For the past year Google has been pushing through “Panda” updates to their ranking algorithm in order to clean up their search results and “provide a better user experience”.
The first “Panda” went after low value or “thin” content such as sites like eHow.com and livestrong.com that were continually clogging up search results with low value pages designed to simply sell advertising to those who clicked through in the hopes of getting valuable insights.
Here’s a good infographic that is fairly up to date:
Thanks for the Graphic SearchEngineLand
The most recent, but likely not the last Panda update was pushed thru on April 19th, 2012 and waddling in, hot on its heels was their newest update the Penguin
Enter the Penguin
While the rumors are still flying, it appears that the main focus of the Penguin update appears to have been to penalize sites who have been ”over optimizing” in Google’s eyes as well as sites that contain, within the site itself, duplicate content.
If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.
Detailed Analysis of Penguin’s Over Optimization Penalty
Over the coming months, three things will undoubtedly be true.
We will all learn more insights into what makes Penguin tick
Google will roll-out additional versions of Penguin
FetchLocalCustomers will be on the case and making sure our clients not only survive, but thrive in the new reality!
Things are really heating up! Now, more than ever you need to have a professional on-board to make sure that your online empire doesn’t run aground! Isn’t it time you had a professional navigator on board? Call or email to learn what we can do to bring you those new customers you want and deserve! 888-505-6162
So I got this phone call the other day from a delightful woman from the southern part of the United States. Throughout the course of
Read On to Learn How!
our discussion she said something that I have heard on more than one occasion and it prompted me to write this post.
“So I have been doing some work on my site to get it to rank higher and I thought I was doing a great job because I was ranking at the top of the search results for almost everything.”
“But… (there is always a but)
then I was over at my sister’s house and I wanted to show her how well my site was doing and it was nowhere to be found”
“Do you know what happened?”
Well, I went on to explain how she has been misled by Google’s well intentioned “personalized” or “customized” search results. You see, unless you are VERY CAREFUL the results you see in your results pages are likely to be different than what everbody else sees. The reason is that Google is trying to show you what it believes you want to see, or perhaps more accurately, they are trying to show you what they believe you will find most useful. Sounds good, right?
The Danger of Customized Results for the Business Owner
Here’s the hitch for you as a business owner who is trying to assess and improve your sites commercial effectiveness. It is more than likely that the results you see when you “Google” things about your business are better than what they actually are! This is especially likely if you have not purposefully told Google NOT to personalize your results. Go here: Personalized Results in Google to learn how to do this.
Think about it…
Google wants to show you results that they think are important to you. You think your website is important (and you visit it allthe time) therefore, your website ranks highly when you are using your own computer or when you are logged in to any Google property (Gmail, for example) no matter what computer you are using.
Makes it pretty difficult to know if you are seeing “real” results or whether you are seeing what Google THINKS you want to see, Eh?
The Quick Way to Get Pure Results
So, while you probably want to get rid of personalized results anyways because they’re just creepy, if you ever want to check to see what the real, pure, unadulterated search results are for any given term, all you need to do is this.
Conduct a Google Search Query
At the top of the page you will see a long gobbledygook URL similar to this…
Now, refresh that search, but first append that long url with the “phrase” &pws=0
So that it now looks like this: https://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=gutter+cleaning+ames+&pws=0
The results you now see are the real deal!
Managing your business is hard enough without having to worry and consume your precious time and energy trying to figure out all of Google’s games, right? That’s where FetchLocalCustomerscan help. We take care of everything you need to create a complete online marketing system from research, to site construction to content generation to the ongoing authority building it takes for you to WIN in the world of Search Marketing!
Give us a call at 888.505.6162 and let’s discuss your situation. If we can help, great! If not, we’ll point you in the right direction to get you the results you need!
Our friends at Google are constantly making improvements and changes to how we interact with them. Sometimes it’s in the way we interface with their search page, for example; Google Instant. Other times it is how their search engine results are displayed, for example; Local Results.
Some of these changes make big news while others kind of fly under the radar. Google Previews is one of the latter. And, as more Google users learn of it Google Previews is going to begin to increase the click-thrus to some websites while simultaneously driving visitors and click-thrus away from others.
Here is How it Works
I’ve placed a screen shot of a typical Local SERP below. I’ve added the red arrow to show you the preview icon. Unless you click on the maginfying glass icon, nothing special happens. But once you do, everytime your cursor hovers over a SERP you are automatically shown the page that you will land on if you actually click.
