by: One @ Local Business Listing

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:42:39 +0000

The most important component of an online presence for small businesses is the exposure to potential customers – Just call it Getting Found. Local search and local business listings are increasingly important for this. Being the first in your local market to get found by customers searching for your products and services on the Internet can give you a huge advantage. As local search grows it is imperative that you take the right steps to get your small business included in local business listings so it can be found online and more specifically in your local area.
One Comscore study showed that in 2008 36% of searchers were looking for businesses within a 15-mile radius of their location, and in 2009 that rose to 42%. Below are some of the basic steps you should be taking to optimize your website for local search. Later articles will address in greater depth some of the things you should be doing to get your business found locally.

by: One @ Local Business Listing

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:40:47 +0000

Are you trying to get your site to come up or rank higher in the Google “one box”? The “one box” is the Google local listing that comes up with a map and 10 local listings on the right side of the map when you do a search that has a local intent such as “Chicago Locksmith”.
One of the best things you can do to improve your Google Local ranking is increase the amount of websites mentioning your company name and address. Google indexes these mentions on other websites and sees these mentions as “citations”. I know what you’re thinking…what exactly are “citations” and how do I get more of them?

by: Small Business Internet Marketing: What to Do First | JIT

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:08:05 +0000

[…] Business Internet Marketing: What to Do First Posted by admin - Filed under Content Marketing - 0 Comments Image Credit SmallBusinessInternetMarketingSkills.comSmall Business owners and bloggers whoare new to Twitter, Social Media andInternet Marketing rarely know where to get started or what their highestpriorities should be. This post was inspired by this comment:Twitter seems a bit mysterious to me: I’m just not sure how best to engagepeople on it for my business.Michael, who commented on behalf of QDI Stone, aHouston based stone quarry that shipstravertine andpavers across the U.S., hasexpressed what should be true for almost everyone. What I know that many don’tyet is that there are hundreds if not thousands of things you COULD do and itcan take years to know which of all those will most benefit your business.This post covers not just how to use Twitter, but also what else a smallbusiness owner should focus on first – what to make your priorities.[TIPS for using this post: Since GrowMap is a teachingblog we have many readers who are not experienced Internet users. This tip isfor them. Our posts include many links that lead to additional information. Ifyou point at the links (underlined words in blue), there is often an additionaldescription that will pop up about what you will find if you click that link.The best way to read everything that interests you is to right click on linksof interest and select open in new tab. That leaves this post open and opensother pages you can read later. If you have questions while reading, make notesand then leave a comment. We WILL provide answers to all questions asked. ]What youwant to do on Twitter is connect with influencers, related businesses, andpotential buyers. One easy way to do that is to search for them on Twellow. Ihave a post on How toUse Twellow. Also see my posts on creating a consistent Twitterpresence and How to Use TwitterLists.Most people start out broadcasting on Twitter but the value is in buildingrelationships. I just published a post about influencers to follow onTwitter where you can find Twitter users who generously share qualitycontent and recommend deserving businesses and causes.If you are brand new to Twitter or it just doesn’t make sense to you yet,see my Twitter Quick Start page for links to how to use Twitter Videos.Eventually you may want to use a tool to manage Twitter more effectively. Theeasiest one to use is CoTweet and the most powerful andmost used solution is Hootsuite. You can read comparisons of these in my postabout Managing TwitterAccounts.One thing about Twitter some don’t realize yet is that it is a way toconnect with people who are often very difficult to reach any other way.Sometimes they are using Twitter themselves but you could never get them on thephone or find an email for them and other times someone you can find willintroduce you.Want more excellent tips on how to use Twitter in a businesslike way? ReadJeremiah Owyang‘s Howto Use Twitter.Ifyour business has a physical address, the first thing you can do that willbenefit you the most is to get your Local Search Directorylistings on sites like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Bing, SuperPages,YellowPages and 70+ more.It is foolish for any business not to obtain their freelistings on at least the major sites offering local directories.Not having these listings is like saying “no thanks” to years offree advertising for your business.All of these sites still offer totally free listings, but you would neverknow that by looking for them. They make it really easy to find ways to spendmoney and hard to find where to get your free listings! (If you can’t find thefree option, ask me and I’ll find the link for you.)Instead of doing all those submissions manually there is a service I usethat does Local Search Directory listing submissionsfor as little as . I use that to get the listings online quickly and into theinfoUSA database that feeds GPS, cell phone, iPhone and iPad systems. (It ismuch faster than manually submitting to them and includes sites that chargefees you won’t have to pay.)Upgrade your listings on the MostImportant Local Search Directories List and encourage your currentcustomers to write reviews for you. (Read the Terms of Service on the sitesfirst as some prohibit certain kinds of incentives.)Read the Benefits of OnlineReviews. My post encouraging people to Support Small Businessesincludes links to where and how to write reviews. Share these links with yourcustomers and use them to write reviews for local and related businesses. (Ifthey are wise they will write reviews for you in return.)One very common mistake businesses make is not making it obvious WHERE theydo business. The Internet is global so you have to let us know where you are.Make sure in your local listings, on your Web site and everywhere