Category : Internet Marketing

Home»Archive by Category "Internet Marketing"

5 Ways to Effectively Market Online in Your Local Market

chalkboard2

Search engine marketing is the single most effective way to drive local traffic to your business website. The goal with any SEO program is to get your website to the top of the search results based on keywords of your business and your competitors. When your website dominates Google search results, you can be assured that the SEO strategies you are driving the optimal traffic to your business’ website.

There are four main types of search marketing tactics: natural search optimization, paid clicks or pay-per-click (PPC), local directories, and map marketing. Each of these unique tactics offers different advantages; it is when they are strategically blended together into an SEO plan they yield the best results. A comprehensive marketing strategy that includes all of these elements gives your website significant advantage over your competitors. The end goal is to have multiple listings on the first page of Google, which is when you know you are properly optimized. This ensures that customers seeking the products and services you offer find you first; the more times you appear on the first page of search results, the better chance you have of getting the customers you desire.
Local Directories and Map Marketing
Remember when you used the Yellow Pages to find a local business? It took forever to find the category you needed, and even longer to choose the company to call. Now, people just type their local search parameters into Google or other search engines to quickly and easily find local businesses. More and more consumers each year are turning to the Internet to research companies, products and services, before they buy. Search engine marketing is the key to harnessing the profit power of your local customer base; traditional Yellow Page advertising is expensive and doesn’t drive customers to your website that provides 24×7 information.

A typical search query by a potential customer often looks like this: “Manhattan Italian cuisine restaurant.” In a Google search, the search engine displays a local map of the area and the top 10 listings for restaurants in Manhattan offering Italian cuisine. Submitting a listing for your business to the biggest local search engines is undoubtedly a great way to drive local traffic to your website and to your business location as well, without the cost of paying for pay-per-click advertisements or other expensive off-line advertisements in your target area.

Natural Search Optimization
A natural search, also known as an organic search, mostly looks like a Google search on anything under the sun. Consumers use this to research products, services and companies before they buy. Of course, if your website doesn’t appear on the first page of results, your chances of increasing sales diminishes significantly. Of course Google isn’t the only search engine that consumers use; MSN, Yahoo!, Bing and Ask.com are important to note as well. Organic searches are the most reliable of all search engine marketing tactics and are the most reasonably priced to implement.

Search engines use automated software called crawlers to comb the billions of websites on the Internet and bring back the most relevant results for a certain query. These crawlers use algorithms that determine the relevance of these websites and their corresponding ranks on the search engine results page. It is for these crawlers that business websites are optimized to using various on-page and off-page SEO techniques. The most common of these is the use of relevant keywords and optimizing website content. Increasing the number of off-page links to your website is also very effective. It should be noted, though, that the algorithms used to evaluate a website change every now and then to prevent business owners from designing their websites to be fully optimized for a Google search but not for the audience.

Paid Search (Pay-Per-Click)
More commonly known as pay-per-click advertising, paid searches are the fastest way to make your business visible to your target market. Unlike a local search and a natural search, though, paid search requires an initial investment, albeit smaller than the investment you put in traditional advertising media, to pay for every time a person clicks on the link to your website. In a Google search, a paid search result appears in the form of an advertisement on the top right side of the natural search results, allowing your users to see you right away instead of having them rifle deep into the search results first.

To succeed in business today, you must have a comprehensive search engine optimization marketing plan. It is not longer just about the number of visitors you receive to your site each day, it is also about the quality of the visitors, and how your website turns them into buyers. When you are ready to expand your customer base, grow your business, and experience greater revenues, it is time to implement an SEO plan that incorporates local search, map marketing, pay-per-click, and organic search to draw potential customers from your service area.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions. 

Continue Reading

Push Local: Internet Leads for Small Businesses

img2

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including Servpro Franchises.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for Servpro franchises include: Camp Pendleton Mold, Temecula Mold, Fallbrook Servpro, Oceanside Servpro, Camp Pendleton Servpro, and Temecula Servpro.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for Servpro franchises with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms.  

