2010 Retail Marketing Expo – Ride The Winning Wave

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 | Internet Marketing, Local Search, NetSearch Direct News, PPC Advertising, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Networking Sites | No Comments

On August 3rd, our team of SEO experts set up shop at the 2010 Retail Marketing Expo for the day to introduce our company and our unique concept to local businesses. The theme of the 2010 Retail Marketing Expo was “Ride the Winning Wave.” The day focused on finding opportunities to ride out the recession into the new waves of the future. A must-attend event for retail and business professionals for over six years, NetSearch Direct was proud to be part of the event.

At the Retail Marketing Expo, we talked to people about what NetSearch Direct does. Specializing in search engine optimization, we offer the following services to your business:

Pay-Per-Click
Local Paid Search
Local Business Directory
Call Tracking
Website Design/ Landing Page Design
Social Media / New Media
Custom Blog Setup
Blog Writing

To all the people we met over the course of the day, thank you for allowing us to introduce our team and our proven SEO program to you. Let’s talk again soon.

Ride the Winning Wave with NetSearch Direct

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How to Read Your Google Local Listing Report

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 | Internet Marketing, Local Search, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engines | No Comments

A listing on Google’s local business center provides much more than just a place to enter your company’s information; you just need to know where to look.

Have you viewed your local business center report lately? Do you know what it’s telling you? Below is a sample report, client information redacted, for the past 30 days. From this data you can gather which days were the best for triggering the client’s listing, and which days provided the most clicks.

Sample Google Local Business Center report

Using the date range filter at the top right-hand corner and working backwards in time, you just might be able to identify trends.  For example, Mondays are good for driving traffic, but Wednesdays provide the best click days. Or, generally you spot that the middle of the month seems great for “actions” which means that potential customers are trying to get as many details, driving directions, or visits to your website. You can use this data to tailor your advertising accordingly, and coordinate efforts with your sales team according to which days your customer base is the most active online.

Google’s Local Business Center report also goes on to tell you other exciting tidbits of performance information such as top search queries, and zip codes from IP addresses that searched for driving directions to your location.

Sample Google Local Business Center Report

Knowing this information affords business owners the opportunity to target advertising in extremely effective ways. To begin with, knowing the keywords that triggered your ad are imperative – if they keywords are off, you may need to re-categorize your listing or rewrite your description. The keywords should reflect any PPC or SEO advertising currently underway, and not distract from it. Knowing the zip codes that are searching for your business allows you to expand on advertising in a currently hot area, identify areas trending up, and save money from locations that may not be performing as well.

Your Google local listing report also provides a snapshot of the information that you have entered along the right-hand side of the reports page, and highlights areas where you can beef up details or add media for effect. If you’d like to read more on tricking out your Google local listing and making the most out of this extremely popular (and FREE!) product, read NetSearch Direct’s Top 5 Best Practice Tips.

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Tags: google local business center, google local business center report, google local listing, google local listing report, google maps report, local listings, local listings report, maps report

Local Business Show-Offs Prove Value in Maps Listings

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 | Internet Marketing, Local Search, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engines | No Comments

Google posted their top 13 favorite local business listing success stories recently. These lucky 13 were pulled from local business submissions across the nation, and selected for outstanding success brought to the business from being listed on Google’s Maps tool. Several businesses spoke of ringing phones and increased sales simply because customers could locate their listing easily.

Although business owners didn’t get too specific when it came to disclosing their winning formula, it goes to say that best practices were adhered to consistently among the top 13. If you aren’t seeing any traction from your local listing or  you’re wondering how to best work your local listing profile, here are NetSearch Direct’s top 5 picks:

1) Add Flair! Utilize the personalization that Google offers for your business listing. Got a logo? Add it. Have some pics of your location? Upload them to your listing too. Take advantage of this free way to set yourself apart from your competition.

2) It’s in the Details. The “Additional Details” portion of the local listing is a prime spot for the little extras that makes your business special. If you make appointments after normal business hours, are willing to travel, or have ample parking be suer to let potential customers know.

3) Maximize your Categories. If you can narrow your business into just one or two categories, by all means go ahead. But if you can step back and look at your business from a potential customer’s viewpoint, we encourage you to try out different category keywords and see what comes up. The more buckets your business can fit into, the more it will be served in searches.

