Not on Angie’s List? Why Now May be the Time to Reconsider

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Laurie

How Angie’s List’s New Free Membership Could Impact Your Business

Read about Angie’s List decision to offer a new free membership and how it can help local business SEO…

Perhaps you have heard about Angie’s List and were not sure if it had much of an impact on your local business.

As a local business owner, you should know that many customers and potential customers have found the List to be a great place to read, and place, reviews on local businesses.

Like many review sites, a reviewer must join Angie’s List in order to place a review. Not only that, they have to be a member in order to read other reviews.

For many, both consumers and businesses, this was a small stumbling block.

While many people have joined, others have balked because there was a membership fee. Some found the fee to be worthwhile and others decided they would rather use one of the free review sites.

Since the fee did deter some people from using the site, you might have decide that Angie’s List was not that relevant to your business, so you didn’t bother to even claim your profile. (Yes, you might have a profile–and some reviews–there and not even know it, in this case!)

You could be on Angie’s List already and not even know it.

Angie’s List is a community where members and local providers can connect. Your profile is your first impression to members, so make it count! Build a robust profile that includes a business description, operating hours, areas of specialty, responsiveness, reviews and more. Members consider this information before deciding who contact.

After you interact with members, they submit reviews on their experiences. Reviews are given in the form of a letter grade, and are a great way to gain insights about how customers and patients view your services.

Angie’s List reviews are:

Never anonymous
Verified by BPA Worldwide’s certification process
Submitted online, through mail or over the phone
Easily accessible to read and respond

Well, hang on to your seats…because Angie’s List’s new CEO has decided to offer a free “green” membership.

This is great news for your local business because now even more people will be able to see your profile page and all your positive reviews–without having to pay ‘for admission.’

We have long encouraged our clients to claim their profile on AL if their business was in one of the appropriate categories. Now, they have not only providing a free membership, they have also expanded the list of business categories, from Air Duct Cleaning to Welding!

One of the benefits of claiming your business profile is that you can manage your reviews. Keeping on top of both positive and negative reviews is essential for your business.

On review sites, whether Google, Yelp, Brownbook, Angie’s List or others you want to be sure you are responding promptly to negative reviews. Your prompt response gives you the opportunity to rectify any situations that need to be fixed–and let the customer (and others) know how you have handled it. All good PR, and it should be SOP (standard operating procedure) for any business.

Angie’s List is one of the review sites that is also excellent from an local business SEO perspective–one of the other reasons we suggest claiming your business listing. AL is seen as a trusted site, which links out to your site–and you can link to theirs–and that all is good search engine “mojo.”

So what have you got to lose? If you haven’t already claimed your listing, this just might be the final push you needed to convince you that it is a good idea.

Facebook Responds to Mobile’s Need for Speed

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Laurie

Instant Articles will be Available to All Publishers

Read about the benefits for you–as a reader and as a local business owner:

Slow loading time on mobile is the bane of all internet marketers at this time. So many people get their information from mobile devices that they cannot be ignored. As more and more platforms and apps recognize this, they are scrambling to increase the load speed.

This is great news for the mobile users. However it has also allowed them to become less patient and more finicky about how they received data. Since there are sources where the information loads quickly, the users tend to migrate to those outlets.

Bottom line: if you want to keep up, you have to satisfy the mobile users’ need for speed.

Facebook has been working on doing precisely that with Instant Articles.Touted as a way for publishers to get content to their readers more quickly, this program has, to date, only been available to a select group of publishers for testing.

The wait for the rest of the publishing (and marketing) world is almost over! Facebook has recently announced that on April 12th Instant Articles will be open to all publishers. Yep, ALL publishers. No size restrictions. No location limitations.

We built Instant Articles to solve a specific problem—slow loading times on the mobile web created a problematic experience for people reading news on their phones. This is a problem that impacts publishers of all sizes, especially those with audiences where low connectivity is an issue. With that in mind, our goal from the beginning was to open up Instant Articles to all publishers and we’re excited to be able to do that in a way that makes it fast and easy for all publishers to reach their audiences on Facebook.

