How to Get Local Traffic from Google+

Jun 8, 2012 malachi Blog, Guest Authors, local 2 Comments google, guest blog, local, local search, SEO, social media

We have another guest posting about Local Search. Today Ashley Bennett will be discussing the benefits of Google+ and how to get local traffic.

What is Google+ Local and Why You Should Care

Google+ is a new social media network created by Google. It is most similar to Facebook, but it also has a lot of unique features that are not present on other social media networks. It is a place for businesses and people alike, so there are ways to share messages, videos, and just about anything else on the website. In the initial stages you had to be invited to join the network, but now Google+ is currently open to the general public now. It is not quite as popular as Facebook or Twitter, but you should care because there are a lot of people on the website and it will give you a chance to promote yourself.

Tips to Optimize Your Google+ Listing

– Claim your Google+ if you have not already done so

Google will automatically create a listing for your business in most cases, whether you know or not, so it is up to you to claim it. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses will fail to claim their profile on Google+ and simply leave everything to chance. It is recommended that you claim your business, start a Google + account, and start making people aware of your presence.

– Maintain accurate information about your business

One of the biggest problems that businesses have online is making sure that customers know how to contact them. A lot of businesses have websites and social media accounts, but in some cases they will have inaccurate contact information. This could be something like a different phone number, email, or even web address. It is essential that all of your information is current so that people know how to contact you.

– Use local keywords

Emphasize the use of local keywords on your website and social media pages. This means you should use terms like “San Francisco Photographer” or “Chicago Restaurant”. Try to use the terms naturally in a post or add them as part of your keywords on your post, but do not over do it. It is best to use 3-5 keywords in your post to prevent diluting the strength of those keywords.

– Communicate with customers on Google+

Given that Google+ is a social media network, you definitely need to be social even if you are acting as a business. Round up your customers on that are Google+ and start a group. Start posting news about your business or offering coupons or discounts on Google+.

– Encourage positive reviews from your customers

As you probably know, people are allowed to write reviews of your business on your account, so you need to make sure that they have positive things to say about it. You are not allowed to compensate people for these types of posts, but you can encourage customers that have had positive experiences to tell others about it on the website.

– Link your Google+ to your website and tell your customers about it

One of the most important things you can do to get traffic from Google+ is to link your website to the page and vice versa. People should be able to get all of your social media links from your website and they should also be able to reach your website from your profile. Although it sounds really simple, a lot people forget to do it.

Google+ is gaining popularity everyday, so it is better to join in on the action early. It has a very intuitive interface and most find it easy to use, so go ahead and get started today.

Ashley Bennett is a marketing consultant and owner of MarketingMages.com.

5 Things Your Dog Can Teach You About Marketing

Jun 5, 2012 malachi Blog, Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, social media No Comments 5 things, changes, dubya, facebook, internet, Marketing, pinterest, SEO, social media

I have a dog. His name is Dubya. He’s My bestfriend. (I’d like to avoid any political flaming for having a dog named Dubya, so let’s all pretend I gave him that name because he’s a Welsh terrier.)

My weekends are often spent on my back patio having a cerveza and working on my projects while watching Dub get into trouble in the backyard. These characteristics he’s developed over the last year and a half can help put some perspective into how you can successfully (or very unsuccessfully) market to your customers or consumers.

1. Dubya is easily distracted – His favorite toy / best friend in the world is his hippo. The first thing he does when we get home is say hello, and then go into his home and get his hippo out to take wherever we’re going to be spending the evening. The funny thing is that he loves his hippo until you distract him with his monkey.. then the hippo no longer exists… until he is re-distracted by the hippo again.

Consumers are Easily distracted and distractable.

