Archive for the ‘search engines’ Category

Google Places – Challenges and Rewards

Posted by pj on May 20th, 2010

If your business has a physical location where customers can walk in and conduct transactions, you probably already know about the power of Google Local. But April 20th brought the switch from Google Local to Google Places. What does it mean for your business?

If you are doing everything correctly, probably everything will continue to work as normal. But what if you have never really completely implemented your local search optimization? How do you know if you require professional Local SEO Services?

Here is a checklist to make sure your local customers can find you:

step 1 – Search for your service. Most services will show local results complete with map and other important information. If you are not there you might need professional local search services.

step 2 – Search for your competitors. If they appear ahead of you, then you are losing business. Small Box SEO can definitely help with that.

step 3 – Assess your PPC. If you are spending money each month for clicks, and not converting those clicks to paying customers, then Small Box can improve your results, or help you replace that traffic with better converting organic results.

step 4 – Search for your company on a mobile device. Mobile technology is driving business. If mobile devices are sending people to the wrong location, then you have lost a customer. Small Box executes your local strategy completely, with zero problems for you.

step 5 – Understand your audience by viewing your statistics. Your audience is telling you important things about your site. Are you listening?

It makes a lot of sense for any business to try and manage as much as possible in house. But when it comes to connecting locally in your community, why leave loose ends? The businesses that have 100 % of their profile complete are going to win the battle for Local SEO.

Don’t take chances, Contact Small Box in Austin at 512-850-4819 or Indianapolis at 317-254-0932.

Posted in Everything Else, austin, google, indianapolis, mobile, pay per click, search engine optimization, search engines, sem, seo, smallbox | No Comments »

How to use Twitter to prove you’re an absolute moron.

Posted by ben on July 28th, 2009

There’s been an overwhelming amount of love for Twitter this year, but Larry King might be single handedly responsible for starting my disenchantment with the most recent installment of the seemingly annual progression of the latest and greatest social media wunderkinds. To be fair, my disenchantment began a few months ago, but a tweet a few days ago (2:58PM on July 26 to be exact) from Larry King’s official Twitter account (@kingsthings) sealed the deal:

Larry, I’ve got some news for you. For at least three reasons Twitter is the absolutely, positively WRONG medium to use for finding out why a Marathon is 26.2 miles.

First off, Larry, it demonstrates what we’ve kinda been suspecting all along – namely that you’re a no-talent, hack who’s risen to your station through merely the arbitrary caprice of fortune. The standard answer to this question is pretty much conventional wisdom. I’ve taught middle school kids that could answer it.

Second, Larry, you can actually get your answer faster by using this crazy, new technology called a search engine. I’m sure this whole Internet thing is probably brand new to you and has to be pretty confusing (in fact, it’s probably pretty safe to assume that you’ve got some ghost writer Tweeting on your behalf to solicit the questions for your interview with Colin Powell that you’re unable to prepare on your own). But just in case you actually do get on the Internet someday, I created a demonstration of how this new-fangled thing called a “search engine” can help you find answers to life’s persistent questions. Just CLICK HERE to see how it works! Then, to get your answer click on the blue, underlined text at the top of the page that says “Marathon – Wikipedia the free encyclopedia”.

Third, Larry, the answer is actually more nuanced than you might think at first blush. Turns out that the distance from Marathon to Athens is shorter than 26.2 miles. Turns out that primary historical sources disagree about whehter or not the first “Marathon runner” ran before or after the battle of Marathon. Turns out that the 26.2 mile distance was the result of a series of last-minute changes made to the first modern marathon route established for the 1908 Olympics in London. Maybe you knew that the standard answer wasn’t 100% accurate (I doubt it). But even if I stretch my imagination beyond the comprehensible and give you this benefit of the doubt, the fact still remains that crowd sourcing via your celebrity Twitter account is the least effective and most time consuming way to actually get your answer. Just take a look at the overwhelming volume of responses your question generated by CLICKING HERE. You’ll notice something pretty quickly: a lot of people know some version of the standard answer, but nobody agrees on the more nuanced details. If you’re really into crowd sourcing your answer, you should just cut to the chase and go to Wikipedia where the crowd sourcing has already been done for you. Plus, Wikipedia has at least a modicum of editing that’s gone into their content.

