Tag Archives: local splash

Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Keeping Up With Google: Bing Launches New “Search Quality Insights” Series
Bing recently announced a new “Search Quality Insights” series so users can get a better understanding of how Bing creates its search results. Google launched a similar series in December called “Search Quality Highlights.” Find more details here.

Yahoo Sues Facebook Over 10 Patents
According to Mashable, Yahoo filed a complaint against Facebook

Pew Report: 65% View Personalized Search As Bad; 73% See It As a Privacy Invasion
According to a recent report released by Pew, many view personalized search as a bad thing. Almost three-quarters of people who participated in the survey believe that search engines gathering personal data to customize results is an invasion of privacy. Read more details about the report’s findings here.

What People Are Pinning on Pinterest
RJ Metrics recently conducted a study of approximately 1 million pins across 9,200 different users to discover what people are pinning on Pinterest. The results showed that the most popular pin categories included Home, Arts and Crafts and Style/Fashion. Read more for details.

Study: 72% of Consumers Trust Online Reviews as Much as Personal Recommendations
According to this year’s Local Consumer Review Survey, 72% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Fifty-two percent of the people surveyed said that positive reviews make them more likely to do buy from a local business.

According to Search Engine Land, Google now allows users to block pay-per-click (PPC) ads from certain companies from showing up in their search results. This “block sites” feature was added in November and works whether you are signed in or signed out of your Google account.

The block sites feature used to allow users to block sites from both the web search results and the PPC results. However with the release of Search Plus Your World, the ability to block sites went away and hasn’t come back. Users can still block PPC ads from certain sites from showing up in their search results, which can definitely impair their paid marketing efforts. This is just another reason why focusing on the local search results is important. Users cannot block your business information from showing up there, which means you still have the chance to put your business in front of your ideal target audience, potential customers searching for your business in your area.

Local Splash can get your business on the first page of Google, check out our services here.

blockedads

Starting March 30, all Facebook brand pages will be transformed into Facebook Timeline pages. The layout of the page will completely change once Timeline is enabled and it may take some time for you to get used to the look of your new page. However, just because the new Timeline is unfamiliar doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact it’s going to be more aesthetically pleasing and will still give you the same opportunities to interact and engage your fans.

Cover image: One feature of the new Timeline is the cover photo. This is a large image featured at the top of the page. Businesses should use this image to feature something particularly captivating or a special they want to promote because it’s the first thing people will see when they visit your Timeline. Businesses can change this photo often in order to promote weekly deals or monthly contests.

History: Timeline is just that, a timeline that lays out posts the company has made in a vertical line format with events on either side of the line, one on top of the other. Timeline allows you to display company events that happened before Facebook was even created. You can go through your company’s history and mark milestones like when your company was founded, when it reached a certain number of employees, when your CEO was appointed, etc. This adds a personal touch to your company’s Timeline that fans appreciate. Timeline is meant to make Facebook more personal and when you get personal with your fans it encourages loyalty and trust.

Map: Timeline allows you to feature a map of your business location. You have the option to display the map or hide it so if people come into your business location, it’s best to display it. If you’re a business that primarily goes to your customers, it may be best to hide the map on your Timeline.

From now until March 30, you can preview your Timeline and publish it if you’re ready for the change now. Take this time to make sure all your business information is updated, figure out what you’re going to use for your cover photo and start mapping out what company milestones to include on your Timeline so you’re ready when it’s activated in a few days.

facebooktimelineforbrands