customer reviews

Why Do Rewarding SEO Campaigns Demand Your Patience?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Wouldn’t SEO campaigns be so much easier if you could just flip a switch and watch them go? Alas, the Internet simply doesn’t work that way.
Launching an online marketing campaign takes a lot of time. To ensure extended success, Prospect Genius—and many standup companies like us—must run through an exhaustive, time-consuming process when setting up any new campaign.
If you’ve been asking yourself why your Core campaign took so long to get off the ground, then this blog post is for you. Here, you’ll get a thorough explanation of all the work Prospect Genius typically does when launching a Core campaign. You’ll also find out why this process is worth the wait.
Let’s jump in!

How We Create a Campaign

As soon as a new client accepts our terms of service, we pull the lever and get the ball rolling on your campaign. Each step leads to another, and they must be completed in the right order. We cannot skip ahead. Remember the game Mouse Trap? It’s kind of like that.
Here’s what the process looks like from beginning to end. By the time you get to the bottom of this list, you’ll understand how much work goes into getting a campaign off the ground:

Basic background check. Before beginning any work, we investigate what kind of information and listings are already out there for your company. This will inform us on how to proceed.
Address check. We need to ensure you can receive mail at the address you gave us. This is how Google verifies your business’s location. If you can’t receive mail there, we must figure out a legitimate workaround before we can continue.
Call forwarding setup. We order your call forwarding number, a.k.a. your CallTrax™ number, which allows us to track your incoming leads for you. Once we receive this number from our provider, we set up call forwarding and add it to our system.
Photo collection. We gather photos of your business found during our background check or submitted by you. We save these photos in a collection so we can use them when we build your LeadTrax™ site. If you don’t have any photos, we will find relevant stock photos for you.
Review collection. We search the Internet for reviews of your business. We record and save all of the positive reviews so we can display them on your LeadTrax site.
Google Maps setup. We find out whether you have an existing Google Maps listing. If you do, then we try to gain access to it by having you name us manager or by submitting a claim to Google.

And that’s just the initial setup! Now, your campaign moves on to the writing and assembly stage.

Keyword research. We do research to discover the most appropriate keywords for your site. This enables us to formulate the best approach for on-page SEO.
Fresh content creation. We write all of the copy for your LeadTrax site from scratch. No content is duplicated for new clients. You get totally unique content for your site.
Error proofing. Writing content from scratch means it has to be meticulously combed over for mistakes. We double- and triple-check your content to certify its accuracy.
Site building. Once your content has been crafted and carefully edited, we design and build your site based on our templates. Our templates leave plenty of room for customization, though, so it’s never a one-size-fits-all scenario.
Quality control. Before we launch your site, we check it one more time to make sure it looks great and represents your business accurately and positively.
Resource setup. After your LeadTrax site has been launched, we create Bing and Google accounts so we can set up Webmaster tools and resources for your campaign.
Social media setup. We also create social media pages for your business on Facebook, Twitter, About.me, and Foursquare.

This covers the first several weeks of your campaign. Then we move on to the trickiest part:

Online promotion. Over the next 60 days, we create and/or claim a series of online listings using the most up-to-date information about your business. However, this process is performed in multiple stages, spread out over weeks. (Find out why below.) The efficiency of this process is partially dictated by your cooperation in claiming and verifying listings.

Once this phase is complete, you’ve reached the end of what we call your “ramp-up period.” It usually takes about 90 days, or three months, to get here.

Why Does It Have to Be Done This Way?

We aren’t the only ones who take our time establishing a campaign. Any reputable Internet marketer knows a campaign can’t be launched overnight. Building the foundation for a long-lasting presence takes weeks and weeks and weeks of meticulous, strategic work.
Why do we thoroughly examine your company’s web presence before we even begin? Because we need to correct any past missteps and start your campaign on a solid footing. Otherwise, the actions of your campaign may contradict existing information and inadvertently work against you.
Why do we write all of your site content from scratch? Because we understand that your business is unique, and your content should represent you. Plus, copying content from other campaigns is a surefire way to get penalized by Google. Duplicate content is a huge no-no any way you look at it.
Why do we perform your online promotion in multiple stages? Because creating or updating all of your listings at once will lead Google to mark them as spam. We strategically spread out the creation of your listings week by week so your growing presence appears more organic. This nurtures your site’s rankings without risking penalties from Google.
In other words, we take our time because that’s the only way to do online advertising right.