Which brings me back to how Larry King finally brought about my disenchantment with Twitter. In short, Twitter has become filled with crap and wading through all that crap takes more time and effort than regular people should have to put into it. It takes a considerable investment of one’s time to follow Jeb’s advice about having a meaningful online converstaion and craft your Twitter network to a manageable level so that it’s actually useful and doesn’t become a ridiculous time sink. What we need first and foremost in an answer is “correctness”. I have yet to find a better way to get “correctness” than by identifying an authority that can be trusted. It’s way too easy to present the appearance of authoritativeness on the web without actually being an authority. Just look at all the self-proclaimed authorities who wound up giving Larry a technically incorrect answer to his question. Finding an authority is hard work (even off line). Crowd sourcing via Twitter doesn’t get you any closer to an authoritative answer. It just compounds the problem (especially when you use a celebrity account). I know it’s tempting to think that crowd sourcing via Twitter is the way to go when it’s been so successful for Wikipedia, but Twitter just doesn’t work like Wikipedia.

I used to think that Twitter was pretty cool and pretty useful before the proliferation of celebrity accounts from the likes of Larry, Oprah and Martha. So it looks like I am now beating Jeb to the punch in writing his next latest-social-media-fad-jumps-the-shark-blog-post. Why is it that all these social media sites go through the same cycle of explosive growth that eventually brings about their demise? I suspect it’s because no one’s figured out a really good way to make the hard work of identifying authorities become easy. Finding an answer “that works” by playing a numbers game through social media sites can work OK for a while so long as the numbers stay fairly small. However, once they reach their critical mass these social media fads just implode. Plus, playing the social media numbers games just skirts the fact that the answer is by no means guaranteed to be authoritative. In attempting to make finding an authority easy, Twitter seems to have thrown their lot in with the celebrities. Or have the celebrities high-jacked Twitter? Either way, that celebrities have made a good thing bad should be pretty self-evident. I hate to say it but it seems that counting backlinks and other artificial “signs of trust” like the search engine algorithms do is the best thing we’ve got going so far.

So, Google don’t be worried by Jeb’s post that opined whether Twitter is a Google-slayer. It isn’t and it won’t be. In fact, it’ll probably be something our kids and grandkids reference when making fun of our generation. I can already hear my daughter incredulously asking her friends, “Can you believe our parents spent their time at work reading ghost writers typing ‘In da house ATL!!!’ on some rapper’s Twitter account?”.

And if you’re wondering, yes, I probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. So feel free to flame me in the comments below for being so hard on the beloved institutions like Larry King and Twitter. But be forewarned: I’ll probably be just as snarky in my responses as I am now.

Tags: epistemology, larry king, social media, twitter
Posted in google, search engine optimization, search engines, seo, social media, social networks, twitter | 14 Comments »

SEO Tip: Google Local Listings for Businesses

Posted by jeb on May 11th, 2009

Here’s a Search Engine tip that many businesses don’t know about but should. It’s really, really easy to have a nice Google Local listing for your business. Also, these local listings often show up above the normal organic listings. Here’s the thing, it’s much easier to get to the top of your Google Local listings than the top of the normal listings. Check out the screenshot below. (click on the image to see the live search, results may differ depending on whether you are logged in or not located in Indianapolis, etc)
Note how our client Antique Helper Auctions is at the top of the Local Business results and then #2 for the organic listings that start below.

