The Best Practice Local SEO for Your Business in 2012

The Best Practice Local SEO for Your Business in 2012

OK, it’s been a while since I wrote my last blog post or even anything Local SEO related. There are reasons for that, and I’ll come to them shortly.

I have just read my New Years message from last year and got to thinking so much has changed in the Local SEO field, but at the same time nothing has really changed at all. We have just celebrated the Chinese New Year for 2555 here in Bangkok so I thought it was about time I got my skates on and my pen out!

So while the western world economy continues to stumble along, out here in Asia where I’m writing from, the economy is still growing despite natural disasters and the like.

After living and working on client Local SEO from Bangkok for nearly a year now, I really noticed how far behind business are here with their online presence. I can’t quote figures but very few local businesses have websites here, yet alone claimed there Google Place page. Believe me trying to check out a restaurant online is sometime next to impossible (it’s a tough life I lead!) There’s definitely a huge opportunity for web design companies here.

What the area lacks in websites, can’t be said for smartphones and iPads. You can’t move around Siam Square or on the Skytrain for them. Marketing for this young upwardly mobile population is the way to go! (This is only my opinion based on observations in Bangkok and other metropolitan areas. I would love to see some figures too, believe me!)

Local SEO is hotting up in the West

Last year we saw some radical changes from Google that saw some websites disappearing from the face of the earth. It’s safe to say that content is still King. Writing unique, quality content for your website or blog and posting on a regular basis should still be the foundation of your local SEO. The competition amongst local business all competing for the top spots on Google is getting fierce. We’ve seen all manner of dodgy tricks employed by some SEO companies trying to get there clients to the number position in SERP’s. Download Google’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization here.

The best advice I could give to any local business website owner would be to ensure you have great Local SEO content on your site, update regularly and be social. Yes it takes a little time, but it’s time worth investing in your company and your customers that will pay off for years to come. Don’t look for the quick fix, employing a SEO company to build you 4000 backlinks. Get the basics right on your site first and then engage with your prospects and customer using Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Foursquare. No one is more passionate and knowledgeable about your business than you! Spend 20 minutes each morning updating these social networks, answering questions and leaving comments. You can do this while enjoying a refreshing cup of tea, you may even enjoy it and you will definitely start to enjoy the benefits it brings to your business as it grows and you get to know your customers and vice-versa.

Encourage, cajole or incentivize your customers to use your products and services instead of your competitors:

1) Use ‘check in’ with Facebook Places. Each time your customers checks in to your business, they will broadcast your business and location to all their friends. Instant viral marketing at it’s finest!

2) Make a ‘special’ for Foursquare so you can be easily found by all those mobile young things looking for a 2-4-1 offer at lunch or ‘exclusive happy hour’ from 6pm. Remember it only takes a few minutes a day. You see tea is good for you… and your business!

3) Claim your Google Place Page and complete it fully with your business name, address and telephone number. Then add more information about your company and a coupon to drive traffic to your site or physical location.

Local SEO Going Mobile

2012 will see mobile marketing come to the fore. Ensure your website is mobile friendly and you are using video to market your business and get multiple listings for your business on the first page of searches. Everyone has a smartphone now days and can view the web from just about anywhere. The trick is to make sure it’s your website, your google place and your videos that are getting views. Better still start using a text messaging service to send SMS directly to your customers. Having a slow night at your restaurant? Ping! You just sent a text message to all your customers informing them of ” today’s special offer’ you’ll never have a slow night again!

We believe in this low cost, direct marketing so much we will shortly be announcing our own SMS service for the UK market. So keep your eyes and ears peeled for the forthcoming announcement and launch.

So, I said I would let you into the secret why I haven’t posted for a while at the beginning of this article. Well, I’ve been working 13 – 16 hour days on a number of projects to help even more local businesses succeed online and to ultimately get more customers and more profits. Not only are we launching our SMS Marketing Service in the very near future but we will also be announcing our own membership site.

I’ve been in the fortunate position where I have been able to mentor a number of people in the fine arts of local SEO over the last year or so. I’ve seen the positive transformation this has had on them personally and in their businesses and naturally wanted to take it to the next level and share my knowledge with others who want to take action and create a better life for themselves and their families, it’s very rewarding. So at Blend Local Search Marketing we have been quietly but diligently, building a membership site and breaking down all our proven local SEO strategies into easy to follow guides. These will be available in written, audio and video formats. It’s taking longer than we anticipated but we are perfectionists and really want to over deliver, so our members really can benefit from them and see results fast. There will also be a forum in the members area so like minded business owners can network with us and each other. We are adding our amazing inventory of resources designed to save you hours of your time everyday. Again check back here or on our Facebook Page for the big announcement.