Marketing works the exact same way. In a nutshell, I am marketing which toy I want Dub to play with (albeit without any personal gain.) Consumers are easily distracted. In this era of sensational products changing exponentially quicker than Moore’s law should be accounting for, Marketing is playing a larger role than ever before. How does apple get users to spend 100’s or even 1000’s of dollars on a product knowing that a “refresh” may launch within the next 10-12 months. Marketing and Distraction. It works… and i want the iPhone 5…

2. Neglect is a BAD Thing – Dubya doesn’t respond well to neglect. (and I promise we don’t actually neglect him) Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you have to work late, or get stuck in traffic and you arrive home a little later than anticipated. Dubya is on a strict schedule, with his diet and bathroom breaks. Any deviation from that schedule and he will knowingly punish us for making him adjust his needs. There have been multiple occasions when we’ve been left liquid and solid presents for our less than stellar accountability.

Do Not Neglect your Customers, you will regret it

Marketing requires a schedule and a plan. You have to be prepared to touch and nurture your clients and customers. you can’t write a blog post once every three months (which we’ve all been guilty of at some point) and expect your readership or business to grow. Obviously unexpected life events affect our jobs, but having a schedule and proceeding with as little deviation as possible is necessary for any marketing campaign to succeed. All industries have different levels of acceptable touch. It takes research to know how often you can ping your prospects, but once you’ve figured out those ideal numbers, deviation will result in lost opportunities.

3. Having a dog is Fun! – It is important to have fun. I’d be stretching this post way to thin if I correlated marketing in companionship, so I won’t, but having a dog is fun. Dubya provides entertainment, exercise, and many other endearing traits that increase my quality of life substantially.

Marketing Should Be FUN!

Marketing should be just as fun. If you aren’t having fun in your marketing job (or any job for that matter) you should consider looking for alternate opportunities. Marketing departments are the fun departments. You frequently get to think outside the box and tackle problems in unorthodox and creative ways. Whatever you’re doing, have fun.

“There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.”
― Henry Ford

4. Dubya is Unpredictable – That dog has a mind of his own and he always finds a way to surprise me. From eating his own poop and watching tv, to jumping into the pool to save my wife when he thinks she’s “drowning,” dubya teaches me something new (good and bad) every single day.

The Market is Unpredictable, so the future of marketing is Unpredictable.

Marketing is completely unpredictable. A year ago nobody could have predicted that pinterest would become a large player for social media marketing. People were still discussing how QR codes were going to be the next big thing (fail). With that, we have no idea where marketing is going in the next year or two. Newspapers and commercials are fading out, but what does the future hold. How will we market to consumers that have been raised with complete access to facebook and how will we market to an entire generation of retiring baby boomers. It’s all in flux and the only constant is change.

5. Dubya is 100% Loyal – I don’t think anyone can truly understand the feeling unless they have a dog as well. Not only is he my best friend, but he’s also 100% loyal. He “protects” the house and my wife at night, he senses trials and tribulations and offers empathy and affection through thick and thin. This isn’t automatic. It’s grown, through nurturing, patience, practice, and time.

Treating your customers right will create Brand Loyalty

This one is a little tricky because brand loyalty can be lost by any department in a business. If a product is substandard loyalty can be driven away. If Customer Services is improperly trained or under developed, customers will abandon ship. If marketing creates a substandard message or over promises on product expectations, then loyalty can be lost. They say it takes a village to raise a child. If that is the case, it takes an entire organization to launch and maintain successful products. Work closely with your coherts and drive for success. If you have a dog, give him a hug for me.

Hyper Local Advertising Thoughts

Oct 17, 2011 malachi advertising, Blog, Mobile No Comments advertising, hyper local, local, social, social media, thoughts

The great debate for local advertising has begun. Local Advertising is the final frontier for companies trying to expose their brands to customers. Popular “check-in” apps like Gowalla and Foursquare have become ubiquitous. Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other major social players are all integrating social check-ins into their respective API’s, but what does this mean for us? We’re now volunteering our personal information about our habits and preferences to major companies. These companies can use that data to create a revenue model on a global scale. If I am a 20-something in addison who frequents the flying saucer, it doesn’t matter that I haven’t written my glowing review on yelp. The fact that I have checked in on my phone every week for X weeks in a row shows brand loyalty, which is more important than a simple review.

