Some marketing strategies are brilliant for one brand, yet absolute fails for another. What makes the difference? Audience. Marketing strategies should be built with the target audience in mind. The marketing strategy that is brilliant for a spa (a local consumer audience) isn't going to work too well for an enterprise level Customer Relationship Management software (a national/international corporate audience). There are four steps to choosing the marketing strategy that's best for … [Read more...]
Google My Business Categories
Want to start a local business but short on ideas of exactly what type of business? Here's an alphabetical list of the 2,395 types of businesses Google has listed as "categories" for local businesses. Happy brainstorming! ATM ATV Dealer ATV Repair Shop Abbey Abortion Clinic Abrasives Supplier Abundant Life Church Accountant Accounting School Acoustical Consultant Acupuncture Clinic Acupuncture School Acura Dealer Addiction … [Read more...]
Why Your Business Has Poor Rankings on Google Maps
A lot of business can come to your local business through your Google Business Profile. That business mostly comes from popping up on Google Search or Google Maps. I've seen business owners unknowingly break Google's guidelines for local businesses and get hit with a penalty. It's not fun. There are five basic penalties: Poor rankings (an algorithmic penalty) Unverified Suspended Permanently Removed Reviews Removed Sometimes the penalty can be fixed quickly. Other … [Read more...]
3 Reasons www URLs Are Better Than Non www URLs For SEO …But Don’t Go Switching Just Yet
When I started my first website I had no idea that a www URL was better than a non www URL (sometimes called a root or naked URL). In fact, I had no idea that both options even existed. Unfortunately, my first website's URL by default was a naked URL. Most "experts" will tell you that there is no difference, it's just a matter of preference. It does make a difference! www URLs are better for SEO! ...but don't go switching just yet. Links Each and every website with a naked URL I've analyzed … [Read more...]
The 7 Prerequisites For Strong Sustainable Growth
Ignore any of these seven rules and strong sustainable growth is no guarantee. Follow each of them and you'll be protected against the most common reasons businesses fail to thrive. Rule #1 Become Driven By Data Learning to make decisions the right way is invaluble. When faced with decisions, especially big ones, most companies will brainstorm, talk it over and make a decision and go forward. Being decisive is good, what isn't good is going forward with a decision that wasn't the best possible … [Read more...]
7 Steps For Choosing A Business Location Search Engines Will Love
Whether you're starting a business, changing locations, or expanding into a new market - you want a business location search engines will love. What This Guide Gives You: This short 7 step guide will help you choose the best location (steps 1 and 2) and building type (steps 3 through 7) to ensure your business location is optimized for search engines. 1. Stay In The City Limits This is probably obvious but if you want search engines to rank your brand well for "pizza chicago" it's … [Read more...]
Cheat Sheet: Brand Your Social Media Business Profiles in Less Than 20 Minutes
Properly branding your social media profiles for both mobile and desktop doesn't have to be a pain. Today we uploaded new photos to all our social profiles. It only took five minutes. How so fast? We had previously figured out the fewest number of images it would take to rebrand the most popular social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkeIn, Pinterest, and Google+) for both desktop and mobile. Free Image Editor: All your social media images can be made quickly easily using the free image editor … [Read more...]
What You Need To Know About SEO Before You Start A Local Business
I've seen it too many times. People start awesome local businesses, but with business names or domains that are not optimized for success. At least not for search engine success. Local searches can add anywhere from up to a million to much more in annual revenue for a local business. So if you're serious about attracting a lot of local search traffic - this is what you need to get right before you even open your doors. Quick Note: At a future date I may go more into why each of these tips are … [Read more...]