Local businesses are getting unsolicited sales calls from a company saying they’re from Amazon Alexa. The local business apparently can purchase a listing on Amazon Alexa for a one-time fee of $69 plus a monthly maintenance fee of only $19 per month. I’ve spoken with at least four separate businesses across the United States, from South Florida to Texas to Indiana to South Carolina. They all say they’ve been called by someone saying they’re from Amazon Alexa, selling a similar listing service. [Read more…]

I manage several Google My Business accounts for my clients. Google My Business provides data about how many visits the business has received, as well as how many people have seen the local business listing. This data is available for verified businesses when they log into their Google My Business account. The Insights data is delayed by a few days, but is available in a weekly, monthly, and quarterly view, both on the Google My Business app and through a web browser. Recently, however, Google has begun sending businesses an email with some data about the number of clicks that they’ve been receiving on their listing, especially on the posts they’ve been making. [Read more…]

There is a bug in Google My Business website URLs that causes a 404 error on most websites. Users who use the Google Maps app to click through to a local business’ website address with certain tracking parameters will encounter a 404 error. Depending on how the 404 error is configured on the local business website, it may cause the user to simply search for another business. For a local business, 404 errors can be a nightmare and cause them to lose valuable leads and sales. [Read more…]

Recently, I made the decision to completely remove my company’s Google My Business listing. There are several reasons why I chose to not have my company’s website listed in Google Maps any longer. But what’s more interesting to me is the fact that the website has seen no ill effects by doing it. In fact, I’m seeing a lift in traffic to the site, as well as better search engine rankings overall (for the keywords I’ve been tracking). [Read more…]

Back in March 2019 (just last month), Yelp announced a new initiative called Verified Licenses, which is supposed to bring peace of mind to booking a professional that’s listed on Yelp.com. I did some checking of my own on a few local businesses. I found that despite Yelp displaying a verification logo and link to license information, the actual license information of these businesses is bogus. In some cases, the license numbers aren’t even valid license numbers in the State where the business listed. [Read more…]

According to recent research, only about 1.4 percent of local businesses, with a verified Google My Business listing, respond to reviews left about their business. Even less liked a Google review but ultimately didn’t even respond to the review. This recent research shows the sad state of Google Review responses. Local businesses, even those who have claimed their Google My Business listings, don’t feel that it is important enough to respond to Google reviews. [Read more…]