Bellingham, WA graphic design and marketing - Fidalgo Designs

New Name and Enhanced Services

Amy Vergillo — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:22:04 +0000

I have to admit, I’ve been doing more gardening than blogging lately, but I wanted to update everyone on a recent change with Google’s Local Business Center.

In April, Google’s Local Business Center became “Google Places.” According to Google’s blog, “Google Places will continue to offer the same tools, but the new name will simplify the connection with Place Pages.”
They also introduced a few new features, too. Tags are now available for most cities, which allows you to enhance your business listing for a small fee. Business photo shoots and QR codes (those funny looking square bar codes) are two other new features they have rolled out. All of these extra services were created to try and help local businesses get better results. So, if you haven’t claimed your business on Google’s Local Business Center (aka Google Places), now is the time to do it. Google is committed to enhancing and expanding these services to meet the changing needs of small and medium sized businesses.

Advertising in the Yellows…

Amy Vergillo — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:57:23 +0000

I think most people agree that phone book advertising is very expensive and the paper phone book is on it’s way out. Check out this great YouTube video illustrating an informal poll about paper phone books. Even though the directories now have an online presence, reports still suggest that it’s still not always a good idea to advertise with them. Most of the directories will list your business for free, but any additional advertising is going to cost you a nice chunk of change.

There are quite a few online directories: Yellowpages, Yellowbook, AT&T, eDirectory.com, and more. To advertise in all of these directories would probably exceed the average advertising budget for a small or medium sized business. So, how do you know which ones to advertise with (if any)?

Based on Nielsen’s findings, the most popular directory is the Yellowpages, but it is still far behind the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. If you look at the results of a recent study from BIA/Kelsey (see below), even when all internet yellow page companies are grouped together, only 48% of internet users rely on them when researching local products and services.

There is no simple answer. Just like everything else, you need to do your homework and conduct a little research. When you search Google for the keywords in your industry, are there any directories that appear near the top of your search? There may be general yellow page directories, and there may be industry specific directories, as well. How much does it cost to be listed with the directory, and does it make sense to pour any additional money into advertising with them? You can still have a strong online presence by listing with free directories and without spending extra advertising dollars.

Even though consumers are trending towards Google searches, some believe that a yellow pages ad should still be part of your overall marketing strategy. If you are convinced that you you need an ad, there are some helpful tips on creating one in the Yellow Page Secrets Revealed.

Things definitely are changing…your advertising choices really depend on your business and your market. There is no easy marketing solution that fits everyone, so do your homework before you agree to that “special offer” from the yellow page sales representative. You may find that you really don’t need that full page color ad.

Free Online Business Registries

Amy Vergillo — Sun, 02 May 2010 21:29:50 +0000

The more inbound links you have to your website, the better chance you will have to increase your Google ranking and appear in Google’s Local Business Center. There are many websites that will provide you with a business listing for free and all it takes is some time to enter your business information on their website. Many of the search engines (like Google) periodically review these websites and when your business appears on them, you’ve just scored some big points with the search engine gods. I’ve provided a list of websites below that any business owner should check out. Even if your business is already listed on some of these sites, you’ll want to confirm that all of the information is correct and add as much information as possible. The more information you can provide, the better!

http://national.citysearch.com/listings

http://www.insiderpages.com/

http://www.yelp.com

http://local.yahoo.com/

http://www.merchantcircle.com/

http://www.hotfrog.com/

http://www.getfave.com/

http://www.bizhwy.com/

http://www.twellow.com/

http://www.superpages.com/

http://www.localeze.com/index.asp

http://www.yellowbot.com

http://www.yellowpages.com

http://leads.infousa.com/landing/Updatelisting.aspx

The First (and Necessary) Step for Local Businesses

Amy Vergillo — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:41:50 +0000

The first step in making sure your business is represented correctly in the map section of a search for local businesses is to add your business – or if you already see it listed as a result of a search, you can ”claim” it. It’s all very simple – and free! You’ll need a Google account to access the Local Business Center. If you don’t have one, you can sign up for one here. The Local Business Center has a quick video that explains many special features the Local Business Center has to offer, and Google Maps provides some excellent information here. I’ve also listed some simple steps to get you started:

Go to the Google Local Business Center
Click on “Add a new business”
Fill out all as much information as possible (categories, payment options, business hours, service areas, etc)
Choose to receive a verification PIN number by phone or postcard
Enter your verification PIN number
You’re done!

Some experts believe that your ranking on Google improves if you have all of the information filled out on your Local Business Center Listing, so enter as much information as you can. You can upload photos, videos, and coupons, too. The Local Business Center has some nifty reporting and statistics about your listing, so you’ll want to check your dashboard periodically to see the results.

Similarly, Yahoo! and Bing have jumped on the bandwagon for local listings, also. You can check them out, too. Even though Google is the most popular search engine, it helps to register with as many business listings as you can. In my next post, I’ll give you a laundry list of other places on the internet you can list your business with – all for free. The more reputable places you list your business with, the better chance you’ll end up as the first listing on Google!

Google’s Seven Pack

Amy Vergillo — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:08:45 +0000

If you’re talking about Google’s Local Business Listing, most people don’t have a clue as to what you are talking about. If you are talking about the local maps that pop up during a search for businesses in your area, everyone seems to recognize that. Well, they are actually the same thing, and business owners are eager to get their business listed in the top 7 places that pop up on the map (frequently called the “7 pack”).

While there are things you can do to increase your chances of becoming one of the “7 pack,” Google has made it very clear that they don’t accept payment to include your listing in the search results. Unlike AdWords campaigns, the Local Business Center is a free service. There’s no way to request or pay for a better ranking from Google. They don’t provide any details about the ranking algorithm and do their best keep the details confidential to make it as fair as possible. So, in the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing what you can do to increase your ranking…or at lease what the “experts” think will help you become part of the beloved seven. After all, the algorithm is confidential.

New Google Ads for Local Businesses

Amy Vergillo — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:28:12 +0000

Google is testing a new local ad feature in San Jose and Houston. The feature appears in the map section of a local search and is meant to enhance the listing’s presence. Google comes right out and states that “The enhancements do not affect the ranking” of your Local Business Center listing in Google, but they are meant to catch the searcher’s attention. The enhanced ads allow businesses to include a link to photos, videos, coupons, directions, a menu or reservations signups for a flat fee of $25/ per month. They do not have a timeline as to when they will roll out this feature to other cities, but you can fill out a form to be notified when it is available in your area. Below is an example from Google’s Lat Long Blog illustrating the enhanced feature shown for North Valley Optometry:

Power to the People (and Social Media)

Amy Vergillo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:09:07 +0000

A few years ago, musician Jill Sobule made her seventh studio album, but instead doing it through another record label (her last two labels went out of business), she decided to raise the money herself by seeking funding through donations. She set up a website and gave out prizes for donations of certain amounts. She even gave people the chance to sing on her CD. She was able to raise over $75,000 and record her album the way she wanted to. With donations as little as $10.00, you could become part owner/producer of her album.

We recently saw how fast $10.00 text donations for Haiti can add up, too. It’s amazing what happens when people pull together and donate small amounts of money. Even when times are tough, people feel like they can afford $10.00 and it makes them feel good that they can help others. With the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, it’s become even easier to ask for small donations. Social media is a powerful tool. I admire people who use it wisely.

A Successful Blog

Amy Vergillo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:58:04 +0000

Since this is Fidalgo Design’s first blog entry, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about blogs. So many companies start a blog because they think it will automatically increase their SEO, boost their social media campaign, or magically bring them customers. Surprisingly, it can actually hurt a company if they don’t have a concrete plan in place for their blog. In fact, some research shows that 90% of small business blogs actually fail. There are many reasons why they fail. One key reason is that people simply burn out and have a hard time thinking of topics to write. So, I’ve provided some ideas to keep your ideas flowing:

Sign up for news feeds about subjects relating to your business. You can give your opinion about an online article, highlight it in a post, or write about something similar
Ask other people at your company or organization for help. Weather it’s having a brain storming session about topics with some of your coworkers, or formally appointing them to write an entire post, having a support team can spice things up and get your creative juices flowing, too.
Plan ahead. What ever your style is – jotting down ideas on your laptop, creating a thoughtfully planned out schedule on a spreadsheet, sharing a list of ideas with a coworker, or keeping a scratch pad by your bedside – you need to capture ideas in advance. Then you won’t dread thinking of something new every time you sit down to post.
Visit other blogs and social networks. Look at what other people are writing about. Can you write about something similar? Can you explain it better than they did?
There’s something to be said about short and sweet. Don’t feel like every post has to be a lengthy article. Sometimes breaking up a topic into a series of individual posts is easier for you…and the reader!
Think of some frequently asked questions about your business. Blogs are perfect places to answer those questions so you can stop sounding like a broken record every time you talk to a new customer.
Ask your customers what they want to hear about. Sometimes your readers provide the best content and ideas.

So, you tell me…is there anything specific you want to hear about? Do you have other ways to keep your blog ideas flowing?