How Come Other Companies Get It Done Faster?

It’s true—some companies can get your campaign up and running in a week. And after reading all about our setup process, you have to ask yourself, How is that possible?
There’s no simple answer to this, but it boils down to the fact that it’s easier to take shortcuts. Many Internet marketing companies sacrifice long-term presence for quick results. They set up your campaign as fast as they can, and then they forget about it.
But here’s the thing: You only get a super-fast turnaround when your web history hasn’t been thoroughly examined, when your content has been copied and pasted, when your business is promoted like spam, when your campaign is just another carbon copy.
So if an online advertising company is promising you unbelievable success within mere weeks, it’s because they’re cutting corners. Don’t take the bait.

A banner we proudly display in our office.

Common Social Media Pitfalls to Be Aware Of

Last Updated: January 27, 2016

Today, in 2016, the importance of social media for local businesses has been well established. We all know it’s a vital way for businesses to connect and engage with potential customers nearby. Ask any online advertiser, and they’ll tell you the same thing.
However, digital marketing strategist and author Roger Rogerson raises an incisive point:

“Everyone is telling you to use social media – but who’s telling you to be careful?”

In his recent article, “The Hidden Social Media Dangers for All Businesses,” Rogerson describes an exhaustive list of scenarios that could get a business into trouble on social media. From disgruntled former employees posting irate messages on your wall to an employee accidentally sharing top-secret company news, he proves there are countless social media pitfalls your company must watch out for.

Other scenarios include:

Dissatisfied customers publicly complaining about your business.
Poorly worded posts being misconstrued and causing backlash.
Competitors slandering your company and spreading rumors.
The local media getting wind of something (such as an erroneous post or a bad customer experience) through social media and escalating the story.
Employee(s) exhibiting unprofessional behavior.
Nasty Internet trolls calling you out publicly or even harassing you.

Unfortunately, the list goes on.
Rogerson’s article is not meant to intimidate or scare business owners away from engaging on social media, though. It’s simply a warning about the various social media pitfalls that can damage a company’s entire web presence.
What you should take away from this article is that your company’s social media accounts must be handled by an employee you trust and respect. This will minimize the damage that can be done internally. You should also take time to develop a company-wide policy for dealing with negative customers, competitors, and other individuals who attempt to provoke you or do you harm. This way, you’ll have a go-to response tactic in place so you can react as quickly as possible. Of course, every situation is unique, but it’s a good idea to at least have a guideline.
Check out Rogerson’s article over on Search Engine Watch for the complete details.

No, Fake Reviews Are Not Harmless

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

You keep hearing about how important it is to have customer reviews on your Google, Yelp, and Facebook listings. In fact, a majority of what you’ve heard has probably come straight from us. After all, we’re always harping on the fact that customer reviews are crucial because they improve your SEO and make you more appealing to prospective customers. So after reading about customer reviews for the umpteenth time, you start feeling a little insecure about the lack of reviews on your own listing. You think, Why don’t I just take matters into my own hands? And you decide to write some fake reviews yourself.

Writing fake customer reviews may seem harmless on the surface, but there can be some seriously negative consequences. When you post fake reviews—whether on your own listing or another company’s—it’s not a matter of if you’ll get caught, but when. Google and other review sites know your IP address and will inevitably connect you to the fake review.
However, it’s true that the circumstances surrounding fake reviews can vary, and so will the penalties for getting caught. In this post, we’ll explain the three major types of fake customer reviews and their typical consequences. Then, we’ll give you some tips on how to get real customer reviews the honest way, instead.

The Unintentional Fake Review

Sometimes, a business owner unwittingly posts on their own Google or Yelp listing using their own username. This usually happens when a business owner intended to post a review anonymously (under the pretense of a customer) but forgot that they were signed in to their account.
With this type of fake review, the potential damage is minimal because it was less of a deception and more of a mistake. Most customers will notice that the review came from the owner of the business and ignore it. Eventually, Google or Yelp might delete it.