Google Preview Raises the Bar for Local Business Sites
Let’s Look At Some Examples
Example #1: While hardly crystal clear, this preview does show exactly what the searcher can expect to find without ever leaving the SERP, thus speeding up selection. In the case of the screen capture below the user can clearly see that this company is providing a $50 service call coupon and that they now have Saturday hours.
A Clean Site Design Helps Ensure that You Get the Click!
Chances are that based upon the fact that this site is in #3 position, has fairly clear messaging and is offering a $50 service special that a fairly large percentage of visitors will click through.
Example #2
This listing highlights the most troubling problem facing many small business owners. They either don’t have a site, or their site ranks so poorly that they turn to third-party listing services such as DEX. Look at the preview below and tell me if you or anyone else would ever be compelled to click through!
Would You Click on This? No Useful Info Here!
Example #3: While better than the DEX example, this site fails big time in terms of grabbing ones attention and making a clear call to action.
No Clear Message or Call to Action Reduces Clicks
Important Take Away for Your Local Business Marketing Investment
As we have been shouting from the hill-top for a long while… Having a website is simply not good enough anymore! As user awareness of Google Previews takes hold your site is going to have to be more and do more. In fact, you don’t need a website!
Must appear on Page 1 of the major search engines for your most important buying phrases.
Has a clear compelling message and call to action
Must be mobile friendly
Provides multiple means of engagement.
Ready to unleash the power of online marketing and advertising for your local business? FetchLocalCustomers provide the cost effective “gold standard” that virtually every business can afford. Call 888-505-6162 to speak with one of our consultants.
In yet another overt, yet not publicly-acknowledged indicator that Facebook is making Google really nervous “Big G” unveiled their version of a “Like” Button last week.
Called “Plus One” by Google this feature is slowly being rolled out (hasn’t hit my corner of the Google Dynasty yet) and is Google’s attempt to try to harness the credibility of “peer” reviewing into their search and adwords results.
As reported in an article on Adage…“When someone recommends something, that’s a pretty good indicator of quality,” said Matt Cutts, Google’s principle engineer for search. “We are strongly looking at using this in our rankings.”
More Clutter or a Valuable Addition to Search Functionality?
How Plus-One Works
The Plus-One system relies upon the searcher having a Google profile created. Right off the bat, this will limit the use of Plus-One since most people I know (and these tend to be pretty tech and web savvy folks) don’t have a Google profile and likely won’t see the need to create one just so they can “vote” on search results.
Some Reasons Why Plus-One Won’t
Requires a Google Profile Creation
Who really wants to “like” their search results? If I’m looking for information on “Windmills”, “skin cancer”, “bottle-nose dolphins” etc. do I really want my friends, family and the world to know that? Sure, there are different privacy-levels but if everyone is “private” then what good is the social aspect of this tool?
This will clutter Google’s search results even further, making them less useful. What makes Google the de-facto choice for people who are looking for answers is the simple, clean interface. If I what a bunch of crap and clutter I’ll go to BING
Too easy to game the system. Whether Google is dumb enough to give any weight to the Plus-One button in their algorithm remains to be seen but just the fact that my search results will soon be cluttered with “likes” that can be outsourced for a couple a cents per vote or worse yet created by robots (I have on good authority that one of the most infamous black-hatters out there is already building such a machine) is going to lessen Google’s search credibility.
Time drain. Unlike Facebook where people “hang out”, Google’s search results are all about speed, efficiency and effectiveness. Who are these people who will take the time to vote on a search results and do I really want THEIR opinion??
What This Means for Your Local Business
Clearly having “likes” next to your organic listings can only help you stand out from the crowd and might help with click-thrus… but of course you have to be on Page 1 for it to matter at all! So, stay the course and do not lose site (pun intended) of your top priorities:
High Quality, Relevant, Useful Content
High Placement in the Search Engine Results
Clear, Focused Call to Action
Ready to finally get the professional help you need to take your business to the next level? Please give us a call at 888-505-6162 and let’s have a chat. The call won’t cost you a dime and the relationship we begin will deliver new customers, new profits and peace of mind for years to come!
Jan 2011 Search Rankings - Image Courtesy of MarketingCharts.com
The good folks at comScore recently released their December 2010 through January 2011 qSearch data that tracks search volumes among the users of the world and how those searches were served.
Overall, search volumes increased by 3% during this one month period demonstrating once again the undeniable power and reach of search engine usage.
Here is something I found particularly interesting though. BING showed the greatest percentage increase in core search volume, rising nearly 13%!
