online advertising

Page One Guarantee? No, Thanks.

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

“We’ll put your website on the first page of Google!”
“Guaranteed page-one rankings!”
“First-page placement guaranteed!”
You’ve heard it all before.
If you search Google for SEO services, it won’t take long for you to find a slew of SEO companies making these types of guarantees. In fact, these guarantees are so pervasive, you could easily conclude that they’re the basis of most companies’ business plans. However, when it comes down to it, these companies are guaranteeing something that is 100% out of their control. Sure, there are a handful of tricks and paid programs (e.g. AdWords, pay-per-click) that will automatically boost a website’s rankings, but there are too many factors at play for anyone to predict a certain outcome with any accuracy. Yet, that doesn’t stop countless SEO companies and local online marketers from making these empty promises time and time again.

Here’s why you should always be wary of a page-one guarantee.

Magic Cures Don’t Exist in the World of SEO

Online marketers are like doctors. Does that sound like a stretch? Maybe. After all, marketers aren’t required to endure eight years of rigorous medical training and they certainly don’t save lives on a regular basis. But they’re similar to doctors in one fundamental way: They prescribe treatments but cannot guarantee a cure.
There are a couple of reasons for this. First…

The Solution Relies Heavily on Your Participation

Think about the last time you visited the doctor’s office. Did you expect a guarantee that you would be restored to full health by the time you left? No, of course not. No doctor is all powerful, and the success of the treatment relies heavily on your earnest participation in it. You must be 100% honest about your medical history and your symptoms before the doctor can make any diagnosis.

In that same vein, an online marketer must get the full picture of your web presence and history before devising any sort of SEO plan. If you were experiencing chest pains, wouldn’t you tell the doctor about your heart condition? By the same logic, if you’re having trouble ranking on Google, then you should notify your online marketer about any previous missteps, particularly any penalties or suspensions that you’ve been slapped with. These types of run-ins with Google will certainly affect your website’s rankings, and no SEO specialist is able to counteract them—whether they’ve made a guarantee or not. When it comes to SEO, Google’s word is law.

It Also Demands Time

But let’s say that you don’t have any strikes against you. If your SEO specialist checks out your website and decides that top-to-bottom revisions are necessary to increase your content’s relevance and readability—which is usually what happens—you’ll still be left with a sizable waiting period before your site will show any progress in the rankings. For most small business websites, changes aren’t detected by Google for 30 to 60 days. Some changes to your website or to directory listings can even take 120 days or more to be detected!

Once changes have been made, your specialist will have to wait until they take shape before any outcome can be determined. From there, you’ll be able to take the next steps. Medical treatments work the same way: A doctor assesses your ailment, provides you with medicine, and then waits to see if the problem clears up. If that rash or cough goes away, great. If not, then the doctor will need to adjust the diagnosis and start treatment again. Likewise, the ideal situation is that your online marketer improves your Google ranking within those first 60 days; however, if the original plan doesn’t work, then your SEO professional will need to reassess your keywords, targeted search terms, accuracy of information, and other factors before moving forward.
In other words, there are many moving parts that all contribute to your search engine rankings, and many of them are completely hidden to anyone outside of Google and Bing themselves. This means that there is always an element of trial and error in SEO.

Guarantees Are Ambiguous

When an online marketer guarantees page-one rankings for your website, several questions should come to mind:

For which search terms?
In what time frame?
Who is performing the search?
- Is this person logged in to a Google account?
- Does his/her IP address have an extensive search history?
Will this search be conducted on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, AOL, Ask.com, Best of the Web, or another minor search engine?
Does “page one” refer to maps, pay-per-click, or organic results?

Online marketers who have no qualms about making bogus guarantees also have no problem leaving the details as vague as possible. Your website might show up on page one after their IP address is associated with countless searches for the same keywords. The keywords that you rank highly for might be super specific and not very valuable. You might have to pay additional exorbitant fees for clicks or AdWords. Or they might deliver first-page rankings, but on some third-rate search engine that means nothing for your actual web presence.
Speaking of things that mean nothing…

Rankings Aren’t As Important As They’d Have You Think

When it comes down to it, what are you really spending all that money on an online marketer for? Is it so that you can see your company’s website jump to the top of a very narrow search results page? Or is it so that you can ultimately generate more leads, find more business, and increase your revenue? As business owners ourselves, we’re betting it’s the latter.
If your goal is to get more prospective customers to call your business and book services, then it won’t help you to pour all of your time and money into getting a first-page ranking while ignoring every other platform out there. You need to find an online marketer who will utilize popular business directories like Yelp and Angie’s List and promote your company all over social media, namely Facebook and Twitter.