And if you thought two major projects wasn’t enough… we have a 3rd! We will also be announcing the 1st Blend Online Business Marketing Awards in the very near future but it’s all a bit hush-hush at the moment. And a 4th – our Free 30 page information packed online resource ebook will shortly hit viral bookshelves. Register here for an advanced copy with ebook as the subject line.

In the second half of the year we will also be announcing our exclusive Local SEO training seminars. These will be week long events for a small select group of marketing managers and business owners, to join us at one of the most exclusive hotels and resorts in Thailand to get our personal Local SEO training and mentoring. Our exclusive guest will also enjoy our business breakfasts, golf at some of the regions most desirable clubs, use of the resorts catamaran, 7 swimming pools and all the floodlit tennis courts and award winning spa facilities. You will enjoy 5 star treatment from when you land at Thailand’s International Airport until you have to leave (you may not want too!) To register your interest leave your details here with Seminar in the subject line.

local seo

Perry Stevens - Blend Local Search Marketing

So in summary I would like to say lets stop listening to all the stories of doom and gloom, stop living in fear, fear is corrosive and leads to failure! Now is the time to take a positive outlook on life and your business, it’s time to stand up and take action. 2012 is the year to be connected and be social.

My crack Local SEO team and I would love to help you in anyway we can.

Your thought, comments and questions are welcome.

See you around soon,

Perry

social media marketing services

Local SEO in 2012

Seasons’ Greetings from Blend Local Search Marketing

Seasons’ Greetings from Blend Local Search Marketing

Local Search Marketing

Wow what a year it’s been for local search marketing! We’ve experienced unprecedented growth in our industry, within our own company and all our clients have grown, taken on new staff and reported their best years profits to date. Not bad when all we hear in the media are stories of doom and gloom! It just goes to show that if you are set in your ways and doing the same old thing, you’ll only at best, get the same results. Those with the for-sight to embrace local search marketing, use video and actively get involved with social media are reaping the benefits of getting more customers and more profits with a healthy ROI.

Next year will see the chasm between the old ways and the new ways of reaching customers getting even bigger and those businesses who embrace mobile local will be the main beneficeries.

 

Inside Blend Local Search Marketing

Early in 2011 saw some major changes in Blend Local Search Marketing with the appointment of Lee Bannister as the New Business Manager while the founder Perry Stevens – now Chief Operations Manager, left London behind and relocated to Bangkok, Thailand in April to oversee the day-to-day running and direction on the company. Blend are now servicing more clients in the UK and North America then ever before with a large proportion of new business coming from word of mouth from their existing client base.

Blend Local Search Marketing have a number of exciting ‘things‘ in development and will be launching a series of new initiatives in the first quarter of the new year. There are certainly some exciting times ahead both personally and professionally for the team behind Blend Local Search Marketing.

Merry Christmas from Blend Local Search Marketing

Local Search Marketing

“We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our friends, families, staff and local search marketing clients and associates a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!”

- Lee & Perry – Blend Local Search Marketing.

Join us Facebook. Contact us here.

 

Blend Local Search Marketing

 

 

Are Business Directories a Good Source of Free Advertising?

Are Business Directories a Good Source of Free Advertising?

Here at Blend Local Search Marketing we are passionate about finding the best possible sources for advertising and marketing your business on the Internet.  This is in order to increase you position in major search engine’s results, and ultimately to increase customer enquiries.  So in this article written by Wampit guest blogger – James Stevens, we are going to focus on the world of free advertising and  business directories and how they can benefit your company on the Internet.

The Internet has created many new and innovative ways for people to advertise and market their business for free.  These range from producing and hosting a promotional video, through to participating and networking in forums to get your business known and trusted amongst your target market.

Business directories have been a popular source of free advertising over the last 10 years, i.e. free advertising sites that allow business owners to create a profile for their company that is then added to the directory (usually by category or keyword).  These business directory profiles (advert listings) are then returned in search results on the site for people looking for a business, product or service.

Traditionally these business directories relied on people knowing about their service in order to search for and find businesses directly.  However, in more recent times it’s a well published fact that about 80% of Internet searches are now actioned in the major search engines (Google / Yahoo / Bing), with Google taking about 80% of this proportion.

Today, the quality business directories have evolved with this trend by organising and serving their content in a search engine friendly format – they do this by:

-        Creating a unique page for every advertiser, e.g. www.directory.com/your-co-name.html

-        Internally linking to these pages via category and location structures, e.g. ‘Plumbers’ or ‘London

-        Submitting the unique page’s URL to search engines via XML Sitemaps (basically a file with a list of up to 50,000 URLs in)

This means the content that these sites own can now be crawled and indexed by major search engines more easily.  So for example, when someone types ‘Plumber in London’ in Google then links to pages owned by the business directories that match this search entry have the potential to be displayed in Google’s search results.