I’m not sure what is driving this growth. If I were forced to speculate I would have to say it is at least partially being driven by all those holiday computer purchases that come with BING set as their default browser. I personally can’t imagine willingly using BING! The interface is unwieldy, it takes forever to load and the search results it returns are irrelevant and of a low quality (despite Microsoft’s clever TV advertising campaigns that suggest just the opposite.)
I guess we’ll have to see if BING can maintain this growth going forward. As it is , the FetchLocalCustomers process ensures good rankings across all the major search engines, BING, Yahoo, and of course Google.
Google Remains Top Dog For Your Local Business
BING’s outsized growth in January did little to change the overall balance of power among the search engines.
Here’s how the overall “explicit” search share looks today according to comScore:
Google = 65.6%
Yahoo = 16.1
BING = 13.1
The search engine landscape is gradually changing. 2 years ago BING had just 8.5% of the search share while Yahoo had 21% of the search share. Since that time it’s pretty clear that BING has been gaining share as Yahoo loses share. The one constant is that Google always seems to hold around 66%.
What This Means to Your Local Business
Google remains the place to focus your efforts. While our comprehensive approach leads to top placement and conversions from all the search engines if you can only focus your efforts on place, that place remains Google.
If time, money and focus are all running short for you then focus on improving your presence in the Big 3 local directories. If that is the case our premium directory service is just what you need.
According to data released by American Express recently the US economy continues to show positive signs in the
Luxury Spending Means Increased Profits for Many Local Businesses
strengthening department. Here are 3 interesting trends that are sure to be impacting you and your local business either directly or indirectly over the next 3 -12 months.
Local Spending Trend #1 – Luxury Spending Taking Off
Looking at 2010, American Express data shows that spending patterns retail luxury categories, including apparel and accessories, jewelry and department stores grew in Q3, but the modesty of those increases may indicate that consumers were holding back in advance of holiday shopping sprees. Only makes sense right… and still there was an increase. That my friends is a positive sign and indicates that any local business that serves these categories and allied categories would do well to make sure that their web and mobile presence is all that it can be in order to capture this money flow.
Local Spending Trend #2 – Personal Spending Set To Rise in 2011
As reported by MarketingCharts “More than half of adults are planning to spend more (14%) or the same (40%) in 2011 than they did last year, with the majority of that spending focused on themselves, according to results from the January 2011 American Express Spending & Saving Tracker.”
Where will this money be spent? According to survey participants the following categories are some of the top sectors to benefit from this trend:
grooming (73%)
health/fitness (70%)
clothing for themselves (61%).
video game systems and games (34%)
jewelry (34%)
portable media players (32%)
tablet computers or e-book readers (30%).
Local Spending Trend #3 – Home Furnishings and “Nesting” on the Rise
It’s been forecast and now the data is beginning to support the predicted trend. Rather than “trading up” Americans are once again beginning to invest in making their current homes nicer and more attractive. Look for increased spending in the remodeling sector including exterior projects that add to curb appeal.
In Miami, for example, young adult affluents took to nesting in a big way as their spend on housewares and furniture increased by a startling 54%. Source: American Express Insights
Here are some other data points from the American Express data that points to 2011 being a very good year for those businesses that recognize this nesting trend and hop on board with their positioning and marketing:
In Q3 2010 overall consumer spending increased 12% on furniture and home furnishings when compared to the same quarter in 2009
Overall spending on furniture and home furnishings has increased for the past six straight months and most notably, 28% in July 2010. That’s right 28%
Total Q3 2010 furniture and home furnishings spending by both consumers and businesses increased by 13%, while transaction volume increased by 10%.
Consumers aged 26-45 were responsible for 46% of total spending in this category in Q3 2010.
I think that last bullet point is well worth noting because that age group also represents the HEAVIEST MOBILE AND INTERNET USERS!!
Local Businesses Shy Away from Investing Time and Money in Traditional Media
The results of the 2010 advertising year are starting to trickle in and overall the results are very encouraging. Not only did the big national brands increase their advertising spend, but local businesses did as well. This is a very positive sign for the country and economy since increased advertising spend has always been a sign of economic growth and optimism.
Where Did Local Businesses Spending Advertising Money in 2010?
According to a Kantar Media study almost every advertising category experienced positive growth, posting on average a 6.4% increase.
But what about at the local level you ask? Here is where things get interesting….
Local Newspaper Advertising DOWN 4.4% vs 2009
Local Magazine Advertisnig DOWN 1.8% vs 2009
Local Radio Advertising UP 3.8% vs 2009
Internet Display Advertising UP 7.7% vs 2009
And here is something to keep in mind when looking at the figures above. Traditional media spending was down BIG TIME in 2009!