Obviously, great reviews help businesses on a local level. they help offset the unavoidable negative reviews from trolls and rare occasions of poor service.. (these reviews are inherit parts of business. a negative experience has an exponentially higher likelyhood of being shared than a pleasurable experience) But tangible check ins at a business are still under-appreciated and will definitely garner greater influence as the hyper local landscape smooths out.

I believe that in the next 18 months a business model that integrates the best aspects of groupon / livingsocial, yelp, and (insert any check-in service) will start to gain momentum. If a business can offer real viable discounts and benefits to their loyal “follower’s” then the check-in model will grow and with that the revenue model for the companies building the API’s will be realized.

SEocial – SEO meets Social Media

Jul 14, 2011 malachi Blog, SEO, social media No Comments optimization, search, SEO, seocial, social, social media

Redundant blog post starts now! Social Media and SEO have been on a collision course for the last two or three years. The Major search engines include social media results in real time on their SERPs. With the recent release of Google Plus and the +1 button showing up in almost all of google products, social will continue to play a larger role in SEO. The social and seo industries have merged into one cohesive marketing segment. There is no longer a way to differentiate between an SEO and Social expert and businesses need to keep this in mind when search for online marketing support.

How is your business utilizing social? are you just updating news, current events, and specials? Do you engage customers and answer questions? Are you providing keyword rich replies with links to quantitative content? By incorporating the same best practices for SEO into social you will see high conversions in terms of sales and followers.

Engage Your Customers
Provide Relevant Keyword Rich Content
Cross Promote – Don’t Just Self Promote
Assist Your Fellow Social-ites
Link, Link, Link
Update frequently (3-5 times a week minimum)

By following these bullets you will start to see real results with your social strategies and in doing so you will directly assist your SEO. Obviously this is very high level. You can be doing quite a bit more in terms of Video and other Social, but for a beginner these steps will definitely get you started on the right track.

the Google+ project will change the way we share & communicate

Jun 28, 2011 malachi Blog, google, social media No Comments google, social, social media

Today Google has announced the Google+ project. It is the culmination of all social aspects they’ve been working on for the last decade or so. I am thoroughly excited for this new feature set. I am a big fan of the +1 and other similar features google has been slowly incorporating and I have a feeling this is the first real step in the right direction after a few terrible products including google buzz and google wave. I hope to get my invite shortly and let you know what i find.

for now, here are a few videos

Too Much Social Media? Part 1

Jan 28, 2011 malachi Blog, social media No Comments blog, facebook, social media, youtube

Is it possible for a company to engage in too much social media?

This is a tough question, but a simple answer would be, “yes.” A company can quickly spiral into a social media tailspin if proper planning and implementation isn’t done. Off the top of my head I can name almost 10 popular social media outlets including: blogs, tumblr, posterous, facebook, twitter, youtube, linkedin, foursquare, gowalla, myspace (jk 😀 ), and there are plenty more. One day this list will be completely out of date as new ideas shift and mold this new era of online advertising.

There is absolutely no practical reason for any company to engage in social media unless you have a war room with multiple bloggers and social media experts full time on staff. If you’re a small business putting your foot in the water to see if its warm before jumping in, believe me when I say the water is warm and come on in.

Facebook

Your first step into social media for 2011 should be creating a facebook page for your business. By doing this, you will reserve your name on facebook and even if you dont do anything with it for the time being, no other company can snatch this up. Companies are grabbing up facebook names much quicker than companies were even grabbing domain names in the 90’s. By reserving your name now, you can avoid worrying about it in the future.

Additionally, take a quick look at other forms of advertising. more and more companies are referring customers to their facebook page in advertising before sending them to their home page. They want to be followed via facebook so they can push content to their customers in the future. This is vital for your online marketing success. If you were to go to a company website, there is no guarantee that you’ll ever return. By becoming a fan or friend on facebook. They gain access to being able to advertise in the future.