This is a great idea for Facebook–they will be able to keep their user base rather than seeing them head for greener, and faster, pastures.

Here is what also sounds great for the publishers: publishers retain full control! Control over the content, control over how it looks, and control over the advertising! Facebook will even allow publishers to show content that has ads that are not part of the Facebook product line–without taking a cut.

With Instant Articles, publishers have full control over the look of their stories, as well as data and ads. They have the ability to bring their own direct-sold ads and keep 100% of the revenue, and track data on the ads served through their existing ad measurement systems, or they can monetize their content through the Facebook Audience Network. Additionally, publishers can use their existing web-based analytics systems to track article traffic or use third-party providers. They can do all this while accessing a rich suite of multimedia tools to create dynamic, interactive stories, that will load quickly everywhere on Facebook, regardless of where in the world their readers are.

Instant articles using the same technology that is currently used to upload photographs with speed.

And speaking of photographs, rather than being limited to the size of your mobile phone screen, users will be able to tilt their phone (yes, tilt, not swipe) and see more of the photograph. Users will be able to zoom into the photo and see an interactive map of where the photo was taken.

Videos will also run seamlessly with this technology. In all, it is an awesome user experience.

Although geared for media outlets, this technology will have a big impact on any local business who engages in content marketing. And let’s be honest, content marketing is an important part of being found on the internet today.

To learn more about the opening of Facebook Instant Articles, read Josh Roberts’ original post here

Facebook Takes Aim at Yelp and Angie’s List

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Laurie

Will Local Search Move to Facebook?

Read how Facebook may be preparing to become the local services search engine:

Local businesses have recognized for some time now they need to have an internet presence. The days when potential customers used the telephone book to find services, whether a doctor, restaurant, or plumber, are gone. (If you didn’t know that already, please read Why Local Search)

While there may have been a few telephone directories in the past, the options for your potential customers is more varied now. One of the biggest advantages for individuals looking for the best provider is that these options include “social proof,” also known as reviews.

Google has long been the major search engine for big business as well as local business. But that status is not guaranteed, especially as they keep changing their system, frustrating users and businesses alike.

Other options include services like Yelp and Angie’s List.

Facebook started moving into this territory as well. To conduct a search in their area, a Facebook user simply types in the URL Facebook.com/services and they will see a screen similar to the one shown above.

Although your home city (what you registered when you created your Facebook account) will be displayed, you can easily change that by simply typing in the city and state where you happen to be. That means if you are at work or on vacation, you can still use this new service.

Like many other directories, and most notably Angie’s and Yelp, Facebook has compiled a searchable directory.

Car won’t start? Use Facebook to find an Automotive Repair shop nearby that can get you back on the road.

This appears to be a silent test. No announcement has been reported coming from Facebook. But the word is leaking out…and here are out thoughts…

A Facebook spokesperson recently issued this statement about the feature:

“We’re in the early stages of testing a way for people to easily find more Pages for the services they’re interested in.”

The site is pretty easy to use. It is simple and straight forward.

Although many other sources are purporting this new service is only available on desktop computers, we had no problem accessing it from either an iPad or Droid phone. Clearly, not a conclusive test, but still a good sign for mobile users.

A user can find a business by clicking on one of the pictures or scrolling down to the list. At least for now, the pictures offering services was pretty weak. First, there were only 8 options offered. Worse, the pictures had little or nothing to do with the category–the “Medical & Health” category featured a picture of a local sports bar!

The challenge with the list method, “Explore other services” is that it could easily lead someone to believe these are the only categories that Facebook is serving up. This is not true, and we actually found that simply typing into the search box was the easiest method of finding the type of business you are looking for. Just start typing and a list will show up that you can choose from.

All Encompassing

What we like about this search method is that it appears to be all encompassing.

