Archive for Local Business
Components of a Google Local Search Results Page
Posted by: | CommentsA local search results page typically has 3 parts. This video describes those 3 areas.
What is Local Search and Why Do You Need It?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have a service or retail brick and mortar business, local search marketing should be at the top of your “to do” list. More and more people are performing local searches to find goods and services in their locations.
Say you live in Amarillo and just strained your back. You could go to drawer where the Yellow Pages are kept, open them, find the C’s, then flip through the pages of chiropractor listings. Or you could go to Google and find a lot more info about local chiropractors in about 2 seconds.
Not only can you instantly see pictures, videos, maps, service details, and even printable coupons, you also get to read reviews written by the chiropractors’ patients!
Check it out for yourself. For example, if you are a photographer in Tulsa, go to Google and search for “Tulsa photographer”. Instantly you will see the local search results for photographers in Tulsa. Now do a search for your own service or retail category in your city.
Best of all, most of local search advertising is free to the businesses! The listings there by the Google map and all the regular web site listings below the map are all free; the businesses do not pay a dime for that advertising! Isn’t free advertising great!
There are some paid ads on that search results page. Those are on the right side of the page and sometimes at the top. Those paid ads have the small text “Sponsored Links” near them. Sure, you can buy those ads too for your business, but first take advantage of all the free advertising available on that same page.
It is incredibly easy for most business in most cities to get great exposure via local search. Once a business understands how to create business listings (those listed by the map) and web pages that Google will rank well, a brand new pool of potential customers (those who never open the Yellow Pages or newspaper) will be tapped.
Yellow Pages: Extinct In 5 Years
Posted by: | CommentsThe Internet is destroying old style advertising. Newspapers are going belly up right and left. Yellow Page usage is declining every year.
Here is my prediction: In 3 years all the third party Yellow Page companies will be gone and the phone companies will only give out phone books upon request. In 5 years we will begin seeing phone companies abandon phone books altogether. They will provide an online data base for phone numbers instead of the hard copy white pages. They will sell ads within those online white pages and maybe offer their own version of online Yellow Pages.
Until then, Google will keep doing what they do and attracting more and more local searches. A Google search for “Atlanta bakery” provides far better and more detailed information than the Yellow Pages ever could. Plus, that search in Google only takes about 2 seconds. You can’t even reach for the Yellow Pages in that length of time.
I have not used the Yellow Pages in over a year. Honestly, I’m not even sure which drawer my wife has put them in. But who cares? I have Google.
Do you still use the Yellow Pages a lot? If so, I worry that you may think that is normal practice and everyone does it. Everyone does not!! If you base your marketing on the fact that YOU still use the Yellow Pages, you are leaving piles of money on the table. You are missing out on the enormous opportunities local search provides.
The majority of consumers today EXPECT your business to have an online presence.
Here’s a fact from the Pew Internet Project:
50% of American consumers are more likely to visit businesses providing information online (even if they are not selling online).
When you finish reading this post, I want you to open Google.com and do a local search for what your business offers. For example, if you clean carpets in Reno, search for “Reno carpet cleaners”.
Did your business show up in Google Local (right there by the Google map)? If not, you are losing money every day to those businesses who do understand the power of local online marketing.
If your business relies on the Yellow Pages, don’t put off local online marketing. Listings in Google Local are free. Scroll to the top of this page and sign up for my newsletter. The first installment includes videos and advice about getting your business placed well in the Google Local listings.
Twitter and Your Local Business
Posted by: | CommentsCan you devote 15 or 20 minutes a day (fun minutes in fact!) in exchange for several new customers a week or month? If so, keep reading!
Twitter is a powerful tool for local businesses! As with any other form of Internet marketing, targeting is the key to success.
For example, if your business is in Topeka, you REALLY want your tweets to be read by as many people who live in Topeka as possible!
Twellow.com makes the process of targeting your followers ea
Local business owners could spend 5 to 10 minutes a day following people in their city/area via a twellow targeted search. Many of those followed will follow back…thus building a list of targeted followers.
