Were You Offered a Free Website Audit? It's Probably a Scam

Last Updated: July 13, 2017

Have you seen an e-mail in your inbox offering a “free website audit”? Lots of small business owners are receiving these e-mails from various sources—some valid, but most not.
Whenever a client calls us and says they were e-mailed about a website audit, or the “results” of an audit, we’re immediately skeptical. And it’s not because we’re worried about what the results will say. In fact, we’re confident in the quality of our work, so we know our clients’ websites will pass any legitimate audit. Rather, it’s because we don’t want our clients to fall for a scam.
A free website audit typically falls into one of two categories:

Outright scam
Deceptive sales gimmick

We’ve seen plenty of examples of both. They’re equally worrisome.
In this blog post, you’ll discover the telltale signs that a “free website audit” is actually a scam. You’ll also learn how to spot misleading sales tricks so you don’t get duped. So, ready to protect yourself? Let’s get started!

How to Know When a Free Website Audit Is a Scam

The good news is outright scams are fairly easy to detect. Here are a few dead giveaways that you should delete the e-mail right away:

The e-mail will be mostly text and poorly written.
The e-mail will likely address you as “the owner of [your website domain]”—or won’t address you at all.
The sender’s e-mail address will not have a business domain (like prospectgenius.com). Instead, it will have a generic domain like gmail.com, yahoo.com, verizon.net, etc.
The e-mail will have virtually no identifying information about the sender’s business: no website link, no phone number, no street address, no professional logo.
The sender makes vague references to SEO buzzwords without demonstrating any understanding of what they mean.
The sender guarantees he/she will fix your website and get it “#1 ranking.”

But the biggest giveaway of all?
The pretense that someone actually took several hours to do strategic keyword planning, audience research, location targeting, and so on—the elements of a genuine audit—for free. No one is doing that kind of work for free, especially when the website owner has never shown any interest in their services.
In short, the entire premise of this kind of solicitation e-mail is bogus.

How to Know When an Audit Report Is a Deceptive Sales Trick

As you know, there’s a difference between a downright scam and a misleading sales tactic. It’s a fine line, certainly, but it’s an important distinction.
Many well-known digital marketing companies engage in tactics that we can only describe as deceptive. They’re clearly not scams because they’re real companies providing real services. However, they often leverage fear and a lack of SEO knowledge to trick unsuspecting business owners into signing up for services they don’t need.
Take Yext for example. They send out an official-looking “diagnostics report” that supposedly shows you how your business appears on several popular websites and directories.
Here’s an example that came directly from one of our clients*:

*Business name redacted for privacy.

This report has lots of scary alerts and intimidating red text to trigger a fear response. Of course, this tactic is manipulative, but that’s not even what troubles us about this report.
What bothers us most about this report is that it’s completely false.
Within seconds, you can debunk this report. As we mentioned earlier, we’re confident that we do good work for our clients. As soon as our client sent this report to us, we knew it was fake because we knew for certain that we did, in fact, optimize a Google listing for this business.
However, since many small business owners aren’t performing their own SEO or digital marketing, they can’t be as certain. As a result, they’re more easily convinced by such a report.
That’s why we put together this quick video to show you how to fact-check these reports for your own business. Like we said, it’s insanely easy to prove them wrong. To do this, we submitted a scan of Prospect Genius via our Yahoo listing (Yext and Yahoo are partners). Yext then sent us a report of our very own, which claims, among other things, that our Google listing is missing. Watch what happens below:

In the video, you see us:

Highlight where the report says our Google listing does not exist.
Navigate straight to our Google listing, which obviously does exist.
Do the same thing again with our Whitepages listing.

(We could’ve easily gone into every single listing, but we wanted to keep this video short and sweet.)
To run this check for your own business:

Choose any of the websites where Yext claims you aren’t listed.
Go directly to these websites.
Search for your business name or phone number.

And, to be clear, Yext isn’t the only company that sends out these kinds of free website reports. However, you can use the easy steps above to fact-check virtually any report you receive.

Always Be a Skeptic

Sadly, scams are everywhere. Small business owners in particular are bombarded with sketchy e-mails and solicitations every day. If you take away anything from this blog post today, it should be to remain skeptical at all times.
If you receive an e-mail offering you anything for free, it’s most likely a scam. And if you aren’t quite sure about its validity, just do a couple minutes of due diligence. Take a second to double-check it yourself. Don’t automatically take their word for it.
And whatever you do, never give your log-in information to unknown parties.
Armed with all the information above, you should be in great shape to protect yourself from any free website audit scam that comes your way. Good luck, and stay safe!

How to Compete on Social Media Without Spending a Dime

Last Updated: June 8, 2017

You’ve heard that social media—particularly Facebook—is vital for small, local business owners. But why?
In many ways, social media has become its own form of search. Many people today search on Facebook before ever turning to Google when they’re looking for a local business. They turn to their social network and ask for recommendations or referrals for whatever service they need. (“Can anyone recommend a good plumber in the Albany area?”) For most people, it’s easier to poll their friends and family for trustworthy input than to blindly scroll through search engine results.
This makes it crucial for you to create and maintain a presence on Facebook (and other social media platforms), where locals are already looking for and discussing your products and/or services. This way, they can find you without having to navigate to another website. And when they do find your Facebook page, they’ll see your posts, photos, reviews, and contact information—basically, everything they need to decide whether they want to give you a call.

But How Can You Stand Out Without Paying?

Unfortunately, the most effective way to grab attention on social media is to pay for sponsored posts. Facebook and other social media platforms want to make money from ad revenue, so they’ve severely restricted the organic (i.e. unpaid) reach of company pages. In other words, if you want your posts to reach a larger audience, you have to pay.
However, due to tight budgets and a rugged opposition to being forced to do anything, many small business owners are reluctant to pay for each and every post. Completely understandable. However, since being on social media is no longer optional, you need to find a workaround. So how do you stay competitive in a game that largely follows a pay-to-play model? How do you keep from blending in with all the organic static? That’s what we’re going to look at in this post.
There’s no silver bullet for beating Facebook’s algorithms, but there are certain things you can do to ensure your posts are as interesting and engaging as possible for the people who see them. Keep reading to discover how you can stand out in your audience’s news feed for free!

1. Don’t Write Long Posts

Let’s face it: Most people don’t like reading. (We hope you’re not one of them, because you’re already more than 300 words into this blog post…)
So, if you’re sharing a status update, keep it short and sweet. This is especially true for when you have a specific piece of information you want to communicate. By and large, your audience isn’t likely to read more than a few lines of text, so make sure your updates are straight to the point. Say what you need to say, and hit “Send.”

2. Write Posts With Your Readers in Mind

If your posts have a lot of technical jargon, too many ten-letter words, or just generally don’t appeal to your audience’s sensibilities, then they aren’t going to grab your audience’s attention. Avoid this problem by asking yourself:

What are your audience’s interests?
What do they care about?
What kind of problems do they want to solve?

Mold all of your posts—written or visual—to fit what your audience wants to hear about. It may seem like a no-brainer, but don’t bother posting anything that doesn’t apply to the above questions.

3. Show Off Your Personality

Whether it’s a status update or photo, make sure whatever you’re posting is an authentic representation of your personality. Don’t be afraid to make your presence personal. People want to see the real humans behind the company logo, especially when it comes to small, local businesses. Showing off your personality will differentiate you from the competition.

4. Build Relationships With Your Biggest Fans

Who are the people who most often engage with your posts? Who are the people in your local community who have a lot of influence and a wide audience? Try to connect with these individuals via social media and build a relationship with them. They’ll be more likely to promote you on social media, and they may even remember to refer you to their friends.

5. Play Off Emotions

People respond in a stronger manner to advertisements that evoke an emotion. Jeremy Ellens says it best in his article, “Effective Marketing Appeals to Emotions Instead of Reason”:

The best way for your business to stand out is by building emotional connections with your audience. Your business needs to acknowledge that selling a product is no longer enough. Now it’s all about the experience you provide with it. This experience is dependent on your ability to trigger the right emotions, from the right audience, at the right time.

Apply this to your social media presence. What’s going to make people remember you? If you provide them with an emotional experience, you’ll make an indelible impression. For the purposes of your social media content, you want your posts to:

Make them laugh.
Amuse or entertain them.
Captivate them with a story.
Inspire them.

By following our recommendations in this post, you’ll be able to capture your audience’s attention and attract more prospective customers through social media—without paying a dime to sponsor a post!

Are You Using the Best PPC Strategy for Your Marketing Goal?

Last Updated: May 18, 2017

What’s your goal for your small business’s online marketing? This is an essential question to ask yourself before you embark on any particular campaign. Why? Because, without establishing what you want out of it, you may end up going with the wrong strategy, and ultimately wasting your money. This is especially true for your PPC strategy, which generally involves a substantial investment.
So, what’s your goal? Is it:

To get lots of calls right now?
To have a steady stream of calls over time?
To capture motivated buyers in the moment?
To plant the seeds for future customers?

In this blog post, we’ll review each goal and explain which PPC strategy (or strategies) is best suited for it. When you match your overall goal with the correct PPC strategy, you’ll be unstoppable. So let’s begin!

Goal: To Get Lots of Calls Right Now

Is your goal to promote a special offer or to fill your schedule for your busy season? If you’re focused on a short, specific period of time, you’ll need an aggressive PPC strategy.
For example, if you run a landscaping business, you probably want to capture all those spring and summer projects every homeowner is undertaking. Therefore, you’ll want to run your AdWords campaign for 3-4 months, starting in April. You’ll target a specific service, like hardscape installation or tree removal. Then, with strategic bidding, you’ll try to get in front of as many eyeballs as possible so you can book as many jobs as you can.
You may also seek short-term lead generation in the wake of a recent event. For example, if you’re a water removal specialist and there’s been a disastrous storm in your area, you may want to run a special campaign for a week or two to help local homeowners with their flooded basements.

Fast Results Don’t Come Cheap

Bear in mind, getting these kinds of instantaneous results is not cheap. If you want to get your ads in front of as many eyeballs as possible in a small time frame, it will cost you. However, the good news is you’re free to stop your campaign whenever you want. In other words, as soon as you’ve reached your goal and booked all the jobs you want, you can shut off your campaign and stop paying for leads you no longer need.

Goal: To Have a Steady Stream of Calls Over Time

If you want to increase your overall call volume and conversion rates indefinitely, rather than for a short period of time, we suggest a much more tempered approach. You’ll need to be modest with your budget. We also strongly encourage you to have an optimized website before you begin any long-term AdWords campaign.
This goal requires investing in both SEO and PPC. By using SEO first, you’ll improve your AdWords Quality Score, which will ultimately keep your PPC costs more affordable while still placing your ads in coveted positions. If you’d like to learn more about how SEO is crucial for long-term PPC, check out our blog post, “Optimize Your Site Before You Bid on AdWords.”

Focus on ROI

While short, seasonal promotions don’t require as much of an investment, given their temporary state, long-term campaigns are different. They demand wise budgeting and an eye on ROI. So don’t shy away from the investment or price tag. If you consistently reach more customers and book more jobs, your ROI will prove to be well worth it.

Goal: To Capture Motivated Buyers in the Moment

Sometimes, a company wants to create brand awareness and simply spread the word about their business in general. Other times, you want to target prospective customers who are searching for your services. In the latter case, your paid advertising campaign should be on search engines like Google, where customer searches are taking place.
You see, PPC ads on search engines target users who have searched for the specific product or service highlighted in your ad. Therefore, you can safely assume these users are motivated buyers who want your service in the near future. PPC ads on search engines increase your chances of converting new customers on the spot.
Here’s a perfect example of how PPC ads can help you find motivated buyers. You’re an appliance repair company, and you run an ad for Whirlpool refrigerator repair. Now, as soon as a local homeowner’s Whirlpool fridge breaks down and they search for a repairman, they’ll see your ad and click on it. In all likelihood, they’ll give you a call because they need a fridge repair ASAP. This is the definition of a motivated buyer.

Are Motivated Buyers on Social Media?

Social media can be a mixed bag when it comes to motivated buyers. Typically, social media users are not motivated buyers because they haven’t searched for your service. This means you could be wasting money on an advertisement that users will largely forget about or ignore.

However, there’s one exception: you can target ads at Facebook users who have demonstrated an interest in your services. For example, let’s say someone’s dishwasher breaks and they turn to their Facebook friends for advice. Once they post about dishwasher repairs, they’ll start seeing your ads. If they see your ads soon enough, before they’ve hired a repairman, they’ll likely feel motivated to click on your ad and call you. It’s not a sure thing, however, so we don’t recommend making this the cornerstone of your quest to capture motivated buyers.

Goal: To Plant the Seeds for Future Customers

In a more general sense, though, social media ads are great for when you just want to promote awareness of your company so people remember you in the future.
Advertising on social media platforms, namely Facebook, is what we call “interruption marketing.” The audience doesn’t seek out this type of advertising; rather, it interrupts whatever they were doing. In the context of Facebook, this means ads appear in and around a user’s news feed while they’re scrolling through, forcing them to take notice.
Facebook Ads work the same as television commercials. You’re watching the NBA playoffs when you’re suddenly interrupted by a string of commercials for chain restaurants, cars, beer, and so on. You probably forget them as soon as they’re over, but they actually stay in the back of your mind. Then, the next time you’re craving a burger, you suddenly recall that 2-for-$20 deal you saw a commercial for. This is how you want your Facebook Ads to work.

Also Consider Remarketing

You may also choose to use remarketing, which is a form of interruption marketing that targets interested parties. After someone visits your website, they will start seeing your ads in various places online. Using remarketing ensures they don’t forget about you. This is useful for industries where customers often take their time to consider purchases beforehand. Home renovation and construction are prime examples.

Your Goal Determines Your PPC Strategy

Whatever you do, don’t go into a PPC campaign thinking you just want the cheapest option available. No matter how much you’re paying, if it’s the wrong strategy for your goal, it will be a waste of money. Use the information in this blog post and carefully consider what you want out of your paid advertising. When you do PPC right, the ROI is always worth it!

How to Use LinkedIn for Small Businesses

Last Updated: May 11, 2017

You’ve probably seen lots of chatter online about LinkedIn and why businesses should be using it. However, most of that advice is only applicable to big brands with even bigger budgets. It’s not designed to help small, local businesses use LinkedIn to their advantage. As a result, many small businesses end up wasting a lot of time and money on LinkedIn because they’re following the wrong advice.
That’s why we’re writing this blog post. Considering that LinkedIn for small businesses is not a crucial tool, we don’t typically push our clients towards it. However, we’re happy to share some pointers for those of you who are interested in learning more. After all, it won’t hurt you and may, in fact, help. The more you put yourself out there, the more visible you become.
So if you’re eager to test the waters of LinkedIn for small businesses, here’s what you need to know.

1. Join a Local Community Group

Find and join a LinkedIn group that’s dedicated to local issues, interests, and events. Then, make it a point to participate constructively in group discussions every so often. By demonstrating your involvement in the community, you’ll make a good impression on other members. Hopefully, when one of these members needs your services in the future, they’ll remember your business from your previous activity within the group.

2. Join a Trade Group

Similarly, find and join a handful of groups that are specific to your trade or industry. People in these groups often discuss best practices, ask for help, and share handy tips. By interacting with your peers in these groups, you might just glean some insights that can help you with your own business.

3. Share Original Blog Posts

One of the major benefits of getting into a blog habit is that you’re able to demonstrate your knowledge and authority on a given subject. LinkedIn is a great platform for sharing these blog posts—not because prospective customers will see them, but because other business owners will. These business owners might enjoy what you wrote and share it themselves on Facebook. In turn, this could attract more visitors to your blog and website. You’ll see a nice SEO boost—and perhaps even an elevated reputation—as a result.

4. Don’t Waste Money on Ads

LinkedIn for small businesses is useful for building relationships and gathering information. However, it’s not useful for advertising. LinkedIn’s users are simply not as active as Facebook’s or even Twitter’s. Of LinkedIn’s 467 million members, only about 25% are considered active, monthly users. On top of that, most of those active users are using LinkedIn for professional networking in fields like IT, sales, marketing, and finance—meaning, they’re not necessarily paying attention to ads about local service providers. Therefore, you’re better off spending money on Facebook ads because your target customers are likely much more active and engaged on Facebook.
So, bottom line? Treat LinkedIn for small businesses the same way your kids treat extra-credit projects at school. It’s only worth doing if you’re going to do it right. Otherwise, you’ll get no extra points and you’ll have wasted your time. Use these tips so your LinkedIn efforts aren’t for naught!

How Much Money Are You Losing From Missed Calls?

Last Updated: April 20, 2017

Do you even notice your phone buzzing in your pocket or ringing on your desk anymore? Many business owners find themselves tuning out their ringing phones for the sake of their own time, energy, and sanity. After all, an endless stream of phone calls comes with the territory of owning a small business—and a good chunk of the time, they’re useless calls from solicitors. Usually, though, there are a lot of customer calls mixed in there. So if you’re just letting your phone ring and not picking up, you could be losing a bunch of business.
It’s perfectly understandable that you don’t want to tie yourself up talking to telemarketers all day. You’re busy, and you simply don’t have time to waste on unwelcome calls. However, by ignoring all incoming calls, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. Rock, meet hard place.
In this post, we’ll look at how missed calls impact your business and what you can do to reduce them. Let’s jump in!

Missed Calls = Lost Money

Did you know that roughly 30% of our clients’ incoming calls go to voicemail? That’s not good, especially when you consider a recent report from Forbes telling us the overwhelming majority of callers hang up as soon as they reach voicemail.
It’s truly unfortunate, particularly because you do have a good chance of turning a caller into a customer: Our proprietary data shows that approximately 60% of answered calls turn into successful sales.
Using these statistics, we’ve broken down roughly how much revenue you’re missing out on by not answering the phone. You can see the numbers in the table below:

Is it safe to assume you don’t want to lose thousands upon thousands of dollars in revenue each year? Then you have to find a way to answer customer calls without wasting all your time on pesky solicitors. If only we had some tips for you…

How to Answer Only the Calls You Want

It actually is possible to answer your customers’ calls without dealing with the annoyance of telemarketers. You have a couple of options:

Use a spam-blocking app on your phone that blocks known solicitors. It may not block spam calls 100% of the time, but it will significantly reduce the number you receive.
Hire a call answering service to answer your phone for you. They’ll answer all your calls, represent your business with professionalism, and take messages from customers. They may even be able to perform other secretarial duties like scheduling appointments and answering basic customer service questions. This frees you up big time.
Stop using your personal cell phone number as your business number. Get a separate line or a forwarding number to use for all of your business needs. This won’t actually cut down on solicitation calls, but at least you won’t be bothered by them when you’re spending time with your family at home.
Take advantage of Prospect Genius’s CallTrax line or a similar call-tracking service. You’ll benefit from our extensive list of blocked numbers, which is constantly updated to keep unwanted callers from wasting our clients’ time.

Get an Exclusive Discount on Business Answering Services!

To help business owners solve their problem with missed calls, Prospect Genius has partnered with a company called Professional Answering Service, Inc. Their experienced management and well-trained staff are available to:

Answer your phone remotely
Dispatch urgent customer calls when needed
Take detailed messages
Schedule customer service calls and appointments
And more!

The best part? Prospect Genius clients have access to Professional Answering Service, Inc. at an exclusive rate! If you think your business could benefit from an affordable answering service, get in touch with us and we’ll help you set everything up.

Prospect Genius