In fact, according to a previous report by Kantar Media total advertising expenditures fell 12.3% in 2009 vs. 2008. So the changes in advertising spend for newspapers, magazines and radio shown above are all being compared against already depressed 2009 levels.
However, internet display advertising in 2009 was up 7.3%! So the 7.7% increase in 2010 represents a 15% increase in just the past 2 years! (Just as an aside… mobile advertising grew a whopping 138% vs. 2009 according to media analysts IDC)
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google is a pretty bright guy that is surrounded by lot’s of really smart guys and gals… heck, even the water coolers at Google are probably smart.
So when Mr. Schmidt says something… I listen. You probably should too. Here’s what he said recently at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Smartphone usage is growing by over 3o% per year
In 3 years or less smartphone sales will eclipse PC sales
Mobile web adoption is proceeding at a rate 8 times faster than the equivalent point 10 years ago for the desktop PC
1/2 of all internet connections sprouting up around the World are from mobile devices
The number of mobile searches on Google already eclipses the number of desktop searches in developing countries like Indonesia and South Africa.
If you are looking for the easiest way to get smart on mobile you should go download that local mobile report, curl up with it and then take action tomorrow!
The Urbanization Trend is Affecting Chicago and Other Metro Hubs
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift
is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. Urbanization is also defined by the United Nations as movement of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration. –Source: Wikipedia
Are you familiar with the trend towards urbanization? Well if not, here is your chance to get familiar with it quickly!
Simply put, people (read YOUR CUSTOMERS) are slowly migrating from the suburbs to the major metropolitan areas, reversing a decades old post WWII flight to the suburbs. This is happening in Chicago, New York, Paris, Cairo… virtually everywhere across the globe.
“Today, half the world’s population – 3 billion people – lives in urban areas. Close to 180,000 people move into cities daily, adding roughly 60 million new urban dwellers each year.” (Source: Intuit, October 2010, emphasis added by Scott)
What Urbanization Means To Your Local Business Marketing
First, there is no reason to panic since the urbanization trend is a slow steady trickle vs. a flood. However, as a local business it makes sense to plan your online marketing to capitalize on this migration. You see, the folks who are moving to the city represent a more affluent, refined, daring, take action segment of consumers. These folks are looking for new experiences, expect a better experience and in general are at the cutting edge of consumerism.
So, for example, you are a high-end purveyor of services but you are located in the burbs you need to make sure that your online marketing system and online gravity are focused not only on your own hyper-local community but on the large urban area that you likely have been ignoring.
Services for the Home – Services for the Person
Interior design? Window treatments? Painting? Remodeling? Dentistry? Medi-Spa? Virtually any and all services that surround the person and their home can take advantage of the urbanization trend.
Go From Trend Spotter to Trend Setter
What’s your business? What’s hot in it? With the power of FetchLocalCustomers on your side you can become the market leader, letting us do all the heavy lifting! Call us today 888.505.6162 and let’s talk about how y0u can become the master of the urbanization trend!
2010 Cyber Weekend Results are Impressive. Chart Courtesy of MarketingCharts.com
Kathy chronicled her mobile augmented Black Friday exploits last week; snapping up deals, sipping free latte’s and making purchases! It would seem that she was not alone in her record setting shopping exploits as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping results show. Here’s the recap:
Cyber Monday (Nov. 29, 2010) reached $1.028 billion in online spending, up 16% from one year ago. Of perhaps greater significance to those tracking the score (comScore.com) was the fact that this year was the first year ever when online spending crested the billion dollar mark. Clearly an impressive showing.
Black Friday’s performance proved that the online shopper on this traditional ”in-store” shopping day was no slouch either.
Black Friday (November 26, 2010) posted an impressive $648 million in online sales. This was a strong, 9% increase over 2009 and placed Black Friday 2010 firmly in second place as the heaviest online shopping day of 2010.
Eager Shoppers Leverage Online to Snatch Deals Early
A strong shift to Thanksgiving Day purchasing was also evident this year. Typically, Thanksgiving Day is not all that strong in terms of holiday spending but this year eager shoppers snatched up 28% more goodies on Thanksgiving as compared to 2009, growing from $318 million to $407 million.
What This Means to Your Local Business
Clearly, the trend to making purchases online continues to strengthen. As a local business you need to make sure that your new potential customers can find you online and transact with you easily online (this can be as simple as a CLEAR call to action on your homepage). Start leveraging mobile as well. Your customers are using their phones to make local off-line purchasing decisions more than ever.
Do you have a complete online marketing system or a website? Learn what the difference is here – Complete Marketing System
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