Facebook is not trying to specialize in only home services or only entertainment, or other limiting factors. That means we don’t need to switch between Angie’s List, Yelp, Hot Frog and any number of other directories to find the businesses we are looking for.

The restrictions?

Well, the business must have a Facebook page. You do have one, don’t you?

How are the results determined?

Since Facebook isn’t issuing a big announcement about this service we are left to wonder how they are serving up the businesses. It doesn’t appear to be biased towards the number of ratings. Or is it?

During our, non-exhaustive search our conclusion is that if you already like a business, it is going to come up first in your search.

On the other hand, if you have not liked a business page in that category then you are likely to be served up the highest rated businesses first. Now, how the algorithm determines the highest ratings seems to be a combination of the number of different ratings and the number of stars they were rated. *whew* That sounds like too much math for me!

Bottom line:

If you don’t already have a Facebook page for your business, it is important that you get one, pronto.

If your business already has a page on Facebook, be sure it is optimized so that users in your area can find you–that, in a nutshell is what local search is all about.

If you don’t know how to do either of these things, contact us and we can get that done for you.

Hosting Your Local Business Website

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Laurie

I’ve had a lot of people ask about websites lately–specifically, where to host their website.

As the saying goes, nothing in this world is certain except death and taxes. Therefore I will preface this post with caveat there is not one right answer for every business, not even smaller, local businesses.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I will tell you what I generally advise clients (and anyone who asks.)

It is a good idea to own your own website. That means you have purchased the domain name rather than relying on a free site.

Fortunately, that is not usually a big expense. If your exact business name is not available as a domain name (www.YourBusinessName.com) then there are some options, but if possible, secure your name. There may be reasons that we would advise buying other domain names (instead or in addition to your business name)–but that should be handled on a case-by-case basis. A domain name typically costs less than $10 a year to buy and renew. There will be plenty of people who want to charge you a lot more–but before you plunk down your hard earned money, realize that it probably isn’t necessary.

A domain name is great, but it doesn’t do you any good all by itself. You have to have “hosting.” Webhosting is a service that you must pay for to have your domain actually online. Think of it like renting a storefront. You can have a great business name, but if you want to have customers buy from you, you need your store. The webhosting is like the building. Once you have the building, you fill it with items to sell and your decorate it. That is comparable to building the website–you decide what you want on the site and how you want it to look. You determine how you will interact with your customers, what the function of the site is, etc.

Now that we are clear on the basic terminology, let’s get back to webhosting. You have many different options when it comes to hosting your website.

You can have your website hosted for free, but for most businesses it is worth spending the money to have the website hosted elsewhere. Some companies will provide a domain name as part of their webhosting service. Many companies will offer an affordable package that gives you a domain name, hosting, and designing for a low monthly fee. This may be the right option for your business, either in the beginning or long term. It may also be a terrible choice for your business. Knowing what purpose your website will have can help determine your hosting needs and what is your best internet solution. These may change and grown over time, and you can’t possibly know everything that you will ever need in a website. Don’t worry too much about what your business will look in 5 years, at least not for your website. Focus on what you need right now, and what you envision for the upcoming year.

The exact cost of web hosting will depend on how much “cyber-space” you will be using. Similar to the size of your storefront, the more bandwidth and disc size you need, the more hosting will cost you. Most local businesses will not need to spend thousands to have a website. But if you host a lot of videos directly on your site, you will need more space than someone who has a lot of still photos. Will you be making sales on your site? Will people have to login to access your site or will all the content be open to anyone? Are you planning on collecting email addresses or other personal information on your site? All of these things impact how your site will be built–and the type of security and hosting that you might need.

As your online presence grows and you get more visitors, you may need to boost your hosting package, especially if you sell products online, so choose a hosting company that will allow you to grow over time. Sure, you can change hosting companies later, but it is often easier (not to mention less expensive) to upgrade rather than actually move your site. That doesn’t mean you should feel trapped paying for a lot of services that you don’t currently, or may never, need. You wouldn’t rent a store that is 10,000 square feet if you only need 1,000 right? Pay for what fits for the near future and hopefully you will be able to expand where you are…but you can always pack up and move if you need to.

