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Small Business Marketing

Why Coupons work for Small Business

Written on March 6th, 2012 by
Categories: Small Business Marketing

Doing business in today’s market means caring about your customer and taking good care of them so that they do business with you forever. What a better way to show your customers that you care, but to give them something. Coupons have been around a long time and they are starting to gain a significant amount of popularity, especially over the past 5 years with the economic downfall.

Here’s an article from the Huffington Post – Small Business section that discusses why coupons are on the rise for Small Business. Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/OxavA

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5 Common Tax Mistakes That Small Businesses Make

Written on March 2nd, 2012 by
Categories: Small Business Marketing, Uncategorized

It’s not surprising that many small businesses and individuals make mistakes with their bookkeeping and filing.

Some small business tax advice….

(read entire article here: http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/1169/1/AT_Tax-And-Bookkeeping-Mistakes.asp)

 

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Why Businesses Need Local SEO

Written on February 27th, 2012 by
Categories: Local SEO, Online Marketing, Reputation Management, SEO Linkbuilding, Small Business Marketing

It’s very important to not forget about all of the direct benefits that your site can take advantage of by using a local SEO strategy. It’s no mystery, the Internet is an extremely big place and is no doubt growing each and every day.

It allows you to target the whole globe, but it’s more than likely that your business is located in just one small corner of this worldwide gateway. You’ll find this to be even more true if you have a traditional brick and mortar business.

This day in age it doesn’t make sense to spend your marketing time and dollars trying to market to the entire whole world, instead, you should create a more targeted approach and that is specific to your local community.

What Is The Goal of Local SEO?

The goal of using local SEO in {all suburbs} is to spread the word, get your name, website and business out there and in front of the audience that is most likely to benefit from it and those are people who are physically located near where you are. An alternate way to look at it is comparable to the local section of your yellow pages. Local SEO simply means that if you’re a local dry cleaner, located in Miami, FL your potential customers will find your location by searching locally online. LocalSEOSites.com uses specific techniques to ensure that your brands SEO strategy is specifically targeted to your local audience and customers.

It’s important to not over look the fact that people are literally trying to find you and not vise versa. When you take advantage of using local SEO, it makes it just that much easier for local consumers to find you and your business.

Traditional SEO campaign are great, but if you really want to increase business with local customers, it is wise to implement local SEO methods. Taking on a local SEO in campaign is extremely vital for your web site as well, not to mention the longevity of your brand.

Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, Reputation Management, SEO Linkbuilding, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

4 Most Common Small Business Search Engine Marketing Mistakes

Written on February 15th, 2011 by
Categories: Google Local Optimization, Local SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Most Common Search Engine Marketing Mistakes

Scared of being erased from the first page of Google?

Once you get the taste for ranking on the search engines it becomes a bug. A nervous tick that keeps you awake at night pondering how your website can rank higher for more keywords. In some instances for a small business owner trying to gain exposure on the internet without a large web presence they may be tempted to trick the search engine but this can lead to disaster.

Have you ever been flagged in your Google Places account or had your website appearing on the 1st page one day and the 7th page the next? Then you need to read this article about the 4 most common mistakes small businesses make when utilizing search engine marketing.

1) Patience – Instant gratification is great but anything on the internet takes time. It is normal to expect movement in rankings after changing your web presence although the search engines have to do their due diligence first. We suggest making optimizations to your website all at once then allowing the changes to be indexed and cached by Google before making more changes. Allow 3 – 4 weeks for changes to reflect.

2) Grey Hat SEO – One of the most common issues we see are small businesses padding the name of their Google Places Listing with keywords. This may work for a little while but ultimately will hurt your ranking once the search company’s robot finds out. It is never a good idea to just pad the keywords in instead of working them into the content. Some websites we come across have html files, alt/title tags and images being named long strings of keyword. A better approach would be to utilize one keyword in these elements or mash words together that are different but create many keywords you are going for.

3) Web Presence – More websites is not always a good idea. Sometimes we get clients with 5 – 10 websites all for the same company. If each website had different information including telephone numbers and different overall intentions they would be alright but still unnecessary. However, if each website has the same contact info and site data it will only creates confusion for the search engines.

4) Paid Placement – Another common mistake we see from small business owners is PPC through Adwords for placement on the 1st page. It is ok to use paid placement to rank if you are waiting for your organic growth from local SEO but you can lose that placement as soon as the money dries up. Organic ranking on Google does not get charged per click and will not go away once you stop paying, do not be fooled by front page placement that is not through search engine optimization.