Now there are some “tricks” to getting a top local listing but the Google Local listings run on a different algorithm than the normal listings. It is widely agreed that the Local listings are much less competitive since you are only competing against your local competition. Why does this matter? Look below at the results for the search “auctions”. Google knows I’m coming from Indianapolis by my IP address (I wasn’t logged in to my Google account for these screenshots btw) so it gives me local results mixed in with general results. It knows what I want is probably a local service. Most services have a mostly local customer base.

Have you created your Google Local account for your business? If not, do it today, it’s free, easy and will definitely result in business coming your way. Getting to the top of the local and organic listings won’t happen overnight. But we can help….

Posted in search engine optimization, search engines, sem, seo | No Comments »

How Search Is Changing and more Twitter thoughts

Posted by jeb on March 11th, 2009

I think search as we know it is undergoing its biggest change since Google came on the scene with its nifty algorithms 10 years ago.

Since friends and family is the source we trust over all others including search engines, tv, radio, yellow pages etc, at least that is what I have read, we are seeing the rise of social media (i.e. your friends and family), and in particular Twitter, as a direct threat to Google in terms of driving search for business. It is certainly not an immediate threat to Google et al’s dominance in driving business but I think around the corner we will see Peer To Peer Search emerge as a real threat to the traditional algorithm driven search that currently dominates.

Cha Cha was on the right track with their human search engine but Twitter has the right model since their search engine is essentially free and personalized to each user based on who is following them. Google can’t currently compete with a good group of Twitter followers telling you what the best Thai restaurant is or what the best project management software is, etc. Google just isn’t that intelligent, or perhaps, that human. It’s just a really smart computer program that does many things well. But Google can’t actually go eat at a restaurant and give you a first hand account. But @twitterfriend has and they are happy to share their experience. So who are you going to go to for “reliable plummer”?

This means that relationships as much as content indexed in search engines (SEO) will drive your business down the road. Social Media sites facilitate relationships in the context of meaningful content. This forces transparency on companies which is difficult at times since their culture isn’t used to it. The company culture (translation executives) is used to controlling the message. But Zappos has it right- your culture is your brand now, whether you like it or not. Just accept that the Web is a harsh light and you can’t escape it’s glare. Might as well clean house.

hmmm, so what’s Google going to do about Twitter? I bet talks are going on right now for them to buy Twitter. And I also bet Twitter isn’t going to go cheap if at all. They know what they have- a super highway that everyone has set up shop on and now they just need to figure out how to charge a small toll. Google is good at that but they aren’t the only fish in that sea.

Posted in google, search engines, twitter | 2 Comments »

Don’t Waste Money On A Business Blog

Posted by ben on March 4th, 2009

Doing this when you add a blog to your website?

I was recently asked by a client whether or not they should add a blog to their new website. They were particularly interested in knowing from an SEO perspective whether or not it made sense relative to the keywords they wanted to go after. I’ve been asked this question a lot. Our clients are a smart bunch and they want to allocate their limited resources effectively. If they can save some money by trimming a feature out of their web development budget while not missing out on a greater opportunity cost, then they’re going to do so.

As far as SEO goes, a blog is almost always an excellent way to build up your presence in the search engines regardless of your market, keywords and competition. Nevertheless, the answer I usually give is “You might not want to waste your money.” (I’m definitely aware of the delicious irony as I compose and publish this on the medium of a business blog!)

There’s three things you must consider when deciding whether or not to add a blog to your site:

Is Search Engine Marketing a minor part of your overall marketing effort? If so, then don’t bother with a blog.
Will your organization consistently commit the time and/or money into regularly creating content (i.e. 2-4 blog posts/ week for 12-18 months)? If not, then definitely don’t bother.
Will your organization commit the time to socially promoting your content? If not, then you probably don’t want to bother with a blog.

I suspect I’ve already inflamed some blog lovers and blog purists out there with #1. The blog purists tend to believe that “the journey is the destination” and that blogging is it’s own reward. While I’m sure this is the case for many bloggers, our clients are savvy business owners. They can certainly trim their web development budget and get the same personal edification and benefits by keeping a personal journal using old fashioned pen and paper for less than $5. I’m not going to advise our clients to shell out the extra cash to add a blog to their site, just because it can be a personally enriching exercise. Business Blogs have to give a return on investment that justify their cost.

