LinkedIn For Local Business Marketing
November 25, 2011
Welcome to the Google Places SEO Citations blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.
This blog covers local SEO which is dominated by Google, Google Places and the need for citations. The blog also covers just about any thing related to Google search results and related topics. I hope that you might glean some useful resources while you are here.
LinkedIn For Local Business Marketing
I have been using LinkedIn for years as a backlink resource and that’s about it. I had joined a dozen or so groups but that wasn’t doing a whole lot for me. I tried using the answers section but that didn’t do much for me as well. Then I began to use the site much differently based on a training session that I attended recently. I want to give a shout-out to Chris Porter who was the presenter.
How you use the site is based on you core markets and what you want to accomplish. I’m am looking to make B2B connections so my approach may differ from what will work for you. I want to connect with those in my industry to market my new website Google Places SEO Citations.But I also want to connect with those who might actually benefit from this training in Tucson.
This new site provides DIY SEO training that includes 65 or so videos covering Local SEO, Google Places SEO, Social SEO, and Holistic SEO. So I really have two core markets that includes the SEO or internet marketing crowd and the local business owner crowd.
For the SEO and internet marketing crowd the idea is to get them to try the website and then hopefully they will like it and blog about it. For the local business group I also hope that they will use the site and like it. And hopefully they will still longer than one month.
The first thing that I did and continue to do is to join groups related to my target markets. I currently am a member of about 48 groups. LinkedIn caps group memberships at 50. I have split this between the SEO/internet marketing and Tucson where I am located. This is where the work really begins and it is a time consuming process.
Just because someone is in one of these groups does not automatically make them someone worth connecting with. You will need to go through each member list looking for people to connect with that have similar interests. A similar interest be as simple being in the same group or from the same city but you need to also find decision makers.
When you find someone that you want to connect with you will need to visit their profile and then click on the gold connect button. Then you will need to state what your connection level is and click to send the connect request. And if you follow this process your connect request will most likely be ignored.
Your request will be ignored because you failed to realize that social media is about building relationships. What you have done here sends this message “I only care about what I want and not about you!” Social Media selling is a slow sales process that starts with building a relationship. And this is an area where I experienced lots of problems with in the past.
I took the same approach previously and my connection rate was about 10%. And of these connections were mostly from people that I already knew. I just was not making new connections.
I now make sure that I address the individual by first name when making the request. For the SEO/internet marketing group I suggest that since we are in the same group and have similar interested connecting might make sense. I also take the time to visit their website or blog looking for something to make a comment about. If I find something broken I will let them know. The point here is that I am trying to be a friend and not sell them anything.
I take a similar approach for those located in Tucson. I will usually make the connect request by indicating that we are both in the same group and live in Tucson so why not connect? I also visit their websites and this is where things get difficult for me. Most of the sites that I visit are in severe need of SEO and it is hard for me to not bring it to their attention. I have to keep reminding myself that I am building relationships for now and not selling. I still look for something positive to say.
I will also admit that I have only been using these approaches for about 10 days but they are bearing fruit. I had acquired about 95 connections of the previous 4 years. In 10 days I have added an additional 200 connections. I have already been contacted about doing business and I have over a dozen conversations ongoing.
LinkedIn is like any other social website it works if you use it properly. If all that you want to do is take from the site you will likely not do very well there. However, if you are willing to participate and to build relationships you will prosper. There is a direct correlation between your efforts and your results. Imagine that!
On another point. I like going to business networking events. This is especially true because I work from home and it gets me out of the home/office for a while. But I can actually get more accomplished in 2 hours on LinkedIn than I can at a networking event where I may talk with dozens of people but none of them may need, want, or desire what I have to offer. I still will do both because you never want to have all of your eggs in one basket.
Today, while on LinkedIn I discovered a way that allows you to easily share a discussion with multiple groups or individuals. This will save me huge amounts of time. Previously, I had visited each group individually and posted something, Then I visited another group and repeated the process. Now, all that I do is post the article once in my own group. Then I click on that post this take me to a page where that post appears.
