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Google Now Displays Tweets in Search Results

Last Updated: May 22, 2015

Earlier this year, Google announced that it had reached a deal with Twitter to display tweets in its search results. On May 19, the experts at Search Engine Land noticed that Google was finally executing its plan, as tweets began appearing prominently in a “new and more graphical way” on mobile search results. Desktop searches have not yet been affected, but Google promises that the change will extend to desktop in the near future.

Having conducted several test search queries, Search Engine Land observes that tweets sometimes appear right at the top of the search results page (primarily when the query contains a hashtag), and other times tweets appear in the middle of the page. And, of course, there are times when tweets don’t appear at all.
Search Engine Land surmises that the appearance of tweets largely depends on whether the query is connected to a trending topic: “Presumably, you’re more likely to see tweets in Google when a hashtag, topic, person or organization appears to be trending or is newsworthy.”
For instance, if you were to google, “#NBAPlayoffs,” which are going on right now, you would probably see lots of tweets about the most recent game or a popular player. But if you googled something like, “spatula,” you would just get the normal results.
This update is just the latest in a string of developments that have highlighted the increasing importance of social signals in Google’s algorithms. It’s still too early to tell how this update will impact local search, but it’s safe to say that businesses should start tweeting a lot more.

For Businesses, Facebook Is Now Pay to Play

Last Updated: March 16, 2015

If you’ve been paying attention to our blog lately, you’ll know that Facebook is starting to replace Google as the destination for local search. That’s because it’s easier to ask your Facebook friends for personal recommendations than it is to comb through Google’s search results looking for a seemingly well-reviewed business. If you think about it, it’s a logical reaction against the overwhelming amount of information that comes from a Google search. Plus, the feedback you get from Facebook crowdsourcing is often much more reliable because it comes from people you actually know and trust.

That’s why Facebook ads and promotions are so popular right now. Local businesses are taking advantage of how many ready-and-willing customers are right there, searching for a plumber, electrician, or handyman for their latest project or emergency. But Facebook is smart, and it now wants you to pay for that advantage.

Sites, They Are A-Changin’

Just like all other marketing platforms, Facebook is rapidly growing and changing. We’re all taking advantage of Facebook as much as we can until it fades out of relevance and a more vital, effective platform comes along. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that Facebook was a small site populated only by college students. Then, Facebook opened its doors to everyone over the age of 13. Soon after, companies and organizations were allowed profiles, and advertisements quickly followed.
Now, Facebook is swimming in content and status updates, and it has realized how much money there is to be made in advertising. As a result, Facebook has significantly limited the “organic reach” of business Pages—in other words, they’ve restricted how many people a Page’s content will reach for free. This forces businesses to pay for sponsored ads and “boosted” posts in order to reach their fans and followers. (When Google rose to power, it did a similar thing by launching AdWords.)

Small Businesses Are at a Disadvantage

But here’s the kicker: Most small business owners aren’t well versed in the complexities of paid online advertising, so they’re at quite a disadvantage with this new restriction. And even if a business owner is somewhat familiar with paid advertising from working with Google AdWords, they’ll face some confusion because Facebook’s model is substantially different from Google’s.
The difference is that Google uses a CPC (cost-per-click) model, while Facebook primarily uses a CPM (cost-per-impression) model. CPM is based on how many times Facebook shows the ad to a user, rather than how many people click on it. Facebook’s advertising options also allow you to choose an “objective,” but your ad will only perform well if you optimize correctly for that objective. That means, in some cases, you can choose a CPC model if it makes sense to do so; however, you’re all but guaranteed to spend a lot more money. At the same time, if you stick with CPM but fail to target the proper demographic, or fail to write an ad that’s compelling, you will still spend a lot of money and get dismal results.
And these are only the basics! It gets much more complicated as you dig deeper.

Grabbing Attention Is Hard

Aside from the payment models, sponsored advertising also presents another difficulty: creating effective ads. This is particularly important if you’re paying for impressions, because you want the people who see your ads to actually be affected by them. Many small business owners are exceptionally skilled at their trade but don’t necessarily know how to create attractive, eye-popping ads or how to write powerful calls to action.
Even if local businesses are able to figure out which payment model works for them, they face a whole new battle in creating ads that will stick in people’s minds—and that’s before even worrying about generating new leads!

Act Fast, Be Smart

While Facebook’s new pay-to-play model may seem like a giant hurdle, that shouldn’t stop you from using it. The reality is that Facebook is the most fertile ground for local advertising these days.
But while it’s crucial to get in on the ground floor of Facebook advertising while it’s still relatively affordable, don’t be too hasty. Make sure you do plenty of research and know exactly what your plan is before putting down your company credit card. If you don’t have a plan for ad messaging, testing, rotation, and bids, then you aren’t ready to do it yourself.