The obvious benefit of this process is that the person looking for a business or service can land on an advert without knowing about that site or searching in it directly.

So Does This Mean I Should Advertise On All Business Directories?

Absolutely Not – basically like a lot of other free advertising services on the Internet, there are varying levels of quality and service.  A few years ago it was a popular SEO strategy to list your business on as many sites as you could, in order to gain links to your site.  However, this strategy has changed recently and even more so since the Google Panda updates earlier this year (changes to Google’s search in the pursuit of displaying quality results and relevancy) – so now it’s important to only associate your business website with quality and trusted free advertising services.

So What Are The Top Business Directories?

The best free advertising services are ones that are established, operate ethical and best practice processes, and are trusted by its users.  The major search engines favour human-edited business directories, i.e. so the content it holds is of the highest quality.

The following sites are quality and human edited free advertising services based in the UK: business directories

1.     Yell

2.     The Wampit Business Directory

3.     My Local Services

4.     FreeIndex

5.     Thomson Local

You can read a full review of each one of these sites in a recent article on Squidoo naming the Top UK Business Directories.

In Conclusion

We recommend adverting your company on these quality sites, however, there are a few golden rules you must follow when actioning this marketing strategy:

1.     Add well written content to each one describing your business / services

2.     Don’t copy text from your website or other sites – unique content only

3.     Link to your own website from the business profiles to make it easier for potential customers to visit your site

4.     Keep the content up-to-date throughout the year, and add details about any special offers / discounts you’re running

It’s as simple as that, and should take you no longer than a couple of hours to get your site noticed on the best quality UK business directories.

Claim your Free business listing on Wampit – a leading global advertising service today!

About the Author: James Stevens works as freelance blogger and has a passion for all things business and Internet related. He’s recently worked with various business marketing companies – you can read his Google+ profile here. You can now list your business on Wampit in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and EU.


Free Advertising with Wampit Business Directories

STOP! DO NOT Read this Blog: Be Local, Be Vocal, Vocalyze

Be Local, Be Vocal, Vocalyze

DO NOT Read this blog… Vocalyze! Listen, we are always on the look out for new ways to amplify our marketing messages and those of our clients. Vocalyze does exactly that!

vocalyzeVocalzye is web-text-to-speech technology that creates a real-time audio stream of your blog. “It does what… it reads your blog?”  Yes, but it gets even better…

Vocalyze can be easily installed on a WordPress blog as a plugin. (Also available for Blogger and Tumblr) You can download the Vocalyze WP plugin from here. Once you’ve configured it and installed the Toucan button on your page you’re set and ready to go. Now anyone visiting your blog can click on the button and listen to your posts instead of reading them. This is an ideal solution when you’re multi-tasking, have site-impaired visitors to your blog or at the end of a long day, like me, have just very tired eyes!

Now listen up! This is where Vocalyze gets really interesting. It also comes as an App so you can listen to any website from your smart phone – iPhone & Android. It’s a Free download and you can grab it here for iPhone and here for Android. This wonderful App allows you to listen to your favorite websites or blog while you are commuting, walking the dog or like my business partner Lee, on the treadmill at the gym. It’s a great time management tool! There is also a Twitter integration feature in Vocalyze, so you could try adding your favorite comedian to your list for a few laughs.

The synthesized voice alternates between male and female and generally sounds pretty good… for a robot.

 

3 Ways to Listen to the Blend Blog with Vocalyze

Vocalyze

1)    On the home page of Blend Local Search Marketing you can locate the Vocalyze button above our optin box (See above). Click on the Toucan avatar and a new window will open. Now choose the blog post you would like to listen to while you type up that report. Alternatively find a second Vocalyze button in our footer. It looks like this:

Vocalyze

2)    Head to the Vocalyze website and create an account. From there you can compile your playlist. Add Blend Local Search Marketing and other favorites like Mashable, The Onion or the NYTimes Business. Easily share you favorites with friends and across your social media channels.

Vocalyze
Blend Local Search Marketing can be easily added to “My Favorites” from the “Featured Blogs” list on the mobile and through any web browser.

3)    To really leverage you’re Vocalyze listening experience download the Free App for iPhone or Android and listen to your favorite blog IE. Blend Local Search Marketing on the go. Wherever you are, you can access your playlist and listen to your content so you stay both productive and and up to date with the latest news and views from your favorite media channels.

VocalyzeHere is a quick video overview of Vocalyze.

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.
 

Anyway that’s enough from me. If you’re still reading this why don’t you go ahead, listen to it instead (and some of our other blog posts) and leave a comment below to tell us what you think of Vacalyze.

—————————————————

Posted by Perry Stevens – Chief Operations Director of Blend local Search Marketing

Contact Us here.

