Local Internet Marketing - The Reviews Strategy - Part 2

Have you claimed your listings on the Big Three search engines like I suggested in Part One of the Review Strategy for Local Internet Marketing Strategy?
Here's Part Two of the strategy.
A very big factor in getting higher local rankings is “citations” – mentions of your business on local sites.  In your organic search engine rankings, the key is backlinks, but the search engines aren't looking for links in Local Listings.  They just want to make sure that you are a true local business.  So they look at sites where local businesses might be mentioned:  The Chamber of Commerce directory, local news sites, and all those review sites that have been popping up in the last few years:  Yelp, MerchantCircle, Kudzu etc.
These review sites let you claim your listings (and provide keyword rich content) like the search engine sites we discussed in Part 1, but more importantly, they let customers tell the world about their experience with you - and even give you rankings on a scale of 1-5 stars.
You've heard the cliche: "A happy customer will tell a friend but an unhappy customer will tell 10."
This should get any business owner thinking about what they can do to:

• Improve customer satisfaction
• Get happy customers to post a review

That's exactly what my Reviews Strategy for Local Internet Marketing is all about.
But if you simply ask for a review, the most likely thing that will happen is: nothing.
Your customers may love you to death, but most likely they'll just forget about it...or, since the vast majority of them are not that internet savvy, they won't know how to do it.
So you have to make it very easy.
Step One. You need to claim your listings. 
There are dozens of review sites out there.  You’re likely already listed and there may even be a review or two out there that you didn’t know about.  Claim these listings - just go for the free or basic option to start with - you can always come back later and upgrade if you find them sending you customers. 
Here are a couple of review sites to start with I’m sure you can find at least 20 others:

• http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/
• http://www.judysbook.com/post/0
• https://biz.yelp.com/
• http://www.insiderpages.com/session/new
• https://register.kudzu.com/packageSelect.do

Note:  These sites often switch these url's around for some reason so you might have to do a little searching to find the sign-up place for business owners.
Step Two.  Add a page to your website.
Have your web designer add a page to your site like this: McColley Marketing Media Review Page.
You'll see that we give them some simple directions on what we want them to do.
Each of the logos is a link to my claimed profile on that service, so all a customer needs to do is click on picture, register, and add a great review.
Step Three.  Ask for reviews - especially from your happy customers. 
You could send out an email, post a note on your social networks, print up business cards with the link to your page, include a slip in their monthly bill, or...get creative. If you do, be share your idea in the comments section!
Be sure you get the front line people in your business involved in asking for reviews.
And now that you have some reviews and testimonials...let's leave that for a Part Three.

Lynn McColley owns and operates McColley Marketing Media in Mesa, Arizona.  He does Small Business Web Site Design, Local Internet Marketing and helps business do drop-dead simple Email Marketing Blasts using McMail Email Marketing.  Call him at 480-704-4286.

Maximizing your promotional efforts

Need tires and want to expand your web-marketing capabilities?
One of my clients, Tires Tires Tires in Sioux City and Sioux Falls has a new promotion on their site:  Get a FREE flip Ultra HD Camera when you buy a set of Continental Tires.
It was simple to add to their website, including a banner ad that rotates in the left column, all of which will automatically disappear from the site when the promotion ends next month.  In addition, they have a social network that includes Facebook and Twitter and more, and one quick email gets it posted on all those places, too.

Want to minimize your marketing work, but maximize your marketing effort?  McColley Marketing Media can show you how.  Call Lynn at 480-704-4286.

A quick note to Symantec/Norton Antivirus

Tonight I uninstalled Norton Antivirus from all of my machines.  My subscription had expired.
As part of the uninstall, you asked me to fill out a survey.  Which I did.  Until I got to the end and in big letters you told me that whatever I said became your property and you could use them in any way you wanted without me having any recourse.
So I brought my comments here and give you no rights to use these comments in any way. 
I have been a fan since the days of Windows 3.1 and Norton Utilities.  As an IT director, I fought corporate to keep you on my systems when they tried to push one of your competitors down my throat.
But 2 years ago, I installed Norton 2009 well ahead of my subscription ending.  And you "stole" my remaining subscription.  So my Norton 2008 didn't last a full year, more like 11 months.  This was my reward for doing what you asked:  updating before my subscription ran out.
Yes, a call to tech support and 1 fewer hour in my life later, my original subscription was restored.  I told the tech at the time that I thought this was an attempted theft and I didn't like it.
Theft?  That's my opinion.. 
Having done tech support for close to 100 users for several years, I am acutely aware of how little people understand about their computers.  While I complained and got my subscription restored, the vast majority never would.  But since your nag screens start after about 10 months warning me to renew, I suspect you've been able to fleece large numbers of customers out of about 10% of what they paid for.
That was 2 years ago when I told your tech I wouldn't buy again if you didn't fix it.  I gave you the benefit of the doubt...
Last year, when I installed Norton 2010, it happened again. 
Another hour of listening to muzak on hold and dealing with low level tech support until they "fixed that problem right up."  In fact he fixed it for all three machines with just a couple of keystrokes - even faster than the tech did the year before. 
Which suggests you've invested training time and streamlined the way to fix the "problem" so your tech support costs for this issue doesn't cost as much.
But you didn't stop trying to steal from me.
That's why you no longer have a place on my computers.
Oh, and as the first of my three computers reaches 4% of a full system scan and has already found 5 viruses you missed, maybe it was time.