When looking at hosting your website, you want to choose a company that has good reliability. Just like you don’t want to have the lights go off while customers are in your store, you want your website up when people are looking for you–and that can be a lot more hours than your brick and mortar store is open. You don’t want your customers to find your website is down or running too slowly. A minor inconvenience one time may be okay, but people are fickle and they will move on if your site regularly doesn’t meet their needs.

In the old days, it was necessary to know a lot of computer coding in order to build a website. That isn’t the case any more. For most local businesses, simple sites are great. You can do a lot of the work yourself if you want–even if you don’t want to build it, you can do some of the updating. Your website might include a blog or a photo gallery that you update, letting your customers know what you are up to. This can be fun and a great way to engage with your audience, and a way that you can save money.

How much interest you have in working on your website AFTER it is built can also be a consideration in what your site looks like and where it is hosted. If your intention is to engage with your customers and add pictures or a blog, then you don’t want a site that requires a lot of coding to get that done.

On the other hand, “simple” sites can have challenges too. Unless you know how to build a website that will do what you want, then your energies may be better spent on other aspects of your business. This is a good time to remember that you don’t have to be a master of everything. Would you attempt to do the electrical work in your building? Or would you give up, throw in the towel on your business because you don’t know how to put up the lights? Would you take the time away from getting your business running to learn how to do the electrical work? Most people wouldn’t, they would hire an electrician or whomever they need to fulfill their vision.

The same should be true for building your website. Find someone you trust to help fulfill your online vision. Let them know your goals for today and the near future. They can help you plan out the best website for your local business, including making recommendations for hosting your website. Just like you will have to direct the electrician where you want the lights to go, and about any special equipment you have so he can be sure you have the proper outlets and power type, you will need to direct your website designers on your needs and desires. Just as a good electrician may advise you to make changes to save money or for safety, your website designer may make suggestions to improve your site–including where to host it to suit your needs.

Hosting your website is part of the puzzle, but an important part. By working with someone who understands your business you can be assured you are getting all the pieces put together so the picture of your business is clear to not only you, but to your customers as well.

Banner Ad Scams Too Good To Be True

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Laurie

If you have a website or blog you have probably been hit up by “professionals” who are interested in “helping you” in a variety of ways. Sadly, many of these so-called pros are actually out to scam you. They may be after your money or they may be looking to infect your computer or your website with malware.

I am not an IT expert, I know enough about my computer and coding to get the job done–most of the time. I do have a good sense when something feels squirrelly. One of my sites was hacked once and I can tell you from personal experience that it was a royal PIA to get it cleaned up. Frankly, I don’t understand how people get their jollies this way–that site was not making any money, so it certainly wasn’t to make financial gain!

I digress…as I so often do 😉

The latest came through my contact form. The good news is that I can safely read the messages from my contact form. The other good news is that I was smart enough, awake enough, alert to the possibility enough (you choose the descriptor you think is right) to NOT click on the link.

Whenever I have a question about if something is legitimate I do a simple Google search. And guess what I found this time? Yep, lots of people are reporting this scam.

Here is the content of the message I got (please do not go to the URL listed–I have definitely NOT activated the link, but want you to be able to see the full scam)

Subject: Contact Form Results
From: Josephine Bergson <josephine.bergson@lltconsulting.net

Josephine Bergson wrote:
Hello!

My name is Josephine Bergson representing the advertising department of the LLT
Consulting company. We are interested to place ads (banners), of your choice, on
your websites.

Design and sizes can be seen on our website at www.lltconsulting.net/id_fvo24fca/
Depending on the banner size you choose we can pay up to $950.00/month.

If you are interested to become an advertising partner please let me hear from you.

Kind Regards,
Josephine Bergson
josephine.bergson@lltconsulting.net

Website:
IP: 209.222.26.85

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Too good to be true? That’s because it is!