 

Blend Local Search Marketing – Suite 57, 7 Rossetti Road, London SE16 3EY

 

Listen to this blog with Vocalyze

Your WordPress Ping List

Your WordPress Ping List

Wordpress Ping ListWhat is a Ping? What is a WordPress Ping List? Why do I need to Ping my blog? In this post we are going to be looking at Search Engines or rather we are going to be looking at an easy way to notify them of any changes you’ve made to your website or blog. I mean, why wait for the search engines to ‘crawl’ your site when you can notify them by pinging your blog?

To notify the search engines of the new changes to your website or blog you need to ‘Ping’ them.

Basically a Ping is a push button way to say to the search engine ‘Hey! Look over here, we’re new, relevant and we have something you should take a look at!’

The best way to do that if you have a WordPress blog is to cut and paste the following WordPress ping list of over 25 ping services into your WordPress Blog Update Services Field.

We’ve also made a short video literally showing you ‘over my shoulder’ the exact steps you need to take to do this.

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.

WordPress Ping List

http://rpc.pingomatic.com/

http://api.moreover.com/RPC2

http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2

http://bblog.com/ping.php

http://blogbot.dk/io/xml-rpc.php

http://blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2

http://blogupdate.org/sverige/ping/

http://ping.feedburner.com

http://ping.feeds.yahoo.com/RPC2/

http://ping.myblog.jp

http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php

http://ping.wordblog.de

http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2

http://rpc.pingomatic.com

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2

http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/xmlrpcping.aspx

http://topicexchange.com/RPC2

http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates

http://www.blogupdate.org/ping/

http://www.feedsky.com/api/RPC2

http://www.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php

http://xping.pubsub.com/ping

 

Add Your Your WordPress Ping List to Your Blog

Your WordPress Blog Update Services Field can be found by accessing your WordPress Admin Dashboard or backend. Scoll down the page and search the left hand side column until you find: Settings > Writing > Update Services Field.

Cut and paste the WordPress ping list from above and then hit the save button. Next time you make a change to your blog or publish a new post or page to your website, it will automatically ‘ping’ it to all the search engines allowing greater visibility for your site.

When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the Ping site update services. (Pingomatic is the only service set by default).

For more about this, see Update Services on the Codex. Remember to separate multiple service URLs with line breaks or commas.

A Word of Warning! – Don’t manually ping your blog without making changes or updates to it as this can be seen by the search engines as spammy and black hat. Once is enough when you make an update and this will be automatic so, it’s literally set and forget!

The search engine love to see relevant and regularly updated blogs, so now is the time to take action! You now know what a Ping is, you have a WordPress Ping list and know the importance of why you should Ping your blog, so post a new article today!

 

Video Update on Power of Your WordPress Ping List

Watch this video below to see the proof of the speed of this actual post ‘Your WordPress Ping List‘ appearing on the first page of Google SERP’s (Search Engine Result Pages) for it’s main keywords.

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.

If you found this Wordpres Ping List and this post of value, please ‘share’ or ‘Like‘ on Facebook, tweet on Twitter and leave a comment below.

Feel free to Contact Us if you need any questions answered. We’re always happy to help.

Post by Perry Stevens Movember 2011. Support The Prostate Cancer Charity.

 

Blend Local Search Marketing
Suite 57 7 Rossetti Road, London SE16 3EY England. Tel: 0207193 2825 Twitter: BlendLSM
 

WordPress Ping List

It’s Movember – We Need Your Help to Raise Awareness of Prostate Cancer

Our Chief Operations Director – Perry Stevens is teaming up with his fellow Mo Bros, LA based actor Marc Crumpton to grow a hairy upper lip for Movember, but don’t worry, it’s all for a good cause.

Marc ‘Crumpy’ Crumpton (Los Angeles) and Perry Stevens (Bangkok) are growing hairy upper lips to raise awareness and some money for The Prostate Cancer Charity throughout the month of Movember.

Oh yeah, they are both going to look pretty stupid doing it: )

 

What is Movember, we hear you cry!

Above a short video by Perry explaining what Movember is all about and how you can get involved!

During the month of November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

On Movember 1st, both Perry and ‘Crumpy’ registered at Movember.com with clean-shaven faces and then for the rest of the month, they will grow, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery.

Mark Crumpton

They need your support, our Mo Sistas and Mo Bros, to help them raise funds by seeking out donations for their Mo-growing efforts.

They aim to raise a modest £500 collectively for their Movember team – City of Mo Fo’s.

Visit their Official Movember Page  and make a donation to Perry or Crumpy or collectively or for the team – City of Mo Fo’s..

Go team City of Mo Fo’s!!

Perry Stevens

 

How Else Can You Support!

Mo Bros – if you want to join their team and help raise Mo money and awareness they would be happy to see you and welcome you into the City of Mo Fo’s.

Click here to join City of Mo Fo’s Official Movember Page or make a donation.

