Google hosted their big developers conference this week, Google I/O. Although there were no big new products introductions, one service that has been getting a lot of attention is Google Now. Although this product was released over a year ago, it is now available for free download on Apple and Android phones and tablets. Guillaume Bouchard has some interesting ideas about how Google Now will affect the SEO community and what we can do to stay ahead of the curve.

2. Google Maps Gets a Brand New Look – Search Engine Watch

Google announced another big update this week. Google Maps is undergoing a complete makeover. The maps will be more interactive and customized for each user. Search results will be clearly labeled on the map with icons and brief descriptions. They’re also promising “smarter directions” and “tours generated from user-submitted photos.” The update is invitation-only right now. You can request an invite here.

3. How My Mom Thinks Search Engines Work – SEO Moz

This is a fun article and a good read for anyone working in SEO. Introducing somebody to SEO is not easy, and it’s good to take a step back from our industry jargon and realize that clients – usually small business owners – might not know what “organic search” is!

4. Content Marketing is a Hit! [Infograhic] – Marketing Pilgrim

We’ve been hearing for a while about the importance of content marketing. This infographic lays out the cold hard facts about how and why content marketing is essential for your business.

5. Google Local Adds New Troubleshooter to Move Reviews When a Business Relocates – http://blumenthals.com/blog

One more update from the all-important Google. Google has announced that they now have a process in place to submit requests for when a business relocates, changes its name, or changes ownership. This is something that has plagued Maps teams for a while and it’s great to see Google doing something proactive in order to simplify the process.

Five for Friday is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

Don’t make me angry.

At a recent event I found myself ranting – yes, really, ranting and I understand there’s video – about what I think is a very big deal for SMBs and those who market for them. The topic at hand was call tracking and local search.

Over the course of my interaction with a few of our attendees I discovered that at least a couple of them were using call tracking to demonstrate ROI for their customers in a potentially harmful way. Call tracking in local SEO, if done poorly, is one of the most irresponsible things an online marketing company can do.

What’s Coming – It’s Kinda Long:

• The NAP (+W)
• The History of Call Tracking
• Why doing it wrong really hurts SMBs
• When is it OK?
• How you can do it with less risk

Your NAP +W and Why It’s So Important Not to Mess It Up

The first time I heard the NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) referenced was in a presentation by my friend Gib Olander who at that time worked for Localeze, one of the 3 main data providers for online and offline directories. Gib and I were presenting on a panel at SMX Local & Mobile in July 2008. My presentation was on a concept I called “Barnacle SEO” and Gib’s was all about the NAP. Mike Blumenthal has sinced added the +W (web site).

NAP +W is:

• Business Name – you should have one and only one name. It should be the same on your web site, yellow pages listings, Secretary of State web site and everywhere else.

• Address – the location of your business in the real world. This should be identical, or very close, to the version of your  address in the USPS database.

• Phone Number – your main business phone number. In the best case this phone will be answered by someone who says “Thanks for calling [Business Name], may I help you”?

• + Web Address – your home on the web. All about your business, hopefully including your Name, Address and phone number.

In relational databases there’s a concept of a Primary Key, which is the piece of data which ties together data in different tables. So, in databases, the primary key helps you identify a unique record. In the world of Local Search, the NAP is like that. In other words, your NAP defines your business. It’s like your fingerprint on the web.

Hopefully it’s self-evident that when you mess with your NAP you run the risk of confusing Google and other local search engines, which is never a good idea. If you screw up your NAP you may find yourself invisible in maps and locally focused searches.

If you get many customers who came to you from search, this can be devastating for your business.

History of Call Tracking

A lot of folks in online marketing are relatively new to call tracking. To those of us who grew up in and around the Yellow Pages business, they’re nothing new. In the Yellow Pages universe, they refer to them a number of ways. “Metered lines,” “RCF (remote call forwarding) lines,” and other names all describe what we now know as call tracking.

The Yellow Pages providers and their industry analysts were trying to do the same thing we’re trying to do now. They were trying to show either directly, or by inference from category data, that the ads they were selling had value by demonstrating a direct ROI (Return on Investment). There is little doubt that if your primary goal is to prove the value of your marketing efforts, you can’t beat call-tracking for service and local businesses.

