Dream Systems Media Blog

Some Burros

As I was searching online for some information to one of my favorite Mexican food joints here in Arizona I ran across several problems with their website and wanted to share them here.  I also came across several areas where I thought they could capitalize on social marketing, increase traffic to their website and interact better (online) with the people who love them.

The Argument:

You walk into one of their locations and they are already packed.  True, but tell me of a business (you know of) that does not want to reach MORE customers, or expand to MORE locations?  If they are speaking the truth, every business wants to grow and expand – and of course, make more money.  So, I feel with a few improvements to their website and nickles worth of free social marketing advice here, I think they could be making vast improvements to their overall bottom line.

Local Marketing, social marketing Facebook, Local Marketing, social marketing, Twitter

Yelp - For Local Reviews

Local marketing bliss is what I want to share! For those of you who own a local business, how would you like to get your business on the first page of Google today? In most cases, you will achieve top 5 results with out any real SEO! What if I told you, that you could achieve these types of rankings without having a website. You would jump on the opportunity right? Of course you would, so here are instruction on how to capitalize:

I, like many other people own an iPhone and have downloaded the Yelp app (a local review service). This app has an amazing feature that allows you to search for businesses and reviews near you. What I have discovered is that most local businesses are not even listed, nor are there any reviews. I had a blast over the weekend reviewing all the places I ate at during a little trip. (Most of these businesses did not have any reviews prior to mine.) So, if you own a local business, even if you do not have a website, you need to get your business listed and reviewed on Yelp.

Local Marketing local advertising, Local Marketing, yelp

Local Search

I got distracted today and the result of that distraction is this post. I was curious about something dealing with local search and the SERPs – so I decided to do a little comparison. The four major search engines I compared are Google, Yahoo, MSN and ASK. I wanted to find out how their specific local programs compared to one another when searching for non geo-targeted terms? I wondered if I would get any usable results without using a geo-modifier? The following screen-shots are going to explain the title of this post much better then any of my words can. I am also pretty sure that including ASK as a major search engine is a choice I will regret later on, but then again it is the official search engine of NASCAR (and that’s got to count for something, right??)!

Local Marketing google local, local, local advertising, Local Marketing, local seo

I love when I find local businesses that are doing things they need to be online.  It’s even better when I find businesses I use taking advantage of local marketing services that search engines offer that can save me money (and drive business to them)!  I just want to spotlight a company I feel is doing something right, and if you learn something from it – that’s even better!

If you own an offline business in any local market then there is no reason to not be using a Google Maps listing.  I wanted to share an example of an offline business doing some local marketing right, especially when it comes to Google.  The local businesses I feel could really take advantage, and learn from this post are the ones offering food and things that are not easy (or available) to “purchase” online.

Local Marketing google local, Google Maps, Local Marketing, Local Marketing Tips

Local Search Marketing Tactics – Local search doesn’t only happen in relation what’s on a map. This

Local Search Marketing Panel

session looks at a variety of local search tactics that are not necessarily tied to your physical location’s listing.

Moderator: Greg Sterling, Founding Principal, Sterling Market Intelligence

Speakers:
Scott Dunlap, CEO, NearbyNow, Inc.
Matt McGee, Assignment Editor, Search Engine Land
William Scott, President, Search Influence
Dennis Yu, CEO, BlitzLocal LLC

NOTES

Scott Dunlap, CEO, NearbyNow, Inc.
Topic: Tracking and Measuring Online/In-Store Shoppers

Local search is by def: a multi-channel opp.  Search online and buy in store.  There is a 9 to 1 ratio of people wanting to buy in store due to urgency.  So the questions is how do you track traffic to convertion when they are finding you online, yet buying in your store.

Solutions:

General, Local Marketing, SEO, SMX SMX, SMX West

Yesterday I spent a few hours with a good friend of mine, Dave, that is an electrician in the Salt Lake City Utah area.  He has been in this industry all of his career, but within the last few years he has started his own company and is doing contractor electrical work, along with all the small jobs needed at residential locations including remodels, etc.

We talked at length about the strategies he is currently using to gather new customers, of the which some techniques were awesome (and I won’t share them either).  He has a Blogger site he uses for his business, but really hasn’t done much online except post in some free local online classifieds for the area.  He is considering investing some money in getting his site ranked for electrician related local search terms here in Utah and was asking for my help.  One thing he said to me over and over was that all his contacts in construction, plumbing, etc. have said to him, “If you find it works, let me know cause I want to do it as well.”  So this post is for all you Electrician, Plumbers, Contractors, etc. that are sitting back and waiting to see if local search marketing works…I can already tell you the answer, YES it does!

