Local search is nothing new, but it is growing at an alarming rate. As more people discover that they can use search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo, for local searches, more businesses will take advantage of local search capabilities.
Here are some interesting statistics that business owners will find interesting. These statistics should convince you why it is important to optimize your search listing.
Search engines
There were close to two billion local search queries in January 2011. A large amount of those searches were through Google. Additionally, there were 400 million search queries through the Internet Yellow Pages in that same month.
There were 5.6 billion total local searches in 2010.
Mobile search
Mobile searches account for most of the total local searches every year. Thanks to smartphones and iPhones, mobile searches are a major contributor to these statistics. Out of the total number of smartphone users, 95 percent of them performed local searches on their device.
The number of local searches performed from mobile devices is up 34 percent from last year. Additionally, the rate at which mobile users are searching is also rising.
You may also be surprised to know that 56 percent of mobile users are performing local searches using apps. However, mobile users still use browsers as their main tool for local mobile searches. As more people turn towards their smartphone for information, the statistic for local searches performed with apps will continue to grow.
How some businesses have benefited from these statistics…
Many business owners now know that many local searches are performed by a mobile device. Therefore, they are taking advantage of mobile apps that offer coupons, such as Groupon, to market to their consumers. Apps that offer coupons based on geo-location are effective when combined with a mobile search.
Of course, many businesses still benefit from simply being on the front page of a Google search for their area. For example, if a consumer were to look for a local plumber, he would perform a search for plumbers in his area. Plumbers who optimized their local listing will most likely show up on the first page, being on both the map section and the organic listing.
Of course, as local searches trend towards mobile users, business owners who incorporate mobile app marketing will benefit the most.
Harnessing wealth from local search trends
Recently, the Local Search Association (previously known as the Yellow Pages Association until April 2011) released a report called the "State of Local Search". This study (based on data from comeScore) shows huge growth in all areas of local search. The Click Depot brings you a breakdown of this data for your benefit and ultimate success.
If you are an internet marketer that uses Google, Yahoo or Bing in your daily marketing efforts or a webmaster looking for the best optimization techniques, then you are going to love the information contained here. After reading this newsletter, you will understand the need of including local search engine optimization in your marketing budget
Search engines like Yahoo, Bing and a host of others make up 74% of local search volume with the rest going to Internet Yellow Pages and similar sites. In January 2011 there were 2.3 billion local search queries through search engines, with a large portion going to Google. The Internet Yellow Pages totaled over 400 million queries in the same month, and 5.6 billion searches in 2010.
Mobile Search
Mobile search has been growing for a long time, and last year was no exception as. A few major changes in 2010 included:
- 95% of smartphone users performing local searches on their devices.
- The number of mobile users accessing local information growing 34% from last year, as well as how often they search
- The number of users that search almost every day or more has increased by 20% while less frequent search categories have dropped
Mobile App Users...
Up to 56% of mobile users are accessing local information with apps.
Although most local searches are still through a browser, that number is down slightly from last year. This is a stat that can only be on the rise with more users turning to their growing mobile devices instead of sitting down at a computer. Mobile marketing in the form of apps is a strategy any local businessman or internet marketer must embrace. This is a trend that is here to stay because of the ever increasing popularity of mobile applications. This is a trend that has been taken up by search engines like Google with the Android mobile phone apps, Yahoo with their app search, Bing with their mobile app store etc. If major internet businesses see the potential of mobile apps, it goes without saying that you as a local business person should too.
Online Coupons...
Online coupons are a local search success with 70% satisfaction and only 1% dissatisfied. This satisfaction led to 79% of customers buying
coupons again. It is also a trend that you, as an entrepreneur looking to tap into local search growth, should implement in your business. With the rise of companies like Groupon, it goes without saying that when properly implemented, the online coupon business can make you a fortune.
Get the Most from Google Reviews
Google is willing to take risks and remain forward thinking! As a result their search engine strategy has created a lot of attention and value. Now millions of users depend on them Internet searches.
Their #1 philosophy is to “
focus on the user and all else will follow.” http://www.google.com/about/corporate/company/tenthings.html The majority of users are consumers looking for business/services/information, which means Google gears its Internet Marketing tools to helping consumers find what they want, hence keywords (a whole other topic).