It is true that anyone is capable of getting to the first page of Google but the internet marketing industry is changing rapidly and the algorithm for searches is always expanding. Also there are more robots scanning the web than ever looking for improper usage of linking and content.

If you can find a local SEO company with a good reputation, competitive price tag and a team that is accountable plus answers the phone, then you may as well go with them. They will be able to do the job quicker and more efficiently than someone who does not work with the search engines daily.

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Posted in Google Local Optimization, Local SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing | 1 Comment »

What is Internet Marketing for Local Business?

Written on November 16th, 2010 by
Categories: Local SEO, Online Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing
What is Internet Marketing for Local Business

What is Internet Marketing for Local Business

You can’t run a car without gas. Not 20 years ago and not now. Businesses need marketing, just like a car needs gas. They did 20 years ago and they do now. 20 years ago however there were not very many places to find products and services locally. Phonebooks and flyers used to cut it when there was no other option but imagine using a phone book or digging through flyers to find something when you need it right away. The quickest way to find reputable companies locally is online but what is internet marketing for local business?

Internet marketing is gas for small businesses that need local customers. Google has made a hard push for quality local search engine results and with so many other listings, search engines and directories available online it has never been easier to find a company near you. Companies that offer services you are searching for. Without a web presence you are missing out on a large chunk of the market that is near your location, customers that are in need and searching for you. Very targeted traffic that does not want to waste time and that is why they are searching online.

When starting to use internet marketing for local business you need to think about your needs. Are you in need of quick traffic to drive revenue or do you have some time to wait and grow organically? There are two ways to market your business online, paid placement which does not last or organic growth that takes time but sticks.

Obviously paid placement is the quickest way to get to the top, but it is also the most expensive way. If you have the capital I suggest running a paid placement advertising campaign alongside you search engine optimization campaign. While waiting for your local SEO to get your site ranked you can gain targeted traffic that not only helps to bring in some money but boosts your websites rankings on the search engines.

Local optimization or organic search engine marketing can take time but it is the best way to draw in free customers. Not exactly free, you are actually paying for them but not per visit like PPC advertising. Also, people know the difference between a paid placement and a long term organic search ranking. They know that you have to have earned the respect of the search engines and took the time to rank in order to be at the top of Google.

About how long will it take to get to the front page of Google you ask? If you have no web presence or a brand new listing then it takes about 1 month to get some sort of traction. Even then you are not going to be shown all over the place unless you are in a very niche market. Once you have gained the respect of the major search engines though and are being shown on the first page you gain the respect of the consumers searching.
So what is internet marketing for local business? Its gas, if you don’t know that by now then you probably don’t drive.

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Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

What is Local Search Engine Optimization on Google Places?

Written on November 2nd, 2010 by
Categories: Google Local Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Google Places Optimization

Local Search Engine Optimization for Google Places

White hat, black hat, grey hat… forget all that! This is not Dr Seuss, but amongst the confusion, search engine marketers and small business owners who do marketing can feel a little childish. It’s not all fairytales and storybooks though, especially when dealing with marketing technology like Google Local Business Listings. And this article is not going to be a rhyme about a cat in a hat as well. Instead I will explain what is local search engine optimization on Google Places?

Let’s get this straight. There are two forms of optimization for your local business listing, onsite and offsite. Just like nationwide SEO, local search engine optimization is based on the same fundamentals. Onsite deals with what is on the listing itself down to the smallest details including services, media and business info. Offsite is a mix of how relevant the info you have across the web is and the SEO of your website, but why worry about that until you have an optimized business listing.

To really figure out what local search engine optimization on Google Places is, we must look into onsite optimization. Just like a children’s book it is best to start off slow and build interest with Google, get the basics right first.

•Company name: List your real company name, not some optimized name full of keywords. Eventually the search engine will find out and penalize you.

•Address, number, email, and website: List these exactly as you would on your business card. Having information on the web that is consistent will increase your chance for exposure that the search engines can track.

•Description: This is the spot for blatant promotion of your keywords to a certain extent. It is a good idea to list your company’s name and the city it is in but also feel inclined to list your services, specialties and keywords that draw people in.

•Categories: Always take the time to included relevant categories. Start off with at least one category that Google provides but you should use as many of the already listed categories as possible. If there are not 5 premade categories that fit your business, which in most cases there won’t be, then make custom ones. Also your custom categories should be your main keywords, they are taken very seriously by the search engine.

