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Don't Believe Us About the Importance of Accurate Listings?

Last Updated: June 23, 2016

We tell our clients over and over again that the accuracy of their online listings can make or break their advertising efforts. If your listings don’t have accurate, consistent information across the board, then you’re fighting a losing battle.
Our lectures are often met with skepticism. How important could all these little listings really be? 
In Moz’s latest “Whiteboard Friday” video, George Freitag explains why listing accuracy is vital. Here’s an industry leader repeating exactly what we’ve been saying for years:

Google takes trust very seriously. So how does Google determine trust? That is where listing accuracy comes into play. Listing accuracy is Google’s method for determining whether or not it can trust a local business search result.

How Does Google Use Listings?

When we talk about “listings,” we’re referring to any webpages mentioning your business name, address, and/or phone number. These could include review sites like Yelp, directories like Whitepages.com, and even local news sites. Google uses these to figure out how credible your business’s information is. If the information in these listings all match what’s in your Google My Business profile, then Google will be more inclined to present your business as a local search result because the information seems trustworthy. However, on the flip side, if there are several online listings with information that clashes with your Google profile, then Google will be less likely to display your business. It won’t feel confident it can trust your information.
At the end of the day, it comes down to the reliability of information. Google wants to keep its users happy. The only way to do that is to provide them with information that’s consistently correct.
Therefore, keeping accurate listings across the web is a vital element of local search optimization. You have to keep your existing listings updated with all the right information. You also have to fix any other incorrect data floating around on the web. You may not know about this incorrect data, but Google will.

What If I Can’t Find Every One of My Listings?

Because it’s so difficult to find incorrect data in obscure places on the Internet, many small business owners have trouble asserting their presence in local searches. But this is how you can benefit from working with a local SEO company like Prospect Genius. An SEO specialist can do a deep audit of your existing web presence, find the errors you can’t, and fix them. This will give you the highest level of accuracy possible and boost your presence in local searches.
For all the details about listing accuracy, we strongly recommend you watch the full video over on Moz.
And, of course, reach out to us if you have any questions!

Which of These Online Advertising Companies Is Right for You?

Last Updated: June 15, 2016

Have you decided that hiring outside help for your local SEO needs is the best move for your small business? Good. You’re on the right track, but that’s only step one.
Step two is deciding what type of outside help you need. Should you hire an individual contractor, a small Internet marketing firm, or a large online advertising agency? Online advertising companies can be drastically different depending on their size, so you’ll need to figure out what’s important to you.
To help you with your decision, we’ve highlighted the pros and cons of each option. Obviously, we had to keep this general because no two online advertising companies are exactly the same, and there are always exceptions to the rule. However, you’ll find that these points are generally true for the majority of Internet marketing companies.
Ready to discover which of these online advertising options is right for your small business? Let’s get started!

Individual Online Advertising Contractors

Pros:

  • Since it’s only one person, they probably have fewer clients overall, which means this person is essentially available on demand. You get immediate attention. When you need to update your website’s content, publish a press release, or start a new AdWords campaign, you won’t have to wait.
  • More individual attention also means better customer service in general. Your contractor will actually have the time to chat with you about your needs and get a clear picture of what your long-term advertising goals are. This one person will have intimate knowledge of your business.
  • With an individual contractor, you’ll get lots of customization because this person is only taking care of a handful of clients. You can expect lots of time devoted to building a wholly unique campaign for your business.

Cons:

  • An individual contractor will be working with only a small number of clients, which means a small number of data points. This may make it difficult for them to detect Google algorithm updates or spot wide-reaching trends that impact your company’s campaign. It also makes A/B testing less reliable.
  • Individual contractors tend to be more expensive than agencies because they’re devoting much more time and many more resources to your campaign.
  • Generally speaking, an individual contractor is going to have limited resources compared with an agency that has multiple team members. The contractor is relying on their own personal experience and skill set, and they don’t have anyone else to collaborate with.

Small Online Advertising Companies

(Note: Prospect Genius belongs to this category.)

Pros:

  • Multiple team members mean multiple approaches to doing things. Generally speaking, this means small online advertising companies have more experience and expertise with which to devise their strategies.
  • The company has hundreds of clients and, therefore, hundreds of data points to look at. With more data points, they’re able to A/B test constantly and get more accurate results. In turn, this maximizes the potency of their clients’ campaigns—including yours.
  • Having access to lots of data points also means they notice trends faster than an individual contractor would. Since they’re keeping tabs on a larger number of cases, they can tell when an occurrence is isolated or if it’s due to a broader Google update. This means they can act quickly and keep your campaign in good standing.
  • With small online advertising and SEO companies, a moderate amount of customization is possible. Their ratio of manpower to clients is high enough that they can create original content and build personalized websites for clients.

