Google Search Results Are Evolving – Find Out How to Keep Your Business On Top

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Megan Q

Google Places has evolved and changed the way that local search results are displayed for the approximately 91 million users that execute web searches on this engine each day. Google uses geo-identity features from a user’s IP address to display relevant local results for each search. Research has indicated that over 20% of searches are locally focused, so Google Places has become the top-ranked search results. Google Places now dominates results pages, making organic results and Maps listings less important by pushing them further down, so it is essential to understand this application and how to make it work for your business.

There are three main initiatives to manage and optimize your Google Places ranking:

On-Site Optimization: This involves creating and establishing content and verifying your listing on Google Places. This content includes basic information such as company name, address, local phone number and categories as well as a brief business description and relevant photos.

Growing External Citations: External citations are another name for listings on other websites, such as CitySearch, Yelp!, Insider Pages, Google +1 and the Better Business Bureau. Google will quickly identify these citations and link back to your Places page and your website.

Reviews: Real-time reviews are imperative to optimizing your Google Places ranking because they add credibility and support to your organization. The volume and quality of given reviews as well as keyword density are also important, so the reviews can be added to your Places page and all of your external citations.

In summary, creating, claiming and establishing your Places page, managing the consistent creation of external citations and developing solid reviews are all major components to optimizing your Google Places ranking. There are many different pieces to the internet marketing puzzle, including search marketing (such as Google Places), social media marketing, lead management, reviews, visitor to conversion management and Google +1 pages. These entities are always changing and it is important to efficiently manage them all. Review our brief video below to discover more about Google Places, its benefits and how Spectrum can manage all aspects of your internet marketing for you.

Google Updates Algorithm

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Greg W

Google is a lot like Facebook. The second you get comfortable with how things are running, that’s when they decide to pull the rug out from underneath you and switch it up. Google’s algorithm, for those who do not know, is a complex set of calculation that they use to judge a website’s relevance to specific search queries. The Google algorithm is why you receive the specific results that you do in a search.

The latest Google algorithm update has been specifically targeted to weed out websites who may have been abusing Google’s previous algorithm with shady Black Hat SEO strategies. This is all part of the ever evolving world of search engine optimization. The newest update by Google has been referred to as the “Farmer Update” as it weeds out sites who produce a whole lot of bad/duplicate content in a way to get the attention of Google. Fortunately, these sites have received attention from Google, but it’s not the good sort of attention as their rankings have decreased.

Unfortunately, some legitimate sites have seen their Page Rank decrease since this latest algorithm update. If this is the case for your business, then feel free to tell Google yourself. Check in at their Google Webmaster Help thread in their support forum and voice your opinion. If there is anything that this new algorithm has proven is that Google will continue evolve, further change the SEO game and has shown that original content still rules all.

Figuring out the new Facebook Pages

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Greg W

Facebook cannot seem to stay satisfied with its design. Once you’ve become adjusted to a new layout on their site, they tend to go ahead and switch things up once again. The newest ‘victim’ of Facebook redesign is the Pages page, but don’t worry, this one truly is for the better. Here’s a rundown of what to expect and how to navigate your brand new Facebook Page.

Design

What you’ll immediately notice is that the new Facebook Pages now resembles your user profile page. Thumbnails of photos that you have in your galleries now sit above your wall. Rest-assured that these photos will NOT include fan photos, so random visitors will not have the power to mess with these thumbnails.

Navigation links (Wall, Info, Photos, etc) are now placed on the left hand side of the page, just like they are on normal profile pages.

There are now two Wall filters. You can have your Wall display only your posts or posts by Everyone, including you. To decide what you want to filter, visit your Edit page.

Admin

The new Admin options is really where the changes set themselves apart from the previous design.

If you will notice on the right hand side of the page the option ‘Use Facebook as (Your Business)’. By choosing this link, you will now:

-Get notifications when fans Like a post, write on your wall, etc.
-View the Wall feed for the Pages that you have set as your Page’s Favorites
-Comment/Like posts and other Pages as your Page (Ex. Spectrum can ‘Like’ a post that your company makes on your Facebook Page if we have made your Page one of our Favorites. Just think of all the different brand interactions!)

You can easily switch back to posting as yourself by choosing Account in the upper right hand corner and then click on ‘Switch back to (Yourself)’.

Next time you log in to Facebook, go ahead and choose to update your Page by visiting your specific Page. Test out the new features. Have fun with it! Favorite Spectrum on Facebook and before you know it, we can be sharing witty banter between brands!

Why Your Business Should Have a Blog

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Greg W

In this day and age, having a website for your business is just not enough. Facebook, Twitter and blogs are all important outlets for your business to maintain. We have previously discussed Facebook and Twitter, so we might as well touch on blogs and why it is smart for your company to have its own blog. Here’s a starter for you, you’re currently reading a blog! And if Spectrum, an internet marketing company, makes uses of a blog, shouldn’t your company as well? You want to rank high in the search marketing game and with your customers, right? And that brings us to our list:

1. Search engines are big fans of new and fresh content. Posting new blogs further adds to the content on your website, keeping your site fresh and keeping its Page Rank high.

