newsletter – Page 17

How Having a Large Number of Customer Reviews Can Save Your Business

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

At Prospect Genius, we’re pushing to improve our own web presence through increased customer reviews and social media activity. As we embark on this long-term project, we thought it would be helpful to illustrate why it’s so important for your company to have a large pool of customer reviews online.
In fact, customer reviews might be what save your business one day. Here’s how.

A Lot of Good Outweighs the Bad

Negative reviews are like vinegar. If a salad dressing or cleaning solution had too much vinegar, what would you do? You would dilute it. Diluting the solution doesn’t change the amount of vinegar, but it does change the solution’s overall composition so that the bite isn’t as strong. The same logic applies to your company’s reviews: While you can’t extract a negative review from your listing, you can flood your listing with so many other customer reviews that a negative one has very little effect.
If you can acquire a large volume of customer reviews before a negative one hits, that’s even better.
Take Conner & Sons Repair, one of our esteemed clients, for example. Serving the Detroit area, Conner & Sons has an impressive Google+ Local listing with a rating of 4.8/5.0 stars from 29 reviews. Given that the overwhelming majority of its reviews are 5 stars, one or two negative reviews read like the flukes that they are. Without 27 or 28 other positive reviews surrounding them, those negative reviews would carry more weight in the eyes of prospective customers.
Note: The owner of Conner & Sons Repair actually responds to one of the negative reviews directly, which highlights the company’s attentiveness and commitment to customer service. Responding to negative reviews is actually a very smart strategy. Read more about it in our previous post, “Keep Calm and Carry On: How to Respond to a Negative Review.”

Boost Search Engine Rankings

Reviews are important as more than just a reputation defense strategy, however. They also pack a super SEO punch.
According to Jayson DeMers, a contributing writer at Forbes, “Regular reviews are important both in terms of your organic search rankings and new customer acquisition. Businesses who have frequent reviews are seen positively by Google and by potential customers. Thus, a herd of raving customers is good for both sales and SEO.”
In the same article, “Your Guide To Customer Reviews For Organic Search Rankings In 2014,” DeMers also adds that Google’s algorithms weigh recent reviews more heavily than older ones. He even suggests that the nature of customer reviews may soon matter, as well: “Google can measure whether a review is positive or negative. While they’re not currently penalizing businesses for poor reviews, they may in future algorithm changes.”
In fact, Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s web spam team, recently hinted at a future algorithm update that might reward merchants with positive reviews and penalize those with negative ones. In Danny Sullivan’s coverage of Cutts’s SXSW conference panel, Sullivan quotes Cutts: “We have a potential launch later this year, maybe a little bit sooner, looking at the quality of merchants and whether we can do a better job on that, because we don’t want low quality experience merchants to be ranking in the search results.”

Increase Your Reviews

We’ve written extensively on this topic before, but here are the basic ideas you’ll want to keep in mind:

Make it as easy as possible for customers to leave reviews.
Ask for reviews directly (particularly from loyal, repeat customers).
Act quickly, preferably as soon as your service is completed.

For more in-depth instructions, read our full post, “Make Your Presence Known: Get More Customer Reviews Online.”

The Takeaway

Having a solid reputation with your customers is great, but it isn’t going to help bring in new business unless prospects can also find you online. Collecting more customer reviews will make your listings more visible to those who are searching for your services. And for your future prosperity, you’ll want to make sure those reviews are as positive as possible. With an update to Google’s algorithms looming in the near future, you’ll want to take action sooner than later.

Have You Checked Out the Client Portal Lately?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

If you haven’t been utilizing the Prospect Genius Client Portal, now’s a great time to start!
Why? Because we just rolled out a whole new look for the Portal! We gave it a top-to-bottom makeover and couldn’t be more pleased with the final product. Boasting a sleek design, a user-friendly layout, and some brand-new features to boot, the Portal is better than ever!
If you haven’t yet, check it out now at https://portal.prospectgenius.com/portal/.
In honor of our new and improved Portal, let’s review some of its most useful features and how you can utilize them to your advantage.