Additionally, using www.tweetdeck.com, business owners can “tweet later” and space their tweets out across the day in order to reach more people.
If you need suggestions on a “tweeting strategy” and tweet topics, comment on this post and let’s talk!
Watch This Video For More Details:
Rank Your Business TWICE On Google’s Page #1
Posted by: | CommentsPeople are not just searching for products and services now days. A LARGE number of folks are searching for products or services AND their city. People in Miami right now are searching for “roofers in Miami”. If you are a roofer in Miami, you better be taking advantage of that fact! If you are not, your competitors are taking new customers away from you right at this moment!
Here is an example of a roofer in Miami the UNDERSTANDS local search marketing!
He’s TWICE on Google’s page one for “miami roofers”. How does your business rank in your city?
The good news is that it is very easy to position your business well for those types of local searches. Right now, MOST of your competitors do not understand local search marketing. They are stuck in their “old school” advertising mentality for using Yellow Pages and newspapers.
Now is the time to ramp up your local search marketing efforts! The longer a business waits to get good placements, the harder it will be. Every day there are more and more businesses discovering the huge profit potential those local searchers have to offer.
After you submit and VERIFY your business in Google, Yahoo, and Bing Local Search, your next step is working on your business website. Having your business rank well for local searches requires a bit more of work than doing well with Local Search submissions with the big 3 search engines. However, the ROI with respect to your time can be tremendous for your efforts.
Imagine having your business show up twice OR MORE on the first page of Google results in BOTH the Local Search listings AND Google’s regular web page listings! Imagine what that would mean for your business!
If you need help getting started with local search, contact me here:
http://wordpress-17920-39382-109004.cloudwaysapps.com/contact/
I want to help you get your business on track for local search! Tell me about your product or service and your location. I’ll take a look at those types of local searches and get back to you with some very specific strategies you can implement right away.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Is Your Business Listed Well On The Google Map?
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve said this before, but I want to make SURE you have covered your bases with Google, Yahoo, and Bing Local Search submissions.
Remember that when I refer to, for example, “Google Local Search”, I’m talking about the business listings they show by the map on their first page. Search for “Austin Plumbers” and you’ll see what I mean.
Do a search for your business area with your location. If you are a roofer in Dallas, go to Google and search for “Dallas roofer”. Look for your business there by the map. If it is not there, click the link at the bottom of the list and the link for “more results”. Click through all those listings to see if you find your business.
Chances are, your business will be listed there even if you DID NOT submit it yourself. Google scours the web and probably will find reference to your business somewhere and go ahead and list it. If that is the case, it is VITAL that you claim and verify that business. To do this, simply click on the “more info” link for your business and then click to edit it. You will then be given the opportunity to verify it.
If you don’t verify your listings, Google will not rank it as well. Also, unverified listings are vulnerable to being claimed by spammers and or unscrupulous competitors who would insert their own phone number/info. If that happened, you could undo it, but it would be a major hassle.
Now go and check your listing in Google. Next do the same for Yahoo and Bing. Note that Yahoo and Bing are not as good at showing the mapped local listings as Google. However, it’s important you list and verify your business in those search engines as well.
If your business is not showing up on the first page of local search results (right there by the map) schedule a no-obligation telephone consultation with me about how to insure your business shows on the first page.
Contact Steve:
http://wordpress-17920-39382-109004.cloudwaysapps.com/contact
Contact me there to schedule the phone call. I’ll look at your business listing and give you some strategies you can implement right away to boost the rankings. There is no cost or obligation. I simply want to help you get on track right away so you can take full advantage of the huge local search market!
Building Your Business Web Site
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the BIGGEST hurdles for those new to Internet marketing is getting their website up and running. There are several alternatives for doing so I will discuss here.
First you could pay someone to do it. Oftentimes that is the first choice for established businesses. That is fine IF the web designer understands how to build a search engine friendly site. Many do not. If you are hiring out your web design, it is vital YOU know what to expect and how your site should be optimized. By the way, if your web designer says he or she knows how to optimize the site by putting meta keyword tags in, find another designer. That worked 10 years ago, but not today. I have more suggestions about hiring the work done later in this article.