2. Simple way to add new content. Why go through a tedious website update on your front page when you can quickly announce news in your blog? Posting a new blog is much simpler than updating individual pages on a website.

3. New content will amount to recurring visits to your site. If someone visits your site once and collects all of the necessary information, what is the point of them returning? But, if you have a blog that you regularly update with quality content, visitors will see a need to continue to visit your site.

4. It gives your customers a whole new way to interact with your business. Via blog comments, customers, (be they regulars or potential), can comment on specific blog posts. Maybe they’ll have a question or an opinion on a post that could lead to a rewarding conversation. This will then further help you understand and appreciate your customer.

5. Your blog will personalize your company. With your blog, you are giving your company a voice. With this voice, people will be more willing to reach out to you and want to discuss business. By personalizing yourself with a friendly, online voice, you will be doing wonders for your company.

Work hard on your blog. Remain consistent your quality posts. Make sure to interact with your readers. By following these steps your blog will flourish. After doing so, you’ll probably wonder what took you so long to start a blog.

Don’t Let Others Hijack Your Address to Achieve Rankings in Google Places

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Leo G

Google Places is an extremely valuable tool for businesses, but if you do not keep your Google Places page up-to-date, it may end up having a negative effect on your company’s listing. Spectrum properly maintains your Google Places page for you as part of your marketing services, but it’s important for you to understand the process and why it’s so critical to avoid having your listing “hijacked.” The following are some steps we take to maintain your Google Places listing and why this process is so important to your business:

1. Verify Your Google Places Page:

Spectrum will verify any existing listings in Google or add a new listing if needed. New listings are usually only need for new/additional addresses for a business. Verifying your Google Places page is, by far, the most important aspect of your page. A new listing may need to be created or you may already have a Google Places page, but if the page is not verified, anyone can go in and change your details. Your phone number, company name, address, website and other details can be changed by any random person with a computer and an internet connection. Or in other words, your page can be hijacked. By verifying your Google Places page, you are the owner of that page, and only you can make the necessary edits to the page. The verification process is simple and can be done over the phone or through the mail. Please make sure you work with your Spectrum representative on receiving those calls or emails Spectrum has already verified your Google Places page for you.

2. What We Do After Verifying Your Site:

Since your site is verified, you have free reign with your Google Places page. Spectrum has made sure all of the miniscule details are perfect. We ensured that your phone number and address match everywhere throughout the web. By reinforcing your exact business details, search engines will better be able to find your business and thereby improve your rankings. Consistency is very important with search engine results. Photos, reviews, website address, hours and other details will also be added to your Google Places page. The more content that you have, the more likely you are to rank. There are also opportunities within Google Places to further enhance your listing, ‘tags’ and coupons, these can be added to help attract searchers.

After verification, Spectrum also works to increase the number of citations associated with your Google Places page. Citations are references to your business or website on other web properties such as the BBB (Better Business Bureau), Yelp, City Search, Yellow Pages, and many others. These citations reinforce the authority of your Places listing.

3. What Happens with Duplicate Listings:

Companies may offer to create and verify your Google Places page using a directory service or automated submission. A directory service uploads a bulk list of companies to Google Places, which can potentially create a duplicate page of your business that is in direct competition with your existing page. Not fair, is it? If, and when this happens, there are two things that can be done. Spectrum will attempt to claim this duplicate listing, which will merge it with the ‘real’ listing we already maintain. Secondly, we can inform Google of the duplicate listing and ask that they remove it. With this, it does not guarantee the listing is changed/removed, so claiming all listings that pop up is usually the first option. That’s why you verify your page with citations and reviews to let Google know that your Google Places page deserves to rank higher than a business page that was submitted by another company. If a company contacts you regarding your Google Places page and its verification, remember that you already have a verified Google Places page and any additional listing can be harmful to your Google Places visibility.

Your Google Places page is an important part of your site ranking in Google. It’s what customers are going to view through Google Maps, which has recently become much more prevalent in search. It’s just as important as your website. You know people are searching through Google and may be more inclined to simply click on a Google Places listing rather than a website so they can get the straight and to the point details. At Spectrum, we make sure that your business is verified and that your Google Places page is not hijacked so that your company can continue receiving high rankings in Google. If you have any questions about your Google Places page, your search marketing engineer at Spectrum is always available to discuss your marketing services.

Making the Most of Google Places for Your Business

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Greg W

Google Places: What is it? What’s New?

Google Places, formerly known as Google Local Business Center, is an important tool for businesses to harness. You find Google Places pages as the business listings found in local Google searches. On a Google Places page, you will view important information for a variety of businesses. On the Google Places page, you will be able to view a business’ phone number, address, hours, reviews, photos, videos and more.

When Google Places earlier this year made the transition from Google Local Business Center, they gave businesses some brand new options with their places page. Some key new features include:

1. Tags – Businesses can now ‘tag’ and highlight their listing on Google Maps for $25 a month. The yellow markers give businesses the ability to highlight details about their business. For example: photos, coupons and other details.