Click here and ‘Like’ the City of Mo Fo’s Official Facebook Movember Page.

Please help us raise awareness and Mo money for The Prostrate Cancer Charity by Retweeting, Liking and Sharing on Twitter and Facebook with your friends.


The Prostate Cancer Charity is a charity registered in England and Wales (1005541)

So What is Google Places and Why Does Your Business Need to Claim it!

Google Places

Google is the largest search engine in the world with nearly 70% of the market share. This single fact alone makes it vitally important that your business claims its Google Places Page. It’s the most important directory listing you should have and it’s free. Secondly it should be correctly optimized so it will get found on the first page of Google. Then when prospects are looking for your products and services from their desktops or smart phone it’s you they are find and not your competition.

What is Google Places?

If you have gone to a Google Places Page that is empty or has little information on it you will notice how unprofessional it looks. This is a poor reflection on the company you don’t want, so ensure your Google Places Page is filled out completely with all your companies’ information and you will attract more customers.

You will need to add your company name, address, zip/post code, telephone, fax and website. Also include your opening times, payment methods, category and lots of photos and videos.

 

‘People don’t do business with businesses they do business with people!’

Use photos and videos on your Google Places Page to show customers that you are real, personable and trustworthy. Also show photos of the inside and outside of your shop, restaurant or office so people can easily recognize and find it.

Videos can be like your own TV commercial but hosted online and available to see 24/7. They can also be FAQ’s or customer testimonials that will help win over new customers.

Getting all this right will give you the edge over your competition so you get the business you need not only to survive but also prosper in today’s market.

 

Still not sure if you need to be on Google Places?

Lets look at some interesting local search marketing facts and figures about Google Places and the future of local search:

* 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. (Google)

* Google dominate as the primary site used to search for local businesses with 74% market share.

* 59% of consumers report using Google every month to look for a good local business.

* 71% of searchers report they value the information provided in local search results.

* 60% of online searchers report that they notice images and logos on local search results more. However less than half the businesses that have claimed their Google Places Page haven’t included them.

* Only 20% of businesses have added a video to their local Google Places listing

Google have now integrated Google Places listings into organic SERP’s (Search Engine Result Pages) but when your Google Places Page is optimized correctly you can still reach the top spots.

Google PlacesThe Future of Local Search is Mobile

According to a 2010 Google study, 1 in 3 mobile searches are local, and 61 percent of those users actually called the business. So it is vitally important that your Google Places Page is optimized for mobile with your company name, address, website and telephone number.

* 33 percent of mobile users are looking to access local content relevant to their GPS positioned location (eMarkerter, August 2011).

* 77.1 Million mobile subscribers use local content on a mobile device accounting for 33% of all mobile subscriptions.

* Only 5% of business who have claimed their Google Places Page have added a mobile coupon to their local listing

There is a huge opportunity for your business to jump ahead of the competition. More and more local searches are now being conducted, not on desktops but on smart phones. So as technology moves forward we have to stay ahead of the competition to. The release of the iPhone 4S is the game changer, here’s why…

The iPhone S4 comes with Siri voice recognition integrated into its operating system. This in short means it can answer questions and perform actions across multiple Apps. With a single voice command, Siri can control Apps and search Google Places Maps.

Google PlacesThis will revolutionize local mobile search, making it both simpler and user friendly. By simply speaking a command like ‘florist near me’ Siri uses your geo-targeted location to perform a local search of florists in your immediate area leveraging the Google Places Maps database of local businesses. It will also search for listings and reviews from other sites like Yelp and City Search.

It delivers a list of results from within the App, then allows the smart phone user to speak another command ‘get directions’.

So to ensure your local search listing gets picked up by Siri it is now more important then ever to ensure your Google Places Page is fully completed with your company name, address, telephone number and website.

You should be in the correct categories and include the keywords your customers use to find you such as Orthodontist or Florist. The description field should also be SEO friendly and include your keywords, photos named with your keywords and videos have your name address and telephone number in their description (and hosted on Youtube).

It’s important to maintain your other listings on Yelp and City Search etc and encourage reviews for all your local directory listings including Google Places.

So there’s no doubt that the smartest business decision you can make today is to claim your Google Places Page and get it completed correctly and fully optimized with your essential business information.

Blend Local Search Marketing can do this for you and will even make you a video to promote your company online. For more information of what Blend can do for you click here.

Summary: Claim your Google Places and other online local directory listings ( Yelp, Yellow Pages, Qype, City Search, etc.) ASAP. Complete them with relevant information about your businesses and its physical location.

Blend Local Search Marketing – Suite 7, 57 Rossetti Road, London SE16 3EY

 Google Places

What is Google Places?

Business Owners Only:

Who Else Wants To Unleash Your
Hidden Profits With The Ultimate
Google Places System?