The Anonymous, Self-Promotional Review

In this type of fake review, a business owner poses as a customer on their own listing by writing a review anonymously or by creating a new account for a fictional person. These reviews are always positive, with the intention of boosting that business’s overall ratings. If you don’t get caught, this kind of review could give you a small boost.
But this is where we remind you that Google will catch you. It knows your IP address. It will easily notice if a post appears on your listing from your own computer. When you’re caught, your listing will be suspended temporarily and your business will be penalized in the search rankings. And if you continue this behavior once your penalty is lifted, Google could actually ban you completely. Is it really worth the risk?

The Vengeful Fake Review

The final, and most damaging, type of fake review involves the business owner posing as a customer on another business’s listing. These reviews are overwhelmingly negative, and they’re usually done to a direct competitor as a way to bring down their ratings.
These reviews have the harshest penalties because their intent is purely malicious. If Google catches you, your listing could be banned, and you could be kept from ever leaving reviews on Google again. And since there’s no direct benefit to your business (it only hurts another business), this type of review is not worth the backlash, plain and simple.

Get Reviews the Honest Way

Why go through the trouble of writing fake customer reviews and risking serious penalties when you can get real ones, instead? It takes a little more effort upfront to get real customer reviews, but they’ll make your business’s listings much more stable and appealing in the long run. Here are some ideas:

If you’ve done any work for family or friends in the past, ask them to leave you a review. They’ll be happy to help you out. Just make sure they don’t write their reviews from the same house! Reviews coming from the same IP address will be flagged.
Target any customers who have a Gmail address. It’s super fast and easy for Gmail users to leave reviews on your Google listing because they’ll already be logged in to their account. To make it as easy as possible, provide them with a direct link and brief instructions on how to post a review.
Use a professional service that keeps track of your customers and calls or e-mails them to ask for reviews on your behalf. Although we do not endorse any specific company, we know that some of our clients use Customer Lobby with good results.
Leverage the on-page feedback feature available from Prospect Genius. Customers can use this to leave a review right on your site, and then (if the review is positive) they’ll be given links to your Facebook and Google listings so they can spread their reviews even further. This feature is nice and simple because it’s just a link on your LeadTrax™ site—it doesn’t require customers to have an existing account.
Check out more helpful tips for getting the most customer reviews possible in our blog post, “Make Your Presence Known: Get More Customer Reviews Online.”

Writing fake customer reviews, no matter what the circumstances, is never worth the risk of penalization or suspension. Instead, use the tips outlined above to get more customer reviews that are actually honest and helpful. You’ll thank yourself for the effort!
As always, don’t hesitate to contact Prospect Genius with any questions.

A Hands-Off Campaign Means Cookie-Cutter Advertising

Last Updated: November 13, 2015

You hire an online advertising company because you don’t want to do all the work yourself. We get it. But here’s the thing: Any worthwhile campaign is going to require a mild amount of effort on your part. Unless you want drop-you-in-a-directory, cookie-cutter advertising, you can’t be completely hands off when it comes to your campaign. You have to have some involvement to make sure everything that’s being put out there about your business is correct and that your advertising will attract the right customers. Otherwise, you’ll be misrepresented online and receive calls for services you don’t even offer. That’s a big waste of your time and money.
You’re paying your advertiser to do a specific job. Your participation will allow them to do that job with much greater success.

Advertising Campaigns Are Like Home Renovations

If you hired a contractor to renovate your kitchen, you wouldn’t expect them to do all the work without any of your input, would you? No. Instead, you have to tell the contractor exactly what you want. You must select the kitchen tile and cabinet styles, pick out the colors and materials, and stay in constant contact with the contractor team in case they run into a problem or have a question. If you don’t do any of this, your contractor won’t have any guidance and you won’t get the results you want. Plain and simple.
The same goes for your online advertising campaign. Your advertiser requires a few hours of your time at the beginning of your campaign in order to collect raw information about your business. This information ranges from company contact details to thorough descriptions of the services you offer. Your advertiser will only need to interview you at the start of your campaign, so you won’t have to be hands on forever. (That being said, you should always make yourself available to answer any questions your advertiser might have down the road.)
So, what does your advertiser need from you, exactly?

Answer Your Phone When Your Advertiser Calls

If your advertiser is calling you, it’s because they have a question about your business. Most likely, they need to clarify a couple of details for your website’s content or Google listing so they can make certain everything is correct. Often, if a major detail is unclear or unknown, they won’t be able to go forward with that stage of your campaign until it’s resolved. By picking up the phone and answering your advertiser’s questions promptly, you’ll not only be making their job easier, but you’ll also be helping your own campaign.

Give Us Some Personality With Photos

You need to set your company apart from local competitors. The best way to do that is to show off what makes you unique. When your advertiser interviews you, they’ll ask you about things like your professional experience, company values, and any other noteworthy qualifications that make you stand out. However, the quickest way to stand out to prospective customers is to have pictures of yourself and/or your team front-and-center on your website.
With your smartphone, it’s super easy to take good-quality pictures and submit them to your advertising provider. Even if it’s as simple as you wearing a t-shirt with your company name and standing in front of your truck, it will allow customers to put a face to your name. Plus, photos with real-life people in them (NOT stock photos) make your company look much more legitimate and trustworthy.
Bonus points if you have a memorable company logo!

Send in Customer Reviews

Your advertiser will want to add customer reviews to your site in order to show off your company in the best possible light. If you’ve received customer feedback—whether through e-mail, Facebook, Google, etc.—you should forward it to your advertiser. You should also encourage your customers to leave reviews whenever possible.

Speak Up If There Is a Problem

You can’t expect your online advertising provider to be psychic or all knowing. If you’ve noticed a problem with any aspect of your campaign, tell your advertiser immediately.
A common example is when a customer leaves a negative review on one of your pages or listings. Your advertiser isn’t constantly monitoring your listings’ reviews, so it’s up to you to let them know when an unfavorable one pops up. While your advertiser won’t be qualified to respond on your behalf (because they don’t know the details of the job or transaction and they aren’t the spokesperson for your company), you should consult with them and ask for advice on how to proceed with a professional response.

Give Us Access to Your Listings

If you’re going to pay your advertiser to advertise for you, you might as well go all in and let them advertise all the way. To do this, however, they need access to your Google My Business profile and other listings. That means you need to pass along your verification PINs as soon as you receive them. If you have any other existing listings or profiles, you’ll need to trust your advertiser with your log-in info for those sites. (And if you don’t trust them, why did you hire them?) Sharing log-in info can be uncomfortable in this day and age, but it’s the only way your advertiser will be able to ensure consistency and accuracy across all platforms.
As we know, consistent, accurate information is essential; bad things happen when information isn’t matching. Read these blog posts for more details on the consequences of not having a singular manager of your listings: “For SEO Companies, Two’s a Crowd” and “Hand Over Your Google+ Local Listing to a Pro.”

Your Participation Is Vital to Success

If you don’t offer at least a small degree of participation, then you can expect close to zero customization. As a result, you’ll be stuck with bland site copy, phony stock art, and an altogether boring and inaccurate campaign. And if any online advertising provider is promising a cheap, totally hands-off campaign, that’s what you’ll get. However, if you spend a little extra time and money, you’ll get a personalized campaign that accurately and effectively showcases your company. You’ll get more valuable leads seeking the services you actually want to perform, which means you won’t waste your time or energy on bogus ones. It’s 100% worth the small investment.

11 Simple Ways to Customize Your Online Advertising Campaign

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Our lead generation program allows you to be as involved as you want, an aspect that appeals to many of our clients. If you prefer to be hands off and let us take care of all the details, that’s great. However, there are many clients who like to be more interactive with their campaigns. By making their own contributions and adding touches of their unique personalities to their sites, they feel more invested in their campaigns and forge a stronger connection with their own customers.

Thankfully, it’s not only easy to add custom flourishes to your online advertising campaign—it’s also inexpensive.

DIY Freebies

These do-it-yourself options are free through the Client Portal.

Add a photo gallery. Through the Client Portal, you can manage a photo gallery by uploading your own original photos. All you have to do is ask us to enable the photo gallery tab on your LeadTrax™ site, and then you can go to town! The gallery can focus on anything you want: recently completed work, before-and-after shots, items for sale, or even your team members. People love pictures, and having a photo gallery that showcases your talent or brand is a great way to take advantage of that.
Add a “For Sale” tab. Operating the same way as the photo gallery, this tab allows you to upload your own pictures and captions for items that you’re selling (once we’ve enabled it on your site). This has been very popular with appliance repair companies that sell refurbished appliances. Take a look at the “For Sale” tab at A B Appliance Services, for example.
Keep your own blog. Every new LeadTrax site comes with a fully functional blog just waiting to be filled with content. We write a couple of initial posts for you following your site launch, but after that, you can feel free to update your blog as much as you want. As long as you have a topic that your audience wants to read about, you can write your heart out. An up-to-date, informative blog proves to your prospects that you’re engaged and knowledgeable.

Complimentary Add-Ons

Our professionals will take care of these for you free of charge. Simply call or e-mail us with your specific requests, and we’ll do all the work!

Add unique tabs for extra content. This is a great option for business owners who want to include a separate “About Us” page, but it can work for almost any extra content you wish to include. You can either submit your own, original content for us to add, or our professional writers can do the job for you. Take a look at the “About Us” page for Mary Ellen Flaherty & Brendan Flaherty Realtors as an example. You may also be inspired by Yocum Shutters and Blinds, who used this tab to showcase their “Best of West Chester” award.
Add custom e-mail/service request forms. Many business owners find that their customers like to submit e-mails and service requests right from their websites, which is why we include an “E-mail Us” link as a standard feature on all of our LeadTrax sites. However, some businesses find it handy to have custom content in their e-mail forms so they can ensure they get all of the necessary information from their prospects right up front. Just tell us about the specific fields or questions you’d like to include, and we’ll create a custom form for you. For instance, we created a custom e-mail form for Acello Tax Resolution Group that asks prospective customers to provide details about their tax problems. This gives the tax consultants a baseline understanding of the case, making life easier for both the business owner and the customer.
Add a “Leave Us a Review!” button. As we’ve covered extensively, customer reviews are a crucial part of your online presence. When you have us add this button to your site, it will be more convenient for past customers to click on it and submit a quick review of your business. Then, the feature will automatically upload the positive reviews straight to your Google+ listing.

Low-Cost Additions

These options require the hands of our professionals, but they’re well worth the minor investment.

Upgrade your template. If you’ve been with us for a few years, then you might be sick of looking at the same ol’ layout all the time. Or you might want a more updated look to keep up with the times. Whatever the reason, if you’re interested in upgrading your LeadTrax site template, just let us know! Right now, we have several brand-new templates hot off the presses.
Request brand pages. If you work in an industry like appliance repair, you might find that customers are often seeking a repairman who specializes in specific brands. You can easily address this by having us write a brief, targeted page for any brand you wish to highlight. Morris County Appliance Repair, for example, chose to add pages for quite a few of its most popular appliance brands.
Request a press release. Has something newsworthy recently happened with your company? Why not announce it? We can write a press release on your behalf and distribute it to boost your SEO. At the same time, you’ll have a tangible news item that you can share with all of your friends and fans on social media.
Use MapTrax™. MapTrax is a tool that monitors your Google listing for you. It will alert you if the content or status of your listing changes so you can be aware of any red flags. MapTrax saves you from having to manually check your listing daily, which means you can focus your time and energy elsewhere.
Use AdTrax™. AdTrax allows you to laser-focus the way you track your campaign. Instead of giving you a broad picture of how many leads your campaign is generating per month, AdTrax lets you see how your site is ranking on Google for specific keywords of your choosing. This way, you can make sure you’re attracting your ideal audience and make adjustments as you see fit.

Take the First Step

Your online advertising campaign won’t customize itself! Why not browse the Client Portal and try out some of those free tools yourself? If you’re having trouble with the technology or you need some guidance, don’t hesitate to call your campaign coordinator for help. That’s what we’re here for! Similarly, if a few of the paid options appeal to you but you can’t decide which one is best, feel free to discuss them with us. We’ll help you figure out how to get the best value for your campaign.
The bottom line is, we’re here as a resource for you. However you decide to proceed, let us in on the conversation so we can help you make the wisest decision possible. Good luck!

Prospect Genius

A Hands-Off Campaign Means Cookie-Cutter Advertising

Advertising Campaigns Are Like Home Renovations

Answer Your Phone When Your Advertiser Calls

Give Us Some Personality With Photos

Send in Customer Reviews

Speak Up If There Is a Problem

Give Us Access to Your Listings

Your Participation Is Vital to Success

Contact Us

Business Hours

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What Drives Us?

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