Don’t Be Afraid to Call for Backup

If that all sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. The time-saving alternative, of course, is to hire an advertising professional. This decision might even save you money. The reason is simple: By specializing in online advertising and doing it all day, every day, professionals have gotten really good at it. In this case, “really good” means driving down the CPM and making your dollars work harder for you.
As a prime example, take a look at what Prospect Genius achieved with the last campaign we ran for ourselves. We spent less per Page “Like” than 99% of other Facebook advertisers. Why? Because we eat, sleep, and breathe online marketing. By doing it every day, we’ve reached a level of expertise that, according to Facebook itself, 99% of other people have yet to reach. In fact, by the time we ended this campaign, we drove that cost-per-Like down even further to just $1.65 over the life of the campaign!

Whether you decide to advertise on your own or with a professional, make sure you aren’t missing out on the endless possibilities that an effective Facebook advertising campaign can create for your local business.

Facebook Is the New Google

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Facebook isn’t just for stalking your old classmates anymore. In the past few years, Facebook has evolved into a hub for exchanging information—everything from political opinions to diet tips to breaking news—among friends, coworkers, and relatives. People even outsource their own questions, asking trusted friends who they recommend for local doctors, dentists, hair dressers, repairmen, contractors, and so on. That means local businesses and service providers have a unique opportunity on Facebook: They can take advantage of this crowdsourcing trend and promote themselves right on Facebook, where people are already looking for info about them.
In fact, Facebook is slowly replacing Google as the go-to resource for local search. People used to turn to Google to find local appliance repairmen, plumbers, landscapers, and the like, but there was no way to know whether these professionals were actually reliable or not. Hence the uptick in crowdsourcing on Facebook. Now, people realize it’s much more easy and effective to ask the people they know and trust for their personal recommendations—instead of taking a gamble on the business that happened to have the best ranking on Google.

Optimize Your Facebook

To take advantage of this new opportunity, you must make your Facebook presence as appealing as possible to prospective customers. Here’s what you need:

Page “Likes.” A Facebook Page without fans is like a restaurant without patrons. People passing by will not go in because the restaurant is empty, implying that it’s unpopular. In other words, more “Likes” on your Page will give your business more credibility.
Reviews. Customer reviews used to just be nice to have. Then, they became integral in attracting new customers. Now, they’re a vital part of your local search rankings on Google. You simply must get your customers to leave reviews on your company’s Facebook Page.
Page activity. Your Page is a showcase for your company’s personality and expertise. You should be posting status updates, uploading photos, and sharing helpful articles on a consistent basis (at least a few times a week), otherwise your audience will see no value in following your Page.
An attractive profile. Your company’s description should be well written and captivating. Your profile picture and header should be unique, high-quality images that are relevant to your business—not grainy snapshots of your own face. You want Page visitors to see how professional your team really is.
Regular engagement. To show your audience that you care, you should be interacting with them regularly. When they comment on one of your posts, respond. When they leave a review, good or bad, thank them for their feedback. This is your chance to hear what your customers and prospects are thinking and to let them know that you’re listening.

What You Can Do Yourself

There are many aspects of social media marketing that you can take care of yourself. Maintaining a presence on Facebook is something that’s entirely within your abilities if you have the time and energy. Here are some of the Facebook tasks that are pretty DIY friendly:

Sharing status updates. It only takes a minute to share what your company has been up to for the past few days.
Uploading photos and/or videos of your work. Smartphones make it super easy to take photos and videos, and the Facebook app makes it even easier to upload them straight to your timeline.
Sharing links to relevant articles and/or blog posts. If you come across an item online that you think your audience would appreciate, it takes almost no time at all to copy and paste the link on Facebook.
Interacting with your audience (e.g. posing questions, replying to comments, etc.). As soon as you get a notification that someone has commented on a post or left you a review, take a quick moment to read it and respond. It’s also easy to engage with your fans simply by asking them about their plans for the weekend or an upcoming holiday.

What You Should Leave to Us

Of course, having some extra time on your hands isn’t always enough to make an impressive Facebook presence. If you really want to promote your brand and put yourself in front of local prospects, then you’ll need to consider some more advanced strategies. However, advanced strategies call for advanced expertise. The below tasks require the kind of experience you can only find at Prospect Genius:

Promoting sponsored ads. We have years of experience working with paid ads. We use those countless data points to identify trends and help your ads get the most visibility and highest conversion rates possible. Plus, since Facebook uses a CPM model instead of CPC (in other words, you pay for ad impressions instead of clicks), you’ll need a team that knows how to set up your campaign so you aren’t hemorrhaging money.
Implementing a “Like” campaign. Again, since we’re able to draw on our wealth of experience with paid ads, we know how to test and rotate ads so they drive the most “Likes” to your page.
Continuously sharing content. Even if you have the time to post on Facebook, you may not know exactly what to say. That’s where our SocialStream package comes in handy. Our professional writers will add a certain number of blog posts each month to your LeadTrax™ site, and our production specialists will share them on all of your social media accounts. It’s the best way to share useful, high-quality content with your audience on a consistent basis.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Social media is a lifestyle. It’s not a one-and-done campaign. Maintaining a solid Facebook presence requires lots of repetition. You need to be continuously active on your account. Your activity can’t just last for one month and then taper off, or else you’ll miss out on countless potential fans. If you don’t think you’ll be able to maintain consistent activity on Facebook, then you should seriously consider calling for reinforcements. Our professionals will give you plenty of valuable content to share and can even promote your brand through sponsored ads. You can’t afford to ignore such a vital (and mostly free) advertising platform… Give us a call and start coordinating with our team today!

Put Your Trust in Online Reviews

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

They say you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet—but try telling that to online consumers. A recent study shows that nearly 80% of consumers in the U.S. and Canada trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
That’s why our blog covers the topic of customer reviews so heavily. With the vast majority of consumers making decisions based on the reviews that they read, it’s clear that reviews are an extremely valuable asset to any business, no matter what industry you’re part of.

Why Should You Care?

If the above statistic doesn’t impress you, consider this: We’ve seen firsthand what collecting customer reviews has done for our own clients. The below examples illustrate an increase in leads over time as each client’s online advertising campaign continued. These particular clients are prime examples of what can happen when you persist in populating your business listings with customer reviews.
Client A:

This graph shows the slow and steady trajectory of one client’s leads per month. Their leads dipped in March 2014, due to a glitch that caused their listing to all but vanish from Google, but you’ll notice that their number of monthly leads has already climbed back up and exceeded the previous peak. How did they manage that? Simply by cultivating a significant number of reviews on Google+, Bing, Yelp, Facebook, and other platforms.
Client B:

This client shows a similar upward trajectory. Again, the success of their campaign is significantly generated by their high volume of customer reviews on various listings.
Take a look at the numbers in both of the above examples. Client A received close to 400 calls in June 2014, while Client B received roughly 280. Wouldn’t you like to see those kinds of results? The best way to do that is to get your customers to leave you reviews online.

How to Get Reviews

The next logical question is, “How do you get customers to leave reviews?” The honest answer is that it’s not easy. It takes a lot of persistence. But if you keep your nose down, work hard, and satisfy your customers, then you’ll get better responses when you do ask them for reviews.
You might think, I’m not getting any reviews because people only write reviews when they have something to complain about. That’s what conventional wisdom tells us, but the facts actually show the opposite: 75% of reviews posted on review sites are positive.
We suggest a tactical approach when soliciting customer reviews so you can be sure that you have reviews on only the most valuable platforms. Get a minimum of 10 reviews on the following platforms, in the following order, for the best results:

Google+ — Obviously, Google+ has the most value in the eyes of Google. Reviews from your company’s Google+ page could appear right on Google’s search results pages, so prospects can see right away what previous customers think.
Yelp — Yelp is a popular tool among local consumers who are actively looking for a specific service. Although it better serves brick-and-mortar businesses, it holds a lot of weight in both Google and Bing’s algorithms. Bing even pulls Yelp pages directly when compiling search results.
Facebook — The vast majority of U.S. adults have a Facebook profile, so it should be the default choice for customers who aren’t as tech savvy as others. And while it doesn’t hold as much SEO value as Google+ or Yelp, it does influence Bing’s search results, and that counts for something.

ASK DIRECTLY
As soon as you complete a job, e-mail that customer and ask for a review. In the e-mail, include a link to your Google+, Yelp, or Facebook page (or all three and let the customer choose) so the process is as convenient as possible for them.
You can even add short URLs or reminders on business cards, invoices, and newsletters—anything that you distribute to your customers. It’s also a good idea to send along instructions so less savvy individuals don’t get lost.
ASK THE SKEPTICS
Steve Young, author of “5 Clever Ways to Get Customer Reviews That Convert,” offers an important tip: “Rather than asking for testimonials from your customers who immediately fall in love with your offering, try to look for those that were first skeptical.” Doing this will address and soothe prospective customers’ concerns and lead to higher conversion rates.
WRITE YOUR OWN
Young also recommends drafting a detailed review (full of specifics about the solutions you provided) on behalf of your customers and sending it to them. If they approve, they can just copy and post it, making their lives a heck of a lot easier. Plus, reviews that contain measurable results pack a lot more punch when prospects read them.
BE STRAIGHTFORWARD
Even casual Internet users these days will recognize that reviewing and sharing experiences is what drives most online activity. And, as we’re all consumers, we know that we like to read reviews and do our research before purchasing a product or committing to a contractor. So just be frank with your customers: You need reviews for your business. They’ll understand.
Nellie Akalp, a contributing writer at Mashable.com, gives the following recommendation:

You can say something as simple as, “Your opinion matters to us and to other customers, so we’d be really appreciative if you take a few moments to review your experience,” or “Do you read online reviews? We do, and so do other customers. That’s why we’d love it if you take a few moments to review your experience.”

Don’t Get Discouraged

Most importantly, don’t get discouraged if customers don’t immediately flood your pages with reviews. It takes time to get an impressive number, but you’ll be all the better for it when they finally do come in. We at Prospect Genius, in our own efforts to collect customer reviews, have to regularly remind ourselves that a page full of reviews doesn’t happen overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Be patient, be persistent, and keep going the extra mile for your customers. Eventually, your business will have the reviews it deserves.

How to Make Google+ Work for You

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

As a business owner in the year 2014, you most likely have a Google+ page. If you’re enrolled in the Prospect Genius Starter or Core program, then you definitely do. But the simple act of having a listing isn’t enough if you want to truly optimize your lead generation.
To get the most out of your Google+ page, you’ll have to become an active participant. In this blog post, we’ll cover two of the easiest ways you can optimize your listing: adding photos and getting reviews.

Add Personality With Photos

Adding photos to your listing will have a number of immediate benefits for your business.
First, any prospective customers who see your listing will instinctively view your business as more legitimate if the page is populated with lots of unique, professional photos. After all, it’s no secret that people respond to images and visual aids more strongly than they do to plain text.
Second, Google values diverse, interactive content over one-dimensional content. If your listing is populated with photos, videos, and links, then your rankings will improve.
Finally, the act of adding photos isn’t something that has to remain exclusive to your Google+ page. You should absolutely add these photos to all of your social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter. Unique photos will bring more personality to your company’s listings, which would otherwise be virtually indistinguishable from similar companies’ listings.
Whether they feature your team of technicians, your company truck, or your own family, photos add a face to your business’s name.

Get Rewarded for Your Reviews

We’ve written extensively about the benefits of customer reviews from a marketing standpoint. (We have several blog posts about the topic, which you can view here.) The value boils down to how important it is to showcase your previously satisfied customers as a way of convincing prospects that you’re worth their investment.
But did you know that there’s also a technical advantage to having more customer reviews on your listing? Google’s search algorithms highly value Google+ pages that have lots of customer reviews. Therefore, if your page has lots of legitimate, relevant reviews, it will be ranked higher on search results pages.
Keep in mind, Google+ isn’t the only important online platform for customer reviews. Yelp is equally important for Bing users, as Bing pulls up Yelp reviews in its search results for businesses. That’s why smart business owners will try to spread their reviews around to a handful of different outlets instead of putting them all in one place.
Prospect Genius recommends collecting five to ten reviews on Google+, then another five to ten on Yelp, before moving on to other platforms like Facebook and Citysearch.

Add Our Free Review Feature to Your Site

If it sounds like a difficult task to cultivate reviews and spread them to specific websites, don’t worry: Prospect Genius has a solution. We have a free review feature that you can add right to your LeadTrax™ site. We don’t have an algorithm that arbitrarily blocks or filters out reviews, which means all of the reviews that you want to appear on your site will appear (and the ones you don’t want to appear won’t).
How does it work? Customers click on the “Leave Us a Review!” button displayed on your LeadTrax site. If a customer leaves a positive review (a rating of 4 or 5), they will be prompted to spread that review around on social media outlets like Google+, Facebook, and Yelp. If someone gives you a rating of 3 or below, they will be thanked for their review and won’t be prompted to take any further action. That means you get to put your best foot forward on your own website in addition to spreading your positive reviews across various online platforms. Two birds with one stone!

No More Excuses!

You have a camera or smartphone for taking pictures. Now you have a review feature on your LeadTrax site for cultivating and sharing reviews. You officially have no more excuses for keeping a lackluster Google+ page! Get started today.

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Google Now Displays Tweets in Search Results

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