Claiming Google Places Listing

December 15th, 2011 by admin 1 comment »

Although businesses have been able to claim their Google Places Listings since 2005, the number of businesses claiming them since April of 2010 is tremendous. Over 1 1/2 years ago, only 4 million listings had been claimed. Last March the number jumped to 6 million, and now just nine months later the number has jumped to 8 million. According to Google, that is 16% of all the business locations throughout the world.

A Google Places listing doesn’t just include your address, phone number and a link to your website. You can describe your services and products and upload logos, pictures and videos. Customers also have the ability to write reviews, which can greatly help with your rankings.

Claiming Google Places Graphic

If you haven’t claimed your Google Places listing, what are your waiting for. It is FREE web visibility.

1 comment »

Posted in local search

Tags:

AdWords or SEO? Is Google killing off natural search in the name of money?

December 13th, 2011 by admin No comments »

Google has always said it wants to provide the best search experience. Well, that statement may no longer be true. Apparently, it is placing more and more pay per click ads and Google’s own pages on the search results pages. Google is even running an AdWords ad that states: “Forget about SEO. To be visible in Google today, try AdWords.” What about content and credibility? Check out this blog post from Aaron Wall, one of the leaders in SEO. Will you now have to pay in order to be found? Do you need to decide between AdWords or SEO? They have always complimented each other. Will that no longer be the case?

No comments »

Posted in SEO - Search Engine Optimization

Tags:

Google SEO Updates as of 12/1/11

December 6th, 2011 by admin No comments »

Last week Google published another round of search improvements. They advised that this was the first of a monthly series where they will be sharing information about their algorithm and feature enhancements. Their new monthly blog posts will be highlighting the approximate 500 search improvements Google makes each year. So you don’t have to add another blog feed to your home page, each month we’ll be summarizing the posts for you.

Here are the Google SEO updates (and feature updates) for December 2011:

  • Related query results. Google sometimes shows results that are similar to the search terms that you used. It has refined the algorithm so that it is now less likely that related results will rank highly if the original search term had a rare word that was not in the alternate query.
  • More comprehensive indexing. Google is now including more long tail documents in its index. As we always tell our clients, going after long tail terms – such as “birthday party places in orange county ny” – is a great SEO strategy, especially for new websites or competitive markets. This refinement will make it even easier for searchers to find you.
  • A “parked domain” classifier. Parked domains are really placeholder sites for companies that have not yet created a website to go with a domain name. They can also be placeholders for companies that buy up domains as a competitive strategy, which they never even plan to use. These “placeholders” typically are filled with ads and are really not at all relevant to a search. This new classifier will help weed out parked domains from the search results.
  • Autocomplete predictions. As you may have noticed when you type in your search terms, Google tries to predict what you are typing and provides a list of search terms that may match what you are looking for. They have refined their prediction algorithm, making it a little more flexible.
  • Blog search results. Google changed its blog search index. Now it provides blog results that are more current and comprehensive.
  • The original content battle. In the last six months, Google has been addressing the duplicate content issue. They just added some new signals to its algorithm the help them determine which web page has the original content and which sites merely duplicated it.
    Image freshness. A change will not make it easier for Google to find the most recent images for news searches.

    • No comments »

    Posted in SEO - Search Engine Optimization

    Tags:

    Local SEO For Small Business

    August 31st, 2011 by admin No comments »

    You have heard it all before. If you want to be found online by prospects, you need to optimize your website with search terms related to your products and services AND your local target market. Maybe you have put off doing so because you weren’t sure how much you bought into the whole idea of search engine optimization (SEO). Or perhaps you thought it was too expensive or not worth the return on investment. Well, here is an interesting fact that just might change your mind!

    According to a study by the Pew Research Center, Americans trust small business owners over 13 other institutions! A whopping 71% of those polled said they trusted small business. Only 25% trust large corporations. And only 25% trust the federal government.

    Pew Research Center

    In this tumultuous climate, people trust local small business for a reason. Why? Because you are not some large inaccessible corporation. You are their neighbor, their son’s little league coach, and a face. But you need to get that face seen if you want to be recognized. So join your local chamber of commerce, volunteer for local organizations, join local networking groups. AND make sure your business can be found online.

    That’s Where Local SEO For Small Business Comes In


    You don’t have to tell people to shop local, this study already shows that people WANT to shop local. So make sure they can easily find your website when they are searching for your products and services. Don’t just rely on what you think your ranking is – remember personalized search can inflate your search engine rankings. Get a website visibility analysis and see how you are fairing. Learn how you can improve your site’s Internet presence and then do it! Here are some tips:

    1. Make sure you are targeting terms that people are actually searching for
    2. Don’t forget to include your market, such as dry cleaners warwick ny
    3. Then make sure those terms are placed in the website’s coding and on the page itself
    4. Create local business listings on Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local and optimize them with the appropriate search terms as well
    5. Submit your website to the top directories – Yelp, SuperPages, InsiderPages, and more
    6. Submit your website to any local directories
    7. Submit your website to industry specific directories
    8. Create a Facebook page, optimize it, and post often

    Local SEO for small business is important and it doesn’t have to be break the bank expensive. The local business listings are free. The directory listings are free. Facebook is free. If you’re tech savvy, you can attempt creating your listings and optimizing your website yourself. If you’re not, you should find an SEO consultant who can help. Depending upon the size of your website, SEO services can be minimal with great ROI.