Lynn McColley is a former IT guy and longtime media and advertising executive who sold his snowblower a half dozen years ago to start his own advertising and marketing company in sunny, warm Phoenix.  He specializes in Small Business Web Site Design, Email Marketing Blasts, and getting higher search engine rankings for his clients.  Want a little more bang for your marketing dollar?  Call Lynn at 480-704-4286.

Local Internet Marketing - The Reviews Strategy for Higher Rankings - Part 1

I was at a business networking meeting today and the question was asked of each of the members, "What kind of marketing do you do?"  Obviously, most of them used "networking" or "referrals" as their primary method of gaining new customers.  Not much of a surprise there, since it was a networking group.
I brought up Local Internet Marketing, since it is the perfect expansion tool for a business that lives on referrals.
The goal is simply to get your customers to go the next step beyond referrals and write a quick review of your business online.
But there is something you need to do first.
Before you can really implement the Reviews Strategy of Local Internet Marketing, you need to claim your listings at each of the search engine's local advertising centers. 
Go to

• Google Places
• Bing Listing Center
  
• Yahoo Local Listings

Follow the directions to find your business and claim it.
MOST IMPORTANT:  You can't rank highly unless you claim your listings. 
VERY IMPORTANT:  Fill out every part of the form.  For every part of the form you fill out you get points.  The more points, the higher you rank. 
Yes, Google really wants you to have 10 pictures on your profile.  Everybody has or can get 10 pictures that relate to their business.  Putting up a full set of 10 pictures is worth almost half the possible points for claiming your listing.   A video might be a little tougher, but if you've got one,you'll be ahead of the competition in this area.  If you don't have one, put it on your list of things to invest your marketing dollars in. 
It should go without saying that you also need to sprinkle your keywords into the listings.
As Woody Allen said, "Eighty percent of success is just showing up."  That goes for Local Internet Marketing, too.
Next:  The Review Strategy itself.

Lynn McColley, in his typically humble way named his business McColley Marketing Media.  McColley Marketing Media does Small Business Web Site Design, Local Internet Marketing, and Email Marketing Blasts for small businesses in Arizona and all over the country.  Contact Lynn at 480-704-4286.

AZ Indian Law Website

The Arizona Indian Law website is up!  AZ Indian Law is a second website for Brian Utsey, an Arizona Family Law Attorney. 
Brian is an exceptional attorney who enjoys the family law side of his practice, but his true love, legally speaking, is American Indian Law.
In researching the site's contents, I learned a lot about how the native tribes were mistreated, legally speaking (and otherwise).  Having grown up and spent lots of time in the Midwest and having close Sioux and Chippewa friends, I knew some of the story.  But looking at some of the legal history for this site, showed me how much I didn't know.
This site doesn't go into that history, there are a large number of sites that talk about that elsewhere.  However, when the site says "Indian Law is complicated", you don't know the half of it.  Normally, the law is relatively cut a dry.  After hundreds of years, somebody, soemwhere has had a similar case and you just have to point out what precedents the judge should look at in deciding the case.  In American Indian Law, for almost any questions you can find two or possibly three precedents - that point in completely opposite directions.  Many of them Supreme Court Decisions!
In addition, for outsiders dealing with Tribal courts, precedents may or may not have any bearing.  Brian tells of having cases against Indian clients summarily dismissed simply because the contracts involved didn't take into consideration that one side of the argument (his) was subject to tribal protections.
It's a fascinating and complex area of the law, and since Brian Utsey is one of a very limited number of attorneys who focus on this area, I expect you'll be hearing his name in connection with some rather high profile cases at some point in the future.
Let me know what you think of it.

Lynn McColley focuses on Small Business Web Site Design, Internet Marketing and Email Marketing Blasts at McColley Marketing Media in Mesa, Arizona.  If you would like to improve your results from marketing on the internet, call him at 480-704-4286.

Optimize for Google, get a Bing Bonus Ranking!

Search Engine Land has an interesting article today "Google: Bing is Cheating."
It seems that Bing has been copying search results from Google and using them to come up with their results.
Kinda like "those kids" did back in middle school.
The short take.  Google discovered something odd in what Bing was showing for some search results. 
They set a trap for some impossible searches like mbzrxpgjys and hiybbprqag.  Neither Bing nor Google had a result for those terms.  Then Google created special results pages for these terms and started searching for them using Internet Explorer. 
It turns out, IE is sending what you search for back to Microsoft and they are using it to come up with results at Bing.  After 2 weeks, Bing was returning the same top result for those searches - even though there was no connection between those searches and the pages Google returned.
What's the old saying?  "If two (search engines) both agree on everything, then one of them isn't necessary."
Now that we only have two search engines - since Bing is now powering Yahoo - I would have hoped they were at least trying to compete.
Bing needs a trip to the principal's office.

And then we need to ask about that spying Microsoft/Bing is doing on what you're searching for.

Lynn McColley does Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing and Small Business Web Site Design at McColley Marketing Media.  Call him in Phoenix at 480-704-4286.

The Traffic Fairy has sprinkled some goodness...

Thank you Google!  Thank you DMOZ.
Doing my monthly checkups, I have to say thank you to Google for a little PageRank gift for my site and for a site I'm helping with SEO, www.huntandfishalaska.net.  The Traffic Fairy has blessed www.McMarketingMedia.com with a bump up to 3 for a PageRank and Ram Aviation's site went from a 0 to a 3! 
Also somewhere in there, DMOZ decided to give www.McMarketingMedia.com a listing. 
Thank you Traffic Fairies!

Actually, website traffic comes from a lot of tedious work in Link Building.  If you want to get more customers to come you, we've got a step by step program to help.  Call Lynn at 480-704-4286 to find out more.