Continue Reading

The Importance Of Reviews In Google Places

img5

Local small businesses must have a Google Places strategy – just like years past when businesses had a Yellow Pages strategy.  This free service from Google allows business owners to claim their business name and post accurate and relevant business information including address, phone number, website and hours of operation in the proper business category.

An essential part of Google Places is the review section.  This is where current customers leave reviews for businesses.  Analysts have studied Google’s local ranking algorithm, and businesses with the most reviews, move higher up in the Google Places rankings.

Of course, the higher a business is placed in rankings, the more traffic they will receive.  Google Places and Google Maps are integrated to help individuals find the businesses in their communities, or while on the road.  It is essential that businesses optimize their Google Places listing and that the listing be representative of their website. Optimizing the listing must include relevant keywords, but just like content on a website, it cannot be too keyword heavy, or it will be deemed as Spam.

Here are a few hints for optimizing the Google Places listing:

  1. Choose the category selection that best reflects core business
  2. Use keywords responsibly in the description
  3. Double and triple check the accuracy of address, phone number, and website information
  4. Update business hours when they change for holidays
  5. Upload a photo of the front of the building so customers can easily identify the business
  6. Add a Google Place listing for each additional location

When the Google search engine algorithms that rank your website determine a website’s ranking, they use a number of factors, including the number reviews.  Google crawls the web looking for reviews written by customers; both on the Google Places site, as well as external sites including local business directories, Yelp, and more.

Encourage customers to leave reviews on these sites to help businesses increase their visibility and rankings.  One option is to provide customers with the directions on how to leave a review.  These can be mailed to customers on a postcard, emailed, or handed out the physical location; a sample is below:

7 Easy Steps To Review Our Business (“ABC Restoration”)

  1. Visit www.google.com
  2. Search for business (“ABC Restoration”)
  3. Look for our Google Places listing
  4. Click on “Write a Review”
  5. Honestly rank us be 1 and 5 (5 being the highest)
  6. Write a  review
  7. Click “Publish”

Thank you for your time and effort.  We acknowledge that our success is due to our customers. 

After asking customers to review their business on Google and other third party sites, it is important that they follow-up with comments and responses to the reviews left behind.  A Google Places strategy is not a one-time and done avenue for increasing visibility.  Like all marketing techniques, it requires ongoing massaging and tweaking as needed.  The more reviews that are placed, the better the search engine algorithms will rank the businesses.  Additionally, the more businesses interact with their customers through reviews, the more likely their customers will be to review them again.

When a potential local customer is searching for a business in their area, they turn primarily to Google, and other search engines including Yahoo!, Bing, and others.  The reason more and more are turning to searching on Google is the interactive nature of Google Places together with Google Maps.  It takes the legwork out of finding a local business, the address, and the driving directions on how to get there.  Business owners that are looking for ways to increase internet traffic, must have a comprehensive Google Places strategy in place to manage the content and reviews on their listing.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including plumbing contractors.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for plumbers include: Oceanside drain cleaning, Oceanside rooter service, fallbrook drain cleaning, and fallbrook rooter service.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for plumbing contractors with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms. 

Continue Reading

How to Use Google Places to Drive More Business

img6

Google Places is a powerful tool for local business owners that desire added exposure within their local community.  Think of Google Places as a local business listing service and a mini-marketing campaign, all rolled together.  When coupled with AdWords Express, your local business’ Ad is prominently feature in search results, and a blue pin is indicated on the Google Map for visual reference for your potential customers.

It is worth your time and effort to set up Google Places (and it is free!).

  1. Visit Google Places web page; sign in if you have an account, or create a new account.
  2. To add your business click “List Your Business”
    1. You will need to enter the primary phone number for you business. It will then show what information about your business Google already has.  From here, you can personalize and verify the details.
    2. Add relevant information you want to appear in your listing including physical address, email address, website URL, your business category and the description of your business.

Note:  In your business description it is vital that you include the top keywords for your product or service.  Make it readable and friendly to potential customers; do not write it just for search engine algorithms.

  1. Verify your business listing.  You can choose verification through phone, text or a postcard.  Google requires verification to validate that you are in fact the business owner or approved representative.
  2. Local customers can now find you!

Of course, it is essential that your web presence be optimized for both search engine algorithms and for your potential customers.  Google Places, AdWords, and AdWords Express are only part of the equation to increase revenue; once a visitor comes to your website, it is your responsibility to turn them from visitors to buyers.  Relevant, educational and engaging content on your website not only helps transition potential customers into paying customers, it also helps new customers find you through organic searches.

Google has published a list of quality guidelines to help businesses get the most from their Google Places listing.  These guidelines also standardize the manner in which businesses represent themselves.

Google Places Quality Guidelines

  1. Ownership:  Only business owners or an authorized representative may verify business listings.
  2. Account Email Address:  Use a shared business email account if multiple users will update business listing.
  3. Business Name:  Represent your business exactly as it appears in offline world.
    • Do not include taglines in the Business Name field.
    • Do not include phone numbers or URLs in Business Name field.
    • Do not attempt to manipulate search results by adding extraneous keywords or a description of your business in the Business Name field.
  1.  Business Location:  Use the precise and accurate address for your business.
    • Do not create a listing or place your pin marker at a location where business does not exist.  PO boxes are not accurate physical locations.
    • Do not create more than one listing for each location.
    • Businesses that operate in a service area, as opposed to single location should not create a listing for every city they service.  Designate service areas.
    • If you don’t conduct face-to-fact business at location you must select “Yes, this business serves customers at their locations” under the “Service Areas and Location Settings” and then select “Do not show my business address on my Maps listing” option
    • Businesses with multiple specializations should not create multiple listings to cover specialties.  One listing per practitioner.
    • Do not include information in address lines that are not physical locations.
  1.  Website & Phone:  Provide the phone number that connects to your business location and provide website that represents your business location.
    • Use a local phone number.
    • Do not provide phone numbers that redirect or refer users to landing pages or phone numbers other than those of your business.
  1. Categories:  Select at least one category from the list of available categories that most closely relates to your business.
  1. Marketing, Promotions, Contests:  Any promotion, marketing, contests or giveaways should clearly link to the terms of the activity and provide clear guidelines and qualifications.

Google Places is a free service that allows your local customers to find you easily.  Often times it is the first impression they have of your business.  Make sure that your listing accurately reflects and represents your business, your products and services.  When Google Places is used in conjunction with an effective AdWords Express campaign, local customers will be able to easily find you and do business with you.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including plumbing contractors.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for plumbers include: Oceanside drain cleaning, Oceanside rooter service, fallbrook drain cleaning, and fallbrook rooter service.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for plumbing contractors with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms. 

Continue Reading

What is AdWords Express?

AdWords Express is a new offering from Google that allows businesses to advertise in the local “map” area that is at the top or towards the top of Google search results page.  Like AdWords, businesses are only charged when a potential customer clicks on the Ad, but unlike AdWords, AdWords Express helps businesses make informed decisions on how much to budget for a successful campaign.  It can be extraordinarily effective for local businesses.

In an AdWords Express campaign, when local customers are searching for your products or services, your ad will appear above the search results as well as on Google Maps.  While surrounding businesses will be marked with a red pin, your business will be highlighted with a blue pin to further differentiate your business from your competition.

Just like with AdWords, AdWords Express allows you to set spending limits for each campaign you run, and your account will never be charged more than you budget; you are in complete control of your campaign costs.  Additionally, you are only charge when a potential customer actually clicks your Ad, not each time it is displayed.

Here are a few things you need for a successful AdWords Express campaign:

  1. A plan, realistic goals, and ability to fulfill orders.
  2. Effective AdWords Ad containing relevant keywords and a call to action.
  3. A website landing page that is directly related to the product/service you are offering.
  4. An address.  If your business has a physical location, and you receive customers there, that is the address you use.  If you work from home or have a mobile business, you can choose to make the address private.

There are some differences between conventional AdWords and AdWords Express.  Below is a chart that indicates the differences between these two powerful platforms.

                                                          Adwords Express                            Adwords

Pay Per Click                                                     x                                                 x

Full control of campaign                                    x                                                 x

Ads appear on search, Maps & mobile devices      x                                                 x

Geographically targeted ads                             local                                           global

Campaign management                                 automated                                   customized

Tracking & reporting tools                             standard                                 additional tools

Additional ad formats (display/video)            automated                                       included

AdWords Express allows you to get started quickly – within an hour, your campaign can be created and visible to your potential customers.  For as little as $50.00 a month, you can start attracting local customers to your business and increase your profitability.  Your AdWords Express account provides for prominent display when customers search for your keywords.  Remember, either choice has the potential to drive customers to your website or your local business, however, it is vital that your website function as a sales person.  Information on your landing page as well as your home page must be crafted to be relevant and valuable to turn visitors into buying customers.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including Servpro Franchises.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for Servpro franchises include: Carlsbad mold, San Marcos mold, San Marcos water damage, Vista water damage, Carlsbad smoke damage, and Carlsbad water damage.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for Servpro franchises with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms.  

Continue Reading

How To Create a Successful ServiceMaster Adwords Campaign

Effective AdWord campaigns draw visitors to your website, and then the content of your website turns visitors into buyers.  If your AdWords campaigns are not crafted well, with the proper keywords, geographic targets, or have the proper keyword matching control you won’t get the visitors you desire. Creating a successful AdWords campaign takes planning, choosing the best keywords, crafting of several ads to test, testing, and refinement.

Make a Plan

Don’t overlook the planning stage!  A comprehensive AdWords plan consists of realistic goals, geographic targets, determining potential customers’ behavior, and the budget.  At this stage it is also important to focus on what makes your products or services unique, what makes your offering unique, and how you are going to build credibility with visitors to your website.

Choose the Right Keywords

Potential customers are searching for the products and services you offer – the trick is to capture their interest and get them to your website.  Stay away from generic or irrelevant words and phrases; be as specific as you can.  What makes your service unique? Brainstorm different combinations of keywords and phrases.  Ask yourself – if you were looking for your service, what keywords would you type into the search bar?

  • Service:  Water Damage Clean Up
  • Uniqueness:  Expert Dry Out and Clean Up. No Deductible Payment.
  • Keywords:  Water Damage Home. Flood Damage.  Water Damage Removal. Commercial Water Damage. 

 Selecting Keyword Matching Control

Now that you have chosen your keywords and phrases, it is time to determine how search engines will match your Ad with potential customers.  There are four options available:

  •  Broad Match:  This is the default setting that reaches the most users.  Your Ad appears whenever a variation of a keyword appears, i.e. “Water Damage”
  • Phrase Match:  This narrows the potential reach of your Ad by showing it only when search terms contain your keyword, i.e. “Water Damage Removal”
  • Exact Match:  For even further narrowing of potential customers, this option only displays the Ad when the search term is exactly the same as your keyword, i.e. “Dallas Water Damage”
  • Negative Match:  This setting prevents your Ad from showing when a word or phrase is searched.  I.e., “iphone” – your Ad will not appear to customers who search “water damage iphone”

 Writing Ads

AdWord campaigns are comprised of three parts – the headline, the description and the URL.  Remember what makes your product unique, what your special offer is, and a compelling call to action.

  • Headline:  The headline can contain a maximum of 25 characters.  The best headlines are those that directly refer to the keywords being searched.  Make the headline relevant and descriptive.
  • Description:  The description contains two lines of a maximum of 35 characters each.  This is where you select the key details and benefits of your product or service, as well as where you place the call to action.  Keep the description as simple and concise as possible.
  •  Designate display and destination URL:  Choose the specific destination URL that promotes the product or service you are specifically targeting, not just your generic home page.

 Example of Ad .

Headline:                             Water Damage Clean Up

Description:                        Home Flooded? Expert Dry Out and

Description:                        Clean up. No Deductible Payment.

URL:                                       www.servicemaster.com/your-town

 Test Your Ads & Rewrite As Needed

Create several Ads to test their effectiveness in your campaign.  Mix up keywords and phrases; change your call to action, and then launch the campaigns.  In seven days, review which Ads are performing best and those that are not performing well, and refine!  Consumer behavior changes and so does the keywords that resonate with them.  Set a schedule whether it is every two weeks, or once a month, to review the effectiveness of your campaigns and tweak as necessary.

An effective and successful AdWords campaign takes planning, writing, testing, and constant refinement to stay relevant and draw qualified visitors to your website.  Remember that the landing page you create must do the work of transitioning visitors into buyers in order for your profits to soar.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including plumbing contractors.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for plumbers include: Oceanside plumber, Oceanside plumbing, Oceanside flood service, Fallbrook plumber, Fallbrook plumbing, and Fallbrook flood service. Push Local has shown continued success marketing for plumbing contractors with client’s currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms. 

Continue Reading

Tips, Tricks & Techniques To Create a Servpro AdWords Campaign

Effective AdWord campaigns draw visitors to your website, and then the content of your website turns visitors into buyers.  If your AdWords campaigns are not crafted well, with the proper keywords, geographic targets, or have the proper keyword matching control you won’t get the visitors you desire. Creating a successful AdWords campaign takes planning, choosing the best keywords, crafting of several ads to test, testing, and refinement.

Make a Plan

Don’t overlook the planning stage!  A comprehensive AdWords plan consists of realistic goals, geographic targets, determining potential customers’ behavior, and the budget.  At this stage it is also important to focus on what makes your products or services unique, what makes your offering unique, and how you are going to build credibility with visitors to your website.

Choose the Right Keywords

Potential customers are searching for the products and services you offer – the trick is to capture their interest and get them to your website.  Stay away from generic or irrelevant words and phrases; be as specific as you can.  What makes your service unique? Brainstorm different combinations of keywords and phrases.  Ask yourself – if you were looking for your service, what keywords would you type into the search bar?

  • Service:  Water Damage Clean Up
  • Uniqueness:  Expert Dry Out and Clean Up. No Deductible Payment.
  • Keywords:  Water Damage Home. Flood Damage.  Water Damage Removal. Commercial Water Damage. 

 Selecting Keyword Matching Control

Now that you have chosen your keywords and phrases, it is time to determine how search engines will match your Ad with potential customers.  There are four options available:

  •  Broad Match:  This is the default setting that reaches the most users.  Your Ad appears whenever a variation of a keyword appears, i.e. “Water Damage”
  • Phrase Match:  This narrows the potential reach of your Ad by showing it only when search terms contain your keyword, i.e. “Water Damage Removal”
  • Exact Match:  For even further narrowing of potential customers, this option only displays the Ad when the search term is exactly the same as your keyword, i.e. “Dallas Water Damage”
  • Negative Match:  This setting prevents your Ad from showing when a word or phrase is searched.  I.e., “iphone” – your Ad will not appear to customers who search “water damage iphone”

 Writing Ads

AdWord campaigns are comprised of three parts – the headline, the description and the URL.  Remember what makes your product unique, what your special offer is, and a compelling call to action.

  • Headline:  The headline can contain a maximum of 25 characters.  The best headlines are those that directly refer to the keywords being searched.  Make the headline relevant and descriptive.
  • Description:  The description contains two lines of a maximum of 35 characters each.  This is where you select the key details and benefits of your product or service, as well as where you place the call to action.  Keep the description as simple and concise as possible.
  •  Designate display and destination URL:  Choose the specific destination URL that promotes the product or service you are specifically targeting, not just your generic home page.

 Example of Ad .

Headline:                             Water Damage Clean Up

Description:                        Home Flooded? Expert Dry Out and

Description:                        Clean up. No Deductible Payment.

URL:                                       www.servpro/your-town

 Test Your Ads & Rewrite As Needed

Create several Ads to test their effectiveness in your campaign.  Mix up keywords and phrases; change your call to action, and then launch the campaigns.  In seven days, review which Ads are performing best and those that are not performing well, and refine!  Consumer behavior changes and so does the keywords that resonate with them.  Set a schedule whether it is every two weeks, or once a month, to review the effectiveness of your campaigns and tweak as necessary.

An effective and successful AdWords campaign takes planning, writing, testing, and constant refinement to stay relevant and draw qualified visitors to your website.  Remember that the landing page you create must do the work of transitioning visitors into buyers in order for your profits to soar.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including Servpro Franchises.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for Servpro franchises include: St. Charles water damage, Geneva water damage, Batavia water damage, St. Charles fire damage, Geneva fire damage, and Batavia fire damage.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for Servpro franchises with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms.  

Continue Reading

10 Most Common Pay-Per-Click Mistakes

Since we manage a number of Servpro PPC campaigns, I have noticed that other franchises often make silly mistakes with their pay-per-click programs. Lack of testing, click fraud detection and mistakes while creating PPC ads are a few amongst them. Fixing all these mistakes could mean thousands of dollars worth savings every month or an extra revenue up to 70%.

Here is a list (since we all love these lists don’t we?) which consists of 10 most common mistakes committed by some franchises with their PPC (paid search) advertising campaigns.

1. Bidding Broad – when setting up your campaign it is extremely important to avoid any kind of laziness. In order to attract maximum traffic every industry has a giant keyword but there are lots of other keyword variations being searched. If you want to lessen your pay per click you should focus more on “long tail keywords”. In addition, your ads will be amongst the highest rankers if the keyword matches closely. Convert your 100 keywords into 200 by taking a look at your own web statistics to discover exact keyword variations used by people to search your product.

2. Geo-targeting – Even though what you sell is popular over the state, it is a psychological thing that people in general are more interested on seeking a local provider or at least a company which recognizes “their city”. Google and also some other search engines let you geo-target your PPC ads city wise. Create ads that include your city name in them. This way you will definitely get a greater click through rate (CTR) and consequently a lower CPC. Moreover, right from the beginning your visitors will be informed that you “recognize” and serve their location. One more “mistake related to geo-targeting, I have seen some franchises that have their ads displayed everywhere. If you don’t set-up geo-targeting, Google will automatically set your ads to display across the entire country.

3. Avoiding Display Networks – All paid search engines, be it Yahoo, Google, MSN, etc. distribute your ads to a network they have. Unfortunately, most of these networks don’t refer quality traffic. This in particular is true Servpro franchises – display clicks are wastage of money. You want consumers who are vigorously searching the search network for your service. The moment you sign up for Google Adwords, you automatically get placed in their display network. You need to opt out of each campaign, do this from the settings tab; by doing this you won’t have to pay for wasteful clicks.

4. Being Common and Boring – I have noticed many marketers go online to search a keyword, take a look at advertisers who are also competitors and produce ads accordingly to blend in with the “community”. Silly but true! Whenever you plan to generate a paid ad, first look at what all is being said by the advertisers and then come up with an idea which is unique yet relevant. It is tough but you have to realize what your unique qualities are and why people should opt for you. Just remember that it should be what your target market needs and cares about.

