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You probably know what a Google Places listing is, but for a visual refresher, here’s an example:
For many (most?) brick and mortar businesses that are geographically focused, Google Places is their number one lead generator. Think restaurants, stores, lawyers, doctors, plumbers, locksmiths, hair salons, hotels day spas, ad infinitum. Google Places listings are golden because they drive quality traffic to your business and because at the price of “FREE”, there’s no financial barrier to entry. Read more
Not that any of us would ever do this, but I think we can all agree it sometimes goes on.
Beware of posting fake positive reviews. Google will ban listings with fake reviews and it’s easier to detect then you might think.
The best approach is to implement a process for garnering real positive reviews from happy clients. It’s imperative due to the Law of Axe-grinding:
A happy customer will tell one other person. A disgruntled customer will tell 10.
Launching a review function on your website is one way to garner reviews that search engines can recognize and index.
Here’s an example: https://www.mtgcapital.com/customer-reviews/
Don’t leave your online reputation management to chance.
Here’s the take away: Don’t just provide good service. This alone won’t protect you. Instead, develop a process for documenting happy customers — and implement it persistently.
This post is an introduction to the big picture of online marketing. It is written for the non-technical reader. Like Dylan said, “You can say it fancy or you can say it plain”, and though I speak fluent geek, I hope you don’t mind that I say it plain. Read more
If you’ve set up a “Facebook Page” for your business or organization, this post is about how to get a free custom URL. Facebook calls these custom URLs usernames.
To demonstrate, the link to our Facebook page is facebook.com/pages/HandPickedTomatoes/230129186836 and our vanity link is facebook.com/HandpickedTomatoes. I think you’ll agree that the latter is much cleaner and does a better job of branding.
Wondering if advertising with the search engines will bring in quality traffic? You’re not alone. In my experience, search engine marketing results vary widely – and the variance typically has a direct correlation to the skill with which the search terms and ad copy are developed, the quality of the destination (website) searchers are taken to when they click an ad, and the timeliness and quality of any follow up call. Read more
The first question many website owners have is How do I get found on the web?. A quality place to start for answers is at Pandia Search.
Pandia was established in late 1998 by Per and Susanne Koch in Oslo, Norway, and their site has continued from that time to provide expert, easy to understand, intelligently written tutorials about all things Search Engine related.
This is just one — though a venerable one — of the gazillion resources you’ll find on the net to help educate you about Search Engine Marketing. Another trusted resource is Google. If you have another personal favorite, let us know.
