Tag Archives: local seo techniques

This is collection of posts from the Local Splash Blog that cover specific local SEO techniques.

Social media networks are a powerful marketing tool. However, when used incorrectly, they can actually do damage to your reputation, annoy your customers and drive potential customers away. Here are 5 social media faux pas that you should never commit.

1. Using your social media network exclusively as a sales tool. This is the surefire way to get “unfriended” and “unfollowed.” People already have enough advertising coming at them from all angles online and offline, they don’t want it overtaking their social networks where they come to communicate with friends, family and their favorite brands. It’s okay to send some sales messages but they need to be spaced out between engaging, useful content that your reader will enjoy. People love to hear about promotions and sales but too much advertise-y talk will definitely turn your followers off and encourage them to give you the boot.

2. Posting the exact same content to your Facebook as you do to your Twitter. This makes it obvious that you don’t really pay attention to your social networks; you’re just on there to spread your message, not interact or engage. You want your fans to follow you on both Facebook and Twitter, right? Well then why would you post the same thing on both networks? Those who do as you wish and follow you on both will get duplicate information and no one wants to waste their time on that.

3. Asking your existing fans to help you find more followers without rewarding them for doing so. Nothing will make your current fans feel less important than begging then for more fans. They’ll think, “What? Are we not good enough?” and who wants their fans feeling unappreciated? Everyone wants more fans, but don’t beg your current audience to help you find more. Instead, make your content so great that they’ll want to share with other and recommend you to their friends.

4. Pretend the negative feedback you receive on your social network just didn’t happen. Let’s face it, we can’t make everyone happy. There will always be a disgruntled customer who will try to leave rude comments on your brand’s Facebook or Twitter. When this happens, it’s important to address those irritated customers in a concerned manner and try to troubleshoot the problem. One annoyed customer can potentially go on to tell their friends about their bad experience with your business. That’s why when a less-than-impressed customer is brought to your attention, do what you can to make them happy. If they hated the food and service at your restaurant, invite them to come back for free and try it again. If you handle the problem with grace in public on Facebook or Twitter, you’re allowing the world to see how much you care about every customer.

5. Open a promotion to “new customers only.” It’s great that you’re promoting a special discount on your social network; but don’t ruin it by only opening it up to new customers. This will make your current customers feel left out and unappreciated which is a definite no-no. Keep in mind that it’s important to reward your Facebook and Twitter followers as a whole, because they already are a segmented group of your entire customer base.

Stay away from these 5 social media marketing no-no’s and you should be free from the dreaded “unfollow.” Remember to always post engaging content that your followers will be interested in and good luck in your social media marketing endeavors!

Many businesses run into problems when trying to gain customer reviews. It’s difficult to get a lot of people to take the time to write a positive review when reviews are often only fueled by a negative experience. However, review sites like Yelp have encouraged people to write reviews (both positive and negative) to help the social community better understand a business location. Great reviews can not only help entice new customers to your location, they can also boost your search engine ranking. But how do you go about getting them? Here are 5 tips to help you do just that.

1. Email a follow up: Offer something like a percentage off your product or a small gift if your customer provides an email address. Once you have their email, you can send them a follow up email thanking them for stopping by your business location and asking them to write a review. Provide a link to your business on the review site of your choice to make it even easier for them.

2. Add reviews to your website: Letting people write reviews directly on your site simplifies the process, which means they’re more likely to do it. Allowing people to write reviews directly on your site will also help your product pages rank higher because you’ll always have fresh, unique content on them.

3. Give the people what they want: One key to getting more reviews is to actually listen to the reviews you receive. If people are constantly asking for a change in your product or service, make sure to give it to them. Once others see that your business actually values their customers’ opinions, they’ll be more likely to write a review of their own.

4. Window clings and receipts: Print a little blurb on each receipt you print asking your customer to write a review on Google or the other review site of your choice. Have a window cling or sticker made and put it somewhere people will see, like on the door of your establishment. The more you bring people’s attention to writing a review, the more likely they’ll be to do it.

5. Give away free samples. The more people trying out your product, the more people you’ll have talking about it. Also, when you’re asking people to do something, free stuff usually helps motivate them to do it.

Reviews can be extremely powerful and can often determine whether a potential customer chooses you over your competitor. However in order to get reviews, you must first make sure your business is listed in local business directories/review sites. Local Splash can make sure your business is listed and claimed. Find out more information about our directory submission services here.

With the world of Internet marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) always changing, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with what is relevant now and what will be relevant next year, or even next month. Search engines are only getting more complicated and the key to SEO success is to stay updated on the latest techniques. Here are three factors you should pay close attention to in order to maintain high search engine rankings in the future.

Local Search: Local search is huge and will continue to become even more popular in the future. Today Google says about 30% of all searches performed have local intent. Back in 2007, local searches only accounted for about 10% of all searches. Google tailors your search results to include businesses that are in your local area. These businesses show up in the Maps results, usually above the organic search results. Typing in a keyword such as “plumber” in your search box will retrieve results that reflect listings for plumbers in your local area. This is why optimizing your business listings and website with local keywords is important. You must also submit your business to local directories such as Google Places, Yelp and Merchant Circle to increase your online presence and the chances that your local consumers will find you online.

Social Media: Social media has been steadily on the rise and now it’s affecting rankings and grabbing the attention of your potential customers online. Building your brand online and creating an engaging environment for customers will encourage them to mention you to their social circles. The more social mentions you receive, the higher you will appear in the rankings. One social media network to pay attention to is Google+. Google will start using this network to tailor its search results and show its users the most relevant results for their searches based on the information they gain from their Google+ profiles. Twitter tweets are now being indexed and displayed in Google search results. This provides Twitter users the chance to optimize their tweets in order for their brand to appear higher in the search rankings.

Internet marketers, watch out for:

Personalization: The search engines are constantly retrieving large amounts of information from their users, which allows them to tailor the search results especially for them. These personalized results can present a problem for SEO because Google will display different results to each individual based on their previous searches, their interests and more information that is gained through cookies and even Google+ and the +1 feature. In fact, Google+ updates are now being incorporated into the search results and depending on your account, you may already be receiving more personalized results than you did before. Internet marketers need to take this new personalization factor into consideration when preparing for the future.