This might be a great deal, but one of the flags is the dollar amount the are “offering”…but you don’t have to just take my word for it.

Read what a couple IT/high tech guys have to say about this scam (this links ARE active and click away!)

Michael Sheehan AKA HighTechDad: http://www.hightechdad.com/2015/01/22/blogger-warning-llt-consulting-banner-ad-scam/

and Len at Telapost: http://www.telapost.com/bloggers-scam/

Both these guys give good hints on how to determine if what you are being offered is spam. I love this part, do a simple “who is” search and “if the domain is new, registered to a funny name, in a foreign country, renewed recently, and does not belong to a legitimate sounding company you can be sure that the email has ill intentions.” (Thanks Len for that quote).

Also, be realistic, not greedy. If your site doesn’t get significant traffic (yet) then you probably won’t be getting these kinds of offers. If the money seems to good to be true, it probably is.

Clicking on links can load your computer with a malware or trojan. Len stated that he believes this single scam has affected hundreds of machines or more already. If you are one of the unfortunates who did click the link, check these guys out for suggestions on how to clean your machine.

To your successful online business–and pooh on scammers!

Search Tips for Local Businesses: Your Site Name

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Laurie

This is part 5 of a 6 part series on search tips for local businesses

Should Your Site Name be Your Business Name?

For many businesses, they want their website name to be the same as their business name. And for many this makes sense. Especially if you are a big, well-known brand. Someone looking for a hardware store in your area may just type in the name of one of the big box stores rather than using keywords. In those instances have your site name (your URL) match your business name is important.

If you aren’t a big brand, you might consider using a keyword in your URL, possibly in conjunction with your business name. If your business is specific to a town then you may want to also consider using your town name in your site name. Both of these can help the search engines know what your business is about and where you are located.

When people search for a Mexican restaurant they may not include the town they are looking in. That’s okay, because the search engines are smart and know the IP address the search was made from—and the town that that IP address is located in. It isn’t perfect, but it means that they will tend to serve to the potential customers the Mexican restaurants nearer to them, not ones across the state or country.

By including your town in your URL you can help the search engines serve up your listing to people in your area.

One word of caution—if you have your town in your URL then you do not want to put your town in every page and description. Sometimes that can be misinterpreted by the search engines as “keyword stuffing”

OK, you want to build a brand and therefore you want to have a website with your name, not a keyword based URL. That’s okay. There are ways that you can have your cake and eat it too. By having two URLs you can take advantage of local search strategies and still build your brand and name recognition.

Are Citations Important for Local Business Success Online?

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Laurie

The short answer to the question, “Are citations important for my local business?” is yes, if you want to have success online.

What exactly is a citation?

A citation is when your business name, address, and phone number appears on another site on the internet. There does not have to be any other information about your business to qualify as a citation, but there are many other sites that will give more complete details about your business.

In order for your local business success online to happen consistency is crucial. It is vital that your citations be consistent in the information that they have about your business. Inconsistencies, even minor ones can have an adverse affect on your online success.

There are literally thousands of places where you can have a citation for your business. Opinions differ on whether or not you need to try to go after them all, which is an on-going task as sites come and go. Sometimes it depends on your business, your location, your service area, and the competition that you have online. Like most things, there isn’t a “one size fits all” answer.

If you have a presence online and you are not having success with getting customers through the internet, one place to look is at your citations. If you are not sure how to do that, or if you do not have the time or inclination to spend the time on the computer adding hundreds of citations it is time to call in a professional.

Contact Internet Advertising That Works and we can help get your online citations in line and more customers to your local business.

Internet Advertising that Works

helping local businesses thrive online since 2011

Tag Archives: local business success online

Not on Angie’s List? Why Now May be the Time to Reconsider

How Angie’s List’s New Free Membership Could Impact Your Business

You could be on Angie’s List already and not even know it.

Facebook Responds to Mobile’s Need for Speed

Instant Articles will be Available to All Publishers