This past January, we noted that the number-one way to get your business banned from Google Places (a.k.a. Google Maps) is to "keyword-stuff" your Google Maps listing. That is, instead of correctly listing your business as "Bob's Services" in Google Places, you list it as "Bob's Appliance HVAC Plumbing Heating Cooling and AC Services of New York, Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens." If your business is listed as "Bob's Services" everywhere else on the Internet except for … [Read more...] about Google Maps: Revisted
Stay Positive: Manage Your Online Reputation!
One of the best ways for you to enhance the online reputation of your business is to promote reviews and testimonials about your services from past customers. Maintaining a positive online reputation is key to the future growth of your business. However, motivating clients to provide you with quality reviews is not quite as easy as it sounds. At Prospect Genius, we've developed a few strategies in our own attempts to gather more customer reviews, and we're happy to share them here because they … [Read more...] about Stay Positive: Manage Your Online Reputation!
The Small Mistake that Could Kill Your SEO Campaign
Navigating Your Online Identity Here at Prospect Genius, we know how important it is for our clients to be able to track the return on their investment with our SEO program. That's why we create a metered number and trackable microsite (with a URL that follows the format "some-service-city.state-biz.com") so you know which leads are coming in from your Prospect Genius campaign. We spend a great deal of time promoting these numbers and microsites all across the Internet and on many different … [Read more...] about The Small Mistake that Could Kill Your SEO Campaign
Are Online Advertising Myths Causing You to Make Costly Mistakes?
We’ve talked about this issue a bit in past posts, but since this topic keeps coming up, it’s definitely worth reiterating how common mistakes can lead to some pretty major consequences. Since there is about a 50% chance you’re making at least one of these mistakes, please read this post carefully. Some of the consequences are severe, so it’s best to avoid them if you can. If you have any questions about these costly online advertising myths or how they can hurt you, don’t hesitate to call. The … [Read more...] about Are Online Advertising Myths Causing You to Make Costly Mistakes?
Fresh Off the Press: Announcing New Product Offerings to Help Your SEO Campaign
The PG team is continually working to ensure our customers receive the best, most comprehensive service. As a result, we’re constantly coming up with new ideas of how to better serve you. Today we’d like to announce a few brand-new product offerings that will help us make certain you really are getting a full-spectrum of top-quality options for your online advertising campaign. E-mail to Phone Do your e-mails sit around for days (or longer) because you just don’t have time to check the computer? … [Read more...] about Fresh Off the Press: Announcing New Product Offerings to Help Your SEO Campaign
Too Busy to Advertise Online?
Some customers tell us that they WANT to sign up, but they just don't have time to do it. What they're really saying is that they don't want to take an active role in the promotion of their own business. We understand that you’re busy, and that being a small business owner often entails a hectic schedule, but if you don’t take the time to actively participate in promoting your business as accurately as possible, the consequences can be disastrous! No matter how many jobs you have lined up or how … [Read more...] about Too Busy to Advertise Online?
Voice Mail: Solution or Danger
At Prospect Genius, we work with a broad spectrum of small, local companies, and that puts us in a unique position to observe trends in the ways small businesses handle their operations. Recently, we’ve noticed that some of our clients, especially the one-person outfits, are too busy to answer their phone during the day. Instead, they let the calls go through to their voice mail and return the messages once they have time. On one hand, this is great news: We’re excited that so many folks are … [Read more...] about Voice Mail: Solution or Danger
Don’t Get Banned From Google
Spam: It’s Bad for Business In past blog posts, we’ve talked about how Google works: the changes to Google Maps that display search results as a combination of organic rankings and map placement; the Google Spam Department, led by Matt Cutts; etc. But we wanted to talk about all this again because Google’s Spam Department has been stepping up enforcement. They’re taking spam activity on Google Places so seriously that your business may even be banned if caught! The most important thing to … [Read more...] about Don’t Get Banned From Google
Making SEO Work for You
Double Trouble When your sink is leaking, would you call in two different plumbers to fix the leak at the same time? Would you have two different dentists fill one cavity? Having two pros in to do the same job, at the same time, just doesn’t make much sense. Of course, these are rather ridiculous examples, and you certainly wouldn’t follow through with either of these scenarios. However, many small companies do work with two separate SEO companies at the same time, hiring both to market the same … [Read more...] about Making SEO Work for You
Stand Out From the Crowd With Pictures and Reviews
Pictures: Why Your Website May Be Dead in the Water Without Them Online advertising has one goal, right? To get your website ranking as well as possible with search engines like Google and Bing. However, using the right keywords, linking strategies, and off-page work to make your site rank highly isn’t always enough. That’s because the ultimate goal of Internet marketing is actually not just to make your site number 1 on Google or Yahoo! It’s to generate more business for your company. To do … [Read more...] about Stand Out From the Crowd With Pictures and Reviews