Social Media Ann Arbor: Local Social Media

Social Media Ann Arbor: Going Local

    Social Media in Ann Arbor. It’s an interesting idea. In the infinite universe of the internet, how does a small, local, brick-and-mortar store succeed, or even get noticed? Many people think that social media for a local business is like being a needle in a haystack, or yelling in a crowd where everyone else has a megaphone. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

    So, exactly how does a local business survive in a massive community of bigger players?

Here’s the secret: It isn’t that hard!

    You would be amazed at how well small businesses do online. You may not get the same recognition as Coca-Cola or Ford, but you can absolutely get a good number of followers and gain popularity.

    As you may know, Google, Facebook, and all the other major search and social websites have gotten smarter over the years, and they know that people search for local businesses. So, when you search for something in Google, local results are often the first to show up, not just results that don’t apply to you. Facebook also suggests pages that might interest you, including local companies followed by your friends.

    Plenty of small businesses even forgo having a website, using only Facebook for their business. Facebook offers the customer similar information and gives more interactivity for your visitors. It’s also easier to update content for people who aren’t web savvy.

    A local restaurant doesn’t serve customers nationally, so it doesn’t need to speak to a national audience. A Thai restaurant in Ann Arbor doesn’t need to be found by people in Wyoming. All the major social networks and search engines know this, so someone in Ann Arbor searching for Thai restaurants will most likely find the social media profiles of local Thai restaurants in the search results.

    There are a few things you need to do in order to gain these positive results, such as categorizing your profiles correctly, linking to and from your website, verifying your local listings, and keyword optimizing everything, but the important thing to remember is this: Yes, your business can be noticed!

    If you have any questions or concerns about social media in Ann Arbor, web design, SEO, AdWords, or anything else involving your business’s online presence, give us a call! Our number is 877-815-6974, or contact us Here. Or, if you’re interested in learning how to do some of this web stuff yourself, we have a lot of great, free information and guidelines at SEOAnnArbor.com to help get you started.

Do You Know How to Succeed on Yelp? We Do!

Are you struggling to retain visibility on Yelp?


Do you log into Yelp on a regular basis?


Are you finding it a challenge to get reviews?


Do you communicate effectively with your clients?


Knowing the best search engine marketing practices when it comes to Yelp is always a good tactic so you can be one step ahead of your competition. Many people have heard of Yelp, but don’t know what it takes to succeed there. We have the inside scoop, so we’re going to tell you almost everything we know ... and more!

According to Yelp.com, there are numerous things you can do to succeed, they include:

•     Track how many people view your business page. You can use the info gathered here to inform your decisions on things like “When is the best day of the week to run a special?”
•     Add photos, a detailed business description, up-to-date information, history, and specialties.
•     Recommend other businesses.
•     Put a badge and link to your Yelp listing on your website.
•     Put a "Find us on Yelp" sign in your place of business, on the front counter or window.
•     Include a link to your Yelp business listing in your email signature with the words, "Check us out on Yelp!"
•     Allows you to communicate with your customers.
•     Respond to positive and negative reviews.

All these things have been tested and proven, so you know you’re getting the good stuff from experts who use Yelp firsthand. If you start using Yelp on a regular basis and still don’t see a lot of activity on your analytics page, you may need to consult with an SEO expert or online marketing expert.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time must I commit to my Yelp listing?


It depends on how much success you want! If you want to be successful, at least 1-2 hours weekly would be sufficient as a minimum.


Can I designate Yelp tasks to someone on my team?


Yes, you can designate Yelp tasks to someone on your team who is knowledgeable about your business. They will need to implement a description, history of the company, coupons, pictures, and more.


Is Yelp user-friendly?


Yes, Yelp is user-friendly. If you need help for any reason and can’t figure out the answer, Yelp has a business support section that answers common questions.


At SEO Ann Arbor, “We believe in helping people achieve their dream of a successful, growing business and an abundant life…starting today!” Feel free to give us a call to talk about what you’d like to achieve for your business. We’ll even take a quick look at your website and share our impressions without charging you anything. Even if you don't end up hiring us to do your search engine marketing for you, we like to think we can help educate and inform you. If your website is not on Page One of Google, contact us today!

