5 Reasons why your business should have a Google Plus local page

If you own a local business, have a storefront, and people can actually visit and step foot inside your establishment, I am hereby requiring you to create a business listing on Google Plus Local Pages. If you don’t currently have any kind of Google Local listing for your business, you are missing out on a HUGE (and simple) opportunity to increase awareness for your business.

Some of you may be aware, the new Google Plus Local Pages have officially replaced Google Places (although you can still get started with a general listing and manage your already created Google Places account from there). Simply a directory type, location based listing; Google Places has been replaced with Google Plus Local Pages in order to increase capabilities for search, social, engagement, and functionality.

First let me answer your question of what are Google Plus Local Pages? Simply: location based search results in Google that contain directory style info. Name, address, phone number, hours, details, AND some other great features that i’ll get into below.

Now, I’ll dive into the 5 reasons I am forcing every local business owner reading this article to immediately go create a listing on Google Plus Local Pages for their business (after they’re finished reading, of course.)

#1) Google Plus Local Pages Create a Listing in Search Results

First: Did you know that 43% of Google searches are location based? Or that 1 in 3 searches on mobile devices have local intent?

What does that really mean? Essentially, your customers are typing general (“sandwiches in pacific beach”) or specific (“EZ-J’s Sandwich shop pacific beach”) search queries into Google in hopes of finding what they are looking for, close to their current location. If you have a local storefront, clearly you want to show up here. 

As you’ve probably noticed from personal searches, Google loves to put location-based results at the top, because they deem them to be the most relevant to the person. Remember, Google rules the world internet. When Google tells you something is important to increase the chances of your success in organic search, just do it.

**Side note: Google Plus local pages also integrate with Google Maps and show up as listings on the maps tab.

For example, below I typed a general, location-based search query (“sandwiches in pacific beach”) into Google. Notice that the entire top portion of results are Google Plus Local Pages for local sandwich shops in PB. Fitting, right?

Then, let’s say I choose to click on “EZ-J’s Sandwich shop” to find out more. Automatically, the entire page will update with info about EZ-J’s, still with the Google Plus Local Page at the top of the results.

 Once I choose to click on the EZ-J’s Google Plus Local Page, it will contain all of the info i’ll need to help make my final decision on whether or not I will visit this location.

#2) Google Plus Local Pages Support the SoLoMoCo Revolution

What’s SoLoMoCo you ask? Social, Local, Mobile, Commerce.

Understanding the SoLoMoCo revolution is going to become a must for online marketers of both B2B and B2C brands. Google Plus local pages will be essential in your mastery of the “local” inside of “SoLoMoCo”.  It will be the most important platform you can use to market your local business.

#3) Google Plus Local Pages Integrate Social Recommendations

Google Places, as mentioned above, was a directory style informational listing of your local business. Google Plus local pages take the listing a step further to integrate features that will increase awareness for your brand, on a personal level.

With features that allow for recommendations, “+1’s”, and follows, your Google Plus local business listing will become a relevant search result for a person who’s friend has recommended and “+1’d” your business. Once the page is set up, these functions run on their own and provide immense value to you and your visitors. Why wouldn’t you want to let your customers rave about you, recommend you, and help their friends find you?

#4) Google Plus Local Pages are Easy to Create and Manage

Google Plus Local Pages will take you a maximum of 15 minutes to create.

Visit: https://plus.google.com/pages/create -> click on “Local”

 

Follow the step-by-step instructions, fill out your business info, add some pictures (highly recommended), and viola –that’s it.

Do keep in mind that there is some verification that must take place in order to get your page fully up and running; but again, it’s all very simple.

#5) Google Plus Local Pages are FREE

Reasons #1-4 should be enough to convince you to go create a Google Plus local page, but if not…how about the fact that it can do the following without investing any money:

• market your business
• increase your rankings in organic search results (without paying an SEO expert)
• acceptable replacement for a website if you can’t afford one

There are really only benefits to creating a Google Plus local business page. All you have to invest is a little bit of time, and the aftermath is all good.

