Maximize Your Business' Online Presence

My neighbor, a small business owner, told me she thought she had the whole "SEO thing" under control. I'm sending her this column from David Mihm and posting it here so others can read the hints in SMBs Need More Local Outreach -- here is just a portion:

What businesses can do to maximize their presence on local search engines:

Verifying your business’s information may lead to improved rankings on the major search engines, in addition to ensuring that they present correct information about your business.

1) Check to see where you’re already indexed using GetListed.org

2) Claim and verify your information at the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, and Live

3) Submit or verify your information with as many different data providers as you can.

(David supplies a list, so click on over to see it)

Local Closures

It saddens me to watch neighborhood businesses close - here in the Rose Garden area of San Jose, we've seen two closures in the past few months, and now comes the announcement that Communknity will close this month.

As the name implies, Communknity is a knitting supply store that seemed to do everything right. Five knowledgeable employees, in-store lessons, author appearances, and a local gallery. They supported local artists, hosted fundraisers, and were part of local breast cancer fundraisers.

In short, they created a small, tightly knit community while benefiting the neighborhood and community at large. This was exactly the type of business you want in your city.

I mourned when I saw San Jose's last general interest independent bookstore, Willow Glen Books, was closing, but the world of bookstores was forever changed before the economy tanked. Communknity rankled me in a different way...in a way that made our neighborhood a little poorer.

Constant Contact Hosts Small Biz Seminars

Congrats to email marketing company Constant Contact for the announcement they are launching small biz email seminars throughout the LA area.

This is something local newspapers and regional yellow pages should have been doing all along- not particularly email but all types of emerging marketing, and I predict this will be a winner for Constant Contact...great PR, great results, and a program that will expand quickly.

It's even nicer that their LA representative is Kelly Flint, formerly of United Way, since that brings the experience of someone used to having a limited budget and a diverse group of constituents.

Way back when I first got involved in the local interactive scene - in 1994 and 1995 - I held an ongoing series of luncheon seminars for advertisers of the Houston Chronicle. They were very, very appreciative, and in many ways, that helped lay the foundation for the success houstonchronicle.com has experienced (not to dismiss the incredibly progressive and practical interactive management teams over the years).

Anyway, thumbs up and accolades for "REAL MARKETING" to the Constant Contact team. There's no reason that small businesses should have to prowl through the web or take days out of the office attending seminars to get the low-down on email marketing.

Check Your Online Listing

Check out GetListed.org, or at least their free tool that lets you check your "claimed" listing in major search engines.

It's far from perfect at this point, mostly because the site is busy talking in "lingo" and not in local business-speak. But if you already sort-of understand your way around the local online lingo, it's a nifty check-up of whether you have dotted your i's and crossed your t's.

What do I mean that the site talks lingo? I typed Dr. Abed, 95126 (my dentist) and it showed no listings, even though when I went to Google and typed Dr. Abed 95126, she came up top of the listings. I typed in Zanotto's, (a neighborhood market) at it showed that the name had not been "claimed" on Google, Yahoo, Live but that it had 72 "citations" on Google. There was a link to click through and claim it, but no discussion on what "claiming" the name meant.

EDIT: Got a really nice note from the GetListed folks, and they pointed out that Dr.Abed's ZIP was 95128 - they are SOOO correct, which is what I get for making assumptions - and that her office is listed when done correctly.

Why, oh why (she asked again and again) do the online folks think that local businesses have nothing better to do than learn search-engine speak.

Anyway, Miriam Ellis writes a nice entry on why GetListed is good and useful and even necessary - and says nice things about the founders.

Link to local

I'm an advocate for eating locally grown fruits and veggies - pretty easy since here in Silicon Valley just about everything grows within a 50 mile radius.

For those not as fortunate (ie, those without neighbors who have a plentiful harvest), here is a link to "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" a resource for Californians. And here's a link to Local Harvest, a national resource.

Two Posts Worth Your Time

The 12 Most Dangerous Words in Business
Check out this post - it's funny and a warning to all of us

Time Off for Good Behavior
You all know how I feel about companies letting employees volunteer, but here's more support for making it a policy at your company

Cool New Tool

Barry Schwartz writes a column about Googles new search-based keyword tool that gives a good overview of a very useful tool. If you are looking for some help with keywords for your site, give the column (and the Google tool) a try.

Online Ad Design for Radio & TV Advertisers

The partnership between 2AdPro and MediaSpan was announced* today - (*Full client disclosure is due here: I worked on this announcement, but that isn't the only reason why I like this partnership.)

2AdPro and MediaSpan Enable Radio and Television Stations to Create Custom Online Display Advertising for Local Advertisers

It's good news for small business and here's why:

1. It's a benefit to local advertisers to have as many ways as possible to get an online presence.
2. Not every small business wants to go the route of self-service search advertising, but hiring a designer is costly.
3. This has left a lot of small advertisers scrambling to find low-cost online display ad creations.
4. The ability to work with the local radio or tv station (with whom many small advertisers have an existing relationship) opens up a lot of opportunities.

Anything that opens up online advertising - inexpensively and professionally - is a good thing.

Customer Surveys

I love 'em for the most part, but have seen mega-abuse among marketing consultants who recommend surveys to small business clients. Problem is, most people don't really understand the number of ways that results can be skewed.

Here's a post, The Art of Customer Surveys, from Guy Kawasake that pretty much says why customer surveys s*ck, and the one question that can summarize everything you need to know when you do s survey. This is one blog post I'm going to recommend every client reads before (s)he consents to a survey.

Local Media a Hit for Web Advertising

Like many local business owners, you're probably confused as to where to advertise on the web...you get all this advice, and it all sounds like a lot of time, money, experimentation, and work.

OK, so it's true -- a lot of opportunity is out there. But here's a report that provides good data to review: Titled, "Local Online Media: From Advertising to Action"

It's the overview of a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association with Jupiter Research and released this month. And it turns out that what those online newspaper reps have been telling you is true. Here are some of the key findings:

• Visitors to local media sites –online newspapers, TV and magazines -are more likely than visitors to other sites to take action after seeing local ads: from making purchases to visiting sites and stores
  •Local media sites attract valuable audiences who spend more money online than visitors to other local sites
  •Local newspaper and TV sites lead all others in advertising trust
  •Local content sites attract a high number of influencers –the first person others come to for local recommendations

Lovin' the Intuit Jingle Generator

Thank you Intuit Quickbooks!

You have come up with a number of rockin' promotions for small businesses in the past, and your new Jingle Generator for small businesses - featuring Tommy Silk helping businesses create a song that uses the business name and information - is very fun. (well, it is just the smallest amount annoying - it would be better if the jingle and the spiel before creating it was just a bit shorter)

Ok, so a business may not buy TV time to feature it, but I say it's a viral idea that will get some play as businesses put the jingle up on blogs and web pages.

SEO and Local Newspapers

Andrew Shotland, one of the SEO gurus I greatly admire, has two posts I especially enjoyed today - one had to do with local newspapers, and one -- fanciful and fun -- was a call to his readers to help him rank higher in Google when someone searches for "Andrew."

Seriously, he's always worth reading anyway, so check out Local SEO Guide