 

Google Places

I Have An Important Announcement!

RIGHT NOW – You Can Get More Customers, Increase Profits, Dominate Your Market, Focus on your Targeted Customers, and reduce your costs!

Finally The SECRETS – To Get success Online are here!

  • Gain More Customers
  • Increase profits
  • Dominate Your Market
  • Focus on your motivated buyers and your best customers

‘Google Places is Guaranteed To
Make A Positive Breakthrough In Your Business’

 

Dear Friend,

What is Google Places?

September 2009 was the launch of Google Places, and it has become an exciting place for business owners who maximise its potential to get a flood of new customers without paying for every click.

Business owners can update their Google Places listings page with their hours of operation, photos, exciting videos, coupons and more and this is in addition to having your website.

 

Why should I care as a business Owner about What is Google Places?

80% of your local customers who used to look in the local paper directories are now looking online. While some businesses blame the recession, there are exciting opportunities for smart business owners to get new customers, and go where the motivated buying market is.

Want more Profits the easy way?

The customers who used to look in paper directories are now looking online, and on their mobile phones, be honest when was the last time you used the paper directories to find a local business?

LOCAL PAPER DIRECTORIES ARE DEAD!

Google Places

While your competitors are possibly wasting a fortune advertising with pay per click or trying to cut costs, you can unleash your profit potential! Why? Google places is not only where your customers are looking, by clicking the map button at the top on Google, but also Google Places appears in the natural search listings at the very top on Google! The truth is if you have a business address you must maximise your listing here or else you are handing over money to your competition.

Here is the proof: One of our customers here is at the
top of Google! Their competitors on the
same page are paying £20.00 per click!  There are receiving thousands of pounds worth of enquires for FREE
Do YOU Want More Customers & More Profits?

Google Places

So You want to appear at the top of local searches with Google Places?

Here is the best news; we can help you fast, why? 98% of business set them up completely wrong, and also most SEO companies are not aware of the secrets to maximize the listings here. So we can help you maximize the listing and dominate your local target market.

Get Found On mobile phones!
There are now more mobile phone searches than on the internet, and by allowing us to help you maximize your listing, it enables you to be found by the motivated buyer someone who is typing in (repossession help London) or your product or service followed by an area or post code enables you to be found by your motivated target market at the top of Google and on Mobile Phones.

“Now You Can Make A Positive Breakthrough In Your Business As Our ‘Google Places’ System Low Risk it Gives You a High Return On Investment”

 

Why it is vital for you business to get found here?

  • Your buying target market is looking here for your products and services
  • 80% of your ideal customers are looking here and the best thing 75% of your competitors are not targeting here yet so hurry and claim those extra profits
  • Appear at the top of Google and get an explosion of new enquires
  • Connect with more customers due to the explosion in mobile phone searches you can get found here too!
  • Push your competitors down the page on Google as the listings appear above the normal listings.

How do you set Google Places to maximize your listing and get to the top?

Google loves content so in order to get to the top of the Google Places you need to maximize the content of your business above your competitors, this includes making videos, and adding relevant content descriptions, adding and naming photographs, organising the right number and best online directory listings with your information. Getting the strategy right and structuring of your main target and profit keywords, not keyword stuffing!  Also adding relevant links and much more. We invite you to stop asking: What is Google Places and let us transform your business

WARNING: Get any of this in the wrong order and you could suddenly be trying to swim in a sea of mud. Every business owner we have helped has set them up completely wrong but that is OK because we are here to help. Also most businesses don’t have any videos, so we decided to make easy for our clients and introduced the Bronze System.

What exactly are you going to receive when
you order bronze local search Marketing system today?

When you order today, we will get a few details from you and you are away its simple its fast its easy and before you know it you will see your maps set up and maximised and appearing more importantly you will hear the phone ringing…

Bronze Set up usually  £497.00 Special Price £247.00

Claim your bronze package or above and get a £247.00 video promotional video made for FREE!

Yes you get a Promotional Video made for FREE no matter what your business we can make you a video!

 

  1. Bronze System Local Search Marketing System – includes Set up and enhancement of the Google Place maps & placement listing to connect with more customers.
  2. Your very own Gmail account set up within Google enabling us access to your map listing and set up of all directories, and activate them so you can get on running your business.
  3. Expert setting up of your business details, on Google Places to maximise your potential.
  4. Your business added to 50 of the very best business directories. Not just your name but we list many of your products and services too this is where real people are searching for your products and services.
  5. Your very own commercial made promoting your business and its services.
    (standard price £247.00)
  6. Here is an example video and a website we made for a client>> Google Places
  7. Get your video distributed to 20 video channels sites for greater customer visibility and online domination.

    Having a video on your Google Places listing puts you above most of your competition!