Over the years, some of those same companies who were providing call-tracking for Yellow Pages have morphed into our current crop of call-tracking providers for local SEO and online marketing.

Why Doing It Wrong Hurts SMBs

Small business advertisers typically have a limited budget for marketing and are therefore attracted to “performance based” solutions, in other words, those that feel like they come with a guarantee. Call-tracking is a great way to track leads and demonstrate the performance of these programs.

Small businesses are also often fickle and impatient. And they’re not professional marketers, so we can’t expect them to think like we do about their investment.

And they don’t usually understand exactly what it is we as marketers are doing for them. In the case of Call Tracking, they likely have NO idea of the risks of their local and maps rankings if their NAP gets screwed up.

According to an acquaintance of mine who works for Google in Local Support and Operations, Google’s systems don’t support replacing your local number with an 800 number if they’re still able to verify your local number. Yes, you can have multiple numbers, but Google is going to treat the one they are able to find and confirm through their own data as authoritative. Google is looking for the greatest number of signals — some of them human generated, like phone verification — to assure their data is correct, so if they find a call tracking number in all the places they look for authoritative data it can be incredibly problematic long term.

There are 3 major data providers in the US, Axciom, Localeze, and InfoGroup. One of those 3 is the origin for 90+ percent of the data you see online. But, like Google, they too get some of those data from crawling the web. So you can see how it becomes a vicious cycle – publish bad NAP, bad NAP get’s crawled and goes back into the ecosystem, bad NAP lives on long after the campaign has ended.

At Search Influence we have a pretty deep expertise in NAP clean up — that’s right, NAP clean up — and a staff trained in how to manage listings. Most locally focused SMBs, plumbers, roofers, even doctors and lawyers don’t have the expertise to do it themselves. And, this should be obvious, they’ve got businesses to run.

Putting a bad NAP into the ecosystem can hang around for YEARS. We all know that guy who keeps getting calls for the pizza place which used to have his number, right? Imagine your frustration if you were the pizza place. Think of all the sales you’d be missing.

Beyond the NAP issues, for local search call tracking can be a crutch for weak metrics. It’s a heck of a lot easier to tell a customer they got 20 calls than to pick up the phone and ask about their business.

When is It OK to Use Call Tracking for Local SEO

NEVER!

Ok, maybe not never.

I think it’s OK to use call tracking with PPC and other online ads as long as one takes precautions against those numbers being seen with other referral sources. And, for national accounts (preferably with ads) I don’t feel as strongly given the lower, perhaps negligible impact of maps. But I realize that’s not Local SEO.

For local / maps SEO, I want to state clearly that tracking numbers in local search should be avoided at all costs.

My friend Thomas Ballantyne says he’d be OK with lead gen services in local as long as the business name wasn’t a match for his. In other words, if you want him to buy leads that use local search you’d better not muck up his NAP. From a home-service provider we hear it clearly, think about using a slightly different business name in the same way some providers use a slightly different URL. That way you don’t have to worry about your lead-gen stuff winding up in the cluster.

If, however, a client is adamant that they need to see the calls generated or they need to record calls that come from search it can be done, but the proper precautions have to be in place.

How You Can Do It with Less Risk

The safest way to track phone leads is by dynamically switching the number using Javascript.

Search engine robots are increasingly capable of “seeing” dynamic content so this is an imperfect method by itself.

It does, however, reduce the likelihood your tracking numbers will be identified and muck up your NAP+W.

A little more technological implementation can reduce the likelihood of NAP confusion even further:

• First, determine the User Agent of the visitors to your site – the identifier of the browser – and ensure that it’s not a robot, such as GoogleBot or BingBot. If you determine the visitor is a robot, you must show your proper NAP.

• If at all possible, ONLY show a call-tracking number when there is a utm_source, or other tracking code on the URL string. Doing this will explicitly assure your tracking numbers are only present for visitors from a specific source, or ad campaign.

Finally, if you want to be absolutely certain your numbers won’t get spidered you can render them in images. By replacing the image which contains the phone number you assure it won’t be misread. This is not the preferred method given it’s not mobile friendly and clickable.

End of Rant…Phew!

I hope it’s clearer now why call-tracking is such a dangerous tool. Yes, it’s a tool we use, but much like using a chainsaw, we take every precaution available.