From here you will want to click on the in share button. The site then will allow you to share this with individuals or groups. What I don’t know is how many shares is concerned too much or spam!
What say you?
Google Places SEO Citations Blog Local SEO Services Google Places SEO Google Places Citations
Do you own a local small business in Tucson, Arizona or elsewhere and you need Google Places SEO or Places Citations services? Then please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024 or email me Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Tucson SEO Solution 814 N. Belvedere Ave. Tucson, AZ 85711 520-505-6024
SEO Tucson Or Tucson SEO Which Do Searchers Use?
November 24, 2011
Welcome to the Google Places SEO Citations blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.
This blog covers local SEO which is dominated by Google, Google Places and the need for citations. The blog also covers just about any thing related to Google search results and related topics. I hope that you might glean some useful resources while you are here.
SEO Tucson Or Tucson SEO Which Do Searchers Use?
If you ever tired ranking your local business well you will eventually have to choose what keyword phrases that you want to target. This is where understanding searcher behavior plays a huge role. That’s why I am asking which is better to use within my home pages page title. Is it better to target SEO Tucson or Tucson SEO. If you are a carpet cleaner in Tucson you will need to make a choice between Carpet Cleaning Tucson or Tucson Carpet Cleaning.
This is why it is extremely important to understand the search process for most individuals. Most searchers will simply enter what they are looking for. In this case, it would be carpet cleaning. Now, if the searcher did find what they are looking for they will search again. This time they will add there cities name to the search by entering carpet cleaning Tucson into the query box.
I hope you see the point that I am attempting to make here. People don’t usually search by their city and then add the product or service. Yet, everyday I see local websites that target the city first and then the their keyword phrases. What really drives me crazy is when I see SEO provider, some with more than 10 years experience, making this mistake.
Now, I will admit that I made the same mistake when I got into this business. That why my business name is Tucson SEO Solutions and not SEO Solutions Tucson. However, it didn’t take me long to figure out that this wasn’t the best approach after I started using Google Analytic’s.
The reality is that only about 30% of searchers today will ever include the cities name where they are looking to do business. So it makes sense that your focus should be on your products or services then your city. You want your most important keywords to appear first then you indicate the city or area where you do business.
If your website page title reads Tucson Carpet Cleaning you are telling the search engines that Tucson is more important than anything else. And this just isn’t true. Your products or services are the most important words here and not the location.
Now, I can understand when the local business owner makes this mistake. But I become livid when I see SEO providers make this mistake. After all, it’s their job to know how search works so that we can assist other in ranking well.
I just did a search for SEO Tucson and found that my home page, my Twitter page, and one of my YouTube videos are in the top 10 on Google. Of the other 7 other positions on the first page of Google 3 of these use Tucson SEO. That means about 43% of SEO providers in Tucson are getting this wrong.
Folks, this is so sad, as this is Basic SEO 101 stuff here. How can these companies sell services that they lack the rudimentary fundamentals simply baffles me. But their is more to this story. Those who search using the city first are usually your competitors. And they are not actually looking to do business with you.
Website analytic’s prove my point. Those that search using the location first have a much higher bounce rate and and they leave very quickly. They seldom bother to visit other pages because they will never be your customers. Those that use their keywords and then the city have much different behaviors. That’s because they came to fulfill a need, want, or desire. They bounce less, they stay longer, and they visit more pages. That’s because there intend is to do business now or in the future.
It’s been this way ever since I started using analytic’s. So I ask you this which searcher to you want to target. Do you want to get your competitors or those that are likely to become customers?
What say you?
Google Places SEO Citations Blog Local SEO Services Google Places SEO Google Places Citations
Do you own a local small business in Tucson, Arizona or elsewhere and you need Google Places SEO or Places Citations services? Then please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024 or email me Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Tucson SEO Solution 814 N. Belvedere Ave. Tucson, AZ 85711 520-505-6024
SEO Google Places Training – This Caught My Attention
November 22, 2011
Welcome to the Google Places SEO Citations blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.
This blog covers local SEO which is dominated by Google, Google Places and the need for citations. The blog also covers just about any thing related to Google search results and related topics. I hope that you might glean some useful resources while you are here.
