Google Local listing and Google Maps link spam is still a big problem. As a Google Local Guide, I continue to see link spam attacks across entire cities and neighborhoods when I review Google local listings. In most of the cases, I see the same domain name being spammed over and over again, and in many cases the domains/sites that are linked don’t resolve. [Read more…]

Google My Business websites can easily overwrite local businesses’ website URLs in their Google local listing, the created Google My Business websites aren’t optimized using best practices, and Google Analytics code is inserted into the sites without giving access to the website owner.

Google My Business has recently launched a new website creation tool for local businesses. If you have a Google My Business listing for your business, and you log in to manage your listing, you may be presented with popups asking you to create a new website for free. Google will even host it for you. Not a bad deal, right? [Read more…]

Google has recently launched a new feature called Google Posts for local businesses. If you are a local business and have verified your business with Google My Business, you now have the option to post blog posts on your local business profile. This is really good for local business, as local businesses can update their listings with relevant information–and offer deals. But, I hate to say it, this new feature, Google Posts on Google My Business, is far from being ready for prime time. [Read more…]

If you are in the North Bay, Ontario Canada area, and are looking for a great place to eat breakfast, you might search Google to find a local restaurant. One of the search results is Terry’s Place, a local eatery. But, if you look at their Google My Business listing, as shown above, you’ll see that the top photo isn’t very pleasing. In fact, it’s quite possibly the worst photo that a restaurant could possibly have–EVER–in a Google My Business Listing. [Read more…]

 

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of the new augmented reality app called Pokémon Go. If you haven’t, then you’re probably living under a rock. Anyhow, if you truly haven’t heard about it, Pokémon Go is a new mobile phone app that’s taking the nation by storm. Once installed, it’s a game that combines the “real world”, and allows players to play a virtual scavenger hunt of sorts, trying to catch animated characters. These animated characters appear in real locations, such as in a park, inside your home, or even inside a local business. If you have a retail location, you can take advantage of the Pokémon Go phenomenon, and entice customers to visit your location. This will increase foot traffic and sales. [Read more…]

When it comes to marketing your business online, building trust is a big deal. It’s something that not only will help you get more customers, trust is extremely important because if you don’t have it–it could be devastating. You could lose traffic to your website and you could lose sales. It’s possible that you don’t even know that you’re losing out on potential sales. More importantly, the search engines use trust factors as a part of their algorithms to determine your website’s positioning in their search results. [Read more…]