Internet Marketing Boston MA | Local Mobile Website Marketing » local search marketing

How To Get Listed In Local Search

billenross — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:44:54 +0000

11 Simple steps you can do today to start getting found on local search, most if not all of these services are free. Some will give you links, some won't, but they all give you a citation, which is crucial to your being listed in the local search results.

1. Create your Google Profile (Google now calls these Place Pages.)

2. Set up a Yahoo Business account.

3. Set up an account at Bing Business, (Verification by USPS)

4. Submit your website url to the DMOZ (be very, very patient!)

5. Create a business listing at Local.com

6. Create a listing at Best Of The Web Local.

7. Create a Yelp Business listing.

8. Create a Facebook Fan Page and join other Fan Pages related to your product or service.

9. Search Twitter for people talking about your product or service and join the conversation.

10. Start a blog, post content and leave high quality comments on other blogs in your niche.

11. Keep joining related Facebook Fan Pages, keep the conversation going on Twitter and keep posting quality comments on other blogs–never promote!

As a small business owner in this economy you have 3 choices:

1. Do all of the above yourself
2. Hire someone to do it for you.
3. Nothing (bad choice)

Social Media Marketing Video

billenross — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:39:08 +0000

If you're ignoring Social Media Marketing by refusing to get your business fully involved on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube; you'd better start packing up your office now, because you're about to become a statistic. Getting active in Social Media is a major component of getting found on Local Search.

Check out this video, read the book, then get active before your competition does. If you need help, be sure to get in touch, I'll be happy to help in any way I can.

Google Flu Shot Locator

billenross — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:27:26 +0000

Wish you knew where to get a flu shot in your local area? Google has the answer using the power of local search and the Google Flu Shot Finder:

Google Flu Shot Finder

Basic Website Maintenance

billenross — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:27:28 +0000

Web maintenance isn’t something a lot of online entrepreneurs think about. In fact it can be quite a mundane task for most. However, it is important to keep your website ticking over smoothly.

Here are a few reasons why maintaining your website is important:

# Attracting the search engines – Search engines are important to the livelihood of your online business, but they don’t like “dead” websites. Websites which have been left static without updates or fresh content are a no-no in the online world. Another thing search engines don’t like is broken links.

As you build your web pages it’s easy to miss broken links. A good strategy is to double check every link you add to your website. Inevitably you may miss some or some may become broken with time (as web addresses change and so on). Regular maintenance and “check-ups” for your website will help you spot these broken links and keep your customers and search engines happy in the process.

# Updating information may increase your sales – Regularly looking over your website will also help you make changes and adjustments as necessary. For example, you may have started promoting what was a great product two years ago but now that product may be outdated and not so great anymore. By updating your website you may find products and promotions which are a better match for your visitors. This means more money in your pocket and more satisfied visitors.

Look through your old web pages to see if there are any promotions which can be updated or given a little extra “oomph.” Times change and on the internet time moves at a faster speed – keeping up with the times is important and you can do this by simply looking over your pages and tweaking as you go along.

# Keeping track of your stats is important – Another part of your basic web maintenance is keeping on top of all your visitor statistics. It makes sense to regularly go through your website and check how many visitors you have on a monthly basis, where they’re coming from, how they’re finding you, what pages they’re accessing and so on.

A running log of these statistics will help you quickly identify any potential problems such as loss of traffic or reduced income from sources such as Google AdSense and so on.

Regular web maintenance for your website is important. It can help you keep up with changing times, help to attract more visitors and ultimately make you more sales. If you find this task difficult to squeeze in, try scheduling it in for a set time each month or every few weeks. It shouldn’t take long and the time investment may make all the difference to your business. And finally, if you don’t have time to do the web maintenance yourself you can always think about hiring an assistant to help you with this task.

Local Search

billenross — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:51:21 +0000

Local Search Marketing

Recent studies have revealed that the printed yellow pages are no longer the number one way customers look for local information. Going online and using search engines and local directories is now the preferred way most folks seek local information.

One study, conducted in mid 2008, was a follow up to a study done in 2007 with the goal of understanding how people searched both through online local search and offline yellow pages.

Those results, now a year old (watch this blog for the results of this years report) revealed that local Internet search (for the first time) was the primary source of information of information for local customers. The survey also revealed that many local searches result in some type of action, a phone call, a store visit or even an email. This indicates that local searchers are in the later stages of their buying decision and are almost ready to make a purchase.

This is a real wake up call for local businesses: You need to be found on the Internet.