What’s Always Been There

While the overhaul of the Portal is completely fresh, we retained all of the features you’ve grown to love. If you leverage these DIY, hands-on features as often as possible, you’ll enjoy a much greater ROI.
As always, with the Client Portal, you can:

Check your campaign on the go. Don’t wait until you’re back at home or the office: The mobile version is super easy to use!
Change your call routing to a different number. This only works for basic routing setups. (If you have custom routing, call Customer Service.)
View all of your reports, including call logs, e-mail logs, and traffic summaries. PPC reports are also available here!
Upload photos, which can be added to your photo gallery or submitted with a note stating which page you’d like them to be on.
Add blog posts. This will keep your site content fresh (which is valuable for SEO) and add a personal touch for your customers to enjoy.

These features are the cornerstone of the Portal, and they have the potential to transform the way you actively participate in your campaign. Do yourself and your business a favor by taking advantage of them!

What’s Brand New

With the launch of the new Portal come a few new functions, as well. These were designed to supplement existing features and ultimately help you get even more out of your campaign.
Now, you can:

View PPC calls separately from your organic calls, enabling you to more accurately track the performance of each campaign.
Identify the nature of each call on your call log. This way, you can look back and immediately see which calls came from new customers, which calls led to booked jobs, and which calls were irrelevant or from solicitors. This helps you organize your leads more effectively.
Listen to calls on the go with our new audio player. It still works on desktop computers, but now our audio player offers improved functionality for mobile devices.

We implemented these improvements as part of our commitment to make it easy and convenient to participate in your own campaign as much as possible.

Do Your Part With the Portal

Remember: A successful online advertising campaign requires both of us to do our parts. We’ll take care of promoting your business’s contact information far and wide, but there’s plenty that you can do from the Portal to supplement those efforts. With your help, we’ll take your campaign to the next level.
So visit the Portal today and get started!

Hand Over Your Google+ Local Listing to a Pro

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

One of the great things about the Internet’s advancements is that average people have a lot more autonomy than they used to when it comes to handling difficult tasks. Various DIY repair guides, YouTube tutorials, and customized shopping options make everything easier to do on your own—whether it’s cleaning an A/C filter or filing taxes.
However, there are some tasks that are best left to the experts, no matter how many online resources you skim over. You probably shouldn’t attempt to install your own water heater or pave your own driveway, for example. Similarly, you shouldn’t attempt to perform high-level online advertising tasks on your own.
Optimizing your Google+ Local listing is one such task. It may seem straightforward at first glance, but the platform actually has quite a few nuances that are only apparent to experienced professionals.
With Google’s new dashboard setup, many business owners have the option of adding a second account administrator. Here’s why you should consider handing over primary administrator status to an online advertising professional, whether you already work with one or you’ve yet to sign up.

Two Lawyers and a Judge

It’s wiser to have a sole account administrator rather than two, equally active administrators because maintaining consistent, accurate information is crucial. You’ll need to take extra precautions to ensure there are no conflicts between admins.
Why? Think of two account administrators as two separate lawyers. Think of Google as the judge. The two lawyers are representing your “case” (i.e. your business’s listing). If they aren’t on the same page and, instead, are giving conflicting facts to the judge, then your case will crumble. Translated to our online advertising scenario, your listing will lose relevance and could even be suspended if Google deems your company’s information wrong. For that reason, it’s best to hand over administrator access to your online marketer instead of trying to have joint control over your listing.
Moreover, if you’re paying for professional online advertising services, it’s wiser to let your money work for you. You’ve made an investment in an online advertising company, so why not facilitate that company’s job to the best of your abilities? Rather than complicating matters by actively interfering with your own listings, you’re better off relinquishing control and letting your hired specialist do the work.
For more extensive coverage of what happens when more than one party tries to work on the same online advertising campaign, read our previous post, “For SEO Companies, Two’s a Crowd.”