5. Not Bidding for Your Name – We have had great success with ads and campaigns tailored to the franchise name and cities that our customers serve. These terms are great because a homeowner may have been referred to these names by an insurance adjustor or neighbor that has had a water or fire damage.  Another benefit is that these terms are usually significantly less than the service terms of water and fire damage.

6. Lack of “Exact Tracking” – You should be capable of tracking every single visit to your website from PPC advertising through the exact keyword, ad group and campaign used. In order to do so you can combine your PPC campaigns with website analytics software or set variables such as “yourcompany.com/Keyword”. This is the only way to determine the efficiency of each keyword used to get traffic.

7. Paying for Negative and Worthless Keywords – Some search engines like Google let you report keywords for which you don’t want your ad to be displayed. If you are paying for keywords that are a “broad match” you will notice loads of visits from people who have typed your keyword along with another word like “Servpro jobs” or “Servpro stock” or “water damaged iPhone”. These are the visitors who are willing to pay $0 for your product or service; you don’t want to pay money for them. You don’t want to pay for visitors who are looking for ways to fix their iPhone. Make sure that you make use of “negative keyword folder” to prevent these worthless clicks.

8. Not Making use of Keywords in Ad Copy – Add keywords to your ad copy as they are the reason you are serving the ad. This makes your ad more relevant and also the keyword will be highlighted in bold. Simple!

9. Not Calling Google – Ok, I agree that it’s not nice to tell on someone, but my dear friends everything is fair in love and business also you have to play fair, you have complete rights to raise your voice when you notice a competitor employing bad techniques. You will see that on Google PPC result page some competitors have created various accounts and placed two ads simultaneously. This is against Google’s policy. Call Google and inform them if your competitor is going against the search engine’s rules and policies. You will be surprised to see how promptly they take care of the situation.

10. Keeping away from Brand Name Keywords – Unfortunately, there are many companies that don’t know how to take advantage of their competitors. How can this be done? Bid on their company/brand name. Just imagine…anybody who searches your competitors can instead become your customers easily. Why not make you ad turn up under those keywords? What if they saw their radio or TV ad and are looking especially for the competitor’s name? So the main thing is, bid on the brand name of your competitor. The ROI on these keywords is usually excellent.

If you’re interested, we can create a turn-key campaign based on all of these best practices. Please feel free to contact us anytime at (877) 690-6467.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including Servpro Franchises.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for Servpro franchises include: Austin water damage, Hyde Park water damage, Austin fire damage, Austin smoke damage, Austin Servpro, and Austin mold.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for Servpro franchises with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms.  

Continue Reading

How to Build A Local Online Presence

How to Build A Local Online Presence

You need to plan a well-conceived inbound marketing campaign to get your company found in search engines by local, qualified prospects that are searching for the products or services you sell.

Besides being well-planned and strategic, your plan needs to be comprehensive. It needs to cover every opportunity that there is to get found. On Google, there are multiple ways and many options you need to consider so you don’t waste your time, effort or budget.

The 4 main search marketing techniques are Pay-Per-Click, Search Engine Optimization, Local Directories and Map Marketing.

For the purpose of time, I am going to summarize the options and techniques that are involved with each of these tactics.

Pay-Per-Click

This can be very effective if done properly or a colossal waste of money if done incorrectly.

There are two main types of pay-per-click advertising: search and display. Search advertising primarily involves text-based ads that are shown in particular geographic areas when a particular search term is searched. Over-simplified, the search ad prices are based on how much advertisers are willing to pay for ad position.

Display advertising is a very effective brand building tool. These ads are placed on websites as text or graphical ads where a viewer may be enticed to click on a banner advertisement. These ads work well for products and services that are not urgent but are on the mind of the website visitor (think pool tables or kitchen remodeling) but is not especially effective for “on-demand” searches where a service is needed immediately (think dentists or water damage repair). These businesses will be needed when your house becomes flooded or you lose a filling. At this time you’re going to search for your city/dentist or your city/water damage, etc.