However, the web development cost of a blog is just the tip of the iceberg. Building infrastructure into a website is the easy and affordable part. What you really need to ask is: are you willing to invest the time, energy, money and resources into developing and promoting your blog’s content? This can be a very substantial investment, but the rewards can be even greater. Here’s why:

Google loves blogs!

There are numerous reasons Google loves blogs and most pretty much boil down to them being a social proof of value for a particular piece of web content. One metric Google looks at on a blog post is how large and how active the comment thread is. I’ve seen a prominent national brand name badgered by a “Why Brand Name Sucks” blog post that shows right beneath their site on page 1 of the Google for a search of their own brand name. It has become THE magnet for that brand’s haters on the web. Anyone with a gripe against that brand that’s ever queried Google with the brand name appears to have read the blog and then shared their beef on the comment thread. It’s now a self-perpetuating feedback loop. That post is firmly entrenched on p1 right below the brand name’s own website (even though it has minimal backlinks and PageRank) which is too bad for the brand owner.

Also Google can be “gamed” via on-site structural tricks. Just repost identical content across multiple URLs and then shuffle those unique URLs across multiple keyword targeted category pages. Wash, rinse, repeat and presto! Instant and effective on-site SEO without the need for messy link building. Some might call that fishy, spammy or gamey, but no one disputes that it’s currently working.

Lastly and perhaps more compellingly, well written blogs that serve as linkbait can be a cornerstone of an organic link building campaign. For instance Jeb’s blog post on Compendium was interesting and controversial enough to get some in the blogosphere to join in the conversation and link back to his post that started the whole fracas. More natural backlinks coming into your site = better SEO! This is an SEO benefit that will survive many, many changes to the Google algorithm.

But here’s the catch!

After seeing all these SEO and SEM benefits to blogging you might think only an idiot wouldn’t bother adding one to their business website. However, there are two big catches you need to be aware of.

First, creating effective content takes time (or money to pay someone else to do it for you). Blogs start losing their value when you aren’t committed as an organization to blogging (i.e. to creating the content). At a minimum you’re looking at blogging at least 3-4 times a week for the first 12-18 months. Once your domain and blog get established and build some authority you can start to ease up the pace.

You can’t reasonably expect your web developer to write the content for you b/c it’s not their core competency. Jeb and I met with one of the owners of a local company that blogs on behalf of businesses for the business blog. It’s all they do. He seemed like a nice and able fellow and I’ve been wanting to try them out for some time. For some businesses with less time than money this could be a great solution.

Second, blogs have to be promoted which also takes time. If you build it, they will NOT come. Social bookmarking sites like Digg and Mixx, social networking sites like Facebook and SmallerIndiana, and the emerging wunderkind, Twitter, are all necessary tools. In the early days of Internet marketing you could use primitive, mechanical, spammy methods to promote a blog (or any site for that matter). But those don’t really work anymore. Successfully promoting a blog amounts to building a community around your brand and/or products/services.

So, for these tools to be effective you have to be social (after all they are first and foremost social media). This means seeking out like minded individuals that share common interests and having a conversation with them OUTSIDE your blog and ON the various social media channels. You might cringe at allocating resources to building content on other people’s sites, but it is a necessary evil. Building up a social network around each of these tools will require an investment of your organization’s time. Our own blog didn’t really take off until after Jeb built up his own Twitter network and then started using it to promote his blog posts.

If you have to pick one social media tool to focus your energy on, I’d currently recommend Twitter. It’ll one day implode under it’s own weight (like a super nova or MySpace), but should be good for at least a couple more years.

Well there you have it. Don’t waste your money on a business blog (unless search engine marketing is an important piece of your overall marketing efforts and you’re going to invest the time and effort into making it work). I defy you to get me to change my mind.