Keeping Up With Google’s Guidelines

Not only do you want to make sure there’s one consistent story throughout your online advertising campaign, but you also want to make sure your listing is always in compliance with Google’s guidelines. Unfortunately, staying in compliance with Google’s guidelines isn’t as simple as reading through them once and remembering the important points.
In fact, Google amends its guidelines almost as frequently as it updates its algorithms. If you want your Google+ Local listing to remain in good standing, then you’ll need to stay on top of the many guideline changes—most of which happen overnight, without warning.
Here’s a recent example of what we’re talking about: Google used to push business owners to gather customer reviews as a way to boost their listings’ relevance. Then one day, without notice, they changed their policy to explicitly forbid soliciting customer reviews. If you were caught requesting reviews from past customers, you were suddenly breaking the very same rule you thought you were following.
This is where an Internet marketing professional comes in handy. It’s our job to keep a watchful eye over your company’s Google+ Local listing and to constantly update our knowledge of Google’s best practices. Most small business owners don’t have the time or resources to do this on their own.

We See Things You Don’t

An Internet marketing professional knows what works and what doesn’t when it comes to Google+ Local listings. That’s because we see literally thousands of listings and are trained to identify various patterns and trends. By comparison, when the only listing you manage is your own, you’re limited to just one data point. This makes it impossible to spot a trend until your listing is actually affected by one. It’s a good idea for business owners to let experienced online advertisers handle their Google+ Local listings if for no other reason than the fact that a professional online advertiser has much more data to work with and knows which warning signs to look for.
The same rule applies to most other skilled trades. For example, the more car inspections a mechanic performs, the better he or she will get at identifying red flags. Likewise, HVAC contractors are always the best resource for troubleshooting furnaces because, through repetition, they’ve learned how to connect the dots between certain symptoms.
To put it simply, practice makes perfect—and you can trust that your online advertising professional has had a lot of practice.

Stick to Your Strengths

Every company specializes in a niche skill. Let flooring contractors do the tile installation, let appliance repairmen fix broken refrigerators, and let online advertisers handle Google+ Local listings.
For more information on this matter, please don’t hesitate to contact us! A Prospect Genius representative will be happy to help you get the most out of your online advertising.

Spring Savings: Pay Less, Get More

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Refer Clients and Save Big

Did you know that there’s a simple, easy way to substantially cut your monthly online advertising bill?
Countless clients have done it and continue to enjoy big savings each month. All you have to do is refer a few of your friends to us! By giving us the names and phone numbers of fellow business owners who you think might be interested in signing up for our lead generation program, you can save $10 per month on your own bill! While most companies will offer a one-time discount for referrals, we’re offering a generous $10 off every month for the rest of your campaign.*

Keep reading to learn about the client referral process and how you can use it to your advantage.

How Does It Work?

Once you’ve referred other business owners to us, we’ll take it from there. We’ll give them a call to see if they’re interested in our online advertising services, and if they decide to sign up for our Core program, you will be eligible for a discount of $10 per month.
You may refer multiple clients and accumulate discounts (so long as your final monthly bill does not go below $9 per month). Moreover, your referred clients do not have to be in the same town or industry as you. We’re not asking you to help out your competitors!
After you receive the credit on your invoice, you can choose to keep your savings in your pocket or use the savings to add more features to your campaign.

A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned…

In today’s economy, every dollar saved makes a difference. If you refer a handful of clients and save $30-$40 per month, for example, that difference could be huge! Whether you set that money aside for a rainy day or you spend it on fun activities with your family, extra savings can make life a lot easier.

Or You Can Put It to Good Use!

Your other option is to put those savings toward an add-on feature or two. These features will enhance your existing campaign by providing you with extra tracking capabilities, improved site appearance, increased directory reach, and other great benefits.
Here are just a few of the smaller add-on features we offer that you might consider leveraging with your new savings:

Ad Blast package: We post ads for your company on online classifieds outlets to reach nearby residents directly.
AdTrax™: This is a tracking feature that shows you how your website is ranking for specific keywords.
MapTrax™: This is a tool that monitors your Google+ Local page and alerts you of any issues or changes.
Press release writing and syndication package: We will write about a newsworthy event related to your company and syndicate that press release to boost the SEO value of your company’s name.
Template upgrades: We will switch your LeadTrax™ site to a different template and tweak all of the code, photos, and layout so the content will look even better.
Extra CallTrax™ numbers: Add an extra CallTrax number if you want to have another phone line.
E-mail-to-phone setup: This automated service sends e-mail leads to your phone. It reads the message to you three times and sends a follow-up text message with the caller’s information.
Additional LeadTrax site pages: If you want to add a new service offering, we will write a new page for your site.