Google Reviews – let’s focus on this hot topic since it has become the bane of some businesses’ existence! As mentioned in our last newsletter,
Google is shifting away from to user generated content, therefore placing more emphasis on consumer reviews posted on business map listings.Reputation Management is all about minimizing your exposure to any chance of negative reviews while capitalizing on obtaining positive reviews. The only way to truly remove a negative review from Google is to ask the person who posted it to remove it. We've learned that Google is not responsive to negating bad reviews. Since their map listings are free, they’re not obligated to providing a dedicated customer service department to resolve issues. Yes, anyone that has a Google account can add a review, so the risk of getting negative reviews exists no matter what. However, posting any sort of review takes time and effort….use that to your advantage and minimize your risk!
Tips to get the most out of Google Reviews:
- Minimize exposure. Don’t ‘spoon feed’ OR make it easy for everyone to post reviews.
- Use a smart strategy to personally invite satisfied clients to post reviews.
- Use the ‘flag as inappropriate’ link next to a review to report it as inappropriate. Google will check if the review violates their guidelines listed below.
- If you receive a review you do not agree with, we encourage you to use business owner responses to reconcile the situation with the customer diplomatically. You have a chance to turn a negative into a positive.
According to Google’s actual policy and procedures, “Google Places reviews are a forum for users to share both positive and negative opinions. We do not arbitrate disputes and more often than not, we leave the review up.” Google’s guidelines for removing reviews:
- Inappropriate content
- Advertising and spam
- Off-topic reviews
- Conflict of interest
Google’s policies & procedures pertaining to Places for businesses, click HERE:
http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=187622
The Click Depot.com, an industry leader in Internet Marketing, announces its expansion to offer services to local businesses in the state of Florida. While the newly opened office is located in Ormond Beach, The Click Depot.com also has presence in the Melbourne area. Business owners in the Sunshine State can now reap the benefits of their experience in online promotion.
Founded in 2007 in Raleigh, North Carolina, The Click Depot.com began with a distinct mission in mind: taking the guesswork out of internet marketing, while providing easy to use and affordable solutions for small business in need of such services They've set out to help small business forge ahead as internet marketing continues to become more relevant than other forms of advertising, such as newspapers, magazines, and radio ads. A second office was opened in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2010.
The Click Depot.com's founders have an extensive history of marketing and advertising for such large companies as BellSouth and AT&T. Since the opening of the original office in Raleigh, they've worked with a diverse client base, including Peak Motorcyles, Seagate Self Storage, Full Circle Construction, and the Law Firm of Younce and Vtipil. Their online portfolio boasts many more satisfied customers, from several different business categories, including a dental offices, a spa, and a niche entertainment company. The portfolio may be viewed online at {
http://www.theclickdepot.com/webdesignportfolio.html} .
The Click Depot.com offers a wide array of useful internet marketing services. Among the offerings are pay per click (PPC) marketing, with monthly bid management, and search engine optimization (SEO) service, which is designed to increase a website's page ranking on popular search engines. Website design services are also offered, to help create the perfect site to convey a company's message to potential customers. The Click Depot.com's local internet marketing service helps target products and services to people in a set geographical area. For the business on a budget, free internet marketing tools are also offered, such as Google PageRank Lookup and Link Popularity Tracker. Business clients may also purchase a bundle of these services, at their discretion.
Internet marketing is the best way for business to get noticed. In a crowded marketplace, a company can greatly benefit from the expertise The Click Depot.com offers. Whether through the use of PPC marketing that places your company at the top of the search results page, or organic search result listings created through SEO, The Click Depot.com has the experience and proven tools to help a business shine.
The Click Depot.com can be reached toll free at (866)960-9353. The new Ormond Beach office is located at 200 E. Granada Boulevard, Suite 207. The local phone number for the Ormond Beach office is (919)858-6360.
Google has made some major changes, affecting every single map listing. Although they note their algorithm will continue to include the company description, additional details, service areas, etc. to determine rankings; Google says that information will no longer show on map listings. They are shifting away from owner generated content to user generated content, making Google Place-related features more social.
For example, Google is placing its emphasis on reviews generated from Google user accounts and less on third party reviews. The only evidence of third party reviews is a small link to other review sites at the bottom of the Reviews section.
The new layout lists your primary information like company name, address, phone number and web site. To emphasize reviews they have added a big red “Write a Review” button. Next to that you will find an “Upload a Photo” button. Underneath those two buttons you will find some of the categories for your business and the operating hours for today’s date. Then any photos you have added to your listing and the coveted Review section.
Let’s also note that with the impending release of Google + to the general public it is likely that you will see many more changes to come. The bottom line is that Google will continue to evolve and refine their product offerings (for better or for worse) and reviews are becoming the new social currency on the web.