4) Pay Attention. Make sure that you have your business name, street address, and other business information all spelled out with proper capitalization. Typos are no way to make that winning first impression. And with that first impression, paint as much of your business story as you can – list your hours of operation, website, contact email address, forms of payment, even languages spoken. The key is to pay attention to all of the fields that you can populate and be sure that this information is added typo-free.

5) VERIFY Your Listing! We have seen so many business owners forget to take this crucial last step in the listing process. Failure to verify your listing means that your listing will just sit in limbo and can’t be optimized or edited. Take the extra time to grab a verification call from Google or request a letter to be sent, and follow-up with that PIN number.

NetSearch Direct has been listing, managing, and optimizing listings for our clients for months now, and we have quite a few success stories of our own to share. Check out our blog soon for some of our own local business show-offs!

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Tags: google local business center, google local listings, local listing success, local maps success, optimize a local listing, optimize local maps listing

Yahoo Search Results Page tries on some Fancy Pants

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | Local Search, PPC Advertising, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engines | No Comments

Yesterday, I opened up the Yahoo Search Page and typed in “home siding Richmond” and was pleasantly surprised.   Yahoo has revamped their Search Results page and while it looks very similar to Bing’s and Google’s Results Page, ‘Imitation is the best form of flatter’ isn’t it?  Its much cleaner and the additional search results on the left side panel that includes top sites with news and info is pretty sweet.  The placement and new design of the sponsored search ads are much easier to read and they have increased their character limit..  Local search maps are also now more evident on search queries.  Yay Yahoo!  Shout out to my homie Dar,  Yahoo Rep from the West Coast…

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Tags: Yahoo, yahoo representative

The world can be yours: Monopoly on Google Maps

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 | Local Search | No Comments

Tomorrow is the start of the biggest Monopoly game ever!  Google and Hasbro has teamed up for a world-wide game on Google Maps.

http://monopolycitystreets.com/

Everyone starts with 3 million dollars which can be used to buy streets on Google Maps.  You can then build a quiet suburb or a bustling city with a football stadium, its regional hegemony at its finest!  Game On!

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FAQ PPC Questions :Why cant I find my Paid Search Ad on Google?

Friday, August 28th, 2009 | Local Search, PPC Advertising, Search Engines | No Comments

Both Business Owners and Account Managers, like myself, ask this question often.  Before panicking, wondering where all your marketing dollars are going, there are a few reasons why one can miss seeing their ad on search engines.  Here’s a list of a few common answers:

1.  You are searching too much.  Google, Yahoo and MSN log your IP address, which is like your computers ID, and stops showing paid search ads to you after so many searches.   If you search “cheesecake richmond” 10 times in a row and never click on any links, search engines will assume you are not a valid searchers or even a robot.  Why? Its to prevent click fraud and inconsistent search data.  Try using Google’s ad preview tool; https://adwords.google.com/select/AdTargetingPreviewTool.  It lets you see ads as customers would while not affecting your adwords data.

2.  Your Budget is set too low.  Sure, we are all trying to pinch pennies here and there and unfortunately marketing dollars are usually the first to go. If your budget is too low, your ads will show sparingly throughout the day.  Search engines will your ad once in every 10 searches by customers.  Not good, this means only 10% of your customers will actually see your ad.  Lets put it this way, its like if you were advertising in a magazine and 9 out of every 10 magazines had their pages ripped out with your ad on it. What can you do besides increasing your budget?  Lots of things, but thats why you hired us right?

3.  Your ad is not running or has a low quality score.  Quality score is a tricky secret formula probably locked up in Mr Crab’s safe next to the Crabby Patty recipe.  We do know that your text and display ads need to match your keyword relevancy and have a successful landing page.  If your ads aren’t running, give us a call (804.228.4422) and we can help you.

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Friends Don’t Let Friends Choose Bad SEM

Thursday, July 30th, 2009 | Internet Marketing, Local Search, PPC Advertising, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments

Just read a terrific article with MediaPost Publication which summarizes ten reasons clients don’t pick the right SEM company: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=101432

This article is about prevention. A warning to companies to choose and choose wisely, because in SEM mistakes are costly, and in today’s economy nobody has time or money for mistakes. To save you from reading the entire article (although it’s a worthy read for businesses) we’ll summarize a few key points:

1.Don’t fall for the magic act. We’re talking about the wining and dining and 1-2-3-Presto! presentations that don’t really say anything and make unreal promises. No company worth its salt should guarantee you immediate results, and those that do will either resort to industry-termed “black hat” tactics which can get your site barred from advertising on the most important search engines.

