Online Coupons!

Posted on 05. Sep, 2009 by Westchester Internet Marketing in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Coupons, Food & Dining, Home Services, Internet Yellow Pages, Professional Services, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation

Consumers love saving money – and  coupons enable the savings!

In theory, the Internet makes finding and printing coupons simple, but a recent Yahoo! survey found otherwise. The majority of people polled feel that there are not currently enough coupons for things they want to buy and nearly half actually think coupon hunting is a chore. Less than a fifth of consumers have a “go-to” on-line site and almost 80 percent think the process of finding coupons is difficult.   

The survey also reported that 43 percent of participants said they are using coupons more often than last year. They also cited that easier access to coupons would motivate them to use coupons more often, a sentiment stated by 76 percent of women. 

An increasing number of people are turning to the Internet for money-saving tips and tricks. In fact, Web searches for “printable coupons” on Yahoo! are up 50 percent in 2009, compared to the same time in 2008, and up 135 percent compared to 2007. Furthermore, the most popular coupon-related Web searches in the past month have been for pizza restaurants, major retailers and grocery coupons.

Additionally, the survey asked how pride factors into couponing. Saving money makes people feel good as 59 percent stated that “they feel great when buying things with coupons.” This trend is much stronger for women, with a greater percentage of men feeling embarrassed when using coupons. Bargain hunting can also become a badge of honor with 29 percent wanting to be known as the coupon king or queen.

My advise? Reach and convert more local shoppers by offering a coupon or special offer! Searching for  ”local coupons” on Google is a good start – there are several solid options to choose from. Most major Internet Yellow Pages also have coupon options - see yellowbook.com details here. You’ll also want to consider a printable coupon on your website – preferably combined with your “call to action” statement on the home page. 

Also, your offer should be strong enough to produce results; ”10% off” or ”free estimates” wont’ do the trick. Now go and help your customers save some money!

Small Business Web Holdouts: Unsearched, Unfound, Unfulfilled.

Posted on 24. Jul, 2009 by Westchester Internet Marketing in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Legal & Financial, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation, Websites

From the eCommerce Times:

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Web? A lot of small businesses, that’s who. For the most part, that fear appears to be grounded in a lack of information about the actual costs and benefits of operating a Web site and engaging in some strategic e-marketing efforts.

 No matter where one turns on the Internet these days, it’s virtually impossible to avoid being bombarded by advertising in one form or another. Banner ads. Video ads. Display ads. Search engine marketing. Ads on MySpace . Ads on Facebook . The only area of the Web left untouched by advertising may be government-run sites.  Web marketing, in large part, is the province of companies with enough money to plaster their messages, goods and services all over the Internet. Missing from this equation is the traditional engine of American commerce: the small business.

Indeed, a recent study showed that there is a major disconnect between the way most consumers look for goods and services on the Internet and the way small businesses use the Web to advertise.  The study, which surveyed nearly 4,000 U.S. Internet users on the tools they use to find local businesses, was conducted last November by Nielsen and WebVisible. Participants in the survey included 261 small business owners.

Here’s what Nielsen and WebVisible discovered: Search is the No. 1 choice of consumers and small business owners alike when looking for a local product or service on the Internet. Yet, half of all small businesses spent less than 10 percent of their marketing budgets on Internet ads.  In essence, most small businesses are missing out on a huge segment of the consumer population that turns to Internet search engines such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) , Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Live Search.

The Great Divide

“Local business is the last, vast untapped piece of online marketing space,” said Kevin Ryan, chief marketing officer at WebVisible, which offers a suite of software tools and services designed to help small businesses run online advertising and marketing campaigns.  The biggest problem small businesses face when it comes to Web marketing is an attachment to an old way of doing business. It’s clear in many cases that small businesses simply don’t understand the inherent power of the Internet as a way to reach their customers, Ryan said.

Here’s an example: A consumer looking for a plumber, attorney, insurance agent or electrician rarely conducts a search using the name of a local business but rather types in keywords such as “plumber and the Bronx” or “electricians and 06850,” the ZIP code for Norwalk, Conn. Then, a page of search results with local businesses comes up, and the consumer goes on from there, he said.  “It’s very difficult to convince a small business that in the eyes of a search engine, their brand doesn’t have nearly the value they think it does,” noted Ryan. “What they fail to realize is that most consumers will go to an online source such as a search engine or even the Yellow Pages directory first.”  In fact, 63 percent of consumers turn to the Internet first when looking for local products and services, according to the Nielsen/WebVisible survey.

At the same time, only 44 percent of small businesses surveyed said they had a Web site.

“That explains why 40 percent of consumers said they have trouble finding a local business they know exists,” Ryan observed.

Small Biz Snapshot: Helena, Mont.

The Helena Area Chamber of Commerce in Montana has about 860 local businesses as members. About 75 percent of those businesses are small businesses — that is, businesses with 25 employees or less, according to the chamber’s marketing and communications director, Barry Houser.  “I would say the majority of the businesses that comprise our membership still don’t have a Web presence,” Houser told the E-Commerce Times.  As the state capitol, Helena is by and large a government town. Outside of government, the major industries include health care and tourism.  “We’re centrally located between Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park,” Houser said. “So, fishing, skiing and snowmobiling are big attractions here.”

