What is Google Boost

By doz2011 Leave a Comment

Google Boost is a location-based ad product for local businesses.  Boost ads show up when users search for local businesses.  They appear in the sponsored links section of Google Search and Google Maps. Ads will appear when the right combination of vertical keyword (e.g., “auto insurance”) and location keyword (e.g., “Twinsburg Ohio”) is met.  It is also expected that Google will serve up these ads based on users IP address, if they are signed in and/or the manually selected location.

Google first launched Boost in the San Francisco, Houston and Chicago, a location-based ad product for local businesses back in October of 2010.  With the success of the Beta test, Google has begun to roll it to most US cities.

The ads can contain basic location information, such as the address, business name phone number, business description, as well as more consumer contributed snippets of information, including a star ratings, and the number of reviews.  The listing can link to your website or your Google Places page.

Business owners or their advertising representatives can easily create Boost ads from within their Google Places account. Initial setup is simple, and campaign management is automatic.  To get started all the business owner needs to do is set a budget, and Google’s advertising algorithm takes care of the details of placement and frequency.

Why this is important to participate in is that Google’s is able capture highly qualified, actively interested consumers. When you add Google Boost to your listing, you can advertise your business on Google and Google Maps (including mobile devices) and attract more visitors to your website or Place page.

Benefits of advertising online with Boost?

  • Attract more local customers to your website or Place page.
  • Pay only when people click on your ad.
  • Create ads directly from your Places account within minutes.
  • No ongoing management is needed after you sign up. Boost runs the ads for you.
  • Measure the effectiveness of your ads in your Places dashboard.

So, should you Boost?  It’s worth a test.  I’ve had clients that it cuts their costs in half, while others who we shut down in less than a week because we thought Adwords was better.  Just depends on your situation.

Filed Under: Google Boost, Local Online Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Ways to Get Online Reviews

By doz2011 Leave a Comment

Google Places, Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Yelp, Judy’s Book, YellowPage.com and other local listing all have a feature for customer to place reviews of your business.  Not only are these reviews important for your prospective customers to learn from other’s experiences in working with you, but it can have a postive impact on your business’ placement /rank in the results page.  

However… getting reviews isn’t always easy.  You may have to ask for them.

Many small businesses that I talk with are a bit intimiated by asking for reviews.  I always tell them not to get stressed out about it.  I tell them to to start off by getting “warm” customers post reviews.  These include friend, family and long time customers.  Also, reviews can come from people in networking groups such as the Chamber of Commerce or BNI Group members. 

Here is a list of the top 10 ideas that you can use to generate new reviews.

  1. Email. The best way to get customers to give you a review is while they are online. If you have a newsletter or a customer list, shoot an email to your list and ask politely for a customer review.
  2. Ask your fans! If you have a Facebook page and have customers and/or partners who have become fans of your business, they are a perfect audience to ask for a review. They are already fans and they are more likely to be familiar with the review sites.
  3. Ask your followers! If you have a Twitter page, post a message and request reviews for your business.  Be sure to include a link to the listings/sites that you want reviews.
  4. Ask for reviews right on your website.  Also, publish your favorite endorsements right on your homepage and have a separate page listing all your endorsements.  This can help others to know how to write reviews as well.
  5. Include links on your website to your listings on the most popular local search sites (Google, Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, etc).
  6. Include review requests in all offline customer touchpoints: (Back of business cards, thank you cards, invoices, receipts, etc.  Be sure to include links. Again, use a URL shortener, so it’s easier for your customers (and it looks much better than a long URL).
  7. Ask satisfied customers if they have a smartphone (iPhone, Blackberry, etc),  if appropriate, to post a review before they leave your location.
  8. Post a sign at your location as a reminder. “If you leave here happy, please let us and others know on Google, Yelp, Angie’s List, etc).
  9. Run an employee contest: Those employees who get mentioned the most in reviews that month get a prize
  10. Offer an incentive for reviews either through discounts, coupons, or other promotions (drawing).

VERY IMPORTANT … DO NOT make up your own reviews!  Customers get a sense of what is real and what is not… plus search engines like Google have ways of telling as well.  Its just not worth it.

———————————————————————————————————————

Focus on your business and trust your local program to the experts.  Contact DigitalOz Marketing to help customers find your business online today.

Filed Under: Google Places, Local Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

Top 5 “To Do’s” to Rank Higher On Google Places

By doz2011 Leave a Comment

Google Places offers you the opportunity to go beyond just having another “local listing”.  They help you grow your web presence, aside from your website.  So once you’ve set up your listing, make sure that you are taking advantage of adding additional information.  The more you engage with your listing, meaning adding more content and participating in reviews, the greater the chance that you will rank higher.

Here a 5 things you should do to improve rank and customer experience:

  1. Add at least 5 jpg. photos. (You can add up to 10 pictures)  You can use a picture  of your business location, your logo, your staff, before and after pics, a brochure, slideshow, etc.  (Note: the first picture you load will be the one also displayed at the top of your listing)
  2. Get many ”real” reviews. The more reviews the better.
  3. Add a coupon and use Google Tags to highlight it.
  4. Add at least 1 video. (You can add up to 5) I like to add TV commercials and demonstration videos. 
  5. Build backlinks or citations from other websites to your Google Places listing. (This helps with SEO Link Building as well)
Filed Under: Google Places, Local Online Marketing Tagged With: