Tag Archives: online advertising

Say Goodbye to Basic Business Listings and Hello to Optimization and Placement

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local SEO, Local Splash VS CDP's, , , , , , ,

When was the last time that the bare minimum produced outstanding results? If you’re thinking “never,” you’re right. Just as the bare minimum doesn’t suffice in life, it also won’t cut it in the Internet marketing world.

Core Data Providers (CDPs) broadcast business listings all over the Web which makes them useful for establishing an online presence. However, the listings are based upon telephone books and built to sell as leads, therefore not specifically optimized for search engines. This makes it hard for potential customers to find your business. When a company has a basic listing from CDPs in a competitive market, it’s like doing the bare minimum in your Internet marketing campaign. Without searching for the business name directly, it is unlikely that potential customers will find the business. Local Splash works to allow businesses to be found when typing in keywords and keyword phrases in the search bar, not just the business’s name. Think Yellow Pages, where you search for the business by category versus the White Pages where you search for businesses by their name.

It is very likely that your competitors have optimized listings. If you have only basic information provided by CDPs, it will be very hard for potential customers to find you among all the other optimized listings. For this reason, any company that wants to be found online must go above and beyond what they’re competitors are doing.

Local Splash is the leading provider of local search engine optimized business listings. Our experts carefully choose the best keywords for your business and sprinkle them throughout your information to make your listing highly visible to the search engines. As part of this technique, we will list your business under relevant categories and include an SEO-friendly custom Web address (ex. for a plumber in Irvine the URL would be PlumberInIrvine.com). This maximizes local SEO and helps your company reach the top of the search results.

Why are optimized, complete (100% complete), enhanced (pics and video), and verified (PIN verified to confirm address and phone number) listings important?

  • An optimized listing, complete with keywords and targeted categorization, makes it possible for potential customers searching for your product or service in your area to find your business.
  • Search engines like complete listings. So by making sure your listing is 100% complete and contains all the business information that you can possibly provide, search engines like Google will reward your company with higher rankings.
  • Enhanced listings allow you to add photos and videos. These make your business more appealing to potential customers as well as search engines.
  • A listing that is verified shows Google and other search engines that the listing is legitimate. Verified listings will be rewarded with higher rankings.

Besides the lack of SEO tactics involved in Core Data Providers’ business information, there is also a lack of verification, making misinformation and duplicates more likely. Other directories like Google require an actual manual PIN verification to make sure the owner of the business is really the one claiming the listing. This ensures that correct information is being presented which means that consumers as well as search engines will not be confused when trying to find your business.

When comparing the directories that Local Splash submits your business to, such as Google, Yahoo!, Yelp, etc. to Core Data Providers, it is clear that Core Data Providers lack key qualities that Local Splash’s directory destinations possess. Although having your business listed in Core Data Providers is helpful, it’s no where near the level of exposure your business could get if you choose the search optimized listings that Local Splash provides.

Click here to see a full list of Local Splash’s directory destinations!

Are You Making This Internet Marketing Mistake? Why Reporting Shouldn’t Be Overlooked

Last Updated On June 2nd, 2023Local SEO, Local Splash VS CDP's, , , , ,

localsplashresultstrackingNo one likes wasting money. However, if you aren’t tracking the results for your Internet marketing efforts in order to figure out which tactics are working and which aren’t, that’s exactly what you’re doing. There are many techniques used in Internet marketing (i.e. SEO, local SEO, social media marketing, PPC, email marketing, banner ads, etc.) and chances are, they aren’t all going to work for your business.

Since it’s likely that your clients aren’t familiar with the variety of Internet marketing techniques out there today, when asked how they found your business, they’ll resort to the generic, “I found you online” response. This is why reports are so valuable, they’ll help you figure out which online marketing efforts to ditch and which to invest more time and money into.

Although Core Data Providers (CDPs) are useful when it comes to getting your business information out on the Web, one of the key services that CDPs are missing is reporting. Without reporting you will not know which keywords are working and which to discard, how many people are being exposed to your listing, whether your PPC ads are being clicked, which search engines people are using to find your business, how many people are requesting driving directories to your business from Google Maps, etc.

Once a business is added to the CDPs’ records, it may never be updated or monitored again. This is how outdated information gets picked up by directories. Local Splash has customer service representatives standing by during regular business hours to help with customer concerns and keep information updated.

Local Splash provides the following reports to our clients:

  • Keyword tracking (which keywords are working and which aren’t)
  • Audience tracking – (locate where consumers finding you are coming from)
  • Pay-per-click ad reports (these give information such as how many people have seen your ad, how many people clicked on your ad, where those people are located, which search engine they used to find your business, etc.)
  • Placement history ranking reports (you can see instantly where you are in the search engine rankings from the Local Splash back office)
  • Google Maps statistics (see how many people have seen your listing in Google maps, how many people have requested driving directions, top search queries, etc.)

These reports provide valuable information that will not only prove what your Internet marketing campaign is doing for your business, but also show what changes need to be made in order to target and get the most out of marketing online. Local Splash monitors these reports for our clients in order to make sure they are utilizing all of the Internet marketing tools that are best for them.

Although CDPs get your business name out on the Web, it’s clear that being listed in their database is not enough. CDPs do not provide your business with the tools, reports and monitoring that you can get from Local Splash. This is why working with Local Splash is a great option for business owners looking to expand their business to the Web.

How to Establish Your Online Identity & Dominate Over Your Competition

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local SEO, Local Splash VS CDP's, , , ,
directories

Local Splash will create an online presence for you in these directories and more.

If your business is anything like the new kid in school, it will want to start establishing its reputation as soon as possible. Nowadays, in the business world, that means creating an online presence. Many business owners think that if their business information is in the Core Data Providers (CDPs) database, that they’ve done enough. However, what they don’t know is that there is a whole wide world of online marketing opportunities. If they’re anything like the new kid, they want to “rule the school,” and in order to dominate your competitive market, it’s important to spread your business out over a variety of local information avenues.

Although CDPs can get your basic business listing out somewhere on the Internet, in order to really establish an online presence, you need to do much more. Local Splash gives clients the ability to be found in local, organic and social results.

One of the ways Local Splash does this is submitting your complete business information to a variety of top directories such as Google Places, Yahoo!, Relevant Yellow, Yelp, Facebook, Merchant Circle, SuperPages.com, RateItAll, YellowBot, Clush, Oodle, AboutUs, Vast and Acxiom. Local Splash also provides “permalinks,” or proof that your business has been submitted to directories. Then using Local Splash’s Back Office platform, you can log in and see all of your placements in one location online. This is a service that CDPs definitely do not provide.

Submitting complete, enhanced, unique and optimized business information to these directories helps your company’s reputation in the eyes of the search engine which will boost your rankings and leads.

Another way Local Splash helps clients get found in the search results is establishing a presence on social media networks. Local Splash will create your Facebook Fan Page and Twitter account, which will give you a new way to connect and provide coupons or offers to your target audience. The company will also create an optimized YouTube video for your business that when combined with video SEO, will boost your business’s search engine rankings.

If you are completely new to the Internet world, or just don’t have a website yet, Local Splash will create a landing page for your business with information about your company, services, contact information and photos. This landing page will contain keywords and categories to help your company reach top rankings as well as a custom, keyword-enhanced URL. If you already have a website, Local Splash will attach this landing page to your site in order to help its SEO.

The services Local Splash provides will help your company create the best possible image online. It combines state of the art methods that will differentiate your business in the marketplace, dominate in the search engines and leave your competitors behind. Although CDPs can lay the foundation, the exposure your company gets using them is no where near the level your company will get when working with Local Splash.