Are you convinced? Have you clicked out of this article and started creating your page yet?

*This is a great article I came across written by Sydney De Bear.  Hope you enjoy it.  

10 Commandments of Blogging

As an entrepreneur, the emergence of blogs was my burning bush. I didn’t understand it at first, but I’ve come to see that salvation (now known as content marketing) is within reach. If only we’re willing to believe. All joking aside, using a smart keyword strategy (hint: there’s research involved) and the right social media channels (for your business), you can refocus your marketing dollars into a content marketing strategy that’s both sustainable and cost-effective. Combine keywords with a strong on-site blogging platform and social media engagement and you’ve got the winning formula. Simple, right? Wrong. It’s simple but not easy. Understanding how to use content marketing is a lot like reading the catechism. Begin with the basics and then it’s practice, practice, practice. And the more you practice and memorize the “rules” the more you’ll understand some rules are made to broken – and others will land you in (Google) hell. I’ve been blogging since 2007. I’ve written more than 2,000 posts and contributed to national newspapers and magazines like the Boston Globe and Women’s Health. But I still look at what I do as a work in progress – we’re all still learning how to do this better. Feel free to steal my cheat sheet and use it to get to those pearly gates with a few less sins on your blogging dossier. Get Creative As a blogger, you are first and foremost a story-teller. Information isn’t merely doled out; it’s artfully told. The heart of giving good blog is how the information is presented. The details of the stories are where we find the magic. Blog with intention. Tell The Truth Facts and truth are not the same thing. Information can’t be made up, nor can the essential facts of a product or service. Using fictional scenarios and made-up quotes is against the rules and more than a little smarmy. Tell the truth, according to you. If you lie or stretch the truth, you’ll likely be called out for it and the road to redemption is all uphill from that point. Respect The Contract There’s an implicit contract between you (the blogger) and me (your reader). For my time as a reader, I understand and believe that your blog is going to give me something of value. Link to other relevant articles or purchasing information. Make your post the lighthouse that shines light on the information sources I need if I’d like to learn more. Get Personal A blog post is personal, not because it’s about yourself, but because it allows us inside your blogger head. We see your thought process. Unlike a responsible journalist or technical writer, you don’t remove yourself from the story. You’re a participant in it. You, the writer, are always there, indicating for us what you think about the subject at hand. Give To Get Your blog should vibrant and alive and full of opinions and engagement. People who write great blogs understand the value of sharing and of feedback. A blog is opinion-based and the true power of it lies in the comments that follow – and your response to them. FYI, if criticism scares you, developing a thick skin and a sense of humor should be your top priority before launching your blog. Engage Your Readers Every single comment posted on your blog deserves a response. Every single one. Your readers took the time to share their feelings and you owe it to them to acknowledge that gift with a response. Not responding to a comment is like not answering your customer service line. Doesn’t exactly extend a warm and cozy feeling, does it? Be Nice Not everyone is going to agree with you or even understand you. Some people will be critical and mean about your writing. Some may even call you names. My advice? Be nice. Don’t reduce yourself to a flame war on your own blog. Thank the haters for taking the time to visit and share their thoughts and then move onto the next comment. Share With Abundance Just because you write it doesn’t mean they will come. Using social media will help the search engines find you faster and bring more people to your site. It’s called content marketing – using keywords to signal to the search engines that you’re doing something over here that’s worth taking a look at. The downside is that if you use the wrong keywords, you may the wrong kind of traffic – or traffic that doesn’t convert. Elevate Other Bloggers Blogs are a powerful force because they intertwine and work together. Writing a blog without ever reading a blog is impossible – the system is built on reciprocity. What’s more, developing a unique voice on your blog takes time and practice and other bloggers can help with their valuable feedback. If you never visit another blog but expect other bloggers to visit you…enough said. Don’t Give Up I can hear my mother saying, “If it’s worth doing, it not going to be easy.” Sadly, she’s right. This stuff isn’t easy and it can hurt when you publish your brilliant post and no one (other than your mom) visits. Don’t give up. You can do this. How can I be so sure? You’re reading my blog post aren’t you? Cheat Sheet: Blogging Do’s and Don’ts Blogging Do’s: Use the first person Use lots of detail Go as deep as you can Show instead of tell Keep it tight Make a point Tell the truth Blogging Don’ts: Overstate your point Be afraid to get your hands dirty Water it down Make things up Rely too heavily on cuteness

Author:  Julia Rosien 

*Very good article so I wanted to share.  

To Blog or not to Blog?

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is DigitalFridayand I’m going to encourage you to think about blogging if you aren’t already.

Blogging requires a consistent time commitment and may not be right for ever brand. You have to create relevant content that resonates with your customers. Blogging for the sake of blogging isn’t going to add value if no one cares about the content or follows you. Here are my top 5 reasons to blog.

1) Continuously seeking new content keeps you on top of your game. Creating a blog and presenting it to your audience requires you to stay current and be an expert on your subject matter.

2) Blogging positions you as a content expert because people are following the blog and relyingon your information.

3) It creates an inbound marketing campaign. We’ve talked about the importance of thisin previous blogs. You are creating a presence on the internet and competing against other businesses that are also mounting inbound marketing campaigns. SEO loves blogs and the chance of customers discovering your work increase as you place more content online.

4) Blogs arevery useful tools in other ways as well. When I engage potential clients I often send them pertinent links from my own branding videos. The blogsbecome powerful salestool in my marketing tool kit.

5) You are able to engage your followers. They will comment, share likes and dislikes and you have the opportunity to respond and develop a relationship.

Blogging does create attention for your brand. The simple fact that you are reading this blog proves my point.

*This is an article from branding/marketing guy named Jim Glover but he really hits on the point of why you should be blogging.  

Role of Social Networking Websites in Blogging

MAY 17, 2013 BY BRIANNE WALTER 1 COMMENT

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Blogging is an easy way to express your views and reach out to the world. People usually connect with blogs and their content as they do not preach. The language of blogs is mostly in simple English and easy going which further helps people to connect with the blog content easily. Another form of social media is social networking websites. These websites help you to build social network, connect with new friends, keep in touch with old friends, build social relations among people, etc.

Nowadays social networking sites not only help you connect with other people but they also help in various other business and non-business related matters. These sites also have a role to play in blogging. So let’s learn how can social networking sites help you in blogging and what is the role of social networking sites in blogging.

1) Make your blog visible

As a new (or even experienced) blogger you would need to make people aware of your blog. You would need some way, route, or source to make people notice your blog. Social networking sites help you do just that. These sites make your blog visible to the web world.

2) Promote your blog content

Visibility or awareness of a blog’s existence is not sufficient always. It might not always get you the desired result and make your blog successful. You need to promote your blog to people. Social networking sites allow you to promote your blog. Some sites allow you to post blog entries by which your blog gets more exposure. You can also choose and promote to the desired public only.

3) Drive traffic to your blog

Your blog may not be very SEO friendly and you may not see much traffic directed to your blog through search engines. This is when social networking sites can help you drive traffic to your blog. You can build links in your networking profile which will direct traffic to your blog thus helping to increase traffic in your blog.

4) Increase your page rank in Search Engines

Social networking sites allow you to build quality links to your blog in their own site. These links can make your blog more SEO friendly and can help increase your page rank in search engines. This in turn increases traffic in your blog as traffic is directed through the search engines to your blog.

5) Reach out to your existing and potential followers

Social networking sites can help you reach out to people who have been following your blogs and have been interested and appreciative of your blogging. You can also get in touch with a big number of people who can turn into followers of your blog through these networking sites.

Social networking sites have become an important part of our lives as they help us to remain connected with people and events as well as many other things. Hence, these sites can have a major role to play in making your blog a success and turning you into a successful and popular blogger.

*This blog was written by me but by a woman who gets it.  I found it very interesting and wanted to share.  

Top 7 Tips To Increase Your Web Presence

April 15, 2013 by esalesdata | Leave a comment

In an interactive world led by Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogs, maintaining a strong web presence can seem overwhelming.

There is no exception to the fact that whoever is holding a website needs a better traffic. However, promoting your website or content on the social website would not be enough to generate high traffic. If your website presence is not up to the mark or updated then it might face the heat of low traffic.

If you built your website a few years ago it’s time for an update, if for no other reason than the fact that usage patterns have changed dramatically. It’ expected that within two-three years the mobile users will surpass desktop users.

That means your website is unlikely to be as effective a marketing tool as it once was, especially if your site doesn’t automatically resize and rearrange the content for all possible devices. In response to that, this blog will share 7 killer tips to increase web presence so as to achieve what you wish.

1. Go Mobile

The time has come when you need to shift your websites to mobile phones, especially, smart phones and tablets.  You need to reassemble your technology, so as to make a new graphic layout that works effortlessly both in mobile phones and desktop.

2. Update Your Content

Attracting your customers with valuable, compelling and updated content is a perfect way to indirectly promote your brand while illustrating your expertise. When done properly, you build a relationship with your prospects and you become an “expert” who they can rely on the future for advise, services, or products. If you capture their attention with some beneficial and updated information, your audience will be engaged and therefore they will increase the amount of time they spend on your site.

Most importantly, make sure to use a content management system (CMS) that makes it easy for you to make your own updates. The appropriate CMS will make managing content as swift as using a web browser.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization, is the process of increasing the visibility of your website through natural search results. By providing updated content on your website, using commonly searched items, and offering links to both your website and applicable external websites, the more frequently your site will show up in search results – thus increasing your web presence .

4. Don’t Overload the Information

Overloading the information would never give you the true response. Your site visitors need to be guided down a path and that becomes insanely hard to do, if you provide them with a large number of starting points. Remember, that when visitors are coming to your website, you can’t let them go just after viewing your landing page.

Obviously, you expect them to go deeper and browse your website. Don’t think that your users are illiterate or they have no knowledge about their wants. Visitors already know what they are looking for; and instead of providing numerous and unwanted information, try to focus on your particular product and service so as to make them more comfortable.

5. Review Your Site

Find some time to write up reviews for your company on major review networks. For example, you run a hospital; there are several sites that review best hospital in the country or world. Or else, you can also ask other review sites to write a review about your site. Just know that once your review is up, you will start see people visiting your site through this on a consistent basis.

6. Implement Analytics

Measuring the success of your website is really important to enhance your web presence. That is why you need to use some kind of analytics software that gives you an insight into your efforts. Using analytics, you can track the following things:

• The number of visitors to your site
• The time spend by the visitors
• Which page they follow the most
• From where they are coming

7. Be the Controller

If you want to hire freelancer for your layout design and development service, then make sure you choose a CMS that you can understand and update yourself. Like that you can have full control over the content, even, when there will be any conflict with the freelancer.

Today in the era of internet, your web presence defines you in front of your clients. Hence, making your web presence is an important tool to display profoundly. And for that you need to follow the above 7 tips to bolster your internet presence.

PS:  Very interesting article written by Linda.  

Why being at the top of the search engines could be killing your business!

Top of Google and top domain name but still no calls?

Posted by Alan on April 9, 2013 in Search Engine Optimization | 0 comments

Seems the Midas touch is true when it comes to Internet marketing in Bangkok as it is anywhere.

So you have the top keyword domain name for your business and you are top of Google but you feel cheated because the phones not ringing! Be careful what you wish for.