2. Service Areas – Say for instance that your business delivers food, now you can make sure that your company comes up in the geographic areas that you happen to cover.

3. More Visit Details – Now you can see how people are arriving to your Places page as well as where they may be from.

4. Business Photos – Businesses can now upload photos to their page.

Setting Your Google Places Page Up

If you did not already have a Google Places page setup, there are some steps you need to take.

1. First off, you need to claim a listing. Your business may currently have an unverified listing on Google Places. By claiming the place as your own, you will be able to build up your content. If that is not the case, you can list your business yourself on Google Places.

2. This brings us to the second step and that is building up your citations and reviews. You need to make sure that your phone number and address is correct. This is the phone number and address that should be used to represent your business all throughout the internet. Review sites, your website and other directory websites should have the same EXACT phone number and address. If you abbreviate your street (St., Ave., Ln., etc.) make sure it is abbreviated across the board. By doing so, your business will rank better on search engines.

3. Build up your content. Make sure your Details section is comprehensive. Cater to your customers and make sure all of your important information is out there for them. Information such as your phone number, email, website address, business category and more are important for your Google Places page.

Further Tips

1. While an unverified version of your business may exist on Google Places, you are free to create your own. Google will eventually realize that the two businesses are the same and merge the duplicates.

2. If you have multiple locations, it may be better to focus on one particular location. By producing a high-quality Places page for one location instead of having a few average pages, you will establish a Page that is more likely to be found in a search on Google. Having customers find your business is the most important part of search engine marketing.

Harnessing your Google Places page is just another way businesses can help their Google search results and driver further business. As the search engine marketing game continues to evolve, Spectrum is here to help you further drive customers and sales to your business by utilizing a variety of new online mediums.

What is A/B Testing?

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Greg W

So in the SEO scheme of things, what is A/B testing? If you’re anything like me, you may have taken one glance at the blog title and thought A/B testing had something to do with figuring out what blood type you were. In the SEO world, that is not the case. A/B Testing is pretty clear idea and perfectly name for what it is. In the SEO industry, it’s all about a comparison between websites. In A/B testing, two websites (possibly more) for the same company may be created and placed on separate servers with a unique IP address. The goal for both sites is to see which has a higher conversion rate, which customers seem to enjoy more and which one ranks higher in search engines.

By doing so, the SEO will be able to figure out which site is more effective for the company. By taking this data, the SEO can build a site which is optimized for maximum performance. From the content to the layout of your site, the SEO will have a better idea of what does and does not work for your business. Comparing and contrasting sites has its benefits for businesses. It’s a simple way to figure out what your site truly needs and how you can get the most out of it.

But, when it comes to A/B testing, you need to be carefull. Do not link the two separate sites together, do not use the same content and do not put them on the same server. If you do this, your site may be ignored or even blacklisted by search engines, and that is the exact opposite of what you want. Of course, A/B testing will also be a longer process and if you have a business that needs a website put online ASAP, A/B testing may not be your best option. If you have the time and resources, A/B testing could earn you some excellent results in the long run.

Sell Your Business with Social Networking

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Leo G

Sell Your Business with Social Networking and Word of “Mouse”: The 21st Century Business’s “Sales Team”

Use social media to act as your free sales team. Social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin can be huge sales assets to your company, as word of mouth. No sales team can accomplish what referrals and endorsements from your customers can. Nowadays, people research before they buy. And more than ever, people use the internet to conduct this research – more than 70% of consumers, in fact. So, where can prospective buyers find endorsements and reviews about your company? On the social networking sites many of them likely use every day.

Using Social Marketing as Your Sales Team

Product reviews, customer research, customer reviews…these are all posted to websites and read by other potential consumers. If you can learn how to utilize these social networks for your business, getting your business out there in the most positive light where the consumers are looking, you can effectively be sending out a cyber sales team to promote your company.

Think about where your best sales come from. Probably from a happy customer who referred your business right? On Facebook, this can happen every time someone “likes” your business page. Say one person with 1,043 friends on Facebook “likes” your business page. That means all 1,043 of that person’s friends will see that they personally endorsed your business. That opens you up to more than a thousand potential customers who may have never heard of your company before.

If you are Tweeting for your company, and someone picks up your Tweet – whether it’s a great coupon deal or upcoming sale or arrival of new products – and that person retweets it, that little 140-character-or-less phrase is viewable by the entire Twitterverse. This thereby exposes your company in a major way, in mere seconds, in a way that was essentially unimaginable before social networking sites pervaded the way we live our lives, buy our products and services, and to that end, conduct our business.

Importance of Customer Reviews

Customer reviews and social marketing go hand in hand. Posting customer reviews on Yelp, Citysearch and other directories is one way to get the good work about your product out there. Having testimonials on your website is key as well. But having your own Facebook page and Twitter account is another way in which to easily acquire reviews. “Have you used our service recently? Post on our Facebook page!” “Like us on Facebook!” “Retweet our sale for a special discount.” You can utilize your business profile on social networks to engage with your customers, obtain reviews and develop and spread great word of mouth.