We're an extension of your team. Please keep us in "the loop"!

Our Ideal Client Communication

“We believe in helping people achieve their dream of a successful, growing business and an abundant life…starting today!”  We do this by employing a vast number of internet marketing and SEO strategies and tactics. However, our work is not done in a vacuum! We need consistent communication and content from you to maximize your success. We encourage you to think of your SEO Specialist as an extension of your team. 

We design your SEO campaign to work best for your  particular customers, products, and services. Your expertise in your business and your knowledge of your customers’ needs is invaluable to us. 

Here are a few examples of the kinds of information you can help provide:

• Phone calls – who is calling or emailing you, and what are they asking for? – Let us know, early and often! 

• Upcoming sales and events:  If you have a big sale or open house planned – Let us know!

• Cancellations:  If an event or promotion is cancelled that we’ve advertised for you – Let us know! 

• Conferences and community service projects:  Your staff “Races for the Cure” or attends a special conference or training session – Let us know!

• New products or services:  You change your hours, launch a new product, recall a product, or find a new use for it – Let us know! 

• Awards and recognition:  If you or a staff person becomes a member of an organization, your business receives accolades, or the baseball team you sponsor wins a tournament – Yep, you guessed it! Let us know! 

• Industry news:  You recently read any interesting trade journals or blogs related to your business – Let us know!  [and please provide us with a link or copy of the article]

• Staff news:  You hire a new employee, an employee retires, or other notable events occur like marriages, certifications, graduations, babies, etc. – Let us know! Are you noticing a theme yet?

• Customer testimonials or reviews.  Stories about customers are worth their weight in gold.  Your staff went above and beyond to help a customer – Let us know! 

Are you wondering what a staff change or a community service event could have to do with your SEO campaign?  For getting the word about your business out there, ALL news is good news!  We can add your keywords into almost any content. Not only that, any “feel good” or personal news will tend to attract more human visitors via social media, especially if you provide us with photographs! 

Speaking of photographs, when you have an event, it’s really, really important to designate someone to take
photographs (with permission) of happy customers to post on social media and your website.  We’re serious! It would be wonderful if you would assign someone the task of taking photographs and ONLY taking photographs, to make sure photos don’t become an afterthought.  

The more you “Let us know,” sooner rather than later, the more successful your SEO campaigns will be!

SEO Ann Arbor Shares 9 Absolutely Essential Things You Should Do With a Negative Review!

Do you hesitate to ask your customers for reviews?
Are you worried that they might write something you don’t want to hear? 
Have you felt the sting of a harsh review of your business or product?
 
Studies show that approximately 61% of online purchases are a direct result of online reviews about that product or service. However, some people may still decide to buy your product, even if they read a negative review, because they know they can get a refund if they dislike the product. So, why not take a chance? 

Well, negative reviews can be a deal breaker for some people. That’s why it’s so important to monitor your reviews and respond as quickly as possible.  Some media platforms (such as Google+, Facebook, and Twitter) allow you to respond. This will show the reviewer and other customers that you’re responding and taking an interest in your customers. 

When you discover a negative review, you’ll most likely be upset, perhaps angry.  But here are some tips that may help you handle them:

• Don’t respond until after you’ve calmed down. 

• Apologize if the situation deserves a reasonable apology.

• Thank them for the review.

• Offer your thoughts as to why you believe the review is incorrect (if applicable.)

• Share what steps you’re taking to improve the situation.

• Offer a refund, discount or additional service to keep the reviewer as a customer

• Respond directly to the customer

• Never write a harmful or disrespectful message toward a customer.

• Keep your message as positive as possible.

It’s important to respond to every review, both positive and negative. Always engage the reviewer by asking more questions – if applicable – and make sure you share details about the product/service they mentioned.  When a customer is shopping, and sees a negative review about your product, he or she may still buy it if you handled the situation well. If your competition doesn’t monitor positive or negative reviews, your involvement with your own reviews will definitely give you an advantage!