SEO companies that understand just how much goes into effective lead generation will never guarantee a first-page ranking for your business. It would be a guarantee of something outside of their control, and it’s dishonest to pretend otherwise.

Reflecting on 2012 and Making Changes for 2013

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

As a business owner, it’s always a good idea to evaluate how things are going in order to make the necessary changes. After all, genuine improvement can only be achieved once you’ve honestly reflected on your strengths and weaknesses. If you’re serious about making 2013 your company’s best year yet, then thoroughly assessing the successes and shortcomings of your business is an essential step. We do it often here at Prospect Genius and encourage you to as well!
Since it is the year 2013, and considering that you’re already checking out our niche blog, we’re going to assume that you’re employing some sort of Internet marketing or lead generation program for your company. If, upon reflection, you’re wondering what you could do to strengthen your company’s online advertising campaign, then you’ll want to read this short checklist that can help you take your lead generation campaign to the next level.

Checklist

Have you been diligent about sending in your Google, Bing, and Yahoo! PINs as soon as your SEO company has requested them? Having your business displayed on these three major search engines is vital to your online success, so it’s important to provide your SEO company with these PINs promptly.
Have you been controlling the quality of your site’s images? Photos of you and your employees on the job work best. Pictures of your work vehicles or office are great, too! Images help convert site visitors into customers, so they can make a world of difference. And remember: grainy or low-contrast pictures do not bode well for the quality of work that you promise to deliver to prospective customers.
Have you written any blog posts? Blog posts help keep your site fresh and ranking well with Google. Having a blog attached to your site is also a great way to promote savings and deals or talk about an interesting job you are working on.
Have you leveraged your company’s newsworthy events to their best advantage? If your business has hired a new employee or moved offices, for example, let your SEO company know so they can put out a press release. Press releases are a great way to promote your company online!
Last, but certainly not least, are you answering your phone? If you aren’t answering your calls in a timely manner, no amount of promotion will help your business. It’s crucial that you answer the phone and return calls quickly! If, for some reason, you can’t get to the phone at a certain time or on a certain day of the week, ask about the advanced call routing available from Prospect Genius. It redirects missed calls to an employee or other number (like your cell phone, perhaps). There’s no cost to set it up, and there’s a great chance it will improve your bottom line!

To a Successful 2013!

After reviewing the above checklist, if it dawns on you that you haven’t been as involved in your online advertising campaign as you could be, then it’s time to make some changes. If you’ve been doing all of the above but you’re still having a tough time keeping in touch with your SEO company’s campaign coordinators, then it’s time to make some even bigger changes. Ditch your ineffective marketing team and call Prospect Genius to discuss how our comprehensive lead generation program can help you improve your company in 2013 and beyond.
Our success depends on your business’s success, so you can trust that we are always working hard to bring you our best work!

A New Look for Your Site!

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Looking to get the absolute most out of your lead generation campaign with Prospect Genius? Then upgrade to our new LeadTrax™ site template, Bubbles.
The new template is a great choice for:

An exciting new layout
Dynamic color choices
A large header photo box, perfect for showing off your logo, company vehicle, and more

A new look can actually provide your campaign with a boost. That’s because with a newer, more exciting style, the better chance you have of getting site visitors to call!
In short, just by upgrading to the Bubbles template, you may be able to convert more site visitors into paying customers!

Same Great Site Features

Switching to the Bubbles template means you get an engaging new look, without losing a single one of the great features your site already has. The blog, the photo gallery, advanced call routing, and more are all here to stay!
It’s important to keep adding pictures and updating your blog, because the more involved you are with your campaign, the more successful it will be! Good photos, particularly, can make all the difference. As a dynamic and attractive feature on your LeadTrax site, eye-catching images can help you set yourself apart from the competition.
The same goes for your blog. Frequent posts can help ensure that your business stands out from the crowd. Blog posts can be anything from great pictures to industry tips and tricks to specials you’re offering. In fact, if you’re running a holiday discount or promotion, don’t forget to mention it on your blog!

Check Out the New Look

Want to see the Bubbles template in action before you commit to the switch? Visit the sites below to see how this engaging template looks:

If you’re sold on the Bubbles template, just contact your sales manager or campaign coordinator to upgrade today. We’re here to help!

Make Your Online Advertising Campaign More Successful!

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Here at PG, our clients often ask us how they can help make their online advertising campaigns more successful, without spending any more money.
It may sound like an impossible request, but there’s actually a quick and easy solution to boost your online advertising for free: blog!
At PG, we offer all of our clients access to a free blogging feature built right into their LeadTrax™ site. This feature can be an extremely effective marketing tool, but only if you use it. It’s a simple way to promote your company to potential customers and to give your ranking on Google a leg up.