SEO Google Places Training – This Caught My Attention
This caught my attention today when I was checking on some keyword phrases that I target. The specific phrase is SEO Google Places Training. It is not a keyword phrase that I have been watching until I saw it appear in my Google Analytics report recently. I decided to check up on it as it was being used to find both of my websites.
As you can see in this screen shot. That my websites are ranking both # 1 and # 2.
It is a really great feeling to see that my efforts are paying off with both of these websites. Especially, since I am really close to launching my new website Google Places SEO Citations. It’s a really cool to see the new site doing so well and so quickly. Writing about the new site and linking to it from a PR 3 blog doesn’t hurt either. But what I am most interested is to see how well this posts ranks as this is a test of sorts of the Google freshness algorithm update. Will this post rank well as it is fresh content?
Stay tuned for further updates…..
What say you?
Google Places SEO Citations Blog Local SEO Services Google Places SEO Google Places Citations
Do you own a local small business in Tucson, Arizona or elsewhere and you need Google Places SEO or Places Citations services? Then please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024 or email me Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Tucson SEO Solution 814 N. Belvedere Ave. Tucson, AZ 85711 520-505-6024
What’s Google Up To Now
November 21, 2011
Welcome to the Google Places SEO Citations blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.
This blog covers local SEO which is dominated by Google, Google Places and the need for citations. The blog also covers just about any thing related to Google search results and related topics. I hope that you might glean some useful resources while you are here.
What’s Google Up To Now?
I was cruising through blogs posts in Google Reader today when I came across the post, Is Google ‘Forcing’ SMBs to Buy AdWords? by Greg Sterling. He is the author of the Screenwerk blog and writes about local SEO topics. What I found in the article made me stop everything to check this out myself. And now, I am sharing it with you.
It appears that Google may be pressuring local small businesses to purchase ads through AdWords Express. Check out this example I found while doing a search for Carpet Cleaning Tucson.
Google has included an ad along with this Places listing which it likes to do. But what if you are the business owner for Regal Carpet, would you want an add appearing next to your business listing? Would you be willing to pay to make that add go away? It appears that Google is placing a bet that you will pay up for the removal off this add.
I am using the example that Greg used here.
It appears that if you purchase an ad from Google your competitions ad will disappear.
What say you?
Google Places SEO Citations Blog Local SEO Services Google Places SEO Google Places Citations
Do you own a local small business in Tucson, Arizona or elsewhere and you need Google Places SEO or Places Citations services? Then please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024 or email me Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Tucson SEO Solution 814 N. Belvedere Ave. Tucson, AZ 85711 520-505-6024
Google Offer Now In Tucson?
November 17, 2011
Google Places SEO Citations blog at Tucson SEO Solutions
Welcome to my blog. The blog covers all things Google, Google Places, Google Places Citations and other related marketing issues. My hope is that you will find the blog useful while you are here. I also encourage you to leave a useful comment.
Google Offer Now In Tucson?
As most of you already know Google tried to by Groupon but they where turned down. So they started their own coupon service Offers. They have been rolling out this service slowly across the country. The last time I checked it was being offered in 50 cities. Of course, it was being offered in Phoenix, but not in Tucson. Then when I went to log into Gmail I saw this today.
I though wow Google is now available in Tucson. Still will be worth getting out as a blog post right now! So I clicked on the subscribe button. This produced a pop up box that wanted my country and area code.
I entered this info and then clicked on the continue button and another box appeared.
Yep, Google was just teasing. It’s Offers service isn’t actually available in Tucson. Looks like a bit of bait and switch marketing going on here by Google. I don’t know about you but I don’t much like being told something is available only to find out that it isn’t. Is this just another example of Google saying one thing and doing another?
What say you?
Google Places SEO Citations Blog Local SEO Services Google Places SEO Google Places Citations
Do you own a local small business in Tucson, Arizona or elsewhere and you need Google Places SEO or Places Citations services? Then please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024 or email me Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Tucson SEO Solution 814 N. Belvedere Ave. Tucson, AZ 85711 520-505-6024