If your company gets negative reviews and you’re unsure about how to handle them, contact SEO Ann Arbor today. We’re dedicated to helping our clients achieve their dream of a successful, growing business and abundant life … starting today! 

SEO Ann Arbor Shares Why Reviews are Important!

Would you purchase a product from an unknown website?

Would you see a doctor who has no referrals?

Most people would say, “No!”

Consumers are typically interested in products that they find convenient, likable, and affordable. In today’s world, people use the internet as a major resource for deciding whether to buy a product and/or service. Studies have shown that approximately 61% of online purchases are derived from online reviews about that product or service.

Reviews made on local listings (i.e. Google Local, SuperPages, Yahoo! Local), business websites, and consumer review sites (i.e. Yelp, Angie’s List) are often read and held in high regard. This is why it’s crucial to monitor the reviews your business receives.

Benefits of online reviews are endless, but include:

1.    Increased sales

2.    Improves page rank on search engines

3.    Creates customer loyalty

4.    Engages customers to think positive thoughts about your products and/or service

5.    Encourages more visitors to review your services

6.    Provides a positive image of the business

7.    Communicates with consumers to suggest that you will resolve problems

To ensure your business obtains good reviews on the internet, make the process as simple as possible. SEO Ann Arbor suggests the following tips for getting reviews.

•     Follow up after a sale, requesting a review by sending an email.
•     Add a link on your website that directs customers to a place to leave their review.
•     Ask in person immediately after you provide service.
•     Keep track of people who’ve already reviewed your services, so you can send them a follow up email, asking them to review you on other pages as well.  
•     Brag about positive reviews on social media and your website.
•     Thank and, if possible, reward customers who give reviews after the fact, so they’ll be more likely to leave another review.  

We would love to hear from you!  Please leave us a comment below or contact us if you have questions or comments.

http://seoannarbor.com/contact

Don't fall for this domain scam, warns SEO Ann Arbor!

Have you received a letter or an email telling you that your domain name registration is expiring soon?  Maybe the letter warns you that the loss of your online identity will make it difficult for your customer and friends to locate you on the Web!  Does it also encourage you to take advantage of savings if you “act now”? 

Does the letter come from a company that you don’t recognize? 

Don’t be fooled by a letter from Domain Registry of America!  It may look official, down to their use of the American flag, but chances are your domain registration is safe and secure. 

Domain Registry of America or DROA, based in Ontario, has been taking advantage of consumers for at least ten years.  Those that fall for the scam are typically either too busy to investigate, or unaware how their domain registration works.  DROA practices “domain slamming” or sending unsolicited mail out to any person, or company who has a website.  They send out hundreds of thousands of letters to trick consumers into paying them to register or transfer their domain to DROA when there’s no need to do so.  They also charge higher fees for registering and hosting websites than most companies.

Once you pay DROA they’ll send a transfer notice to the business that manages your domain.  Most reputable companies, such as our sister company, Network Services Group, LLC, will not transfer your domain until you give permission.  NSG will also immediately contact you to inform you of DROA’s less than ethical reputation. The problem is… once you realize you’ve been scammed, DROA has processed your payment, and they make it tough to get a refund.  Even worse, if your current host company does transfer your domain to DROA, it can be very difficult to regain control over your account if you realize you’ve paid too much or never intended to make the transfer.

DROA has recently been targeting non profit organizations such as churches.  They know that most non-profits rely on volunteers to manage their websites, and amateur webmasters are typically not well versed with the fine points of domain registration.  Unfortunately, there are no strict laws against this questionable tactic.  Since the company is based in Canada it makes it even more difficult to hold them accountable. 

There are other companies similar to DROA that try to confuse consumers.  So if you receive a letter from a company that you’ve never heard of before, read it carefully!  Check for the small print that states, “This is not a bill.”  Better yet, call us so we can help you figure out if it’s legitimate or not. 

At SEO Ann Arbor, “We believe in helping people achieve their dream of a successful, growing business and an abundant life…starting today!”  This includes educating our friends and clients to be aware of companies like DROA that try to take advantage of you. 

