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!

How This Call-Tracking Feature Can Transform Your Marketing

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

You’ve heard of our CallTrax™ feature—our very own call-tracking tool that comes with every Starter, Core, or Premium program. But did you realize exactly how vital it is to your campaign?
By keeping track of all the phone calls that come through your CallTrax number, it transforms the way you interact with your program. If you take advantage of this powerful tool, we’re confident you’ll see remarkable results.
Here’s how our call-tracking tool is just what you need to achieve the results you’ve been looking for.

Call-Tracking Provides 100% Transparency

The numbers don’t lie. Not only do they keep us informed, but they also keep us honest.
First of all, looking at your call data and assessing how many calls per month you have will let us know if there’s an issue with your campaign’s performance. You can notify us if you see a drop in calls, which will help us diagnose a potential problem before it becomes more serious.
At the same time, your call volume will also tell you how effective your campaign is. Wondering if our program is delivering on its value? Simply check your call log and see how many calls you’re getting per month. The call log only records calls that come through your CallTrax number, so they’re directly attributable to our marketing efforts. We can’t fake anything.

Call-Tracking Keeps a Record of Contacts

Our call-tracking feature doesn’t just tally your number of incoming calls—it keeps track of contact information, as well. That means your call log is a virtual contacts list of all prospects and customers. Since losing track of missed calls and forgetting to follow up with certain customers can cost you valuable jobs, this feature can be a real lifesaver.
Plus, there’s also a way for you to rate your contacts and label which calls led to booked jobs. This way, your call log can give you a quick, at-a-glance report that tells you how many jobs you’ve booked this month. By using this, you’ll not only be able to see how many calls you’re getting, but how many calls are actually turning into jobs. Because booking jobs is your ultimate goal, this insight will help you stay on track.

Call-Tracking Helps Improve Customer Service

Did you know that our call-tracking feature also records all the calls on your LeadTrax line? There are many purposes for this. One of the main purposes is that it helps you assess your own level of customer service.
Getting lots of calls but not booking many jobs? Listening back to your conversations with callers may help you identify a problem you didn’t know existed. For instance, maybe you’re having trouble talking to or connecting with people on the phone. Replaying those conversations can help you figure out where you need to improve in order to book more jobs and keep customers happy.

Call-Tracking Keeps Team Members in Check

In addition to assessing your own customer service, call recording may also help you train your team members to answer the phone properly. You can make sure they’re answering the phone with a professional greeting, using appropriate language, giving out correct information and price quotes, and so on.
Of course you don’t want to feel like a helicopter boss, hovering over your team members at all times. However, it’s important to make sure your business’s service is up to your standards. You want to be certain your customers are getting a premium experience. Listening back to old conversations on occasion is a discreet, convenient way to do this.

Call-Tracking Helps Target Customer Needs

Do you feel like you’re hearing a lot of the same questions and/or requests from customers? Our call recording lets you listen back to conversations so you can take note of these specific concerns. Then, you can start thinking about adding them to your service offerings if you don’t already offer them. These conversations offer priceless insight into your customers’ minds, and you’d be crazy not to take advantage of it.
Once you’ve identified the customer needs and additional services you’d like to target, let us know right away. We’ll get right to work marketing those services so your campaign can reach the next level.
Having trouble accessing your call log through the Client Portal? Want to learn more about its capabilities? Don’t hesitate to reach out at any time.

12 Reasons Using Multiple SEO Companies Is a Terrible Idea

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

You’ve heard the saying, “Two heads are better than one.” You’ve probably heard it too many times to count. It’s so ingrained in our minds, in fact, that we apply it to virtually every situation we find ourselves in.
However, there are many scenarios in which two heads are NOT better than one. Online advertising is one of them.
If you’re working with one SEO company and decide to hire another one, you won’t be doubling your chances at success. You won’t promote your business twice as fast. You won’t get twice the number of leads.
All that happens is you waste your money and destroy the performance of your campaign. Truly, using multiple SEO companies is a terrible idea. Here’s why.

1. You’re paying for overlapping services.

Why pay for services from multiple companies that are all doing the same thing?

2. You’re paying twice the cost for half the result.

Working with more than one SEO company at a time will weaken your online presence. So not only are you paying double what you need to, but you’re also getting very little out of it.