Cons:

  • You’ll have to wait a day or two for them to make changes or updates to your website or campaign because they’re juggling more clients than an individual contractor is. That being said, a small agency will likely have a faster turnaround than a large one.
  • While they have multiple specialists on their team, rather than just one, they don’t have as many as a large agency does. In general, fewer specialists mean a narrower knowledge base.
  • Because their services offer a greater degree of customization, small online advertising companies can often be more expensive than large agencies.

Large Online Advertising Companies

Pros:

  • The more team members a company has, the more experience it has to draw from. Therefore, it stands to reason that large agencies and their online advertising services are supported by the biggest pool of knowledge and resources.
  • Like smaller agencies, they have hundreds (if not thousands) of data points to pull from, which makes their capacity for testing and trend-spotting much greater.
  • They are often the least expensive option because they have created one-size-fits-all solutions that suit the needs of a wide range of clients. Less customization means less overhead.

Cons:

  • With a vast number of clients to take care of, large agencies aren’t able to provide fast turnaround for on-demand work. If you need to update something on your website or publish a time-sensitive blog post, you’ll be waiting several days.
  • Because large agencies tend to focus on packages or solutions that fit the most clients, there’s very little room (if any) for customization. They keep costs low by providing all of their clients with cookie-cutter landing pages and nearly identical content.
  • Most, but not all, large agencies are notorious for offering poor customer service. Like any large corporation, they deal with such a high volume of customers that they simply don’t need to care about each one.

Making a Decision

Your choice ultimately depends on your business’s online advertising needs. If you’re a small, local service provider, you’re probably just looking to increase your presence in a specific geographic area. A small or large agency, depending on its selection of packages and price points, will work just fine for your needs.
But your work doesn’t stop here. Once you’ve narrowed down the type of online advertising company you’re looking for, you’ll obviously need to find the best one for the job. You’ll need to vet your prospective advertiser to be certain you’re making a wise investment. Read “Questions to Ask When You’re Vetting a New Online Advertiser” for guidance on how to make sure you’ve found the right fit for your business.

Beef Up Your Local SEO With an Offline Boost

Last Updated: March 24, 2016

We’re always harping on you about what you should be doing online to help your business’s search engine optimization efforts. But we sometimes forget to mention what you and your fellow business owners should be doing offline. You know—in the real world.
Thankfully, seasoned SEO consultant Marcus Miller is on it. He wrote a wonderful article recently discussing how you can supplement your local SEO with offline advertising.
Titled “Local SEO Beyond the Browser,” Miller’s article dives into the importance of keeping your company present in the minds of your desired customers. This can be done through flyers and ads, storefront signage, company vehicle decals, business cards, and even social media. For consumers, seeing your ad will stimulate a want or need, which ultimately drives them to seek you out online.
Often, seeking you out online equates to a Google search. And, as we all know, the local search space tends to  be over-saturated with businesses in the same category. So, instead of depending on the statistically small chance your business will pop up in a search for “plumbers in Phoenix,” promoting yourself offline will keep you steps ahead of the competition. That’s because, when people go to research local plumbers in their area, they’ll recall seeing your flyer last week and google your company specifically.
However, Miller points out that this doesn’t mean you can skate by without any local online advertising or search engine optimization. Rather, offline and online promotions should support each other. When that prospective customer googles your company name, you want them to see a lot of valuable, favorable information about you right away. Thus, you’ll need to do a good deal of SEO work to shine the most flattering light on your company. This is where business listing optimization, reputation management, and remarketing all come into play.
After all, once someone has googled you, it’s your job to convince them to hire you.
Miller’s bottom line?

The local businesses that will win the marketing battle in 2016 and beyond will connect the dots between the physical business premises and their digital profiles. Invest and commit in this approach, and your competitors will not know what has hit them.

For more specific offline and online advertising tips, check out the full article over on Search Engine Land. It’s a great read!
 

Three Truths All SEO Marketers Wish You Knew

Last Updated: February 25, 2016

In her recent article on Search Engine Land, Jenny Foster reveals some of the most significant “hard truths” that SEO marketers need their clients to know. Prospect Genius frequently echoes these same ideas to our own clients, so it’s validating to see them emphasized by such a prominent leader in the field.
SEO concept
Today, we offer a discussion of the truths Foster outlines in her article, “Setting Local SEO Expectations: 3 Points to Hit Early and Often.”

