Blog – Page 38

How One Local Biz Went From Zero to 400 Calls Per Month

Last Updated: August 31, 2017

You already know being visible and discoverable online is key to attracting new customers. However, knowing this basic fact and putting it into action are two very different things.
Wouldn’t it be easier if you could follow a real-life example? That’s why we put together this case study highlighting one of our clients, Advantage Disposal. Based in the Schenectady, NY, area, they’re a local trash collection and waste disposal company that transformed their online presence, going from 4 incoming calls per month to 481 per month in six months. Even more impressive, they got to page 1 of Google’s search results in less than two months.
Itching to find out how they did it? Keep reading!

1. Attractive, Mobile-Friendly Website

The first thing Advantage Disposal did was sign up for our CoreSite program. As part of this program, we built them a beautiful, professionally designed website. Importantly, the website is also mobile friendly, meaning it appears seamlessly and clearly on any mobile device (like smartphones and tablets).

This mobile-friendly element is crucial. Why? Because more people are doing searches from smartphones and tablets than from personal computers. So, if the majority of your audience is discovering your business on a mobile device, doesn’t it make sense to design your website accordingly?
By making their website easy for mobile users to read and engage with, Advantage Disposal has put itself in a fantastic position to attract more visitors.

2. Sound SEO Strategy

Then it was time to promote Advantage Disposal’s website.
We implemented a proprietary approach that includes high-value directories, local maps listings, and hundreds of backlinks. The strategy worked like a charm. As intended, it gave a massive boost to Advantage Disposal’s Google rankings and increased the company’s incoming leads. In the first seven months of the campaign, Advantage Disposal received 1,773 total leads!

Impressively, the company reached page 1 rankings within six weeks. Now, page 1 isn’t the be-all and end-all of SEO campaigns, but it’s pretty darn great—especially in such a short time. Typically, this kind of result takes several months to achieve.

Click to see larger image.

Also, it’s important to understand that Advantage Disposal achieved these Google rankings for multiple search terms, not just one. And these are search terms that people actually use, like “residential waste collection Schenectady NY”…

Advantage Disposal SERP Google Rankings 1

…and “commercial trash collection Schenectady NY.”

Advantage Disposal SERP Google Rankings 2

No fudging the reports here!

3. Consistent, Valuable Activity on Facebook

After seeing substantial success via SEO, Advantage Disposal decided to keep the momentum going. They conquered the Facebook mountain next, with a three-part approach:

First, they added SocialStream. With this feature, we write blog posts for the client and publish them their website. Then, we share each post on their social media pages, including Facebook. This keeps Advantage Disposal’s website updated with fresh content and maintains base-level activity on social platforms.
They also added SocialBuzz. This involves us posting weekly updates on Facebook on a client’s behalf. In doing so, we keep Advantage Disposal’s Facebook page active and engaged.
Additionally, we started running ads for them on Facebook. A Facebook ad campaign allows businesses to market themselves on news feeds much like commercials on TV. The ads interrupt people’s activity, grab their attention, and burrow into their subconsciousness. However, the Facebook audience can actually interact and engage with Facebook ads, which brings in a whole new dimension.

4. Attention-Grabbing Facebook Ads

For Advantage Disposal, Facebook ads were the game changer.
We set up two Facebook ad campaigns for them. The first was a short-term, one-month campaign in February 2017. In this campaign, Advantage Disposal received 11 comments and more than 25 likes, sending traffic to their website and increasing brand awareness. As a result, they received 75 calls in February—a gigantic increase from just 4 calls in January.

Subsequently, in April, we set up a long-term campaign that remains ongoing. To date, this campaign has seen substantially more engagement: 100 likes, 29 comments, and 21 shares.

Since this campaign began, Advantage Disposal has seen an increase in calls every month through July (the last complete month for which we have data).

That’s 1,620 calls in seven months!

5. The Benefits of Increased Engagement

What’s so important about Facebook engagement? Well, as shown above, it’s had an undeniable impact on the number of calls Advantage Disposal receives.
On top of that, we know when customers engage with your brand, they become extremely valuable and are more likely to buy from you:

Engaged customers spend 60% more in each transaction.
They make purchases 90% more frequently (nearly twice as much!).
Engaged customers are two times more likely to upgrade or buy additional services from you.
They are four times more likely to recommend you to colleagues and acquaintances.