Add a facebook link to every page on your website (usually in the header or footer

In a nut shell, facebook is a non invasive way a business can engage potential and returning customers to help grow your business through many other forms of advertising.

Blog

Okay, so you have your facebook page reserved and your family and friends have started following you.. It’s now time to create a blog. It is important to have the blog running through your domain. After creating a blog, you can provide up to date content about your business. You can talk about local events, concerns, causes, etc. You can really do whatever you want with your blog. But you’re creating fresh content that will be featured on your website. This will tell the search engines to keep coming back to see what has changed, and it will also provide content to start updating your facebook with updates about your company. You are now using your blog and facebook in tandem and have made a big step into your social media presence.

It is very important to remember that once you create a blog, it is vital to continue to update your blog at least once a month no matter what. I recommend updating your blog at least once a week, but in the beginning you may not have enough time to do this on a regular basis. If you don’t update at a minimum of once a month it is more beneficial to avoid having a blog all together. Inconsistent, outdated, or rarely updated content is worse than no content at all. Your website will look like an impractical unreliable ghost town, and can hurt your business prospects.

Add a Blog link next to your facebook links

Youtube

Okay, you have your blog and facebook. People are following you and you’re updating content weekly. You’re seeing growth of 1 to 2 followers a week and a couple people are ‘liking’ your posts. Now its time to go out and buy an inexpensive Video Camera and post some videos. Videos are very very hot in the SEO and Social landscape right now. Google loves videos and gives preferential treatment to this content and you can leverage Youtube as a social source for products. I recommend creating a short video (60 – 90 seconds) once a month talking about a product, service, or anything your company offers. Focus on value, and create a sense of expertise within your industry. You can now edit these videos for free with included software on a mac or pc. Do a couple takes, splice together a short spot and put it on youtube and link to if from both your blog and facebook. It doesnt have to be perfect, but it will still get much more exposure than anything you’ve blogged thus far. The followers will start flowing in.

If you have capital, I recommend going through a video production company. Spend a day and tape as many videos as possible 5-10 at least. then update bi monthly or monthly and watch the visits start trickling in.

Add a youtube link next to your social links

I will discuss twitter and linkedin and some final strategies early next week!

Social Media for SMB

Jul 15, 2010 malachi Blog, social media No Comments facebook, google, SMB, social, social media

Social media has helped revolutionize the way people connect in unforeseeable ways. 10-15 years ago archaic chat boxes peppered AOL accounts as users began interacting with unknown counterparts in the online space. Today, users utilize their phones, laptops, or tablets, to give their friends and followers up to the second information from anywhere in the world. In other words “Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”

As Social Media has moved into the main stream, businesses have been finding ways to monetize these tools to increase retention and customer interaction. It is now desirable to have a presence on multiple social media services including Facebook, twitter, flickr, LinkedIn, and YouTube, in order to respond to opportunities and concerns that may arise from customers and partners. Broadvox has established presence on all of these sites to support our product offering and sales. These media services allow unobtrusive access to our clients to let them know the goings on of Broadvox and details pertaining to new products or updates without spamming their inbox with emails.

Our endeavor into the social landscape is still very experimental. We are continually testing new services and new ways to utilize these platforms to increase our advertising and market share. We have found that twitter, LinkedIn, andYouTube offer the best access to provide information about the company to our VARs and customers. These 3 websites provide a great avenue for information distribution and interaction. We have also seen success using Facebook, butFacebook is inherently geared to avoid the business to consumer interaction. I anticipate in the coming months that Facebook will make major changes to their platform in order to allow businesses greater access to their customer base. In order to compete with the upcoming Google me social media product, Facebook will have to find new ways to monetize their brand and customer interactions. By allowing businesses greater direct access to their database, they will be able to stay competitive with Google’s ambitious venture into social media.

Part of the new landscape for any online marketing plan has to have a substantial investment in time and energy for social media. It is the most direct way for you to reach your customers at a personal level.