Be Patient With Google’s Regular Changes

First, Foster says she likes to emphasize the ever-evolving nature of Google. From the get-go, she primes her clients to be prepared for the lack of predictability when it comes to Google’s local system. Google often moves the goalpost for marketers by rolling out sudden updates to its algorithm, which means SEO requires a proactive plan based on in-depth knowledge and something close to ESP.
We remind our clients of this all the time. “Be patient,” we say. Your listing might be flagged inexplicably or your placement might have dropped suddenly, but it’s usually just because of a new Google update. We’ll get to the bottom of it in no time.

SEO Is About More Than Just Keywords

Foster astutely notes that effective SEO looks beyond keywords and phrases and understands user intent. You have to understand what kind of information local users are searching for; then, you can package valuable keywords in a more relevant context. For this reason, Foster tells her clients that she needs a bigger picture of their small businesses and their customers’ needs.
This describes the logic behind Prospect Genius’s in-depth interviews with new clients. We like to get as much information as possible about each small, local business so we can capture the highest-quality traffic and appeal to motivated customers nearby.

SEO Is Not a Bandage

Finally, Foster says what all marketers (including us) have been saying over and over for years: SEO is not a one-time fix. It must be a long-term investment if you wish to maintain rankings and grow your presence over time. Continued optimization is key for a stable, enduring online presence. 
This is precisely why we caution clients against stopping their campaigns once they’ve reached their goal lead generation numbers. They might feel like they got what they needed, but in reality, SEO must be ongoing in order to sustain those numbers. Otherwise, they’ll drop off pretty quickly.
Overall, Foster’s article is an accurate depiction of what so many marketers try to hammer home for their clients. These are three, need-to-know realities for any local business owner embarking on an SEO campaign. It’s a great read, so be sure to check it out here for more details. 

Local University: Prospect Genius's Higher Education

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

At Prospect Genius, many of our clients are family-owned, brick-and-mortar businesses. They are extremely talented and knowledgeable in their respective trades and industries, but since they don’t specialize in online marketing, they aren’t always familiar with best practices and sound SEO strategies. Instead, it’s our job to stay abreast of all the latest developments in the online advertising world and remain as knowledgeable as possible about the evolution of local SEO. That’s why they hire us, after all.
In our most recent attempt to stay up to date with new local advertising strategies, we decided to attend a Google-sponsored event known as Local University. The conference was put together by a brain trust of the savviest SEO experts in the industry, focusing on an array of topics that centered on improving Google Maps rankings and local search results for businesses of all shapes and sizes. We knew that this would be an educational and invaluable experience, so we sharpened our pencils, opened our notebooks, and got to work.
 

Local U

 

Why a Conference?

As anyone in the SEO field knows, the world of local online advertising is constantly changing. This is especially true for Google+ Local, which is predicated on the physical location, relevance, and proximity of search results. Effective SEO on a local level is an art form and a science all at once. As Google takes strides to weed out lazy, dishonest web marketers through update after update to their search algorithm and filters, the process gets just a little more complicated for the rest of us.
While we consistently read industry blogs, interact with other SEO professionals, and conduct our own independent A/B testing in order to keep up with Google’s changes, information straight from the horse’s mouth cannot be undervalued. That’s why we ultimately decided to attend this conference: it would be the best way to receive the most forward-thinking information directly from the brightest minds in the field.

What Did We Take Away?

The expert speakers and panelists who presented were extremely knowledgeable, and we were able to glean a great deal of insight from them. While not all of the content was applicable to Prospect Genius, there were some important highlights:

  • Strategies to help draw real reviews for local listings
  • Proven tactics for improving local search rankings
  • Paid advertising options for local businesses
  • Ways Google is fighting spam in local business directories
  • Solutions to common problems encountered by businesses with multiple locations
  • Effective marketing tools beyond the scope of Google and Google+ Local

How Can It Be Applied?

Our production team is currently in the process of reviewing this flood of new information and brainstorming innovative, practical applications for it. We’re looking forward to:

  • Expanding our SEO practices into more paid advertising
  • Revamping our press release syndication strategy
  • Changing how we leverage local business directories (e.g. Yelp, Superpages, etc.)
  • Continuing to implement updates and best practices for Google Maps

 

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