In other words, by interacting with their audience on Facebook and dramatically increasing their monthly calls, Advantage Disposal is poised to see an uptick in sales. And isn’t that what all of this marketing is for, anyway?

Use This as Your Guide

If you want to attract more visitors to your website, improve your Google rankings, and increase engagement with customers—priming your business to make more sales—you can’t find a better blueprint than Advantage Disposal.
Ready to market your local business the right way? Call or email us and tell us about your goals. We’ll help you create a strategy that gets you real, game-changing results. If Advantage Disposal can do it, you can, too!

Warning: Your Social Media Strategy Could Make or Break Your SEO

Last Updated: August 24, 2017

When it comes to SEO, how important is your social media strategy?
It’s an ongoing debate. In 2014, Google’s Matt Cutts proclaimed that “social signals,” like posts on Facebook and Twitter, have nothing to do with Google’s search algorithm. This directly opposed what many industry specialists believed at the time. In fact, numerous SEO experts still argue that social media influences search rankings, even if “social signals” aren’t really a thing.
Jasmine Sandler, an experienced digital marketing consultant, is one of these experts. In an article published on Search Engine Journal this month, Sandler states, “It’s still undeniable that a proper social media strategy – both paid and organic – is critical to help increase your rankings and overall search visibility over time.”
Sandler’s article, “3 Ways a Solid Social Media Program Can Increase SEO Rank in 2017,” demonstrates how a thoughtful social media strategy can have a positive influence on your web visibility.

1. Social Media Strategy Establishes Your Brand

The first way Sandler says social media impacts SEO is through branding. Having an active and strategic social media presence can help you establish your company’s personality, service offerings, and overall mission.
“The brand equity and strength behind what the company is selling is what ultimately converts consumers,” Sandler explains. “After all, people buy for two simple reasons: trust and likeness of a person or a brand.” In other words, highlighting your business’s personality and gaining your audience’s trust will put you on the right path toward attracting new customers.
As people become increasingly aware of your brand, they’ll visit your website, google your company name, and even refer you to other people. This uptick in demand for your business will surely be picked up by Google’s search algorithms.

2. Social Profiles Appear in Google Results

Have you ever searched for a local business and noticed their Facebook page, Twitter page, or LinkedIn profile in the results? It’s very common for social profiles to appear at the top of search results pages. As Sandler points out, this could have a big impact on how users perceive businesses.
For example, if they google your business and find an inactive, incomplete profile in the results, they’ll be disappointed. They won’t perceive you as established, and they’ll be wary of your lack of followers. This could prompt them to keep searching and find a local competitor—one that seems more legitimate—instead.
On the other hand, they might google you and find a Facebook page that has engaging content, lots of likes, and a positive rating. Once they’re impressed with your Facebook page, they’re more likely to click over to your website. The more people who visit and spend time on your website, the better your SEO ranking.

3. Social Platforms Have Their Own Search Functions

Finally, Sandler explains that social platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have intelligent search engines of their own. And, as we know, people are increasingly using social media, primarily Facebook, to learn about businesses.
So, if people are searching for businesses on social media instead of Google, it’s all the more vital for you to have your social profiles set up. If your profile doesn’t have a good description of your company with certain keywords, users won’t discover you. Or, what if they do discover you and find a lackluster profile? They probably won’t be intrigued enough to click to your website. The function of your social media page is to keep people interested so they visit your website.
The takeaway? If your ultimate goal is to drive more people to your website, a sound social media strategy will make that possible.
We encourage you to check out Sandler’s full article for more details and social media tips!

Don't Let Pay-Per-Click Turn Into Pay-Per-Search

Last Updated: August 22, 2017

Curious about how your PPC ads look? Googling yourself to check on your pay-per-click campaigns is understandable. However, it’s also ill-advised.
That’s because frequently googling your company can sabotage your AdWords campaign.
Don’t believe us? Keep reading.

How Googling Yourself Tanks Your CTR

Your cost per click is substantially related to your ad’s click through rate (CTR). This is the ratio of passive ad views (impressions) to active ad clicks. If your ad gets lots of views but few clicks, you can end up with a low CTR—and paying a greater cost per click.
Why a greater cost? Because your CTR affects your AdWords Quality Score, and your Quality Score controls how much you pay per click. Google wants to show ads that are interesting to its users: otherwise users may get fed up and choose a different search engine altogether. To make certain ads are as high quality as possible, it relies on Quality Score.

Quality Score and Cost

Your Quality Score is heavily impacted by two factors: CTR and relevance. If either metric is low, it will drive down your Quality Score (and drive up your price per click). Relevance can be addressed by targeting ads using both keyword and location. Click through rate is a bit trickier to fix, though. Under normal circumstances, your marketing agency will test different ad versions to get your CTR as high as possible.
However, you work against your marketing agency’s efforts when you frequently google your company’s name or other search terms to check your ads. This is because frequent searches increase the number of impressions. And since you know that clicking on your ads raises costs, you probably never click. As a result, you’re driving up impressions but not clicks. This leads to a lower CTR for your ad. No amount of testing by your marketing agency can fix it as long as you continue to depress your CTR by googling yourself.
This is where the domino effect starts. Once CTRs are low, your Quality Score follows. As PPCHero explains, “If you have a lot of low CTR ads in your ad groups, they could be contributing to a low Quality Score since AdWords considers all of your ads when calculating your scores.”
Unfortunately, a low Quality Score ultimately results in higher costs for you. The short version of the story is that if you frequently google your company, you’re spiking your own PPC bill!
This isn’t just a theoretical problem. At Prospect Genius, we’ve seen it firsthand. In fact, we had one client snowball their cost per click from $22 to $31!
We don’t want the same thing to happen to you. So if you’re thinking about checking your PPC ads by googling yourself, just don’t!

Stop Tanking Successful Ads

This issue goes beyond cost. When you continually google yourself, it’s not just that you end up paying more money per click for no good reason. You also single-handedly undermine your own advertising. If that doesn’t frustrate you, it should!
You see, PPC, by nature, targets a motivated audience. The searcher is already looking for your product or services, so they are more likely to click when they see your ad. So, when you go the extra mile and actually target your ads to a specific service in a specific area, you get maximum results for minimum cost.
Except when you search for your own ads.
When you’re searching for your own products or services just to “check” on your ad, you can end up substantially warping your results. The more specific an ad, the smaller the number of impressions it’s going to get. Usually, this isn’t a problem because you’re offsetting the low impressions by reaching an audience that’s more likely to click.
But that’s what makes these types of ads especially vulnerable to sudden dips in CTR. Because impressions are already low, you’re relying on a high number of clicks to keep your CTR up. So when you google these ads, look at them, and don’t click, you’re preventing the CTR from growing.
And if an ad’s CTR is low because you’ve been looking at the ad and not clicking, it could spell major trouble. If you’re working with a reputable PPC provider, they monitor your ad performance regularly. So when they see a surprisingly low CTR, they will try tweaking the ad to improve performance. However, nothing is wrong with that ad: the CTR is just low because you’ve been googling without clicking. Ultimately, you’ll be spurring your PPC agency to change an ad that otherwise could have been successful for you!

Safe Ways to Monitor Your PPC Ads

Please note: we’re not saying don’t check on your PPC campaigns. On the contrary. It’s very important to stay updated on how your ads are doing, so you can make informed decisions about your return on investment. But unlike googling yourself, there are ways to check your AdWords campaign without also inflating your costs!
Your best bet is to work with a professional pay-per-click advertising agency that provides clear tracking features. At Prospect Genius, our clients have unlimited access to their account’s call logs, leads, and other reports right in the Client Portal—letting you see your campaign’s performance without having to resort to Google. If you’re not sure what metrics are the most relevant for assessing your campaign, check out this analysis.
Or, if you’re a staunch do-it-yourselfer, you can use the AdWords dashboard to look up your ads’ performance, preview appearance, and more.
At the end of the day, we hope you now recognize that googling yourself can be harmful to your PPC campaign. Do yourself a favor and opt for alternative methods of checking performance instead. Keep your costs down by NOT googling yourself.

One Negative Customer Review Is Better Than No Reviews at All

Last Updated: August 17, 2017

You know the old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? Sometimes you want to shout that at your computer screen when you read a negative customer review about your local business. But guess what? Customers who complain are actually doing you a favor.
Now, hear us out. Obviously, customers who write you glowing reviews are doing you the real favor. However, as it turns out, negative customer reviews can still be mildly beneficial to your overall web presence. Indeed, they’re better than no reviews at all!
Are you surprised to hear this? We were taken aback when we made the discovery, too. However, with one of our clients, we saw firsthand that a Google listing with a negative review outperformed one with zero reviews. So, how can you apply this new rule to your own online efforts? Keep reading to find out.

A Negative Customer Review Still Proves Authenticity

It seems kind of backwards, doesn’t it? Google has demonstrated time and time again that business listings with higher overall ratings will perform better than ones with lower ratings. In fact, on its Google My Business Help page, it states, “Google review count and score are factored into local search ranking: more reviews and positive ratings will probably improve a business’s local ranking [emphasis added].”
That’s why, when we saw a negative customer review come in for one particular client, we winced. They hadn’t prioritized collecting reviews, and this bad one was their only review. We assumed this lone negative review would surely hold back the client’s local ranking.
Yet, we were dumbstruck when we saw this client get significantly more phone calls than other clients who had zero reviews. And that’s when we recalled the first part of that quote from Google: review count. The number of reviews, in combination with the score of those reviews, is a factor in local ranking. Judging by our firsthand experience, your review count may even outweigh your score—at least, when the review count is one versus zero.
This is because your total number of reviews reflects how many customers you’ve had, and, therefore, how established you are as a business. Google cares strongly about credibility and authenticity. So, even though it’s a negative review, it at least proves you’re a real business with real customers. In Google’s eyes, that appears to count for something.
On the other hand, when you have zero reviews, Google has no proof whatsoever of your authenticity as a business. When you look at it this way, it makes sense that Google would favor a negative review over no reviews at all.

Get More Customer Reviews to Improve Your Ranking

Your takeaway here? Get more customer reviews. Period. Positive reviews are ideal, but, as we’ve discussed, any review at all is better than nothing.
Of course, if getting customer reviews were easy, every local business would have dozens of them. We know it’s a difficult task. However, as we’ve demonstrated, reviews are critical in improving your Google Maps ranking and increasing your new customer leads. In other words, gathering customer reviews may be time consuming, but it’s certainly worthwhile.
But, there’s also an alternative to doing all the work yourself. Do you have a little wiggle room in your budget? If so, we highly recommend using a professional service that will contact your customers on your behalf. They’ll ask these customers for reviews, direct them to your Google listing, and collect the reviews for you. In the past, we’ve successfully used Customer Lobby for our own customer review efforts.

How to Ask for Customer Reviews

However, if you decide to save money and get more reviews on your own, here are some tips to keep in mind:

First, identify your best customers—the ones who loyally come back to you, and the ones who you’re confident will give you a good review. These people are more likely to help you out. (However, feel free to expand your list to include any customer from the past few months.)
Next, contact these customers by phone or email and ask them directly if they would take a few minutes to leave you a review online. Tell them your preferred platforms: Google Maps, Facebook, and Yelp, in that order. This should give you an initial boost in your number of customer reviews.
Then, develop a plan for future customers so you can start getting a continuous flow of reviews. Add an on-page feedback tool to your website (available through Prospect Genius). This way, customers can write a review in one place and the tool can disseminate the review to other platforms.
In the future, ask customers at the very beginning of your service, before you’ve even started the job. Say, “When we’ve finished, if you’re happy with our work, please consider leaving us a review on Google.” This will plant the seed in their minds.
Finally, remind customers again as soon as the job is complete. Attach links to follow-up emails, mention it in follow-up phone calls, and even add it to the bottom of your invoices. Customers are more likely to leave you a review while the experience is still fresh.

And, to make it even easier for you, here’s a handy infographic!

How to Get More Customer Reviews Just by Asking for Them

A Negative Review Is Better Than Nothing

By now, it should be clear that getting more customer reviews, even if they’re negative, is essential to your local ranking on Google. A negative customer review, despite its content and low score, will at least prove your authenticity as a real, local business. And, as you know, Google cares about authenticity first and foremost.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start asking for reviews. Your local visibility depends on it!

The Only Checklist You Need for a Winning Facebook Page

Last Updated: August 10, 2017

Sick of hearing about how important Facebook is for your local business? Sorry, but you’ll have to get used to it! We can’t stop talking about Facebook—that’s how critical it is to your overall web presence. With more than 2 billion active monthly users, Facebook is indispensable.

However, in all our talk of how important a Facebook page is, we also need to explain what an effective Facebook page looks like. To that end, we put together a handy checklist of what you need on your page. This will attract the right attention, highlight your best attributes, and convince new customers to give you a chance.

Ready to start building your local business’s Facebook page? Let’s go!

1. Bare Necessities

Here’s what you absolutely must have on your Facebook page:

Profile picture. Show off who you and your business are. Using a logo is best.
Cover photo. Be a little more creative with your cover photo to reflect your personality. A group photo with your whole team is a great choice.
Accurate business category. Choose “local business” if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront or office that people can physically visit. Choose “company” if you operate out of your home or aren’t open to the public.
- Accurate business subcategory. Choose a business type or description that best matches your company. Examples include “Pediatric Dentist,” “Massage Therapist,” “Appliance Repair Service,” and so on. Keep in mind, there may not be an exact, perfect match. However, there should be a subcategory that at least comes close.
Correct page name. Make sure the spelling, spacing, and punctuation exactly match how your business name looks elsewhere on the web.
Facebook web address. Create your own, custom address on Facebook’s domain. Ideally, it will be identical to your page name, minus the spaces. This makes it easy for people to find your page without having to use Facebook’s search bar.
Up-to-date contact information. You know the drill: add your phone number, street address, website URL, and email address so people know how to reach you.

2. Should-Haves

These Facebook page elements aren’t necessarily requirements, but you really ought to have them on your page:

Complete “About” section. There are several text boxes where you can write brief descriptions of your company, your mission statement, your products and/or services, and so on. Include keywords frequently so you’ll appear more often in related search results.
Call-to-action button. Add a button that will lead page visitors to take an action. You choose whether the action is to call you, email you, or visit your website. This makes visitors more likely to contact you, especially if they’re accessing your page on their phone or tablet.
Uploaded photos. People are visual creatures. If you can, upload pictures of your staff on the job, products you’ve made, before-and-after photos of projects you’ve completed, and so on. This reflects the people behind the company, and it also shows off your brag-worthy work.
Recent posts. People also want to see that you’re up to date and engaged with the world around you. They also love to see specials, discounts, sales, and upcoming events—all of which you should post about on your page.
Customer reviews. Get as many people to leave you reviews as you can. People put a lot of stock in online reviews. Reading feedback from past customers will verify they can trust you.

3. Features That Wow

These are a few, special frills that advanced Facebook users may wish to have on their local business pages to take them to the next level:

A badge that boasts your fast response time. Facebook only adds this badge after you establish an average response time to private messages within a couple of hours. Your page visitors will be impressed that you respond so promptly, and they’ll be more likely to contact you.
Engaging videos. If you want to take a step beyond photos, try uploading a few videos! Just make sure they’re brief (three minutes or less) and, most importantly, interesting. Use videos to highlight a special promo or to capture an impressive job you just completed.
Timeline “milestones.” Facebook’s “milestones” allow you to showcase significant dates and achievements. For example, let’s say you won a customer service award, hired a new team member, or were reviewed in a local paper. These are milestones you can add to your timeline. Why not brag a little about your success? It will definitely capture the attention of potential customers.
Facebook ads and boosted posts. These aren’t exactly page features, but they certainly improve your ability to engage with your audience. By creating ads or sponsoring posts, you’ll get in front of more people and spread awareness of your business. And reaching your desired audience is more than half the battle. You can learn more here: “Facebook Ads Are the Flexible, Affordable Tool You Need.”

This list is not exhaustive, either. As Facebook evolves to become more of a hub for local businesses, it continually rolls out new features and capabilities for business pages. Follow this blog or like us on Facebook to stay updated on any important developments!
Social media isn’t as easy as it looks. However, by completing the checklist outlined above, your local business’s Facebook page will be in great shape. Good luck out there!

Prospect Genius