Our local business clients don’t know what they don’t know and often don’t know to ask “what are the risks.” So we, as their shepherds, need to be sure that we do no harm.

I’d love to hear some other opinions. Do we have an ethical responsibility to our clients to educate them in the risks, or does the end justify the means?

Why Call Tracking Numbers in Local SEO Make Me Angry is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

Social media outlets prove to be great tools to capture, engage, and inform your supporters. It works as a way to provide a face to your cause and keep your loyal audience up to date. A recent study by Craig Newmark reported that 92% of non-profits are on Facebook and 90% are on Twitter.  Non-profits are spending more and more time investing in their social media marketing. However, simply signing up for your social media account isn’t enough. How do you reach your audience? What do they want to hear? What will get them excited?

Five quick tips for non-profits when crafting your social posts:

• Sneak Peeks: everyone appreciates a good inside scoop! Are you about to launch a new product or event? Why not let your social media audience get the inside information first. This will create buzz around your brand!
• Insider Photos: you most likely know that pictures are a great addition to your social posting and should be worked in whenever possible. Including behind the scenes pictures is a great way to engage your fans and highlight your supporters.  It provides a great “this is what happens when you aren’t here” anecdote. Team Gleason does a great job of including behind the scenes shots to keep their Facebook Fans engaged and sharing interesting content!

• Keep your posts relevant: is there an upcoming organization event? Post about it! Is there local breaking news? Tweet it! The beauty of social media is that you’re able to comment on things as they’re happening. You want to stay relevant and timely.
• Link to your site: how do you expect your social media to impact your web traffic if you don’t link to your site? When appropriate, link back to your site so fans can learn more information. Links work best when paired with an eye-catching graphic. Check out what The Museum of Modern Art did with a link to purchase tickets online.

• But don’t always link to your site: yes, you want to drive site traffic, but you have to do it carefully. There is nothing social media users hate more than the self-obsessed page. The majority of your posts should be great and engaging content. Self-promotion should be the minority of your updates.

And don’t worry, non-profits. The social media sites want you to succeed! Facebook even recently released a resource center for non-profits. So get to posting and watch the fans and site visits increase!

5 Tips for Non-Profits to Get Social is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

1. Dusting The Website For Spring: Optimization and SEO Cleaning – SEOmoz

Five for Friday is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

Local U brings together the brightest minds in Local Search.

With Local U just around the corner, I’m getting really excited about the opportunity it’s bringing to New Orleans. While there are so many things I love about the this city, it’s not necessarily known for its booming tech industry… yet. Local businesses could use a technological boost, and that’s exactly why I’m so eager to have Local U in our city. This informative event brings together some of the top players in local search to give entrepreneurs an introductory training session in Internet marketing.

Local University will take place at Tulane’s Lavin-Bernick Center on May 7, from 8:30 am – 1 pm, featuring tons of great speakers and topics. It’s extraordinary to have so many great minds come together to share their wisdom. Experts in the field such as Mike Blumenthal, Mary Bowling, Ed Reese, Aaron Weiche, and Mike Ramsey will all be there, as well as the lead Consumer Support staffer from Google Places.

I see local U as the perfect way for anyone who is managing their local online marketing, or managing those who do, to learn practical tools they can use for any current or future enterprise. There’s no better way to spread the word about your business in this day and age than online, and this conference gives you the know-how to do just that. I know a lot of people who have no idea how to clean up their reputation online or connect with clients through social media, and they often don’t know where to turn to harness these skills.

With sessions like Getting Social Online and Going Local with Google, individuals who have never previously taken an interest in search engine optimization, local search, or even social media can learn how simple techniques can maximize their online presence. If you’re interested in learning more about marketing your business online, make sure to sign up now!

See you at the conference!

Click Here to Sign up for Local U New Orleans!

What Local U can do for Your Business is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

1. HTML5: An Essential Weapon for SEOs – Search Engine Journal

The new HTML5 is set to receive a major upgrade and there are 5 key SEO innovations coming :

1. Nofollow’s little brothers and sisters
2. Alt-text gets some much needed support
3. Identifying the most important links on your page
4. No more Flash for videos
5. AJAX gets search engine friendly

2. Which Finds the First-Ever Website Better, Google or Bing? – Search Engine Land

May 1, 2013 was the 20 year anniversary of CERN making the Internet available to anyone. Using today’s technology, which search engine do you think would be able to find the site considering that neither engine existed back then?