One last point, with pay-per-click, you are only limited by your budget. You can select as many terms and as wide of a geographical area that you would like to cover.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Similar to pay-per-click but these listings are free, meaning there is no cost when they are clicked.

SEO is free but takes longer to materialize. To start a campaign, you need to define the keywords for your efforts. This is done by mining your industry’s keywords to discover effective keyword phrases and adding local terms, like your city (San Diego Dentist or Austin Water Damage).

After you decide on your keywords, you need to optimize your site. This includes editing the Meta titles and descriptions, H1 tags, Alt tags on the photos and corresponding URLs.

In addition, you’ll want to have keyword density on each page. If you have assigned a certain page to be about Austin Water Damage, you’ll want to mention this phrase on that web page.

Another important aspect of SEO is backlinking; after your site is optimized “on-page” or on the site, you need to tell the web about your site.

To learn about web pages, Google has robots that “crawl” the internet. These bots record everything about the site, from the title and URL, to how many times a term is used in context.

During their crawls, they also count how many other websites link back to your site. If you have an online article with your link, or a blog comment or a social media link, then that tells Google that your site is about XYZ keyword. 

Directories and Maps

To round out an effective local online strategy, you need to have local directory listings in the most popular directories and map marketing. With the advent of Apps from Apple and Google it is even more important to list in every directory possible. The smartphone companies pull data from popular local directories include Google + (formerly Google Places), Yahoo!, Superpages, Yellowbook, Citysearch and Yelp to name a few. Ideally, these directories will have your website, your current contact information and any offers that you have.

For businesses that rely on foot traffic, maps are crucial. You need to list your business location with MapQuest, Yahoo Maps, Google Maps, and Urbanspoon.

With a proper plan and business strategy you can create a fairly comprehensive plan by completing the tasks shown. The plan will help you gain multiple opportunities to be found in search.

With all of the items mentioned, you’re well on your way towards out-optimizing the competition. Really that’s what it’s about – as long as you get ahead and stay ahead, it’s a great place to be.

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including Servpro Franchises.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for Servpro franchises include: houston water damage, spring water damage, houston fire damage, spring fire damage, houston mold, and spring mold.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for Servpro franchises with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms.  

Continue Reading

Are You the Leader or the Laggard?

 

Are You the Leader or the Laggard?
We Can Take You from Laggard to Market Leader – Guaranteed!
The Push Local Biz program is an effective online marketing solution that pushes multiple online listings to the first page of Google.
Our multi-product approach includes local organic search marketing (clicks and calls are free), Adwords pay-per-click and pay-per-call platforms, local directory listings (Yelp, Yahoo, YellowBook, etc.) and map marketing (MapQuest and Google+).
    • It’s free for 30 days – Our goal is to drive business before you pay.
    • Our service is an investment where you have a guaranteed return.
    • Competitive knowledge gained from ongoing Servpro marketing experience.
    • No need to manage – We already know the best keywords, techniques, settings and ads that drive restoration business.
    • No contract – Too much business? You can cancel at any time – for any reason.
    • Affordable – No set-up fees, only $299 a month.
    • Less expensive than any employee – More valuable than most employees.

 
Free Competitive Analysis – Request your custom competitive analysis report; it will provide you all the marketing intelligence on who is currently dominating your market, and the keywords they are using to drive business. We will also provide detailed recommendations that will help you capture market share!
No Obligation!

Push Local specializes in online marketing for small businesses including Servpro Franchises.  Our services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, map marketing, and local directory submissions.  Some of the organic terms we go after for Servpro franchises include: Fallbrook Water Damage, Oceanside Water Damage, Camp Pendleton Water Damage, and Temecula Water Damage.  Push Local has shown continued success marketing for Servpro franchises with a number of clients currently ranking number one for their targeted organic search terms.  

Continue Reading