else youinclude where you are, what cites/counties/metros/states/countries you serveand indicate where you are willing to ship products or provide services.Do NOT assume your potential customers know the local abbreviations. Theymay operate in another location and have a job coming up in your area or theirbuyer may work from home or even another country. Include your city, state,county and country and for heaven’s sake don’t be one of those people whodoesn’t include the telephone area code! (Consider including a country codetoo!)For more tips read this 5 Step Process for Dominating Local Search by DuctTape’s Small Business Marketingexpert John Jantsch (Follow John Jantsch aka @DuctTape onTwitter).Even if you don’t have ablog yet, you can use CommentLuv to promote your business and build incominglinks. Read How CommentLuv Grows Businesses andBlogs for tips on this.First you need to know what incoming links to build. Read my Building Trafficpost for a step-by-step how-to including free tools to use for keyword researchand tracking your incoming links.Most people select keyword phrases that are either too broad or too specificwhen they first do this so get some feedback. You can run them by me if youlike because getting this right is essential to your success.See my posts on How CommentLuv Works and howto set up default anchor text links onCommentLuv. You will need an RSS feed to use; I can provide one if you needone.Once you’re set up on CommentLuv you can use the CommentLuv search engine to locate blogs relatedto your business. The comments you leave create relationships with thosebloggers and their readers and the CommentLuv link and what you write attractspeople to your site.Be sure to read blogger’s commenting policies and make your comments abouttheir post. Let the CommentLuv link do your self-promotion for you.Watch for KeywordLuv enabled blogs like this one. I explain How KeywordLuv Works andprovide a list of business-friendly dofollow blogs that have both CommentLuvand KeywordLuv installed. Leaving comments in those blogs create two qualitylinks per comment.Eventually you willwant to be able to blog yourself. While you could blog on someone else’splatform that is not recommended because that site could decide to shut down ordelete your site. If that happens you are back to square one and lose almosteverything you have accomplished for far.You can install a blog on your own domain or let someone else deal with thetechnical overhead and upkeep and join a group blog and/or write guest postsyou get published on established blogs instead.Installing a blog is far more complicated than it looks. You have to decidewhat platform (I recommend WordPress), what Theme (I use Thesis for all the blogs I have installed asJoint Ventures and for clients), what plugins, how many columns and much more.Don’t go it alone. At least read How to Create a Successful Blogand ideally ask someone like me what your options are.You do NOT have to learn how to manage the technical aspects of bloggingyourself. I don’t. I have exceptionally talented WordPress Developers andWordPress Designers who handle that for me who cancreate custom WordPress blogs for you.If you want a less expensive option and don’t need a custom design, I highlyrecommend Andrew Rondeau at WeBuildYourBlog forinexpensive Blog Installation and BlogMaintenance.I am encouraging bloggers to create geo-targetedniche blogs to benefit small businesses local to them or selling online intheir niches. I will be publishing guest posts here and in other marketingblogs like the one written by Master Gardener Stephanie Suesan Smithon bloggeroutreach.Join My Blog GuestJoin MyBlogGuest to find blogs that accept guest postsor to contribute guest posts to be published on other blogs.Guest Blogging provides business owners with free targeted traffic and –done well by bloggers who understand how to properly use anchor text -better search engine positions.Blogoutreach is going to be huge going forward and the bloggers and businessesthat use it first have the advantage. GenePrussakov of AmNavigator just wrote a BlogDash review about a new solution to make it easier for businesses tolocate influential bloggers.2011 will be the year of blog outreach where bloggers provide whatsmall businesses so desperately need: more visibility to their potentialcustomers.One blog I recommend businesses – and especially those in the homeimprovement niche – connect with is Good Millwork. They have been blogging andusing Social Media and are well on their way to implementing what smallbusinesses are going to need to do. They are a strong role model for wherebusinesses need to go.Forbusinesses interested in lead generation and Internet Marketers who work withthem consider the Hubspot 30-day Free Trial to optimizeyour website to get found by more prospects andconvert more of them into leads and payingcustomers with HubSpot’s inbound marketing software.I have just joined their partner program and will be using their free trialto generate leads for Good Millwork and seefor myself exactly how it works. Watch for follow-up posts about how it works,my review of the process and eventually a case study on our results.This post has an enormous amount of information in it on subjects that maybe new to many who are reading it. We encourage you to save and share the linkand to leave a comment or contact us if you have any questions.We promise that we will not try to sell you anything or charge you foranswers, advice, or guidance. Our calling is to assist small businesses andespecially those who do not have the ability to pay for quality consulting ordo not yet believe that investing in that type of information will benefitthem.If you want to get on top of Social Media Marketing and Monitoring faster,the live events Influence People offers around the worldare the place to start.Click this link for details on upcoming Social Media Marketing events.Enterour discount code iem17 to get 10% off your ticket toany event.Have a Group? Contact Gail for deep discounts for yourgroup!The next event is SocialMedia Marketing Las Vegas January 12, 2011 (the day after Affiliate Summit West) atthe Flamingo Hotel.Related articles The Benefits of Twellow for Local Businesses (compukol.com) 4Creative Twitter Uses in 2010 (smallbusinesssem.com) A new Twitter business model – a comprehensive hashtag strategy(socialmediatoday.com)Share this on FacebookShare this on FriendFeedShare this on LinkedInEmail this to a friend?MurrayNewlands – Marketing Blog […]

Comments on: What Are ‘Optimized’ Google Business Listings?

by: One @ Local Business Listing

by: One @ Local Business Listing

by: Small Business Internet Marketing: What to Do First | JIT