This is what the world’s first website looked like.

3. The Complete Guide to Reconversion – SEOmoz

Getting new customers is great for any business, but the real challenge is retaining your existing customers. This 5 chapter guide explains why it’s important to focus your energy on remarketing and reconverting.

4. University Study Shows Happy News Leads to More Twitter Followers – Marketing Pilgrim

Keeping your tweets positive  and informational will lead to an increase in followers. This article highlights the do’s and don’ts of tweeting

5. Meet Vine’s Most Creative Stop-Motion Animator – Mashable

Twitter launched Vine on January 24, 2013. On January 25th, Khoa Phan created his first vine…and the rest is history. Check out his creative and colorful stop-motion vines in this article.

5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

We are excited to announce new additions to the Search Influence team!

John Breerwood has been hired as an Internet Marketing Associate. Born and raised in New Orleans, John attended Louisiana State University where he received his  bachelor’s in English. He received his Master’s in Creative Writing from New Mexico Highland’s University. Before joining the Production team, he was an English composition instructor and college radio DJ.

Elena Jambusarwalla has been hired as an Internet Marketing Associate. Elena moved to New Orleans shortly after graduating from Louisiana State University, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in English and Mass Communication. Before joining the SI team, Elena worked as the Associate Editor of Baton Rouge Parents Magazine.

Alexandra Stoicof has been hired as an Internet Marketing Associate. She attended The George Washington University in Washington  D.C. where she received her degree in International Studies and Geography. After graduating, she worked for The World Bank and is now a freelance cartographer alongside her job at Search Influence.

Mary Silva has been hired as an Internet Marketing Associate. Born and raised in New Orleans, Mary is currently a Marketing major at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business. Mary will graduate next spring and plans on continuing to pursue a career in online marketing. Prior to working for Search Influence, Mary worked at Tulane’s Executive MBA program as a marketing assistant.

Susannah Bunch has been hired as a Junior Account Associate. Native of New Orleans, Susannah attended the University of Alabama where she received her degree in Human Environmental Sciences. Before making her way back to New Orleans, she worked as an Event Planner in Destin, Florida.

Mac DeLaCruz has been hired as a Junior Web Developer. He made his way to New Orleans after leaving his home state of New York. Mac graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor’s degree in English with minors in African Studies and Computer Science. Before working at SI, he spent six years as a Computer & Printer Support Specialist.

Shane Kretzmann has been hired as a Web Developer. Originally from Minneapolis, MN Shane moved to New Orleans in the early 90′s.  In 1996 he started the city’s first Cyber Cafe; Realm Of Delirium, pioneering the industry in Louisiana.  As a result of Hurricane Katrina he moved to Connecticut where he worked as the Web Service Group Manager for The Walker Group.  Shane has since moved back to New Orleans and recently worked with Force Multiplier Solutions where he was part of a team that wrote software used in city bus stops today to alert riders the ETA of their bus.

Annette Golemi has been hired as a PR & Marketing Associate. She is from Mandeville, LA and attended Louisiana State University, where she received her undergraduate degree in public relations. Following graduation, she moved to Austin, TX and worked at a local public relations agency for one year before returning home to Louisiana.

New Influencer Faces – May 2013 is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

1. Bing Places For Business replaces Bing Business Portal - Small Business Search Marketing

Bing has made some significant changes in its local business listing management platform. Bing Places will replace the old Bing Business Portal, and along with the name change comes a simpler system that strips away much of the non-local search functionality that previously existed. Learn more about the update and decide whether you think this is a good move for Bing.

2. 10 Inbound Discoveries That Will Disrupt Marketing Forever - HubSpot

HubSpot’s 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report has been released, and they’ve distilled the findings down to the 10 biggest discoveries. More than 3,000 marketing professionals from all over the world participated by sharing their thoughts on everything from strategy and organizational alignment to channel and budget management.

3. How to Build an Online Community for Your Business - SEOmoz

Building a better online community around your business has a number of advantages. This author urges you to focus on the hard work of attracting the right kind of customers to your community rather than chasing the latest algorithm updates.