5 Great Reasons to Blog Today

You can show off your work! A blog is an ideal place to put your work on display. Show before and after pictures, brag on your team with action shots, or just introduce yourself through a head shot or vehicle picture. Potential customers love to see photos of your work as well as who you are. In fact, great photos could even be the push needed to encourage them to choose you over a competitor. Just snap a few photos and then upload them to your blog. Adding a descriptive caption such as “Check out this beautiful hardwood floor we installed for the Doe family in Albany” can be particularly effective because it includes keywords that Google will pick up on.
You can promote discounts, coupons, and sales. Our clients are often asking us to post event flyers or coupons on their LeadTrax site. But by utilizing your blog, you can quickly post this type of information yourself. This helps ensure you get the maximum exposure—and thus maximum benefit—from the specials you run, and helps ensure that none of your customers miss out!
You can flaunt your industry expertise. A blog is a perfect place to share tips and info that community members and prospective customers would find helpful. For example, if you’re a flooring installer, you could write a post on the benefits and drawbacks of various flooring materials. Or, if you’re a basement waterproofing contractor, you could explain how a French drain works to safeguard a basement from water damage. Sharing your knowledge on your blog helps develop your reputation and sets you up as the expert to call when folks need the services you offer.
You can be successful at blogging even if you’re not tech savvy. Lots of folks think they need to know all sorts of technical stuff like HTML or SEO to be able to blog effectively, but that just isn’t true. If you can use word processing software like Microsoft Word, you are fully qualified to write a blog entry. Just about all blogging programs are simple and easy to use, and if you need help with the blog on your LeadTrax site, you can always ask your campaign coordinator or account manager for guidance!
You can keep your website active. Having a blog, and posting regularly, means there’s always fresh content on your site. And Google loves quality, fresh content. If you’re routinely posting useful industry info and adding images to your blog, Google will rank your site better. Back when your site was initially launched, Google indexed your pages. However, over time, those pages will age and become less relevant to Google. However, every blog post you add is a new page Google will have to index, helping keep your website ranking well.

How to Get Started

For PG clients that launched campaigns with us at any point in 2012, your blog is already on your LeadTrax site. Just sign into your portal, locate the blog link, and start posting! It’s that easy. If you’ve been with PG since before the launch of the blog feature, just let us know you’d like to add the blog feature to your site. Your campaign coordinator can take care of getting your blog active so you can start blogging ASAP!
If you aren’t a Prospect Genius client, never fear. There are tons of blogging sites available online. Check out WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr for more information. With all of these free options available to you, there’s no reason why you can’t start blogging today!

Ring, Ring: It’s Google Calling

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

If you have a Google+ Local listing, chances are Google is going to call your business—or they already have. That’s because when Google isn’t able to verify information about your business with their own resources, they pick up the phone to confirm that info with the owner. In particular, specific things, such as alterations or updates to your listing, can often trigger a phone verification. So if you’ve recently changed your business’s name or switched phone numbers, be prepared for Google to call.
Sounds easy enough, right? Well, when it’s Google on the other end of the line it’s not exactly that straightforward…

So What’s the Problem?

Well, the issues stem from the fact that the Google representative making the call is based in India. The caller may or may not even mention that he’s connected with Google (from what we’ve heard, he probably won’t) before bombarding you with questions. The unfortunate result is that most business owners receiving these calls assume they’re from telemarketers, and immediately hang up.
Check out this scenario playing out for one Memphis company.
This is unfortunate simply because if you hang up, and Google can’t verify your business’s info on the phone, your listing is in trouble. It will be replaced with the dreaded “We do not support this location” message. And when your Google+ Local listing is down, you are going to miss out on boatloads of customers!
To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, just ask who’s calling before hanging up. The caller should tell you that he or she is calling regarding your Google Maps or Google+ Local listing. He or she should only ask about the info in your listing, such as your business name and location. So if the caller starts asking what you do for online advertising or otherwise questioning you on subjects outside your listing, it’s not Google!

The PG Solution

When you first start a lead generation campaign with Prospect Genius, there is a lot of information to remember, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Our team makes a point to touch on the important information throughout the beginning of your campaign to make sure you’re familiar with your CallTrax™ number, LeadTrax™ URL, and more.
To help with that goal, we’ve recently rolled out a welcome package that gets sent out to each new client. Inside, you’ll find a Prospect Genius Wallet Card that has all of your campaign’s essential information on it. We’re hoping that its convenient size means this card will go straight into your wallet, offering you an easy reference so you can be prepared when Google calls.
Here at PG, our team spends a lot of time working hard to make sure your Google+ Local listing is accurate and ranking its best. By answering Google’s phone call and verifying the correct information, you can be a tremendous help to us in achieving that goal. The end result is a more successful online advertising campaign—and ultimately, a more successful business!

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