Tag Archives: local splash

Maintaining a great online reputation is crucial to attracting new customers to your business. With 97% of U.S. Internet users gathering information prior to shopping online, it’s important that when they’re conducting research they come across your business and like what they see. However, these three mistakes from Marketing Profs could hurt your online reputation and send potential customers to your competitors.

• Having an incomplete website: Many small businesses that conduct their business transactions in-store rather than online may not have website design and upkeep on their main priorities list. This is a mistake because although your potential customers may not purchase your product or service online, they are using the Internet to conduct research about your company. If they see a half-complete website or a site that lacks user-friendly or aesthetically pleasing design elements, they may decide to go with one of your competitors that updates their website often.

• Firing back at a negative review: It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is, you can’t make everyone happy. There is always a chance that someone will leave you a bad review. Although this review may be unfair, it’s important not to fire back and get defensive. If you do, you’ll look immature to other people viewing the review thread and you will probably make the angry customer angrier. Instead, respond with an apology and invite the customer to come back again for free or a discounted rate.

• Expressing your opinion on controversial issues: Although social networks and blogs are full of people sharing their opinions, it’s not a good idea to share your personal opinion on your business page or blog and risk offending your customers online. Keep your posts professional and encourage opinion sharing, just don’t encourage discussing controversial topics that may upset some of your customers.

Google, the global technology pioneer, is turning fiction into reality once again. This can be recently seen with “Autonomous Vehicles,” better known as driverless vehicles.

Since their announcement in 2010, Google has been hard at work perfecting this innovative automobile, a Toyota Prius which, according to Google, utilizes “video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to ‘see’ other traffic as well as detailed maps.” This generously goes beyond the currently marketed ‘self-park’ cars such as the Lexus LS 460.

CNN covered a demonstration of this new vehicle’s performance with its test participant being a blind man sitting at the wheel of the car. While the car performed a series of everyday navigations, the man jokingly displayed his arms in the air saying, “Look, Ma– no hands!” as the Prius drove itself down a highway and even into a Del Taco drive-through.

This automotive creation is not just for boasting rights. Google is striving to make the roads safe and cars more efficient in today’s society. According to Google’s official blog, the self-driving vehicle project will “try to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions.”

With 1.2 million annual deaths due to road accidents, the safety of the citizens are at risk each day. Factoring out the human driver from this number could have the potential to significantly reduce this number, giving both passengers and pedestrians peace of mind.

Google is “optimistic about technology’s ability to advance society.” This would also include the benefit of more efficient and attainable car sharing with the concept of the “highway trains of tomorrow.” Just imagine all the productive ways you could spend your valuable time!

Even with Google still in its experimental stages, it can seem as though the futuristic ‘Jetson’s’ lifestyle is little more than a generation away. But for now, Google is steering us towards the future– literally.

See video coverage of the Google demonstration here.

Check out Google’s 2010 driverless car announcement here.

Search Engine Land recently conducted a study dealing with local search and posted its findings online. The survey was centered around four questions that were asked to determine which types of local businesses searchers look for online and the importance of reputation for different businesses. The four questions asked to participants were as follows:

Which types of local businesses have you searched for via the Internet (in the last 12 months)?
Which types of local business have you read online reviews for (in the last 12 months)?
For which types of business does reputation matter the most?
Which ‘reputation trait’ is most important to you when selecting a local business?

According to the study, the most searched for type of business was Restaurants/Cafes (57%). Other popular categories were Hotels/B&B/Guest House (35%), General Shops (35%), Clothes Shops (34%) and Dentists/Doctors (27%).

The type of local businesses consumers most read reviews about is Restaurants/Cafes (46%). The second is Doctors/Dentists (21%). The analysis of this states that consumers turn to the Internet for finding and researching local businesses when they need their services. Having positive reviews gives local businesses a chance to stand out from their competitors and get the attention of their potential customers when it matters most.

Reputation matters most to consumers when choosing Restaurants/Cafes (32%), Doctors/Dentists (27%) and Tradesmen (23%). The results of the survey show that reputation does matter and it affects all businesses. Online reviews continue to increase in importance and as that happens, the reputation of certain types of businesses becomes a more important factor in the purchasing decision.

The study found that the most important ‘reputation trait’ is reliability (64%). The second most important trait is good value (44%). Consumers seem to be less concerned with traits like courtesy (7%), friendly service (9%) and ‘localness’ (7%).

To read the study in more detail, visit SearchEngineLand.com.

Tag Archives: local splash

3 Online Marketing Don’ts That Could Hurt Your Reputation

Google’s New Driverless Vehicle Could Help Make the Roads Safer

Search Engine Land Publishes Findings of the Local Consumer Review Survey 2012