•Images: Make sure the first image you upload is the image you want to be seen the most. It is shown in the search results next to your listing most of the time. The image should be a rectangle that is lying on its side as well so Google will not distort the image or crop it. You are limited to 10 images, so you may as well upload 10 images because a picture is worth a thousand words… that’s 10,000 words.

•Additional Details: After what I said in the description you may be thinking about blatantly spamming this area. You can, but just like the company name eventually the search engines will find out and you will not be happy when your listing drops 4 pages. You can add a lot of info here but I suggest just placing the same words you find throughout the listing one more time. Additionally listing brands, material types or other specialty information is a good idea.

So whether you have a brother in-law’s sister’s cousin working at Google or you think I am feeding you green eggs and ham, I assure you that these facts hold true. After all local search engine optimization, just like any other form of SEO, is all about drawing in targeted searches to provide the correct products and services.

Google Places is a key factor to get your business properly listed on Google Maps and like any other listings or directories page, you must provide relevant information from optimized profiles and listings so that they can draw in people who are looking to search. Just like search engine marketers and small business owners who are trying to draw in traffic, Google needs traffic to sell products to through their advertising.

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Online Marketing Earns the Search Engine’s Respect through Relevancy

Written on October 13th, 2010 by
Categories: Online Marketing, Reputation Management, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Online Marketing Reputation Management

Online Marketing Reputation Management from one source

Mysterious as they seem algorithms are basically just logic through a scientific equation. Since search engines cannot tell where a business stands in real life and what it consists of through print and offline marketing, SE companies like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask use algorithms and web crawling robots to rank a company’s prestige.

Logically if information about your company appears all over the web, most importantly on relevant sites that are business related then your business will be looked upon with respect by search engines. Online marketing earns respect by providing information about your business in relevant locations.

Consistent Data that Earns Relevancy
• Company’s name
• Complete Address
• Phone Number
• Website URL
• Email Address
• Services Offered
• Brand Carried
• Company Descriptions

If your company’s information is consistent meaning your name appears exactly the same on all forms of online marketing including capitalizations and symbols such as $, &, #, etc. then search engines will give that listing more respect. More respect from Google means more business.

To be more clear, the more pieces of relevant data the better. Be sure not to miss the little things though, if your address is 1234 East Main st. on your local business listing then it should be the same on all your online marketing. Be sure not to let small errors slip through the cracks like making it 1234 E Main st. or 1234 East Main Street, even 1234 East Main St should be taken into consideration. After all, how hard is it to keep all your companies information uniform and professional?

Reputation management for your online marketing can keep your information relevant and consistent across the web. Most likely you have heard of a local SEO expert but many times there is no real management happening. Most companies web presence optimization has no accountability and further more you need to check all across the web just to be sure that the info is getting spread.

A reputation management company still offers local SEO services but with accountability. True online rep managing companies provide graphical data along with software that can display all information about your business from the web.

Online Reputation Management provides
• Where you are listed
• To what extent you are listed
• Which sites are displaying reviews
• An average rating of reviews
• Aocial mentions such as tweets

If you want to be on the first page of Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask then you need online marketing that is relevant, consistent and manageable. Online reputation management teamed up with a local SEO expert provides just what a small business needs when attempting search engine marketing.

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Get Reviews – A Proactive Owners Small Business Marketing Tip

Written on October 12th, 2010 by
Categories: Reputation Management, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Small Business Search Engine Marketing Tips

Small Business Search Engine Marketing Tips

So you’re at the forefront when it comes to small business marketing. Your website is completely optimized and you’ve done search engine submissions along with directory submissions. Basically you have a web presence that should stand out above the rest. Although when you search for your business on local sites like Google Local Business Listings, Yahoo Local and Bing Local you are on the first page but at the very bottom.

Like most small business owners who have taken on the task of search engine optimization for their website and search engine marketing for their business you are at a standstill once you’ve reached a certain position on the search engine page rankings. Where do you go from there?

If you are doing small business marketing you probably do not have a lot of time to research how to fix your problem or even manage your reputation online. Most likely you are helping customers out or you are out doing work but that’s the beauty of this tip. While you are helping customers and servicing their needs you have the opportunity to provide your business with local SEO. Expert or not all, you need to do to help boost your page on the local business listings is ask for reviews and ask for them properly.

What do I mean by properly? Small business owners are a friendly group of people who usually get along with members of the community. You’re a business owner …and that’s how you are, right? Sometimes a customer may ask you what they can do for you, other than just paying you. If you are an internet savvy owner then you know that a review on the internet could help boost your company’s reputation. So you ask them to post a review about you on Google or Yelp but you forgot to add in the most important part.

The TIP
Reviews have a greater impact when they contain keywords that support searches. Let’s say for example I have an insurance agency in Los Angeles, Ca. It is probably a very competitive market and most likely it will take a lot of work to climb to the top of the searches. Reviews from clients that contain keywords will help to boost me up to the top of the searches.

Do not be afraid to teach your customers how to add keywords into their reviews. It’s as simple as letting them know, if you write a review about my business please don’t forget to tell everyone which service I provided you and please let them know that I am this type of business. In my example a review by someone stating they got the cheapest boat insurance around after searching many insurance agencies would help me to rank for prospective clients searching for boat insurance and insurance agencies.

So a proactive owner looking to do small business marketing without the help of a reputation management company or a local SEO expert can help to boost their business to the top of the local searches on the Google Local Business Listings, Yahoo Local and Bing Local could find that the answer is right under their noses. Asking customers if they could write reviews about your company or service and asking if they can add in important facts and keywords is probably the easiest way to help your search engine marketing for a small business.

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Local SEO Technology Geolocation Marketing & Targeted Traffic

Written on September 29th, 2010 by
Categories: Bing / Yahoo Local Optimization, Google Local Optimization, Local SEO, Small Business Marketing
Geolocation Marketing Local SEO

Targeted Traffic comes from Geolocation Marketing

Do you know the difference between shopping and buying? Shopping means I don’t know what I want so I am looking around and weighing out my options. In other words I may waste your time having you answering my questions, showing me products or waiting for me to make my decision. Buying means I need a product or service, my money is in hand and all I want is a place to get it. Small business marketing can drive targeted traffic that is ready to make a purchase to your location through local SEO and geolocation.

Who wants to waste their time answering questions, showing products and waiting on someone for free? A prospective customer can end up never purchasing anything and all that time goes down the drain. Business owners want targeted traffic that is looking to make a purchase the same day, better yet that same hour. They are looking for customers that know which products and services they want who’s only need is a place to purchase them.

Iphones, Droids and Blackberrys all have a new technology called geolocation built in and more smartphones utilizing the technology are being released every other week. Applications provided by companies like Foursquare, YellowPages, Twitter, Facebook and others supply users with data through geolocation technology. Data such as which restaurants are nearby, how far away they are, reviews, products and services as well as their hours of operation but where do you suppose that data is generated from?

Businesses that have a strong web presence will benefit most from geolocation because the data provided is being pulled from around the internet. Since every application and device uses different ways of generating information about businesses it is a huge benefit to have your business information posted in as many places as possible. Not to mention that relevancy on the web is what drives your company to the top of the search engines.

Geolocation is new technology that will drive targeted traffic to your location if you are marketing correctly online. After all technology is the future of business and it is the future of marketing. If your internet marketing efforts are not geared towards location or mobile browsing then you will be missing out on a large market in the future. Local search engine optimization (SEO) will help you spread your company’s data across the internet so that applications can find it and display it to targeted traffic in your area.

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Posted in Bing / Yahoo Local Optimization, Google Local Optimization, Local SEO, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

Google TV Brings Search Engine Marketing To Those Searching

Written on September 28th, 2010 by
Categories: Reputation Management, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Google TV Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing As Seen On Google TV

Can you say bye bye to your favorite standard cable channels? Not this generation. Although we are a breed of convenience, so having the power of a customizable query of programs and videos available all across the web is not out of the picture.

Google TV is going to bring the search engines to your living room. With a 46 inch HDTV monitor by Sony, or plug and play add-on box how could you go wrong? Google is going to combine your standard cable channels with search engine results and millions of videos online. The television is running on the Android operating system with the ability to run Google Maps, Gmail, Facebook apps, Youtube, and Twitter.

So with that said you can say Opportunity is Knocking.

Business owners now have the ability to reach their local market in their living rooms. This new opportunity is available through Google Maps and Youtube optimization also known as web presence optimization. This cost effective approach to branding and marketing your business with content, videos and informational commercials is genius.

Now small business owners are in the same arena as the big corporations. With the right support and guidance they now have the ability to reach the masses to compete and dominate.

Market shifter yes I said “market shifter”, I believe this will resemble the change from CD’s to Mp3’s and wave files, but this is going to be the change from movie theaters and DVD’s to YouTube and Hulu in your living room on the wall. Reaching millions has never been easier, but with that said ruining your reputation or having your reputation ruined is just as easy. As I said in my last post make sure you have a reputation management system or team in place before marketing online.

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Posted in Reputation Management, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »