Have you recently received an email stating that your website is "violating copyrighted images"? This is a fabricated message that's circulating like wildfire right now. It's meant to scare website owners into clicking a link, which would then install trojan ransomware onto your computer. Please, if you receive this email, delete it immediately. Do not click on the link. Thanks to the email logs in our client portal, we were able to view multiple versions of this message in our clients' … [Read more...] about This Scary Email Scam Is Tricking Tons of Website Owners
How Google’s Greed Is Slashing Your Website Traffic
Google's new slogan should be, "Helping Goliath pummel David." If you’ve been following this blog for a while, then you already know how we feel about Google and their reckless behavior towards the little guy. But for newcomers, here's a quick recap: Google’s motivation will always be to maximize profits for themselves. This runs in direct opposition to the best interests of small businesses that can't spend a fortune advertising themselves online. And it's getting worse. Now, with … [Read more...] about How Google’s Greed Is Slashing Your Website Traffic
How to Respond When Your Domain Is Held Hostage
From time to time, our team is reminded of a very depressing truth: Many SEO providers out there do scummy things. The latest reminder? Just the other day, we were talking to a small business owner, and he told us how skeptical he was of the SEO industry. At first, we couldn't understand why he was so mistrusting of us. But after some prodding, he revealed where his trust issues came from... As it turns out, his last SEO provider registered his domain for him, and then held it hostage when … [Read more...] about How to Respond When Your Domain Is Held Hostage
Little Known Ways to Market Yourself in a New Location
So, your business is ranking pretty well in your hometown. But what if you want to get more jobs in the next town over? Or maybe you want to expand into a different state entirely? No problem. Prospect Genius has a handful of cost-effective strategies to help you target a new service area without going over budget. Of course, the strategy we prescribe will depend on how far away your second address is. Thankfully, we've had lots of success solving this problem for clients and business … [Read more...] about Little Known Ways to Market Yourself in a New Location
Why You Shouldn’t Worry About This Google Chrome Warning
When you visit a website using Google Chrome, you might see a “Not Secure” label in the address bar at the top of the browser. But don't panic: This doesn’t mean what it sounds like. You have not been hacked or infected with malware. So, if you see this warning and think you've been attacked or compromised in some way, you can take a deep breath before we proceed. Now, here’s what that warning does mean. “Not Secure” Means “Not Encrypted” This “Not Secure” label is a simple warning that … [Read more...] about Why You Shouldn’t Worry About This Google Chrome Warning
Why You Can’t Trust This Warning From Google
Have you gotten a call from Google about your AdWords account? Did they tell you that your ads are displaying in other countries and costing you extra money? You're not alone. Google has been ramping up its AdWords sales efforts—and this means they've been aggressively targeting existing AdWords accounts and trying to upsell them. To that end, they've been dialing the numbers on AdWords accounts and getting their foot in the door with this scare tactic: "Your account has the wrong settings … [Read more...] about Why You Can’t Trust This Warning From Google
How to Minimize Your Damage From Google’s New Platform
Have you noticed a new type of sponsored result on Google's search results pages? These ads are for Google's new platform, Local Services, which Google designed to promote local service providers like plumbers, electricians, handymen, cleaners, locksmiths, and the like. According to the official website, "Local Services ads help you connect with people who search on Google for the services you offer. Your ads will show up for customers in your area, so you can keep your calendar … [Read more...] about How to Minimize Your Damage From Google’s New Platform
Watch Out for This New Email Scam!
When you receive an email from an unknown sender, what's the first thing you look at? Hopefully, it's the email address itself. After all, why bother reading the contents of the email if you don't even know who it's from to begin with? The sender's email address alone will tell you a lot about the email's credibility and authenticity before you even read a word. We wanted to bring this up because there's a new batch of scam emails going around, and we want you to be aware of them. Keep reading … [Read more...] about Watch Out for This New Email Scam!
This Is the Most Convenient Way to Track Your Marketing Progress
Picture this: It's Sunday afternoon, and you're taking some time to mentally prepare for the workweek ahead. This gets you thinking about your online marketing campaign. How many jobs are you booking as a result of your campaign? Are you getting a good return on your investment? Unfortunately, since it's the weekend, the online marketing company you work with probably isn't open—which means you won't be able to call your campaign coordinator and ask about your campaign's performance until some … [Read more...] about This Is the Most Convenient Way to Track Your Marketing Progress
Why Googling Yourself Won’t Tell You What You Need to Know
Finding out how you rank on Google should be pretty simple, right? It feels like a quick search for your business name is all you’d need to do. Unfortunately, Google makes this way more complicated than it has to be. Although it's perfectly logical for you to assume you can check your ranking just by googling yourself, that's not the reality. Keep reading to find out how googling your own company name doesn’t actually give you a clear picture of your site’s performance. We’ll also give you … [Read more...] about Why Googling Yourself Won’t Tell You What You Need to Know