Client referrals take very little effort on your part, but the rewards are significant. Whether you hold on to your savings or invest them in an additional feature, you’ll certainly be glad you sent another business to our door.

It’s a No-Brainer

When you refer a new client to us, we all win: A deserving business owner gets access to our exclusive lead generation services, you enjoy a monthly discount, and Prospect Genius gets to work with a brand-new client.
Contact your campaign coordinator or account manager for further details about product pricing and referral procedures!

* Client referral discount remains in effect as long as both you and the referred client remain enrolled in the Prospect Genius Core program.

When Pay-Per-Click Becomes Pay-Per-Search

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

We have a lot of clients who like to periodically search for their business on Google. Understandably, they’re curious as to how their campaign is performing and, if they’re pay-per-click clients, they want to see how their sponsored ads look on the search results page. But here’s the thing: Frequently googling your company can actually sabotage your campaign.
This is especially true for companies enrolled in any type of pay-per-click advertising, particularly one using Google AdWords. Here’s why.

Impressions, Clicks, and Quality Scores

The performance of your ad largely depends on the ratio of passive views to active clicks. An inflated number of views means an inflated cost per click. But why?
As we’ve discussed previously, AdWords uses a Quality Score system to ultimately determine the cost that a given account will have to pay per click of ads and keywords. Since Google only wants to endorse “quality” content, a low Quality Score means you’ll have to pay a much higher cost per click if you want your ads to be displayed.
An account’s overall Quality Score is highly influenced by click-through rate (CTR) and relevance. A low CTR or lack of relevance will significantly decrease your overall Quality Score. While it’s easy to achieve relevance—simply target ads by keyword and location—it’s a little more challenging to boost an ad’s CTR.
CTR is calculated by comparing the number of “impressions” (how many times the ad appears) versus the number of “clicks” (how many times a viewer actually clicks on the ad). So when you’re continually googling your company’s name and search terms to check out your sponsored advertisement, you’re spiking the number of impressions without adding to the number of clicks. In effect, you’re lowering the CTR of your own ad.
Unfortunately, this effect doesn’t stay exclusive to the particular ad or ad group in question. If you have multiple cases of low CTRs, then your whole AdWords account will ultimately be downgraded. As PPCHero explains, “If you have a lot of low CTR ads in your ad groups, they could be contributing to a low Quality Score since AdWords considers all of your ads when calculating your scores.”
And, as we’ve covered, a low overall Quality Score means higher costs for you. In a nutshell: By frequently googling your company, you’re driving up your own PPC costs.

Don’t Learn the Hard Way

Case in point: We’ve had numerous clients in the past who did serious damage to their PPC campaigns just by searching Google for their company’s ads too frequently. One client in particular actually spiked their cost per click from $22 to $31!
We understand the temptation to see how your campaign is performing, but you’re actively holding it back by constantly turning to Google’s search bar. Don’t make the same mistake that our client made. Don’t be an active participant in the downfall of your own PPC campaign.

Seek an Alternative to Googling

We wouldn’t tell you to stop googling yourself without having a viable solution for you.
If the reason that you’re always typing your name into Google’s search bar is that you want to track your campaign’s performance, the solution is simple: Find an online advertising company that offers tracking features as part of their program. At Prospect Genius, all of our clients have unfettered access to all of their account’s call logs, leads, and other reports so they can view their campaign’s progress right from the Client Portal—without having to resort to Google.
If you already have access to these types of features but can’t seem to kick the habit in moments of weakness, just remind yourself of all the damage you’re doing with every search. It won’t be easy at first, especially when boredom or curiosity takes over, but it will be well worth the sacrifice.
For further guidance, call Prospect Genius today!

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