to your blog 39. 40. 41. Courtney Wiley of iNgage Networks also made this suggestion 42. 44. 45. 46.
Google Places API Adds Search, Google Review and More Google has updated the Google Places API to bring a number of interesting additions that will provide developers with the tools to add more local information and context to their apps and creations. Most notably, the Web giant has now added support for Google Reviews, which can now be shown at the foot of maps and text search, which allows users to find specific details within maps (as below), as is possible with Google Maps already. The Google Geo Developers blog post provides more details on these two new features: Google ReviewsBy far the most popular request from developers since the day we launched has been access to the Google Reviews offered on Google+ Local. We’re therefore delighted to announce that the top 5 Google Reviews for a Place are now included in the response to a Place Details request. Further information can be added with support for opening hours — which shows a retail outlet’s opening hours that week (were supported) within the information windows in the map.
If You're Ignoring Social Media, You're Losing Money, Customers, Business This is a bit old, but it’s too good not to share. And it’s also going straight into my social media presentation for future GetListed.org Local University workshops because it sums up one of the main points in my presentation. I’m talking about this study from Conversocial about consumer expectations when engaging with companies on social networks. The main point I want to share: 88.3% of respondents said they’d be either somewhat less likely or far less likely to buy from a company that ignores complaints on Facebook. That’s from a survey of more than 500 social network users with an average age of 38. Now, I’m not exactly thrilled with the way that question is worded. But we can safely say that the combination of doing things in such a way that you get a lot of complaints via social networks, combined with not responding to those complaints, is really bad for business. I’ve written about this topic indirectly before. Don’t ignore customers on social networks.
30 Free Ways To Market Your Small Business Site Are you looking for ways to market your small business website with a limited budget? Whether it’s with established sites such as Google and Facebook, or newer outlets like Pinterest, there are plenty of options available to promote your site. There are at least 30 ways to market your website with a time investment and no credit card required. Here are 30 things you can do today to get started marketing your website for free. Press releases still work. There you have it – 30 ways to market your website. Twitter Canada MD Kirstine Stewart to Keynote TorontoClickZ Live Toronto (May 14-16) is a new event addressing the rapidly changing landscape that digital marketers face.
Google Places iOS App Becomes Google+ Local The rebranding of Google Places continues. Google has released iOS version 1.4 of what was called the Google Places app, but is now known as Google+ Local. The Android version of the Google Places app was also updated this week. The new iOS app isn’t just a name change, though. Just like the web version of Google+ Local, the iOS app now includes Zagat business information — the rating score, reviews and an overall summary (when available) of the business. The new app also supports voice search, and Google says it’s improved the way users can search for businesses outside their immediate location. The Google+ Local app is available now in the iTunes App Store. Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile
How To Target by Zip Code in Google AdWords | Location Targeting by Zip Code Google AdWords is a powerful platform for reaching targeted users on the web. Google has done an incredible job with building a robust system for launching targeted ads on both the Search Network and the Display Network. This enables you to reach prospective customers while they are searching on Google.com, or when they are visiting websites across the web. Functionality-wise, Google keeps adding new features and options to its platform, which enables advertisers to precisely target the people they want to reach. Zip Code Targeting in AdWordsWell, now there’s another level of location targeting you can add to your campaigns, which was released yesterday. Similar to other location targeting methods, you will access zip code targeting via the Settings Tab within your campaign. Here’s how to add zip code targeting to your campaigns: 1. 2. 3. 4. You’re done! And by the way, I’m already using it. :)
Hyper Local Keywords and PPC Ads Writing by Nick Stamoulis in Internet Marketing I was recently doing keyword research for a new SEO client when I came across about 15 pages buried fairly deep in their navigation (so deep that I almost missed them!) that were obviously created to target hyper local keywords. For instance, it would be like if the Brick Marketing website had a bunch of pages that individually targeted “Boston SEO,” “Cambridge SEO,” “Woburn SEO,” “Watertown SEO,” “Brookline SEO,” and so forth. Each page was clearly written and designed to help my client’s site rank well for hyper local keywords in various cities in the state they operate out of. While I understand what they were trying to do, practices like this can actually hurt your SEO more than help. The biggest problem my client has is that these city specific pages are all essentially the same piece of content; the city name has just been changed as needed. Like what you've read?