Please visit the links below to read more about DROA’s questionable business practices.    

http://rootwork.org/blog/2013/02/domain-registry-america-scam-dont-let-your-nonprofit-get-fooled

http://www.the-name-i-wanted-was-already-taken-so-i-used-a-lot-of-dashes.com/the-domain-registry-of-america-scam/

http://www.gn.apc.org/support/domain-registry-america-scam

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/01/06/court_bars_canadian_domain_slammer

GUARANTEED PLACEMENT ON GOOGLE

Why You Should Watch Out for Offers that Seem Too Good to be True!

We see this all the time - a customer gets an email or call from someone telling them that they searched Google and couldn't find their business.  They may even guarantee results or offer low fees to get you hundreds of links. 

So we get asked, how do we respond to that? Do we offer low fees for a guaranteed number of links? No. Do we guarantee our results? No. A far more important question is, why not?   

Let's start with the fact that you’re responding to an unsolicited email or call.  Who do you think you’re talking to on the other end of the line or through email? Someone who really knows SEO ... someone who has your best interests at heart? 

No, you are talking to a spammer - the same type of person who regularly fills up your inbox with spam and otherwise makes a nuisance of themselves, and now you want to trust them with your business? In most cases they haven't even bothered to do a Google search for you – they’re sending you a form letter that just assumes you aren't showing up in search engines. 

They've even called and emailed us and told us that we weren't listed in the search engines! Gee, you sure about that? When they actually checked they were like "Oh, you guys actually are in the SEO business." 

But why not give them a try and pay them $100 or some other ridiculously low amount of money? After all, you think, they promised to get me 200 links, and you guys at SEO Ann Arbor said that links are good, right?

Wrong. Relevant links from high quality sites are good. Hundreds of links from low quality and non-relevant sites ... not so much. Especially when the sites are all from Hong Kong, India, and other foreign countries. They didn't mention that part, did they?  Not surprising. After all, they're spammers. They probably also didn't mention that non-relevant links from low quality sites will not do you any good whatsoever, and might even be harmful to your rankings. Ever hear of Google hell? That’s where Google puts sites that try to cheat the system, and trust us, you’ll be far from page one if you wind up in Google hell.

While you’re pondering that, think about how hard it will be to get those hundreds of links removed, especially when most or all of them are in foreign countries. If you find yourself in that situation, you'll have a real mess on your hands. Also consider this ... if getting your website listed on page one of Google was really that easy, why wouldn't everyone pay some spammer $100 and do the same thing? Remember, there are only ten available spots on page one, so it just can't be that simple. 

But they guaranteed me results!  What about that?  Let us let you in on a little secret. It’s not that hard to get listed on page one of Google for insignificant, non-competitive keywords, keywords that people hardly ever search for, keywords that won’t generate a significant amount of traffic for you. Who cares if you’re on page one for terms that nobody’s searching for?  So much for that guarantee.

Just in case we haven’t made enough of an impact yet, here are a few examples. Let’s say you own a business called Bob's Insect Removal. Wouldn't it be great if when people searched Google for “Bob's insect removal,” your site would show up on the first page?  Of course it would, but it turns out that that isn't too hard. After all, if people search Google for the name of your business, they already know who you are. It's great that those people can find you, but you aren't going to grow your business that way.  To get a wider audience, you need to attract new people – those who don't already know about you, but who are searching for the types of products and services you offer.

Ok, you think, what you’re saying makes sense, but they guaranteed me results for "insect removal" which is one of the services we offer. What about that? We agree, that sounds pretty good ... unless you find out that no one is searching for "insect removal."  Instead, it turns out, they may be searching for things like "pest control" or "exterminator" and other terms that actually generate traffic. Not all keywords are created equal, so if you find yourself on page one for terms that no one is searching for, it won’t help you much.   

A reputable SEO company will spend time researching your keywords to make sure that you’re focusing on high quality keywords that will actually generate results.  Getting listed on page one for high quality keywords would be something to crow about, but it’s going to take a lot of effort, and will likely cost far more than $100.  Remember, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it!  Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.