The next choice is learning to create a site yourself. With this option there are two sub-options. You can use a web editor like Kompozer or Dreamweaver to create the pages (called a static site) or you can create the site with WordPress blog software.
Using a web editor gives you the most flexibility in the long run. However, the learning curve is HUGE; I only suggest this option for your main sites if you have a LOT of time to devote to learning and practicing. I do suggest you learn how to create very simple HTML pages for your Craigslist listing, PayPerClick squeeze pages (lead capture). However, these pages only need to be tables, text and images and are relatively easy to make. It still takes a few days of focused study and practice to learn. Kompozer is a free editor you can download. Although it is primitive, you can create simple pages easily. Dreamweaver is the editor of choice for most web designers. It costs several hundreds of dollars.
The second choice for “do it yourself” sites is WordPress. WordPress is a blog software that has morphed into a powerful site design tool over the past few years. First off, I am NOT talking about using the WordPress site to host your blog. They offer a free solution, but this is no place to skimp. Their solution has limitations. Now days you can buy a domain name for $10.00 a year and then purchase your own hosting with a full featured host for just $7.00 per month. WordPress has many advantages. The biggest benefit to using WordPress is how easy it is to add pages and content along the way. Basically, you just type the content, click to add in pictures if you wish, easily select to include links, etc., click another button and the new page is instantly created on your site. By the way, WordPress also allows visitors to add comments and ask question easily about your topics…what a GREAT marketing tool it is!
Today’s hosts offer easy, push button installs for WordPress. Gone are the days of having to download and install it yourself. Simply go into your hosting account, click a few buttons and WordPress is installed automatically. Once WordPress is installed, you will have to spend some time configuring its “back end”. Getting to know the inner workings of WordPress takes about a day of dedicated study. It is important to take this time; there are many features and options with it you should become familiar with. Your WordPress site will become a powerful asset for your business.
Once WordPress is installed and configured, all the fun can then begin. You see, WordPress can change its “Look” with a click of the mouse. These “looks” are called WordPress themes. Now days, these themes are so developed that you may have trouble distinguishing a site between being a static site or a blog site. For example, WeberInternetMarketing.com is a WordPress site. In the admin area of WordPress, you can search for and install these themes with a few clicks of the mouse.
Although WordPress has over a thousand themes to choose from which are free, I prefer to buy them. The free ones “usually” work OK, but may often have bugs (I’ve learned the hard way about that a few times). The purchased themes are more stable, have a customized backend for easier editing, and often come with support. You can usually buy a top notch WordPress theme for $40 to $100 and this is well spent money as far as I am concerned. You can do a search for “WordPress themes” on Google. For my business I use a theme designer based out of Edmond, OK. Their company, iThemes, supplies the most flexible and user friendly themes I have worked with. I love the way they have customized the themes’ admin area. By the way, WeberInternetMarketing.com uses their “Flex” theme. With it, I can move the text, header, footer, and link areas around the way I want! I can easily change the background, add widgets, etc.
I suggest you learn how to configure and use your WordPress site yourself. I feel in the long run that having a good understanding of how it works and what is possible with it offers you more opportunity for leveraging and increasing your online presence in the future. However, if you still wish to outsource your web design, I know a very good designer in Oklahoma City who understands search engine optimization well, works with WordPress, and uses iThemes. He can create your site to your specs and then teach you how to administer the site. If you need his contact info, just let me know and I’ll get you in touch with him.
As I said earlier, site design can be quite a challenge to those new to online marketing. However, learning only the basics can open doors of opportunity for your business you probably are not currently aware of. The need for and the benefits of having a human and search engine friendly website for your business are constantly increasing!
Here are site building resources I use and suggest:
- Buy a Domain – Your domain name costs about $10 a year
- Full Featured Hosting – All the bells and whistles now days costs about $7/month
- WordPress Themes – Purchased themes are more stable and come with support
- A Free Web Editor – Use this for making simple landing pages for Craigslist, etc.
- Web Design – For those wishing to hire out their web design work, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with someone I trust.
- Free WordPress and hosting install videos here