4. Top Google Website Optimization Resources - Search Engine Watch

All of the best tips, guides, tutorials, and resources that Google has offered on SEO are all here in one place. You can find everything from beginners guides to some advanced programming concepts that will help you become an optimization expert.

5. How Dynamic Search Ads Can Take Over Your AdWords Account With Devastating Effects - Search Engine Journal

Dynamic search ads became a hot topic when they were recently added to all AdWords accounts. Advertisers expecting to increase profits simply by using DSAs on standard settings should think again. Here are some tips to make the most of your dynamic ads.

5 for Fridays — Links, Stories, & Posts for Your Weekend is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

1. Back to Basics: Meta Descriptions 101 - Search Engine Journal
If you haven’t looked at your meta descriptions in over a year or 6 months, it may be time to refresh your meta data. Meta descriptions are the ones that will show up in search results, so they should sound coherent to humans. Read this refresher on meta tags.

2. Thinking about adding 10,000 pages to your site at once? Take caution. - Search Engine Land
If you are adding a large number of pages to your site, it is better to do so in stages according to Google’s Matt Cutts. Adding them in batches may be better. Releasing thousands of pages at once may cause Google to manually review your site for any suspicious behavior.

3. Want to learn how to segment out your image search in Google Analytics? - Blind Five Year Old

Google image search, universal image search, Bing image search. How do you keep them all separate? AJ Kohn from Blind Five Year Old walks you through the process of setting up filters for image searches in Google Analytics. Read and implement.

4. Foursquare emphasizes its local search in its latest app update.  - Search Engine Land

Attempting to take on Facebook and Yelp, the social check-in company rolls out its 6.0 update for its app. With local search as the primary focus of the new update, Foursquare users will see nearby recommendations and discovery features. Check it out.

5. Are Facebook fans really worth it?  - Mashable

According to a Syncapse report, a Facebook fan is valued at $174. The study takes a look at Facebook fans versus non-fans and analyzes their spending behavior along with their brand loyalty and several other factors. Would you agree with their estimation?

5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence

SEO mistakes fall into a few distinct categories: fishing for links, diluting personality, and failing to strategize.

Link Cheats

Creating a network relies on links to and from other reputable sources. Search engines analyze these links and count them as endorsements, so the more connected you are to other sites, the better you’ll be viewed by the all-powerful algorithms that control search results. The extension of this idea has led to link exchanges, article submissions, and pointless press releases—all of which are outlays of time and energy that don’t recoup their investment at all.

Instead of trying to find back ways into getting links, you’ll see the best results by actually building the connections that earn links. Link to resources your clientele and readers will find useful, and you’ll soon find others linking to you. Writing guests posts for industry bloggers will enhance their sites and earn you credibility at the same time. There are excellent tips on building links and networks out there: start with this post to understand how it works.

Individuality Flubs

Okay, you think, I need to write more content and be more connected. That’s an admirable goal, but there are a few pitfalls along the way that won’t help your SEO rankings. The tendency can be to write the same description, review, or promo in just slightly different wording—it’s quick, easy, and fills the spaces that search engines analyze.

But your content can’t just exist for its own sake—in order to work for you it must be relevant, interesting, and well written. Make sure you have a quality writer who knows how to build an audience and engage readers in discourse. And be careful not to automate too much of your social interaction. Clients can tell when they’re receiving a rote reply. Instead, highlight your businesses personality through both your content and social networking, to stand out to both customers and search engines.

Strategy Omissions

When you’re trying to “do all the right things” for SEO, you can miss the forest for the trees. SEO won’t get you anywhere unless you have an achievable goal, with a strategy that can be measured and reevaluated. Discovering your rankings does you no good unless you adapt your marketing plan and correlate your analytics to your aims.

There are plenty of good SEO tactics and SEO basics a site owner should know, but they all boil down to putting the effort into a well-designed, interactive, quality experience for both the users and the search engines. Don’t be trapped by outdated methods of bumping you to the top of the list; instead, focus on genuine content that reflects your brand and your goals.

Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide.

Outdated SEO: A Resource Drain Without Returns is a post from: Website Promotion Company: Search Influence