Author Archive
Using Coupons to Enhance Your Local Business Listing
Posted by: | CommentsThere is no way around it, people are looking for bargains so they can get the most bang for their buck. Online coupons are growing in popularity so what better place to jump in the mix then with your listing on Google’s Local Business Center (LBC)?
There are listings like this one from Red E. Kleen Carpet Cleaning Professionals in Everett, WA who have added a coupon to their listing.
Local Business Listing Coupon Selection
They have added a 15% off coupon for first time customers to get them to choose their company over the 9 others that are listed on the same page on Google search. So how do you create a coupon and what do they look like? Coupons on Google are easy to create via their easy to use templates. The hard part is selecting the right keywords to use to add to your listing’s overall search mojo! Coupons, if you have not added one to your LBC listing, are a powerful tool in your local search arsenal for attracting first time customers. They are a largely ignored feature that has huge potential for promoting your business and featuring what you do best!
To get started adding a coupon to your site go to Google LBC landing page where you will see two tabs at the top: Dashboard and Coupons.
Adding Your Coupon
Select the coupon tab where you will be directed to select your business listing to which you want to attach a coupon (if you have more than one business listing present). Select “add new coupon” and you will then be led to a fresh page with form fields.
Create something valuable to your client. Perhaps a 30 minute free initial consult or a 15 minute free consultation with a dentist? What do you already do for your clients that adds value to the services performed?
Your Finished Coupon
After you craft the coupon and add a photo, you now can access the additional piece that creates more power to the entire thing…the link! This Google generated link is going to be something to watch going forward. It appears that Google will use this link as a destination URL in the really near future. It is plausible that they are positioning these links to add a coupon widget which will display the coupon on your business website as well. This will increase not only your visibility on the web but will also generate some more powerful links for your site as well. This should drastically improve click through rates!
Local Search Strategies That Pay Off
Posted by: | CommentsAre you a mom and pop business whose customers are local? Are you a Seattle-based or Peoria-based restaurant or florist or trinket shoppe who offers online ordering that only ships within the US? Then it does not make sense for you to pay for pay-per-click (PPC) ad that are seen on the other side of the globe! So don’t get taken in by the smooth SEO firms that tell you that you “must be number one in natural search results for “online trinket store.” If your target market is locally focused, then you need to use local search strategies and natural search engine optimization. Don’t waste your marketing dollars on expensive ad campaigns that won’t work best for your small to mid-sized local business.
Should you totally ignore PPC for local marketing? Yes, and No…a PPC campaign, if hyper-focused can reach a highly targeted audience. You can create PPC ads that appear only in searches for specific zip codes, cities or gegraphically targeted areas. This is done by using highly targeted geographic keywords or phrases and parameters in the AdWords campaign setup. The best part of using these geo-specific keyword phrases is that they are lower priced and have less competition.
Using geo-specific keyword keeps you ads super focused on a particular region or area. It restricts your ads to specific consumers who can visit you on and off line (in your brick and mortar location).
When you use a geo-targeted keyword in a search on Google ( for example “ship fresh salmon seattle”), Google returns either a display of either a listing of results first in a pink box (paid listing) with a second column on the far right of additional paid listings:
or a map of often 3-10 local results for a local search. If you optimize your listing for local search you can often gain one of those top positions for your business and never have to spend a dime on pay per click campaigns:
Paid Positions
Using inexpensive local search techniques one can appear at the top of the map and not pay for the more expensive pay per click ads. It is easy and inexpensive (as in FREE) to implement.
Free Positions
First you must create a Google Gmail account and then add your Local Business Listing. These local listings are incredibly powerful as they appear at the top of the Google search results for most keyword searches with a geo-targeted keyword. If you optimize your site for keywords that are highly targeted and geographically oriented, you can rank highly and beat out your competitors inexpensively on search engines.
If you have questions on how to get started with your local search business listing, Get Found Now -Local Search Secrets Exposed is an easy to use valuable resource to help you step by step with the process.
Why Your Domain Name is Critical to Online Success
Posted by: | CommentsThe how and why of internet domain naming conventions for experienced and not so experienced business owners.
The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names…Chinese Proverb
How do you choose a good domain name? Why should you fuss and bother so much over the agonizing process? Is it really that important to “get it right?” Every day I hear business owners pondering this question. Over and over the mantra is “I need a good domain name but all the good ones are taken!”
Choosing a domain name that captures your business brand, is optimized for local search, and is scalable for your growing and rapidly changing business needs can seem overwhelming. Does it have to be that difficult a process for such an important task? NO! As a matter of fact, it is a lot easier than you think if you follow a few common sense tricks and traits and implement a little creativity in the process.
Basically, selecting a domain name requires employing the following critera:
• Must be easy to spell in order to avoid confusion
• Easy to pronounce/read
• Free from .info or .biz tld’s that are difficult to remember
• Uses no hypens, underlines or dots between words and letters
• Short so it is easy to remember
• Does not have words that end with one letter that is also the first letter of the next word (ie: firsttimeecommerce.com)
• Is easily brandable
If you have any friends who are really good at games like Scrabble or Boggle or are champion crossword puzzle solvers, it can be a useful exercise to have them help you with the naming conventions for your site. Keep in mind, when you create your domain name for your website you are creating the one thing that has the single most long-term impact on your eventual site traffic. Choose well! Whatever name you choose will reside not only on the web but on your business cards, letterhead, invoices, and any other PR material you decide to generate. It must be easy to give verbally over the phone and in conversation so make sure it is easy to spell and say intelligibly. Select a domain name that makes sense and is easy to remember.
In the days of strictly brick and mortar businesses naming your company relied heavily on originality. You had to make sure your business’ name was nothing like your competitor’s so your business stood apart. It is not that much different today! Now you want to make sure your domain name communicates who and what you are all about, is ‘brandable,’ and works as a solid email address too. That way you are marketing even when you send out emails.
According to Ries and Trout in their books, “Positioning: The Battle of Your Mind” and “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,” domain name selection is a form of positioning. It is often the first point of contact that consumers have with you and your marketing messages. It is subliminally critical, according to Ries, to make a positive first contact with your target audience.
Your name must convey specific information that is categorized from the consumer perspective. For example, when people look for car repair shops do they look under the word “auto” or “automotive”? Do they look for a “dental” or “dentist”? Think like a consumer and how they will search for your business and how will they remember your name again and again when you select your domain name.
How do you make your name easily located, remembered, and differentiated from the hundreds of thousands of others on the Internet? Differentiation is important but the real goal is to attract the greatest number of potential customers to your site. By incorporating the right balance of keywords, geo-targeting, and branding you can potentially dominate your market with just a little effort.
Keywords are the trigger words that the local search engines use in combination with a few other SEO tricks to assign your site a “position” in web directory listings. Keywords are similar to categories in that they are the words and phrases used by consumers who are seeking information on the Internet. Geo-targeting is a physical location associated with your business. The search engines know where you are located and through the consumer’s IP address he/she is using to search a directory on the internet the internet knows where they are located geographically. Many searches on Google will generate a search result that has a map with local listings followed by “normal” search engine listings related to the search phrases used. The businesses that show in the map list all have geographical relevance to the search. These things all become linked to the naming conventions you employ when creating your domain name. For example, if you have a The Pizza Palace in Seattle and you sell gourmet pizzas you should seriously consider selecting a domain name that incorporates keywords, geo-target and branding elements:
GourmetPizzaPalaceSeattle.com or Seattlegourmetpizzapalace.com
The name is somewhat alliterative (Pizza Palace) so it is easy to remember, has a geo-target (Seattle), and keywords (Seattle, gourmet pizza, pizza). It is also not too long and easy to read. It is critical to try and strike a balance when trying to incorporate all three of these elements in selecting a domain name. As long as it is catchy and easy to remember and strikes that balance you can’t help but have a winner on your hands. The right domain name is worth its weight in gold.
Now hurry out there and buy your domain name before someone else does!