Local Marketing Local Search, SEO

The whole reason I personally blog is to inform my readers of the things they need to be doing to help them increase their business online.  It really is that simple for me. I am not in it for popularity, and there is nothing (and I mean – NOTHING) that puts a bigger smile on my face, then when someone sends me an email telling me that my methods have helped them make money!

I recently (less then a week ago) posted about free local advertising tips a small local business could do to increase traffic to their website.  One reader in particular took me serious and started to implement the techniques immediately.   I got this email last night:

Local Marketing local advertising, Local Marketing, local marketing testimonial

Being in the industry I am, I talk with a lot of local business owners almost everyday about marketing (they are sniffing around for free tips, but I don’t mind sharing). In this economy, I have found the conversation sliding a little more to cost effective marketing tactics, if not completely free marketing suggestions. Hopefully I can help a lot of small local business owners with this post with some real suggestions that will help them get real results.

Here is the main question I get asked:

“What can a small local business do for marketing online if they have no budget?”

Believe it or not, there is plenty a small local business owner can do for online marketing that costs very little, or is completely free. I want to share these local marketing options with you.

1. Google Local – One of the first things I do for any clients local marketing campagin, is to make sure and get the business listed on Google Local ASAP. This almost gurantees a first page ranking for your most targeted local keyword. For example, if you lived in Lindon Utah, and were looking for a preschool, you would probably more then likely type in “Lindon Utah Preschool” – when you get the results from Google you will see how there is a big list of local options to choose from. (see picture)

Google Local

It gives you a list of results that are in, or close to Lindon Utah, as well as a map that if you click on will give you exact driving directions and more business information. So it gives you the option to check out all the local spots near you. It is very simple to add your business to Google Local, and the approval process does not take that long – all that FREE and an instant ranking!. If you are a local businesses that does not have a website, you can still get a Google Local listing and get customers from it because you have your address, as well as your phone number listed.

In many cases getting a Google Local listing can help you get multiple listings for your local keywords. If you look at the example picture above – My Smart World, has a #1 local listing, as well as a #1 natural ranking. This just makes you look that more credible in the eyes of potential customers.

Reviews about your business on Google Local can also be written, and the more reviews you have written about your business, the better it is for you (as long as those reviews are positive). You can have people you know that have used the products and services, go in and write the reviews for you. Tell them to be honest as you never want to fake any of these kind of reviews. The number of reviews does not help where your local ad is placed, it just helps out your credibility.

Most people don’t realize how easy it is to get a listing through Google Local, or that it even exists. They just see the results, every once in a while on a search, and often wonder; “How do they get those results there?” To sign up its easy, just go to http://local.google.com and click on where it says; “put your business on Google Maps” (see picture below)

Add Your Business To Google Maps

Once you get this far, you will be required to log into your Google accounts and they will walk you through the rest. From my experience it usually only takes 2 – 3 weeks to get included on Google Local and Google Maps. From everyone who I hve helped get on Google Local, they have told me they almost immediatly knew when the listing kicked in because hits to their website, emails or phone calls to their business. Yes, getting on Google Maps is 100% free, it is just going to take you a little bit of time and energy to get signed up with them and thats all! It is a pretty cool way of seeing your business in a top spot without putting much marketing efforts into it!

2. Yelp – Yelp is a great local review site that will help you find just about anything in your local area that can be reviewed. Getting your site listed on Yelp, and getting people to write positive reviews about you will help increase its chances of being picked up on the search engines (more reviews = more content = happier search engines). Check out the user-generated (content) reviews, and the set up of Yelp:

Reviews On Yelp

Yelp listings ranks well, and has many trusted users and is a well policed community (from my use anyway), and that is why (in my opinion) the search engines like them so much. Just check out this search result when I look for “Color Me Smart” a Queen Creek Arizona based Preschool -

Color Me Smart Yelp Listing

The owner of the preschool does not even have a website, but since they have a review of them in Yelp, they are getting a first page Google ranking for their business. Think about this, if they list with Google Local and Yelp, they can start to dominate the rankings for their name, as well as local keywords with ease. Again, all 100% free, it just takes some time to get accounts and register your business.

Yelp listings can even help with your Reputation Management by gaining another very valuable spot in the SERPs. For every single one of my businesses, a Yelp listing appears in the first 10 results on Google.

Local Marketing free local marketing, google local, Local Marketing, uscity.net, yahoo local, yelp