“One in four households in the United States is active on the Nextdoor app.”
Sound like a good place to have an active presence?
Let’s take a look at how local business owners can use Nextdoor as a customer recommendation & referral engine.
First, some background on what the Nextdoor app is, why local businesses should be on there, and how people (and businesses) use Nextdoor. (more…)
Of course not, Yelp needs local businesses.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a fan of Yelp, Yelp Ads, Yelp reviews, Yelpers, or anything even loosely associated with Yelp. This is 100% my opinion based on past experience with clients’ experience on the platform.
Having said all that, I believe a Yelp Business listing is an essential local citation to claim, verify & optimize for any local business – and it’s 100% free to do that.
What’s not free are Yelp Ads, and in my opinion, they are a complete waste of money for damn near any business.
But, you’re not here to read some Yelp rant, those abound out there on the interweb. What we’ll tackle with this post is why & how to claim, verify & optimize your Yelp Business page.
Yelp Business pages are nothing new, but many local businesses still have unclaimed listings out there that could be hurting their overall online visibility. (more…)
For a lot of Carlsbad business owners, generating customer reviews at a consistent clip can be somewhat of a challenge.
But it doesn’t have to be, and it certainly doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition – whether you’re a doctor or dentist using reviews & retention software or a local eatery offering a more grass-roots approach.
Google tends to get most of the reviews attention, but best practice is to offer your customers options.
Maybe some prefer Facebook, or Yelp (eeeek!), or even Angieslist.
Instead of asking your customers to write a review on Google, ask them to talk into the microphone and give you a voice review. (more…)
Apple “Maps Connect” is a new self-service tool designed to get your local business data directly into Apple Maps. For most Carlsbad businesses your info will most likely already be listed – BUT you will still need to claim the listing to ensure consistency of the data.
Apple Maps Connect enables the DIY business owners (in the US only – for now) or their authorized representatives (not agencies at present) to be able to quickly and easily claim & edit your business listing directly in Apple Maps.
This service is totally free – as it should be – and the listings (or corrected listings) appear on Apple Maps on desktop computers & mobile phones or tablets.
Primarily the business name, address, & phone info is most important. Then it’s just a matter of choosing the correct categories, connecting your social media profiles, and verifying your Apple Maps listing.
Users sign in with their Apple IDs and passwords. If you don’t have an Apple ID you have to create one. Below are some screen shots showing the steps involved in the sign-up & claims process.
Just make sure you are consistent with every other local listing or search engine listing (like Yelp, or Google My Business..etc.) you have already claimed. Best practice is to be VERY specific, for example: (more…)
It’s 2014; any local business that has not yet taken control of their Google+ Local presence by verifying their listing is out of touch at best, and soon to be not doing any business at worse.
Local search optimization (Local SEO) is not expensive, and if done right it can continue to pay significant dividends in the form of new customers, more reviews, and boosted search engine rankings.
The tasks begin with verifying & optimizing local search engine listings on Google, Yahoo, & Bing. A relatively straight-forward process that should be as important to a local business owner as improving cash flow and paying the electric bill.
This claims process soon progresses to sniffing out any inconsistent or incorrect business name, address, or phone number information across numerous local search sites, internet yellow pages sites, and specialty niche (healthcare or travel review, attorney search, industry associations…etc.) sites.
Local seo for your Carlsbad business may start with Google but it sure as shinola doesn’t stop there.
Local business owners can boost their ranking factors in those foundational search engine environs through leveraging their name, address, and phone data by disseminating it through various local search directories, IYP sites (internet yellow pages), and niche dental health portals.
And what is the end result of improved rankings on the search engine results pages? (more…)
Google+ Local, Google Places, Google Maps…why can’t Carlsbad business owners simply have one unified dashboard to manage their presence across all of Google?
According to Google…Now you can!
Image courtesy of Blu-ray.com
Let’s hope this one sticks, is bug free, easier to manager for business owners, and helps clean up the spammy listings polluting the local search ecosystem.
Remember, you can have both a Google+ Business page AND a Google+ Local page… (more…)