While many big-box companies such as Costco (Nasdaq: COST) , Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Bed Bath & Beyond have started to move into the Helena area, the vast majority of businesses there are “small mom and pop” shops, he said.

Like small businesses in every corner of the U.S., these mom and pops don’t have the budgets to promote their goods and services the way the big-box stores do, making the Internet almost a vital component of their marketing efforts, noted Houser.  “We try to encourage them to take advantage of their membership with the chamber to get more of a presence on the Web,” he said.

The Helena chamber has an online directory that is searchable by business name and type. Businesses that already have Web sites can link to the chamber’s site too.

Doesn’t have to Break the Bank

One of the chief reasons small business owners give for not having an Internet presence is that it’s too expensive to put up and maintain a Web site.  It doesn’t have to be that way though, said WebVisible’s Ryan.  What’s most critical is that whatever route a small business owner chooses to go with in terms of a Web presence, it has to suit their specific needs.

“Alfonso the tailor doesn’t want to check emails all day long,” Ryan said. “He wants to receive an SMS (short message service) text when someone needs something. The diamond jeweler doesn’t want to spend all day answering stupid questions from someone that doesn’t know what they want to buy.”

Situated in the heart of downtown Seattle is the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. The store’s owner, J.B. Dickey, has been selling mysteries, and nothing but mysteries, for years.  His shelves are lined with paperback and hard cover books written by authors local to the Pacific Northwest, such as G.M. Ford, as well as nationally acclaimed writers like James Ellroy and Michael Connelly.  Dickey has had a Web site in various iterations for 10 years.  “It started out as a way to just have a presence on the Web and have information about the shop out there,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “It evolved into a place where we post our quarterly newsletter, an updated calendar of events such as author signings, and a shop blog. It’s also information that’s always out there, even when the shop is closed.”

Online Restaurant Reviews: Make or Break.

Posted on 22. Jul, 2009 by Westchester Internet Marketing in All Local Search Posts, Food & Dining, Maps, Social Networking

From Wpromiter:

In a slowed down economy with tightened consumer spending, drawing in customers becomes an even more challenging task for many companies. Low prices and high quality products no longer guarantee customers, and the importance of word of mouth becomes even more valuable to businesses. Today’s post on the Wpromoter looks at the ways restaurants and brick and mortar shops in general can leverage online review sites to their advantage. And best of all, it’s free.

While for many Americans, 50% of all meals are prepared outside the home, a recent Zagat Survey shows that 33% of people said they are eating out less and being more sensitive to menu prices.   Without a doubt this has effected how restaurants managers have chosen to run their business, often adding new items or specials to their menu, redesigning the restaurant’s decor, or even retraining staff.  But these efforts only go so far when restaurants turn a blind eye to what people are saying about them online.

Why It’s Important

For any restaurant, an online review and presence is just as important as the physical appearance.  Monitoring a reputation online is important for two major reasons, accuracy & reviews.  How accurate is the information about your business online? Are the menu prices, address, phone number & business hours correct?  Or is there conflicting information from a recent move or change in management? A business is potentially losing business if incorrect phone numbers and addresses are online.

Now to customer reviews, are negative reviews of your business coming up #1 on Google? Negative reviews are inevitable, but it’s how a business responds and improves from the feedback that makes the difference.  As reported by Rubicon Consulting (and noted on Marketing Pilgrim, word of mouth and online reviews are the most influential factors in consumer purchasing decisions.

Where To Start:

A. Control: Controlling your business profile is the first step.  Most web sites like Yelp.com or Yahoo! Local make it very easy for business owners to control their listing.  Yelp has a Business Owners Section and Yahoo! Local offers its Basic Listing for free.

Once you set-up your profiles or verify existing profiles, make sure your business’ contact information is accurate and consistent.  That means if you are in Suite 860, Suite 860 should be written on all of the web sites, not #860, Apt. 860, Apartment 860, etc.  Once you have basic information filled out, add in more multimedia; appealing photos of your business or video often work great!

A nice feature that Yelp offers it that once registered, it will keep you informed of new reviews, messages, and the number of views you business page has received.

B. Prepare & Interact
Prepare yourself for the worst and take the reviews with a grain of salt.  Don’t try to sue customers for negative reviews.  There will be harsh words, and even potentially fake negative reviews (possibly from your competitors).  If the web site allows you to respond to the reviewer directly, consider doing so as it may look great from a public relations perspective and really have been an anomaly as to why the customer had such a negative experience at your establishment.  On the other hand, thank users who gave you a positive review! The customer has taken time out of their busy schedule to write a positive review for you.  Go the distance to acknowledge such loyal customers.

C.  Encourage Feedback & Focus Your Efforts
Encourage customers to review your restaurant.  Consider adding a print out with receipts, posting a sign on your business window, or leaving an old-fashioned suggestion box for people to write in their comments.  You may be surprised at how willing people provide their feedback when asked.

And lastly, how far does the rabbit hole go?  Online reputation management is an industry of its own.  There are technically thousands of business review type of web sites online and monitoring each one can be a very time consuming task.  Focusing your efforts to the most trafficked web sites is particularly important.  Here’s a quick checklist of suggestions on how to manage your online reputation if you only have one hour a week to spend.

1. Search On Google And Yahoo! For Your Restaurant

What comes up first? Is it your official web site, a page on Yelp, UrbanSpoon, Yahoo! Local or another result?  Scan through the result, if there’s a negative review see if there’s a way to address it.

2. Move On

Move onto the next search result.  Is this page a business listing? If so, do you already control it? If not, can you control or verify the page? Is all of the contact information updated, accurate and consistent?

3. Interact

Interact where you can, respond to negative reviews and thank customers who provided you with positive reviews.  Add on to the pages with new pictures, specials and anything else.  Ideally, in time these pages will continue growing with unique and positive content about your business and fill with dozens of positive reviews.

Our Top List Of Customer Review Sites (Mainly For Dining):

Yelp.com
Yahoo! Local
DineSite.com
Chowhound.com
RoadFood.com
UrbanSpoon.com
CitySearch.com
Gayot.com
Zagat.com
& even Google Maps has their own review section!

Claim Your Free Google Maps Listing!

Posted on 19. Jul, 2009 by Westchester Internet Marketing in Automotive, Food & Dining, Maps, Optimization, Retail

There is no one single meathod to guarantee your complete local on-line visibility, but one important component is Google Maps.

When Google detects a local search query, their Maps (“Local Business Listings”) results are usually triggered. This can be a great source of leads, and potentially reaches both your recommended and new customers. 

So, how does one attempt to get included? This is perhaps the question I get most often, and the answer is simple, but may also appear to be a non-answer, as there’s never any guarantee. 

Visibility is even harder to maximize in competitive industries and/or cities. As this article illustrates, you can influence your chances by optimizing your site for local search (local terms, address, phone number, etc), but at the end of the day your consistent inclusion is still largely dependant on one large uncontrollable; the Google algorithm.

One critical step is something you can control - ”claim” your local business listing. 

This 10 minute process starts by searching for your business listing on Google Maps. Use your Business name, City name and State abbreviation. Once found, click on “edit”, and follow the links to “claim your business”. You’ll be asked to create a Google account (if you don’t already have one), very simple.

Next, you’ll be prompted for some information like business catagories and keywords – complete this step with care as it’s an important factor in determaining your relevancy for various searches! Don’t forget to complete the other information like hours of operation, etc. 

One tip: upload your logo and video (if applicable) - it also helps you stand out!

Finally, you’ll be asked to confirm all the information via a password. You have two options; complete instantly through an automated phone call from Google (choose only if you can answer your business phone), or by a postcard which will arrive in about two weeks. From there, you’re good-to-go!

The importance of this process was detailed in a recent survey of industry professionals, here. One other note; there have been many documented cases of business listings being ‘hijacked”; or claimed and redirected to competing businesses. Although Google is working on this and other “Map Spam” related issues, the sooner you complete this process the better! When combined with Internet Yellow Pages inclusion, Search Engine optimization and PPC advertising you’ll be on your way to achieving an effective local Internet marketing campaign!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjeCmHwqVpU&feature=player_embedded]

An Warning for Local Businesses…

Posted on 07. Jul, 2009 by Westchester Internet Marketing in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Legal & Financial, Maps, Mobile

In the past several years, I’ve seen numerous scams and questionable Internet-related sales pitches aimed at local businesses. One of the more misleading in recent months revolves around Google Local Businesss Listings (Google Maps).

Of course, assisting a business in “claiming” their business listing may be considered a legitimate “service” – but as a stand-alone SEM solution it’s certainly not the only consideration. Far from it!

Considering the process takes about 10 minutes and is a free process provided by Google, it’s debatable exactly what this ”service” is worth. Unfortunately, many individuals and companies are now advertising this as something that requires payment. Most I’ve seen advertise a monthly recurring fee to be “included” in Google Maps, others charge a one-time “set-up fee”. They’re usually accompanied by a screen-shot of Google’s search results page. I’ve even seen an industry CMR advertising this service for $350! 

It’s this type of misleading abuse that makes the job harder for legitimate search marketers. It would be nice to see Google go after some of this stuff, if possible.

Other Google-related scams

Local Visibility Factors

Posted on 06. Jul, 2009 by Westchester Internet Marketing in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Classified Sites, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Maps, Mobile, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Social Networking, Travel & Transportation, Video, Websites

Back in “the day” a local business could turn on a  local phone number, place an ad in the local  telephone directory,  and start selling. Reaching the local “ready-to-buy” consumer was relatively easy.

Today, we live in a different world; many businesses are struggling to remain visible, they find the choices confusing and the requirements time consuming. 

To continue reaching both current customers as well as the new,  numerous factors need to be addressed. I recently downloaded a cool new iPhone application called “Simple Mind X” and started brainstorming. Here’s the result - it took about 10 minutes to create, and I think it sums-up the complexities of on-line visibility:

Your On-line Visibility