BONUS

  • Free internet expert website review not from designers or programmers point of view put from an expert point of you for profits!
  • Free expert website analysis for your primary target market revealing the profits you could be missing out on
  • Every 3 months we make your business a new video as long as you are a member of the bronze system!

Bronze monthly – we continually protect your business online for only £97.00 a month!

  • Google is always changing when it changes we change to help you!
  • Damage Limitation- We manage and maintain your Google Place listing and the other Online Directories we have set up for you. We monitor reviews and alert you to any negative comments so you can make a management response turning any negatives into positives.
  • We add 25 Directory listings per month- to help you stay at the top of Google
  • We update your top 5 local directories with current seasonal offers and coupons enabling you to shout out your message and get more customers
  • Every 90 days we produce a new video promoting your products and services. Your video will be uploaded to 20 video hosting sites; it is then bookmarked and submitted to 10 RSS feeds. Why? This means 1 video can be accessed from 2000 places! This helps your business connect with a greater number of customers and boosts your chances of profits.
  • Not only that it produces multiple listings on Google knocking your competitors of the page, and creates thousands of links back to your website, which helps your site rank higher in Google.

- Ongoing Skype or telephone support.

Wouldn’t it be worth a simple easy payment to get new enquiries month on month and have all the work done for you plus get expert advice on Internet strategies?

If you are serious about getting more customers:
I am sure you would agree, any price would be worth it. After speaking with countless Internet Marketing experts, we all decided, anything less than £497 would be high-way robbery.

I concluded £497 is too much of a price for the “average” small business to pay in these hard times.

Right now, you can put your hands on Bronze System for only £247 and for our marketing roll-out save £200 off the retail price and claim a FREE video valued at £247.00 pound too!

YES! That means the price of the set up works out Free!

What do you do next?

Let me tell you what you should do next, contact us… why wait?

  • Contact us by sending us an email or by clicking this link and we will make you your FREE video.
  • To see a free video on the bronze system go to the bronze system page and enter your name and email

Google Places

Changes in Google Places, Your Business & Local Search

Changes in Google Places, Your Business & Local Search

Google are at it again and the effect could alter your position in local search results. They have changed the way Google Places looks. It’s now cleaner and has more emphasis on customer reviews and photos/videos. The ‘Write a Review‘ button is now in red in a prominent position on the page. (Fig 1. Why did I added an arrow to this screen shot? Ed) This demonstrates the importance and weight that Google give to reviews on your Google Places page in local search results. HINT: They want you to get reviews for your business… lots of reviews… the more the better… get the picture? Good read on…

Google Places

If we scroll down the Google Places page a little further we notice another prominent ‘Write a Review‘ button (Fig 3. What do Google want us to do?) but this is where the story takes a sudden twist.

 

The Change in Local Search Listings post Google Places Changes

Google used to pull in reviews from third party review sites like Yelp, Qype and Local.Yahoo and feature them quite heavily. Now they have all gone except for a couple of nondescript links at the foot of the page. (Fig 4. Indicated by my 4th and final arrow ; )

Some say that Google built Google Places scraping review content from third party sites using an unfair advantage but now, as ‘Google Places‘ has enough content of it’s own they can stand alone and no longer need the 3rd party support. Google couldn’t have built this service without the 3rd parties and have now abandoned them. Whether this was ethical or morally right or wrong is another debate but they have now changed their policy.

One other thing to note is that you may have had 100′s of reviews on your Google Places page only to see that number now reduced to just a handful as the 3rd party reviews are no longer being counted. We are still investigating how this has effected rankings and place positions. Also take into consideration that only gmail account holders can write reviews on Google Places.

I’m currently beta testing Google + and wouldn’t be surprised if Google Places features in this new social phenomenon in the near future. So what does all this mean to your business listing on Google Places and your position in Local Search?

Local Search

Google Places Should Be the Cornerstone of your Local Search Strategy

At Blend Local Search Marketing we have always treated Google Places as the primary business listing for our clients. Now more than ever, it is essential to claim your Google Places listing and complete all sections fully including photographs, videos, and a comprehensive description of your local business.

Once your Google Places listing is set up correctly, actively encourage your customers to visit the page and write a review. They need a gmail account to do this.

You can even email your Google Places page to your customers. It’s as easy as 1,2,3!

1) Simply click on the ‘More‘ button (Fig 2.) underneath your business address and a small window appears.

2) Click on ‘Send‘ and add an email address and short message.

3) Press send again.

In the same window you will also find a URL link. You can cut and paste this link into the ‘Signature box’ in your email account. Then every time you send an email, you will be actively promoting you Google Places page.

Remember, Google want you to get reviews and will reward you by giving your Google Places page a higher ranking in customer search results. This is a sure fire way of getting a number 1 ranking in Google local search results.