3. You’ll draw suspicion from Google.

With multiple companies working on your advertising, your listings will be updated very frequently. This looks fishy to Google. Nothing good happens when Google is suspicious of you.

4. You could be penalized by Google.

Google will likely view your listing as spam if there are frequent updates from several different locations. And, as you know by now, Google takes spam very seriously. This could lead to your business plummeting in rankings or even getting suspended entirely.

5. You could end up with multiple Google listings.

With more than one company advertising for you, there’s a risk that one of them will create a new Google listing for you, even if you already have one. This may sound like a win, but it’s not. Unfortunately, “The more the merrier!” does not apply to Google listings. In fact, Google is highly suspicious of businesses with multiple listings. This could lead to suspended listings and lost customer reviews.

6. You’ll confuse the people who find you online.

If you do wind up with multiple listings that contain different information, then your customers will probably get confused. They may not be able to tell which listing is the real you. Instead of calling you, this uncertainty will just cause them to move on to the next company they find.

7. Constant battling means no one’s in control.

Since your SEO companies will be battling each other for control, there’s no prevailing strategy for your online advertising. With no clear route mapped out, where is your campaign going? And how is it going to get there?

8. Your SEO companies undo each other’s work.

It’s impossible to get fast results when your SEO companies keep undoing each other’s work (whether they realize it or not). When players on the same team work against each other, winning is pretty much out of the question.

9. Fighting makes your advertisers grumpy.

Who wants to fight tooth-and-nail just so they can do their job?

10. In fact, NO ONE is happy.

It frustrates Google because you look like a spammer. It frustrates your SEO companies because they’re trying to do their jobs with one hand tied behind their backs. And it frustrates you because you’re getting poor results.

11. Your rankings drop.

Whether it’s because Google penalizes you or there’s a bevy of conflicting information floating around, working with more than one SEO company will cause your rankings to plummet.

12. It’s one GIANT headache.

Even if you ignore all the above facts or you somehow avoid any negative consequences (e.g. dropped rankings, suspensions, and penalties), it’s still a massive pain for all parties involved. Life is a lot easier when you work with just one SEO company at a time.

Even though we’ve covered this topic with funny gifs, it’s a serious issue. Using multiple SEO companies can drain your bank account and tank your web presence. Please heed our advice and think twice before doubling up.

One Easy Way to Boost Your Google Maps Listing in Local Searches

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Feeling a bit wary about allowing us to manage your Google Maps listing? We understand the hesitation. In this industry, it’s hard to know who you can trust.
But what if we told you that your Google Maps listing is heavily affected by your website ranking? While there are certainly other factors at play, having your website and Google Maps listing work together is an essential part of getting your business to the top of local search results. So if we’re handling one, we should also be handling the other.
What does this mean for you? It means that if you’re paying us to advertise your business, withholding this key component—your Google Maps listing—is going to get you less value for your dollar.
When you allow us to optimize your website and Google Maps listing simultaneously, it’s a win-win. Here’s why.

How Your Website Impacts Your Local Maps Listing

A few months ago, Google came right out and announced a handful of factors that influence a local business’s ranking on Maps. Here’s a quote straight from Google’s help page:

Your position in web results is also a factor, so SEO best practices also apply to local search optimization.

You’ve probably heard the term synergy before. It refers to when two or more elements interact and produce a total effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. It’s when 2+2=5.
In the case of local online advertising, the synergy of traditional SEO and local Maps optimization is what makes your business visible in Maps results. Ranking in Google Maps is not as simple as having a Google Maps listing. Without a website, and without SEO for said website, your local presence wilts away. When you’re found at the top of local Maps results, it’s because of this synergy.
That’s why Prospect Genius is always stressing the importance of letting us manage your Google listing. It’s not because we’re control freaks—it’s because we want to align your listing with our ongoing SEO work and provide you with the best results possible.
However, we understand you have concerns about relinquishing control of your listing and/or website. Those concerns are well founded. Below, we take a look at common concerns and explain the safeguards we put in place to minimize your risks.

“If I let you manage my Google Maps listing, I won’t be able to get it back.”

This may be true with other online advertising companies, but not with Prospect Genius.
First of all, it says right in our terms of service (item 14) that if we end our working relationship, we must return control of any listing you turned over to us initially. This makes it as easy as possible for you to transition away from us.
There’s also the fact that it’s not super difficult to reclaim your listing from Google after we give it up. Sure, you’ll have to go through a few steps to do so, but it’s a straightforward and well documented process that you can definitely handle.

“You guys will just take credit for all the calls I would’ve gotten from my Maps listing, anyway.”

This understandable perspective is probably the most common misconception out there. As we explained above—and as Google itself stated—your listing’s performance is directly impacted by the SEO of the website tied to any given listing.
So, while it might feel counter-intuitive, if you let us work on your local SEO and you start getting lots of calls from your Maps listing, it’s because of our behind-the-scenes work. It’s not because you simply had a Maps listing already.
So, since you’re paying us to improve your SEO, it would be illogical to sabotage the effectiveness of your own campaign by withholding your Google Maps listing. It would also be illogical to tie your listing to a less optimized site.

“I already have my own custom URL and website that I like. I don’t want to give it up.”

We sometimes hear this when we’re trying to connect a client’s LeadTrax site to their Google Maps listing. You may be resistant to letting us do this because you want your listing to showcase your own custom URL and spiffy website design. You want your own website to be what people see when they come across your listing.
The problem here is that people are unlikely to come across your listing if it isn’t ranking. And it’s unlikely to rank if we don’t tie your Google Maps listing to your LeadTrax site (which we’re optimizing and promoting).
If you signed up for our Core package, which includes a LeadTrax site, and you’d rather promote your own website instead, then we recommend switching to our BYOS (Bring Your Own Site) package. In order for our work to succeed, we need to be promoting one website across the board. We can’t do SEO for your LeadTrax site and leave a different website on your Google listing, because that Google listing simply isn’t going to rank. The bottom line is that our SEO work needs to focus on whichever website is in your Google Maps listing if you want to be visible in local searches. So if you want that website to be your own existing website, then we’ll need to plan our SEO strategy around it.

Sync Up Your Website & Google Maps Listing Today!

Your main takeaway should be this: Connecting your SEO and your Google Maps listing is a simple, super-effective way to boost your visibility in local searches. Why wait? Whether you just need to make us the manager of your listing or you want to switch over to BYOS, act now!
As always, call or e-mail us with any questions.

Have You Been Duped by Yext's PowerListings Scan?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Has Yext recently told you there’s incorrect or missing information about your business online?
Yext has been sending reports to small business owners claiming that they aren’t listed on certain sites. These reports contain the alleged “results” of a scan of your business’s directory listings. They are completely inaccurate. Their sole function, at best, is to be a misleading sales tactic.
Yext’s PowerListings scan tells you your business is not listed on major sites like Google, Bing, Yelp, and Yahoo (among many others). However, if you take just one or two minutes to search for your business on these sites, you’ll see that you are, in fact, listed. It’s insanely easy to debunk these reports.
Yext is hoping an official-looking “report”—peppered with big, red letters and intimidating alerts—will scare you into signing up for its services. Don’t fall for it.

What’s a PowerListings Scan, Anyway?

As part of its services for small businesses, Yext submits its clients’ information to a network of online directories. The vast majority of local SEO companies do this, as well, because directories are integral to local search optimization. However, Yext calls its own brand of directory listings PowerListings.
To get you to sign up for PowerListings, Yext will conduct a “PowerListings Scan” for your business. The results appear in a grid so you can see which sites you’re listed on and which sites have accurate information about your business. Unsurprisingly, these results typically claim less than half of your listings are “optimized.”
Here’s an example that came directly from one of our clients*:

*Business name redacted for privacy.

A representative from Yelp may contact you with this report. A portion of the e-mail might look something like this:

“As you saw, [insert your business name] has a variety of incorrect and missing information on our partner sites. I can fix this for you and offer you some discounts on our services!”

It has the potential to be an effective sales pitch—but only if you fall for it.

Debunking Yext’s PowerListings Scan

Again, it’s simple to prove Yext’s scan report wrong. To show you how easy it is to do for your own business, we submitted a scan of Prospect Genius via our Yahoo listing (Yext and Yahoo are partners).
In the very brief video below, you’ll see our scan results and—gasp!—a few listings Yext claims don’t exist.

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.

If you’re a Prospect Genius Core or Premium client, or you’ve signed up for Directory Dominator, then your listings should appear with no problem.
Having trouble finding your listings? Don’t hesitate to call us for help.

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