Most businesses, when asked what they want from Internet marketing, they ask to be Number one on Google, yet what they should be asking for is:

To be branded as a leader and a go to person

Well if you are top of Google now and you are not getting calls seems you paid a SEO company to fiddle with your keywords and now you have been manipulated to the top of the Google search pages and didn’t you feel good for a while! Then after ringing a few friends and a visit to an obscure Internet café to check that their PC’s have the same search engine results as yours, you cannot understand why you are not inundated with leads.

Here’s probably why:

Clever manipulative SEO people can trick search engines and use pay per click can get a really dull website to the top of search engines quickly, all we online marketing people have to do is make sure the keywords in the code align with the keywords in the body, description and title and pick a low competition keyword and Robert is your Father’s brother. The Internet population click and leave your website as fast as they arrived because:

You have no real content!

Search engines can now read and they even can see overuse of any keyword they even go as far as looking for synonyms to your main keyword. Search engines can also see how many people have shared it on social media sites. They can also see how many links back from authority sites and sites that have subject matter not a million miles away from your own.

Point is and I have been screaming about this for years now.

Stop worrying about search engine robots and worry about people, give them what they want, which is information, Blog away once twice a week, people love consistency and they love that you are not always in the face selling, you are helping them to find what it is they were looking for. By doing this people will love you and digital marketing is all about giving.

Blog like you just don’t care,  well you shouldn’t care about search engines because search engine robots haven’t got any money!!  if you write with passion the right keywords are splashed across the page naturally, and people will share great information on social media, keep at it and forget about a ROI and KPI’s you will see it soon enough, just don’t quit! It takes around 30 blogs spread over two years to start branding yourself and becoming a leader in your field.

Tell people in your blogs how you do stuff, and how what you do is different from everyone else, share your knowledge, write about indirect stuff that and show your character,r after all people buy people and you can establish a great rapport. This is branding!

I receive around 4-8 leads a month direct to Social media or my email direct because I blog and have been doing so every week since 2007. My phone bill is less than $20 a month!

What would 4-8 extra leads a month mean to your business? to find out how to do this for yourself contact Netmediathailand

PS:  This article was written by Alan Johnston who's an online marketing trainer and has done work for Yahoo and other big businesses but I wanted to share because it is very powerful.  

Why aren't more people calling me when I'm ranking on the first page of Google! Here's one big reason why.

"The internet is just not for me and my business!  Plain and simple.  I spent all this money to get on the first page of Google and I'm not getting any meaningful business.  Whoever came up with this idea that you have to be at the top of the search engines is just nuts!"  

How many of you have heard this?  Better yet.  How many of you have said this?  Could it be true?  Well, Ron, everyone has told me that where people go for information is on the internet.  The Yellow Pages are a thing of the past.  We know that.  I don't want to spend a fortune on radio, tv or a billboard.  So if that's the case and the internet is where everyone goes why am I not getting more inquiries for my products/services?  This has become a popular question and a very good one that deserves a good answer.

Now I could on and on with all the technical reasons why you're not getting results (bad website, poor content, etc.) but when all is said and done there is one simple answer that can make all the difference in the world.   2 words.  MOBILE WEBSITE.

What do you mean, Ron?  People can still find me searching through their phones.  I still show up on page one of Google.  Oh really.  You mean that website with microscopic print that even with a magnifying glass you can't read?  Is that the site you want me to browse around on?  And let's say for argument sake I do.  I can't navigate through the site because every time I try to go to another page the darn link is so small I press something else on the site.  Darn it!  This is just too frustrating. I'm outta here!

Folks you think I'm kidding but for those of you who have smartphones don't tell me you've never experienced that.  And in this day and age with so many options to choose from I'm not going to waste a lot of time on a site I can't navigate around on.  Let's face it.  People are impatient and we want simple!  How many of you have actually paid more for a product through a mobile device even though you knew there was another site where you could buy that same product from and for cheaper but it just wasn't convenient?  Folks, it happens.  And with the experts forecasting that in the next few years over 80% of all goods/services are going to be purchased through mobile devices you better get on board or you're going to be left behind!