by Chris Barnard | Oct 30, 2014 | Google My Business
Google My Business Updates Their App
Yesterday Google announced their newly updated Google My Business App. According to their blog post…
Running a successful small business is about finding and connecting with the right customers. Business owners are increasingly using their smartphones, and so today we are making enhancements to both the Google My Business and the AdWords Express apps. We hope this makes it easier to find the right customers, whether they are looking for you at their desktop computer or on their phone on the go.
In true competitive fashion the app is currently only available on Android phones but according to Google, an iOS version will be out soon enough.
How Can Your Carlsbad Business Benefit from the Google My Business App?
Two ways: responding to reviews & seeing listing insights about calls to your business and clicks to get directions. (more…)
by Chris Barnard | Sep 15, 2014 | Digital Marketing
Will Your Google Local Listings Soon Be A Paid Advertising Product?
BREAKING NEWS: Dateline August 11, 2014 – A Soon To Be Google Local Search Near You
With recent “Google My Business” updates donning both Google anointed and informally applied avian monikers, it appears Google is testing paid ads in place of what has up to this point been a free local search environment.
We’re all familiar with this local search picture of map icons and business contact information:
With the number of updates to the local search environment, these “map listings” or “local results” or whatever you want to call them have been further pushed down the page and supplanted with more ads, as seen in the here and now:
But what does the future hold?
Google just gave us a possible glimpse…It seems there is actually proof that Google is testing paid ads in place of these free listings, it was first written about – or at least noticed by this author (using the term loosely) on Wordstream.com, and here is what it looks like:
Notice the disappearing act of the “local pack” and the emergence of paid real estate.
From what this screenshot shows, we can all plainly see that the local map results have the yellow “Ads” label – which means someone is paying for them to be there…or Google is dishing out some free real estate in exchange for the guinea pig placement.
Now granted, the screenshot shows a search for “gas grills” – but will Google soon make searches for say…”a dentist in Carlsbad to fix my grill ” a pay to play proposition?
Me thinks so.
Will Google Adwords Soon Offer Local Listing Ads for Carlsbad Business?
I’d go so far as to bet you dollars to donuts that’s an affirmative.
After the most recent update – nicknamed “Pigeon” which came on the heels of a larger mobile contextual semantically driven universal “Hummingbird” update in September of last year- there was a widely realized significant drop off in local listings results (once dubbed the “10 pack” then “7 pack” and now “3 pack“) across a variety of industries.
Noticing a trend?
Although these ads appearing in place of what are still free local listings is just a test for now, and we certainly haven’t been able to duplicate those results with any Carlsbad-centric searches, the writing does seem to be on the wall for all local businesses.
So what does all this horse pucky bird doo-doo have to do with a local search for what your Carlsbad business sells on Google?
Here’s three reasons why this cowpoke thinks your Carlsbad business (and all local businesses) will have to pay Google in order to get some local play on the search engine results pages. (more…)
by Chris Barnard | Aug 12, 2014 | Google My Business
How Customers Can Leave Your Carlsbad Business A Google Review…From A Mobile Phone
Why does Google make it so difficult for incredibly happy customers to leave a review of their favorite local businesses on a mobile device?
Who knows, we could start asking all sorts of questions about why reviews went from gold stars to Zagat reviews, and back to gold stars again.
Or we could ponder the often times deemed duplicitous – some might say draconian – advertising policies of the world’s most popular search engine.
But…that would be a waste of time…
Speaking of which, there’s no telling why Google makes it so difficult for ecstatic customers to show their favorite Carlsbad businesses some social love, so let’s not concern ourselves with the why, let’s just focus on the how.
WARNING: Google’s method of capturing the mobile review from users on the go may very well change for the better, let’s hope so. Soon!
But until then, here is how customers can review your Carlsbad business from their mobile phones. (more…)
by Chris Barnard | Jul 15, 2014 | Local Search
Local SEO For Your Carlsbad Business May Start With Google…But It Doesn’t End There
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.
3 Reasons Why Your Carlsbad Business Needs Local SEO
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…)
by Chris Barnard | Jun 23, 2014 | Google+, Local Search
Your Carlsbad Google+ Local Page Is Now Managed Via Google My Business
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
Google is now in the process of updating all Google+ (and Google+ Local) pages to what will now don the moniker of “Google My Business.” This updated interface will act as a unified dashboard from which to manage your business page(s) and listing(s).
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…)