SCAM ALERT: There have been instances reported of reputation management companies posting negative reviews on a listing then calling the owner of the listing offering their services to remove the negative review for a fee. Beware of anyone who tells you they can remove a negative review. It’s simply impossible to do that UNLESS they own the Google account that posted the negative review. If you post a review from a Google account you can edit or erase the posting. Google has no way of determining if you provided service to a particular individual and therefore will not remove a negative review.
Website structure is important to your on-line presence and success. Here are 5 tips to help you think like a search engine:
Focus & Layout
- Focus on the products/services that are most valuable to your consumers.
- On the homepage, prominently display your phone number and a call to action.
- Make your highest valued products/services the focus of your second navigation bar and continue the process until all that’s left is About/Contact Us.
Site Map
- The site map tells search engines what is contained within your site, likened to what a table of contents does for a book. Search engines like organized content for each page.
- Submit site maps to search engines so they crawl your site to index the information, which is directly related to your keywords for each page.
Flash and Java Script - Less is More
- Flash can do some really cool things, but search engines do not index anything inside a flash file nor can they read text on images. Use enough to stand out but don’t overdo it. Use flash/java script carefully.
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
- The W3C sets standards for web design, including site structure. A website designed to W3C standards is search engine friendly, thus key to building proper on-line presence.
Conversions
- Make sure your website converts traffic into sales. Make the process easy for your customers to find what they want with the fewest clicks, also a good reason for calls to action on the homepage. Again, less is more.
The way business works changes rapidly everyday through new advances in technology. The Internet has made business transactions easier for both producer and consumer in today’s economy. Increasing the site traffic for your website as well as informing potential customers about what your business has to offer is very important. Listing your business on map websites is very important for attracting customers who are quickly searching for a product or service by location. By listing your business on a map site customers will not only be instantly informed of it when searching but also be aware of its location. Listing your business on map website will help you spread knowledge of your business an thus boost commerce for your company.
Specialized searches in search engines are becoming a growing way for businesses to inform the customers of their services and allow priority viewing when a subject is typed into a search engine. Listing your business by location on a map website allows for local customers or even confused tourists to be aware of what business are in their area. It is a great and simple solution to Internet marketing. Internet usage is becoming more and more normal and an everyday thing for citizens and consumers. Most Americans use the Internet to find businesses and services in their area. In fact, businesses of all sizes and types can benefit from local Internet marketing to attract new customers in the area.
Targeted Internet marketing, especially for local customers is an easy and effective way to gain new business. Prioritizing your company on map websites allows you to stay ahead of the competition. It is also convenient for local consumers to be able to readily access what products and services are available nearest to them. Gaining customers through Internet marketing is one of the largest sectors for increasing sales and business. The more traffic on your company’s website chances are the more customers are going to be taking part in what your business has to offer.
Internet marketing is an easy solution to spreading knowledge of your business. But why not take it one step further with prioritized, targeted marketing that will really set your business apart from the competition. Maximizing your business’s reputation can be as simple as posting your company’s name first in local searches on map websites. Increasing the chances of your company showing up on a search will boost website traffic and overall increase amount of business done by your company. Local customers are always the most important whether your business is small, large, privately or publicly owned. Allowing for your business to show up first on searches is convenient for local customers and will also increase business transactions.
Every business wants to get their name out there to the public. Whether they spread their name via tv commercials, local advertisements in the newspaper, or through internet marketing, every industry has the same goal: to be known. There are some marketing methods, however, that are more effective than others. Putting your company through a local business submission could be the answer to successfully getting your name to everyone’s front door.
For those are not accustomed with the newfound service, a business submission is the process of submitting your company’s name and information to all the popular online sources. That may include top sites like HotFrog, CitySearch, WhitePages, Yelp, Yahoo! Local, and more. This process is advantageous to all businesses old or new. Neglected or new websites will especially benefit from this service.
A local business submission is especially important for local and niche markets. Above and beyond the normal business submitting process, a local submission is also available to business owners. This allows companies to not only be integrated in the larger span of searches, but also the city specific searches. For example, Yahoo! Local makes it possible for your local hair salon to be listed in your specific area. Many times a local business directory can be a company’s most valuable listing.
Something you want to be looking for is hiring a company that provides natural and manual submissions. Then you can be certain you are getting the quality you are looking for. Nobody likes spam, and the last thing you want is an auto-submitted service that does not take the time to take the needs of your business seriously. This can be compared to an automated phone service versus speaking to an actual customer service representative. Isn’t always better to have a human dealing with your needs and wants instead of an automated service? Remember, quality over quantity is important when it comes to all Internet marketing services.