2. Ask for references, and then actually check up on them. If your advertising doesn’t have a clean Carfax-like report, don’t bother. Take the time to talk to provided references and get a feel for the SEM agency’s handle on their business, their vertical, and their long-term relationship together.

3. Rockbottom prices mean rockbottom results. Yes, the economic cash crunch is being felt by everyone, but when it comes to your business nothing can be more damage than an off-the-shelf, cheap solution that will have you shelling out big bucks to repair later. We don’t think you should get swindled, but the cheapest guy in town is cheap for a reason.

4. Spend some QT together. The SEM agency you hand your baby, erm, business over to should be one that you enjoy an open dialogue with, and someone who you can see yourself growing your business with for the next 3, 5, even 10 years. Your SEM agency is not a vendor, like the article points out; it’s a relationship, and is only as effective as the lines of communication.

At NetSearch we do our fair share  of repairing damaged goods.  As a business, it breaks our heart to patch up companies suffering in the aftermath of a poorly constructed search engine marketing effort. It’s also frustrating because, much like a healing heart after love relationship has ended, these business owners build walls around their company hearts and are afraid to reach out to try new things. We’ve been up against those companies who wine and dine their potential clients and promise them the moon – sometimes clients recognize the song and dance early but we’ve also lost a few good potentials to the magic act. It happens. We just don’t want it to happen to you.

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Tags: good sem agency, how to find a sem agency, NetSearch Direct, online advertising agency, richmond seo agency, sem agency

Resession Time Means Marketers Move More Dollars Online…

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Internet Marketing, Local Search, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments

Not surprisingly, the budgets of more than 54% of marketers worldwide have been negatively affected by the recession, according to data gathered from an eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit.  Most would guess that advertisers are spending less – way less in the case of newspapers, local radio and television.  Got that, but then where are they spending their precious ad dollars?  If you guessed “online”  you guessed correctly.

It’s a fact during tough times, more marketers are adopting search engine marketing techniques.   Over 90% of marketers polled by eMetrics said they would increase or maintain their spend on e-mail advertising, and more than 83% said the same about paid search. Advertisers also want to know what they are getting for their search engine marketing investment.  In fact, over 87% of those surveyed plan either increasing or at least maintaining their spending on web analytics. This all adds up to one thing…accountability.  In the advertising world it is all about return-on-investment, measurability and the ability to target – hallmarks of search engine marketing.

Lastly, it looks like this trend will continue.  A recent report by eMarketer.com states that search engine marketing (specifically paid search, contextual advertising, paid inclusion and search engine optimization) “will experience increased spending through 2013. By then total US search marketing outlays will reach nearly $23.4 billion, and marketers will be spending more on SEO than on contextual advertising.”

Isn’t it time that your moved more of your marketing dollars online?

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Local Search Is Growing

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 | Internet Marketing, Local Search, Search Engine Marketing | No Comments

Here at NetSearch Direct we have been working with local search for years. Just recently, JupiterResearch has come out with reports stating that local search advertising has become the leader in online marketing. Since we started with local search we have seen a large shift in advertising budgets, from traditional media to online media promotion. We have particularly seen this shift in budgets throughout our Internet marketing.

Our tools and resources are constantly advancing and giving us control over the market. Many of these benefits have been available to larger corporations for several years now. These same tools are now available to the small business owner, giving them much more effective use of their advertising dollar.

According to the US Online Local Advertising Forecast, 2007-2012, released by JupiterResearch, local advertising will increase by 13% from 2007 to 2012. In the recent article, Local Takes The Lead, Research Says, posted on Adotas.com, the huge impact that local search is going to have on online advertising, in the next few years, is highlighted. The biggest impact is anticipated to be made by local display and search advertising with compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 18% and 16% respectively, during the next five years.

To learn more about Internet marketing, please visit NetSearchDirect.com.

For more insight into the considerable expansion of local search read the complete article Local Takes The Lead, Research Says:
By Sarah Novotny, Sr. Editor
Adotas.com
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

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Tags: Adotas, Internet Marketing, Local Search, NetSearch Direct