We want you to succeed in your local search marketing efforts. If you want your business to be found for your local search keywords by hungry customers in Google Places we can help you set it up right now so you can benefit immediately.

To see what we do and how we can help you click here. To contact me or one of my associates click here. Alternatively leave a comment below – Perry.

FYI - Readers of this blog can claim 25% OFF Green Web Hosting with Hostgator with this exclusive code: GreenBlend

Local Search Marketing starts with Google Places

Local Search Marketing, Your Business and The 2012 London Olympics

Local Search Marketing, Your Business and The 2012 London Olympics

Are You a Winner?

Local Search MarketingBe a winner with Local Search Marketing! There is an amazing, once in a life-time opportunity opening up for London businesses especially if those business are located in the East London boroughs of Hackney, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest.

In case you haven’t heard (where have you been?), the 2012 Olympic Games are being held in London from 27 of July followed by the Paralympics until 9 September.

Thousands of athletes and millions of people will descend on the capital and will need products and services that you can provide as a business owner. So now is the time to make sure your business is ready for this huge influx of people and to ensure that it benefits from this rare opportunity.

Most visitors to London 2012 Olympic Games will be searching on websites for the products and services they will need during their stay long before they get of the plane at Heathrow.

 

Local Search Marketing Winner! Have You Claimed Your Google Place Page?local search marketing

To win the Local Search Marketing game, the first thing to do is to claim your Google Place page and ensure you complete every section. This will include you business name, address and telephone number, a business description, opening hours, payment methods, photos, videos and much more.

This is the single most important thing you can do for your business today, Olympics or no Olympics. Why? Because it can catapult you to page 1 of Google in local search. Do you want to be on page one of Google?

 

Optimize Your Website or Blog with Local Search Marketing Content.

When people search for products and services near the Olympic venues you need to ensure that it is your content that gets seen in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP’s).

You can do this by making sure you include your location, full address, postcode and phone number in all your posts and pages.

Of course, not everyone speaks English, so why not get some of your web pages translated to one or two other languages. If you have built your blog on WordPress you can easily install a Translation plug-in.

Make it easy for people visiting your site and your business and you will be rewarded especially when you competitors are doing nothing to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Local Search Marketing

Sell Your Self and Your Business With Video

Everyone loves video and they are very easy to make and share online. You can record yourself selling the virtues of your business and upload it to Youtube.

If you are not comfortable in front of the camera get a member of staff or a friend to do it for you. Better still if you can speak another language or have family of friends that can, ask them to do this also. Then upload all the videos to Youtube.

Once you have uploaded your video(s) use a title with a local search keyword in it. Also remember to include a link to your website in the description. For more information about optimizing videos on Youtube click here.

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It goes without saying that your website needs to be seen by as many people as possible, so it is essential to ensure every page is optimized for the search engines with your local geo targeted keywords.

Once you’re on-page optimization is complete you can look at off-the-page optimization to help rank your site even higher. This can include many things from online Press Releases, Videos, Social Media and Directories. Consistently building relevant links to your website will ensure it stays at the top of Google for all your keyword search terms.

 

Converting Website Traffic to Paying Customers

It isn’t as simple as having a number one website on Google if people can’t navigate the site, find where you are or even call you. You’re site needs to convert that traffic into customers.

You’re website not only needs to be optimized for the search engine with keywords your prospects use to find you but also optimized for converting them into customers.

*If your business requires people to visit you  (i.e. restaurant, car hire, guest house) can they find you? Do you have a map on your website with your specific location and clear directions?

*Is your address clearly visible? Can people find your phone number? Does anyone pick up the phone when it rings? If not maybe you can hire a Telephone Answering service or use Skype.

*Do you check and respond to emails?

*Do you have an email opt in form on your website? Maybe you could encourage people to opt in by offering them some free advice about the area or service.

If people visit to your site but can’t find a way to contact you, they will move on and once they are off your site you have lost them for good. With just a few tweaks and a little bit of testing you can optimize your conversions and increase your profits.

 

More Local Search Marketing and Social Media Marketing

To compliment your website and dominate your search terms in Google set up a Facebook Fan Page, Youtube Channel and a Twitter account.

These are all great ways to find, engage and socialize with your customers and offer them exclusive deals through each channel.

I would recommend you start to implement some or all of these recommendations today because before we know it, the 2012 Olympic Games will be but a distant memory. One that will leave your business a gold medal winning enterprise for having taken part if you get things moving now!

However, remember that building up a strong Internet and social media presence is a Marathon not a race. It takes time to grow and nurture online relationships but when done correctly will pay dividends for a long, long time.

Blend Local Search Marketing can set up and manage all your social media channels and implement proven winning Internet marketing strategies that will get you more customers and more profits. Contact us today to discover how we can help you.

To your gold medal local search marketing success,

Local Search Marketing