If you are looking to get the most of your business submission, it is smart to have a top SEO company do the job. Then you can be confident you are not only receiving quantity, but you are getting the quality post your company deserves.
Some people have heard about a CMS or content management system, for managing the content they put in their articles, blogs and websites. A CMS is a web application that uses a database to help you create and edit your content. Usually a database allows you to edit or create part of the web application on the "backend" and website viewers to your site will see it in the proper format on the "frontend".
Because they help you do all kinds of things, like create, control, edit and manage your content simply and easily, it can sometimes depend on what you want to do with your CMS. It can also depend on how many people will be using it, if you have a large company where multiple users need to change content on various web pages at different times. Bigger isn't always better when you are choosing a CMS for your website.
For the everyday publisher that has a blog, you could use smaller versions that start around $100. Those that are into larger scale websites might use systems that are geared for multiple users and can handle large scale websites with a lot of web pages and content, but some commercial CMS programs run all the way up to $10,000.
The question is how to choose a CMS for your website and your particular situation. If you are looking for a CMS for a blog, you want it easy to use for the average person, even if you are more technically savvy. Pick a CMS with a simple administrative interface and customize it if you need to. Research the different CMS solutions, because the most popular open source CMS products might not be geared to the average person in your community of content managers.
That is one reason you don't want a computer geek picking out the CMS because some of the best known are written in code and others have a good user interface, but aren't that well known. You want to find a CMS that offers quick and easy installation, simple administration interface, allows you to change a template easily, offers support of some kind and offers quick and easy extension of the CMS for additional features.
You have to consider who will be using the CMS, the current process for creating and updating the content on your website and if there are improvements that can be made with a CMS that doesn't involve an IT genius to figure it out. If you have off-site contributors that need easy access and can make quick changes to mistakes, you might need a CMS that is capable of allowing multiple remote users, for example.
If your content is kept separate from the presentation, you need to consider whether the content can be maintained separate of the visual presentation in HTML, PDF or print. You also may need to consider the ability of your CMS to grow as your needs increase. This is helpful to re-design websites that change often, but can be costly if you have to hire the job done.
When figuring out how to choose a CMS for your website, consider the user friendliness of the interface, the people that will be using it and how much content management you will be doing.
Image Courtesy: http://gbcg.co.uk/content_management.aspx
Those looking to draw revenues from ads on a website will need to make sure that their ads remain perennially effective. This is even more important for those that place click through ads on their sites which are intended to deliver the much needed financial boost required to enhance income potential. Unfortunately, a problem can raise its head that can undo a great deal of the impact of the ads. What is this problem? It would be the issue of ad blindness which is another way of describing a sense of numbness visitors have towards the ads on a particular website. How does this numbness develop? Basically, the problem derives from frequent visitors to a site just becoming a little too used to the ads. They start to see the ads as a type of background noise that they begin to ignore. Once your ads become the embodiment of peripheral non-importance, they lose an enormous amount of their value. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to reduce the issue of ad blindness and start enhancing your site's monetary potential once again.
One such way to do this would be to place smaller and fewer ads on the site. Now, some may read this with an incredulous expression on their face. How can you place fewer ads on the site and gain greater results? Well, when you put too many ads on a site, you may end up numbing the people that frequent the site into not paying much attention to the ads. That means they won't click on them. However, when you employ smaller and fewer ads, you may draw people's attention back which leads them to being more likely to click on the ads. As odd as this form of "reverse psychology" is, it is most definitely an effective method to employ.
It also does not hurt to weave popular and interesting content near the ads. Do you have a really cool video podcast that people will love to watch? If so, you may wish to place the ads a lot closer to the media player that will present the podcast as opposed to centering the podcast in the page and then placing the ads far off into the margin. After all, you do want people to click on the ads so why move them too far away from the content people would be most interested in? Such a strategy of closer proximity and fewer ads could lead to great results than people imagine possible.
Even when the content of your site is merely text and basic photos, you can boost effectiveness by properly integrating the ads in with the text by using similar colors and fonts. This has the psychological advantage of making the ads look like a natural part of the website as opposed to some distracting foreign element.
Really, the steps to reducing ad blindness are not as tough as some assume. Following these few simple can go quite far in terms of being able to reduce the problem.
Image Courtesy: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116633