    Local residents want to support your small business, so make sure they can find it.

    No comments »

    Posted in local search

    Tags:

    Google AdWords Express Replaces Google Boost

    July 26th, 2011 by admin No comments »

    Google sure is busy. Last May we told you that Google Boost had replaced Google Tags. Well now Google AdWords Express is replacing Google Boost!


    According to Google, “AdWords Express is designed to help local businesses that aren’t already AdWords advertisers create effective campaigns.” Adding AdWords Express to your Places listing allows you to advertise on Google and Google Maps, including mobile devices. You set up a monthly budget and create copy for your ad and Google does the rest, including determining what search terms will trigger your ad to be shown and your bidding to have your ad included in the search results. The terms are selected based on your Places listing categories. Google has assigned a cost per click for each search term, which you pay every time someone clicks on your ad.

    As we pointed out with Google Boost, if you don’t have the time or the inclination to learn how to create and manage an effective Adwords campaign, or don’t have an Internet Marketing company you can rely on to do so for you, AdWords Express is an option for local advertising. But keep in mind that it has limitations. AdWords provides more options and controls – keyword selection and bid control, local AND national targeting, advanced reporting and different ad formats such as video, display and more – than AdWords Express offers.

    No comments »

    Posted in AdWords

    Tags:

    AdWords Location Extension No Longer Completely Free

    June 1st, 2011 by admin No comments »

    Maybe you missed it because of the long holiday weekend, but Google announced that over the next few weeks it will be charging for clicks on the directions link in your AdWords ads on both Google.com and Google Mobile. Google started charging for phone number link clicks in the ads quite a while back. So this should probably come as no surprise.

    An AdWords Location Extension Is A Valuable Ad Component – So Look Before You Leap Away From the Cost


    A location extension and its correlating direction link provide local searchers with valuable additional information that could entice them to select you over your competitors. So don’t rebel just yet. First determine your return on investment. Along with this new directions click fee, Google will be providing performance metrics for directions clicks alongside those for regular clicks and phone call clicks. You can also see previous metrics for the free directions clicks. Just select Free clicks within the dimensions tab of your AdWords account.

    If after your analysis you decide that the return is not great enough to keep the location extension and directions link, you will need to remove the locations extensions from your AdWords campaign completely.

    No comments »

    Posted in AdWords

    Tags:

    Page Load Time and SEO? Yes, they are connected, so you better check your site speed.

    May 13th, 2011 by admin No comments »

    A slow page load time doesn’t just cause visitors to hit the back button, it can also affect your rankings.


    Google announced it was including site speed in its ranking algorithms as far back as last year. At that time, Matt Cutts at Google clarified that it is only one of 200 factors that the search engine considers and that it doesn’t weigh as much as relevance, reputation, etc. But it still carries weight—and could possibly be a determining factor when sites are close in some of the more important factors.

    One year later, some Google actions confirm the significance of page load time


    A few weeks ago Google introduced Page Speed Online, a performance analysis tool, which gives developers suggestions on how to decrease load time. This week the search engine giant unveiled a new Page Speed Online API that allows developers to integrate this performance analysis into other tools and dashboards.

    Page speed matters for conversions and web visibility. Is your site fast enough?

    How to check your page load time


    Google’s Webmaster Tools is one way to take a look at your load time—over time. Click on the Diagnostics tab, then Crawl Stats to view a chart that highlights your high, low and average load times over a few months time period. For real time load time, check out Web Page Test.

    How to reduce your page load time


    Page Speed Online and Web Page Test, which are both FREE, can provide some eye opening information in terms of time and how you can shave it off – but you will probably need your web developer to explain the recommendations and make the changes. Although, Web Page Test gives a grade, so even non-techies can see where the problems lie. So do the tests and talk to your web developer about what they reveal.

    Here are some general things you can do to increase your page speed:

    1. GZIP Compression. See if your site’s host uses this form of compression, which can really speed up your load time.
    2. Reduce the size of your images. But make sure you use a graphics program such as Photoshop or Smush.it to do so.
    3. Cache your pages. This avoids the need for the browser to dynamically generate your page every time. Some content management systems, such as Joomla and WordPress, allow you to do this.
    4. Limit your use of 301 redirects. And don’t pile them.
    5. Combining CSS / Java Scripts. Load them in external files rather than putting them on every page so that the browser only has to load them one time instead every time someone visits each page.
    6. Try a Content Delivery Network.

    No comments »

    Posted in Search Engine Rankings

    Tags:

    What are Boost Ads?

    May 6th, 2011 by admin 1 comment »

    The replacement of Google Tags?

    Now that Google has officially retired Google Tags, if you were a Tags user have you received a call from a Google representative offering Boost Ads? Some of our clients have and they are asking us, “Just what are boost ads?”

    In case you are wondering the same thing, here is a brief overview:

    Boost Ads are just that – ads. Similar to Google AdWords, you pay every time someone clicks on your ad. Unfortunately you may not realize this when a Google rep calls you to try to convince you to start a Boost campaign. One of our clients was told it was free and as the rep walked our client through the set up process he then said it was pay per click. When our client questioned the Google rep, he said that pay per click was after he gave the first $100 free. IT IS pay per click.

    How do Boost Ads work?


    Unlike AdWords, Boost Ads are locally based and work together with your Google Places listing. If you are a former Google Tag user, you already have a Places listing. If you need to create one, visit www.google.com/places.
    Adding Google Boost to your Places listing allows you to advertise on Google and Google Maps, including mobile devices. You set up a monthly budget and create copy for your ad and Google does the rest, including determining what search terms will trigger your ad to be shown and your bidding to have your ad included in the search results. The terms are selected based on your Places listing categories. Google has assigned a cost per click for each search term, which you pay every time someone clicks on your ad.

    What information is displayed in a Boost Ad?


    Google uses information from your Places listing – your business name, address, phone number, a short description of your business, a snippet from your Place Page, and a link to your Place Page.

    Where are Boost Ads displayed?


    Similar to AdWords, in a google.com search, Boost Ads are displayed either above or to the right of the search results. In a Google Maps search, they appear above the search results. If your business appears in the organic Places listing results, your Boost Ad will appear in the ads section with a red marker and that red marker will appear on the corresponding map. If your business does not appear in the organic Places results, your Boost Ad will still appear in the ads section, but with a blue marker.

    Will a Boost Ad help my organic Places listing rankings?


    No. Boost Ads appear in the sponsored ads section – they don’t affect what businesses appear in the organic Places listings.

    Boost or AdWords?


    If you don’t have the time or the inclination to learn how to create and manage an effective Adwords campaign, or don’t have an Internet Marketing company you can rely on to do so for you, Boost is an option for local advertising. But keep in mind that it has limitations. AdWords provides more options and controls – keyword selection and bid control, local AND national targeting, advanced reporting and different ad formats such as video, display and more – than Boost offers.

    1 comment »

    Posted in Internet Marketing

    Tags:

    What Happened To Google Tags?

    April 21st, 2011 by admin No comments »

    Those bright yellow Google Tags that highlighted your business will soon be history.

    According to an email from Google, the company will be retiring the tags on April 29th. If you currently run a Google Tags campaign and you didn’t get the email – hopefully you will – let this posting serve as your notice. While we received an email notification for one of our client’s, we did not receive one for our own account. Instead, we received the following email:

    According to an email from Google, the company will be retiring the tags on April 29th. If you currently run a Google Tags campaign and you didn’t get the email – hopefully you will – let this posting serve as your notice. While we received an email notification for one of our client’s, we did not receive one for our own account. Instead, we received the following email:

    “This is to notify you that the following offers in your Google Places account will expire in 13 days on 4/30/11.

    15% Off SEO Services

    We are sorry to bother you but we thought we’d let you know early, in case you wished to extend their lifetime or replace them. Please visit Google Places to extend the expiry date of your offers or to replace them with new ones. After expiration, the offers will no longer be displayed until they are renewed.

    Thanks,”

    Kind of confusing, huh? Perhaps you also received this email. But it is official. The Google Tags will soon be no more. Once we logged into our Google Places account, there was a notification up top saying:

    What Happened to Google Tags?

    What Happened to Google Tags?

    It appears that Google is trying to push its new Google Boost – a very simplified version of AdWords that you supposedly “don’t” have to manage, in place of Tags, which will make them money (as Google Tags was a nominal fee), but cost you more. Google mentioned Boost – and even offered a $100 Boost credit for Tags users for the month of May – in its email and in our Places dashboard. When Google first started Tags, it offered its users a free month credit, i.e., $25. So it seems Google wants you to spend at least $100 per month on Boost.

    Google Tags worked well for our clients, both in terms of visibility and cost of conversion. It’s a shame that it will no longer be available.

    So if you notice that your Google Tag is no longer showing, or if you finally decided to try Google Tags and logged into your Places account and see no option for it, you will no longer have to wonder what happened to Google Tags.

    No comments »

    Posted in local search

    Tags:

    Google Hotpot Reviews Now Rolled Into Google Places

    April 12th, 2011 by admin No comments »

    Hotpot is a recommendation engine that displays reviews and ratings of local businesses and establishments. Until last week, Google Hotpot reviews were integrated with Google Places in the iPhone and Android Google Places apps when users were searching Google Maps or Google.com. You set a geographical location and local reviews were displayed. Now Google has rolled Hotpot into Google Places.

    According to Google, the Hotpot “community has quickly expanded to millions of users who are rating more than one million times per month and enjoying a truly personalized view of the world.” So they are making Hotpot a permanent part of Google Places. They also plan to add more features to Google Places to make it even easier to rate, discover and share.

    How does merging Google Hotpot Reviews into Google Places affect you?

    If you have a Google Places account, make sure it is complete and optimized. If you don’t have one, create one. You have to be found in order to be reviewed!

    No comments »

    Posted in local search

    Tags: