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You are here: Home / Archives for campaign performance

5 Ways You Waste Money on a New Online Marketing Team

Last Updated: November 17, 2016

Your goal for online marketing should be to get more money out of it than you put into it. Simple, right? Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out this way.
See, you typically want to limit upfront expenses on your new online marketing so you can ensure you get a profitable return. However, when starting a new online marketing program, some business owners make mistakes early on that cause them to waste money instead of saving it.
In this post, we’ll highlight some of the most common ways business owners waste their money when starting a new online marketing campaign. Plus, we offer suggestions on how to avoid them.

1. Not Communicating With Your Former Marketer Before Leaving Their Program

It’s not uncommon for business owners to decide they want to switch gears and take their online marketing in a new direction. However, sometimes business owners make the mistake of not communicating this desire with their current marketer. Seeking to avoid potential conflict or discomfort, they suddenly quit their program and sign up with a brand-new marketer without any notice.
In many cases, though, the old marketer could have accommodated that new direction—or, at the very least, made the transition to a new marketer much less damaging to the client’s web traffic and rankings. If you talk to your marketer about your goals, chances are, they’ll have a satisfactory solution for you. Then, you can continue to work with them without any added risks. Alternatively, they can help you set up for a new marketer.
However, if you suddenly jump ship without talking to them, you’ll have to pay to start a new campaign with a new marketer all over again. You may also leave without getting all the information you need, including access to your business listings. It would be like switching to a new dentist without getting all your X-rays and medical history from your previous one. If you did this, your new dentist would have to spend the entirety of your first appointment taking X-rays and interviewing you about your medical history all over again. This eats up valuable time and increases your bill.
In other words, it’s better to just admit to your old marketer that you need a change. Even if they can’t give you what you need, they can at least ensure you hit the ground running with your new online marketing campaign.

2. Not Planning an Exit Strategy From Your Former Marketing Team

If you’re transitioning from one marketer to the next, you need to have a solid plan in place. You need to know exactly when you’re going to quit your former program so you can establish your new campaign as effectively as possible.
If there’s too much of a time-lag between when you end your previous program and when you begin your new one, your web presence will fall off substantially. On the other hand, if your programs overlap too much, there’s a real risk of conflict between your marketers and resulting Google penalties. Conflict and penalties can do even more damage to your web presence.
These dips in web presence will cost you jobs, and therefore money. Instead, you want to set everything up so one campaign transitions seamlessly into the next.

3. Not Cleaning Up Your Company’s Online Trail

A new marketing campaign means a new website. A new website may mean a new URL, phone number, address, etc. If you don’t correct outdated information or redirect old URLs once your new campaign begins, then your campaign is going to suffer. As a result, you’ll flush a lot of money down the drain on a campaign that’s flailing from the get-go.
If you don’t know how to clean up or redirect old links, ask your new marketer. They’ll be happy to do it for you, as it will ultimately make their job a lot easier and set you up for success.

4. Not Knowing What You Want Your Website to Look Like

If you aren’t clear about your vision for your website, then how will your marketer be able to create the appearance you want?
You don’t need to have every exact detail decided, but you should think about basic things like color schemes, photo subjects, and general layout themes. Take a look at some of your competitors’ websites to get an idea of what you like and dislike. Then, convey your general preferences to your marketer.
If you don’t give your marketer any guidance or direction, they’ll invest a lot of time on your site, but still come back to you with one you don’t like. Then, you’ll have to pay for multiple rounds of alterations while they try to guess what you want. These extra charges will add up quickly. You’re much better off taking some time and thinking about what you want before you get started.

5. Not Vetting a PPC Provider for Transparency

The amount you pay for Google AdWords or Bing Ads is largely dictated by your provider’s billing structure. If you don’t thoroughly vet whoever is handling your accounts, then you may get stuck with a provider who isn’t totally upfront about where your money is going.
If there’s no transparency, then your provider can charge you unspecified management fees, show you misleading metrics, and unilaterally decide how and when your ad money is spent. When a company keeps you in the dark about how your ad money is being handled, there’s a reason they don’t want you to know.
To gauge their level of transparency, ask your provider specifically about their management fees and how much input you can have in your ad schedule. If they dodge your questions, you have your answer.

Read more about how to handle PPC providers here: Four Ways Your PPC Services Could Be a Rip-Off

Start Off on the Right Foot.

Now that you know which behaviors lead to wasted money, you can more carefully navigate your new relationship with your marketer and get exactly what you want out of your program.
And, as always, feel free to use us as a resource if you have any questions or concerns moving forward. We look forward to helping you reach your new online marketing goals.

Are You Trashing Your Online Marketing Without Knowing It?

Last Updated: October 19, 2016

Now that you’ve hired an online marketing team to help your small business, your work is done, right?
Not quite.
It’s really tempting to want to hand your marketer the keys and never think about your website or Google again. However, that’s not how it works.
During the initial weeks and months of working with your online marketing team, you’ll need to help out by providing them with lots of information about your business and even giving them access to your online listings (including Google).

The Biggest Mistake You Can Make…

…Is not providing your marketer with the information they need. That includes your company history, service categories and details, up-to-date contact information, and even login information.
Don’t believe us? Keep reading to find out what can happen when your online marketing team is left with missing information and only half the picture.
Let’s jump in!

“I Want to Help, But I Don’t Have Time!”

Many business owners find themselves grappling with this dilemma. But the hard truth is that you must make the time.
Of course you’re busy running a small business. We have the utmost sympathy for your chaotic schedule and even more admiration for your work ethic.
However, your marketer has a job to do, too. And when they’re having trouble communicating with you and they aren’t getting the information or resources they need, they can’t do the job you’re paying them to do.
Your marketer will have time-sensitive questions about your website and campaign that will need to be answered quickly. They’ll need as much information as possible in order to create the most accurate representation of your business.
And when we talk about “information,” we’re not just talking about your company background. Your marketing specialists also need your login information for Google and other accounts so they can optimize your listings and overall web presence.

“But I Don’t Give Out My Information to Anyone!”

We get it. Everything you’ve ever learned about the Internet tells you never to give out your username or password. It’s a scary world out there, and you don’t know who you can trust.
However, this is an exception. You’ve hired your marketer to act on your behalf. This, by definition, requires them to log into your business accounts… as you! 
This level of trust is why it’s so critical to thoroughly vet a marketing team before you hire them.
To put your mind more at ease, we have a simple solution. It allows your online marketing team to access and manage your Google account without ever knowing your real password. Here’s how it works:

  • You change your password right before giving it to your marketer. Switch it to something easy, like, “marketing123.”
  • Your marketing team uses this password to log in and make themselves “manager” of your Google account.
  • Once they’ve been assigned as manager, they will be able to use their own Google account to access and update your listing.
  • As soon as they’re finished and logged out of your account, you can change your password right back to what it was before.

This lets them go in and do their job without requiring you to give up any privacy.

So, What Happens When Your Marketer Doesn’t Have Enough Information?

You’re paying your online marketing team with the expectation of satisfying results. Why make them perform with one hand tied behind their back?
Think of it like hiring a contractor to build your house. 
If you don’t tell them how big your family is, how many cars you have, how many bedrooms you want, or even what your favorite colors are, you’re probably not going to get the house of your dreams. Not even close.
The same goes for your website and online marketing campaign.
If you don’t give your marketer an accurate picture of your service offerings, company history, or even what you want your website to look like, they won’t be able to effectively promote you online. It’s that simple.

You Don’t Have to Do the Heavy Lifting…

You just need to spot them.
Online marketing campaigns aren’t “set it and forget it” machines. They’re constantly evolving organisms. So while your online marketing team is doing most of the work—writing your website’s content, designing the layout, and promoting you all over the Internet—they’re going to need a little bit of support.
In order to tackle the fluid nature of local search, they need ready access to information about your company in case any pressing questions or issues pop up.
Your business’s contact person doesn’t even need to be the owner. It can be an office manager or anyone else who is knowledgeable enough to answer questions and provide login assistance if your marketer needs it.

Bottom Line? Make Time and Be Supportive!

Now you understand why your marketer is calling you with questions so frequently. In order to be an effective online marketing team and successfully grow your business, they need lots of information from you. There’s no way around it.
So the next time your marketer calls you and asks you to expand on one of your services or verify something with Google, remember: They’re just doing their job. Let them.

Keep Everyone in the Loop About Your Online Marketing Team

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

It’s amazing how much damage one, uninformed person can do.
Whether it’s unnecessarily delaying important work, canceling your online marketing services, or hiring a second SEO company because they weren’t aware you had already hired one, the fallout can be serious.

Why They Must Know About Your Online Marketing Team

When you’re showing a new employee the ropes, don’t leave anything out. That includes your online marketing team.
Whether you’ve hired a new office manager or anyone else who might be answering your company’s phone, make sure they’re aware you work with Prospect Genius. And that goes for any other marketing companies or service providers you may have hired.
If new team members don’t know about us, they may assume we’re just another agency calling and annoying your business—which is a perfectly understandable assumption, given how often you receive these types of phone calls.
But we’ve seen firsthand the kind of damage that can happen when someone on your team isn’t informed about your partnership with us.

Cautionary Tale #1

For example, we recently had a client who became too busy with incoming work and asked his wife to help out with administrative duties.
One day, she was looking over the business’s budget and financial statements and noticed payments to Prospect Genius. Not realizing who we were or what kind of value we provided to our client, she decided to cancel our program to save money. Unfortunately, as a result, the business’s web presence quickly plummeted and they stopped receiving the 200+ calls per month they had become used to. Several months later, when the client discovered what had happened, he signed back up with us. But a lot of time, headache, and business could have been saved if he had let his wife know about Prospect Genius from the get-go.

Cautionary Tale #2

Another time, we had a client who hired a new receptionist to handle the influx of customer calls.
One day, we called with a routine question about our client’s campaign. The receptionist was confused because she didn’t know anything about Prospect Genius. Assuming we were just another advertising agency trying to sell to her employer, she dodged our question and ended the conversation by hanging up on us. Again, this reaction is not unusual or unexpected when you receive a sales call—but this was already a paying client. We just needed to clear up a minor issue with their existing campaign. But because we weren’t able to get the information we needed, we couldn’t move forward with our work.

Prospect Genius Will Do the Educating

In most cases, your online marketing team will be happy to send you informational materials to pass along to your new employees.
However, Prospect Genius takes it a step further. Not only will we send a packet of information about our team, but we’ll even get on the phone with your new receptionist or office manager and bring them 100% up to speed. We’ll provide them with a thorough orientation of exactly what we do, and we can even show them specific data about your campaign’s performance.
This way, you know that you’re giving out complete, accurate information about your marketing and that everyone is on the same page.

Give Us a Call—We Can Help!

By keeping all of your team members in the loop and fully informed about your online marketing team, you’ll prevent a lot of aggravation in the short term and a lot of potentially lost business in the long run.
Call or e-mail us today to request an informational pamphlet or personal orientation for your new team member!

Top 3 Behaviors That Will Hurt Your Web Presence

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

At Prospect Genius, we’ve spent years and years perfecting our online advertising services and adapting them to meet Google’s changing standards. We do this so we can provide the most effective advertising possible and produce satisfying results. However, our efforts can only take a client so far if that client is doing things that are inadvertently sabotaging their online advertising campaign and web presence.
Man With Computer
To keep your campaign successful, stay on Google’s good side by avoiding these three behaviors at all costs.

1. Duplicating Content

Having duplicate content on your website is a major crime in Google’s world. If your site contains content that’s been copyrighted to another company, you have duplicate content. This is in direct violation of Google’s guidelines. Google’s bots are constantly indexing and scanning through webpages, and sooner or later, they’ll detect that your content is identical to someone else’s. When they do, Google will decide which page is the original source; the other page, presumed plagiarized, will be removed from Google’s index, never to be shown to users.
So while it may seem like you’re taking a shortcut by “borrowing” someone else’s content—or content that was written by an advertiser like Prospect Genius—you’re actually creating a situation where the duplicated pages will never rank for any search. Obviously, this will do serious damage to your web presence in the long run.

2. Using Fake Addresses

Some business owners think they can get away with using a fake address on their Google My Business listing. In doing so, real businesses are trying to put themselves in prime locations for local SEO, while shady businesses without a physical location are making up addresses out of thin air to seem legitimate. Regardless of your motivation, if you use a fake address on your Google My Business listing, you will be caught.
That’s because Google has a variety of tools, including cars and satellites, used to verify that businesses are actually located where they claim to be. When Google discovers that your business is not at the location listed, you’ll be slapped with a hefty penalty. Your listing will plummet in ranking or it might be suspended completely.
It’s a much safer bet to just stick with your real address. In fact, in 95% of cases, business owners will get good rankings just by following the rules. That means using a fake address is not only risky, but it’s also unnecessary.

3. Hiding Information

Some business owners have a tendency to hold their cards close to their chests. They’ve learned from years of competition that they don’t want people having access to sensitive information about their businesses. Fair enough—but this behavior does not mesh well with Prospect Genius’s online advertising services.
When you hire us and don’t give us a full history of your web presence or you lock us out of key resources like your Google My Business listing, you’re stunting your own advertising efforts. We not only need to make sure your Google listing is working in harmony with the other work you’re paying us to do, but we also need to know where else your business is listed and what types of behaviors you’ve engaged in previously. For example, if you have a history of bending, breaking, or ignoring Google’s policies, or you worked with a different advertiser before hiring us, we need to know. If there’s something in your history that you don’t tell us, then we might end up making matters worse by spreading conflicting information about your business. (And as you know, Google despises conflicting information.)
When you hide this kind of crucial information from us, it’s like hiding the level from your kitchen renovation contractor. Sure, they’ll be able to get the job done without it, but all of your cabinets are going to be wonky and crooked, and your kitchen might end up being unusable. You’re essentially hiring someone to do a job for you and then taking away their ability to do that job effectively. Simply put, you’re wasting your own money.

Conclusion: Don’t Lie

That’s the general rule when you want to stay out of trouble online. Don’t lie to Google. Don’t lie to your advertiser. Don’t lie to your customers. Just don’t do it. It may seem like a simple white lie, but Google’s punishments don’t always fit the crime. You have no way of predicting or controlling the consequences. Google might delete all of your reviews, penalize your rankings, suspend your listing, or even mark your business as “closed.” The potential consequences simply aren’t worth the gamble. Help yourself and your web presence by remaining honest at all times.

The Do's and Don'ts of Expanding Your Campaign

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Thinking about expanding your Prospect Genius campaign in 2015? It’s not uncommon for clients to want to take their campaigns to the next level after being with us for a certain amount of time and achieving a certain level of success. You want to see how far you can take your online advertising campaign, and we can’t blame you!
You should feel free to make upgrades and additions to your Prospect Genius campaign, but be careful: more does not always mean better. Here’s what to do and what not to do.
Good vs. Bad

Goal: Expand Service Offerings

If your goal is to expand your service offerings…

DO NOT just add any old service to your site.

It may be tempting to stack up your services as a way of offering the widest selection possible, but that strategy could actually backfire. Google likes specificity. The more laser-targeted your offering is, the more credible you’ll be in Google’s eyes. Love it or hate it, it’s just the reality of dealing with Google and their expectations. Google likes to put things in tidy boxes, so even if you do offer an eclectic range of services, your Internet marketing strategy should focus only on advertising what’s relevant to your main category. 

DO add specialized service pages to your LeadTrax™ site.

Instead of just tacking on extra services, a more effective way to generate leads from your service offerings is to offer specialty services. Think depth over breadth. By offering a specialized service like Samsung or LG appliance repair, you’ll be able to capture attention from prospects who have highly specific needs and corner that niche market. Google likes this approach, too, so the hyper-specific search terms targeted by these pages rank really well. We’ve had many clients see fantastic success by adding specific brand pages and specialty pages to their LeadTrax sites. 

Goal: Expand Your Market

If your goal is to expand your market or service area…

DO NOT create a fake Google listing.

If you want to reach a different geographic area, do not under any circumstances create a new Google My Places listing with a fake address. It may seem like a shortcut to getting listed in a different area, but this trick would only work if you actually had another physical location at that address. Google uses Google Earth technology, their own cars, and even local volunteers to check out new listings and determine whether they’re valid. If you try to pull the wool over Google’s eyes, you’ll pay the price with a suspended or penalized listing (which can take up to 12 months to rectify). So while faking an address may give you a temporary improvement in rankings, it’s not worth the risk of what could be a year or more of penalties and other problems.

DO use a pay-per-click campaign.

This is the smarter alternative to creating a fake listing. Did you know that pay-per-click (PPC) isn’t as geographically limited as organic SEO is? That means adding our PPC package to the mix will help you to expand your geographic market, regardless of whether you’re already a Prospect Genius Core member or you’re using one of our à-la-carte services. While local search is dictated by the address on your Google listing, PPC is much more flexible. You get to decide on how broad or narrow your targeted geographic area is. For example, you could choose to target ads specifically at Schenectady, NY, or you could choose to widen your ads’ reach to all of Albany County. It’s totally up to you. In other words, PPC will allow you to reach a wider audience without hurting your organic local search rankings.

Goal: Maximize Results From Online Advertising

If your goal is to get even more out of your online advertising efforts…

DO NOT use two SEO companies.

You might think, “My campaign is doing well. I’ll add another one to get even better results!” That couldn’t be farther from the truth when it comes to SEO. While combining organic search optimization and paid search optimization typically generates great success, combining two organic search campaigns from two different providers will do the opposite. Working with two separate SEO companies at the same time will essentially sabotage both your campaigns. Read more about this in our blog post, “For SEO Companies, Two’s a Crowd.”
This principle applies to all forms of online advertising: You don’t want to hire two different companies that provide the exact same services. Whether it’s two SEO providers or two social media specialists, they’ll counteract each other’s work, get in each other’s way, and create a disaster for your web presence.

DO leverage social media.

If you want to get more out of your online advertising without sabotaging your own campaign or paying for PPC, then optimize your social media presence. By leveraging all the social media tools available to you for free, or even taking advantage of our specialists who can do the work for you, you’ll be able to reach customers in a whole new way. Not only will you be able to spread the word about your business more efficiently, but you’ll also create a terrific showcase for your business’s unique personality. When prospects get a glimpse of what your company is about and see that there are real people behind it, they’ll be much more likely to connect with you. Plus, the more “Likes” you have on Facebook and followers you have on Twitter, the more credible your business will seem to prospective customers.
To that end, consider taking advantage of Prospect Genius’s SocialStart or SocialStream packages. If you’re looking for an even greater push, we also perform Facebook ad campaigns that will boost your posts and get more “Likes” for your page.

Always Ask Questions

If you want to expand your campaign but you’re having trouble setting goals or deciding where to start, give us a call! We’re always happy to discuss your company’s needs and work on a solution that fits perfectly.

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