seo – Page 13

Things To Consider When Outsourcing

Last Updated: April 29, 2011

There is a common misconception when it comes to outsourcing, many people think this means sending work overseas. However, this is simply not true. In reality, you probably “outsource” some of your business functions already to other local businesses. For example, if you pay an accountant to prepare your taxes or have your company vehicle serviced at the dealer, that’s outsourcing!
When deciding whether or not to outsource a function of your business, there are few things to consider. It helps to look at the cost vs. time and how cost effective each scenario will be. Most people forget to pay themselves when they consider doing it in-house. Your time has value! If you typically get $40/hour and the task will take 10 hours a week, that’s $400 your company will spend each week.
Another thing to consider is the value you will receive from doing it yourself or paying a professional. Outsourcing a task that you are not skilled at, whether it is online advertising, tax preparation or hosting email servers, could actually save you time and money. Take the above example, it could cost your company $400 to do a sub-par job in-house which could lead to complications or mistakes, or $480 to give the accountability to a professional who is trained in the area.
Once you have decided to out-source certain things, the problem arises of who to choose to work with. Simply, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! The simplest way to research a company is to go on Google and search the company’s name + “scam” or “complaints”. You can also check with the BBB for their assessment of the company. Doing these two relatively easy things can give you a pretty good understanding of the company and how their customers feel about their services.
There is an old saying we like to share: “Good is rarely cheap and cheap is rarely good.” Remember to ask detailed questions. Too good to be true offers usually are just that, too good to be true. Good luck!

Online Advertising and the New Google

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

The New Google

In a past blog post, we looked the different parts of Google: maps, organics, and sponsored (pay per click). But since then, Google has changed its look—and its game. Now, when you search for a local company or service, the results display as a combination of the maps and organics, with a small map off to the right side that covers the sponsored results as you scroll down.
Here’s a short-and-sweet look at how things have changed: the new search results page is on the left, the old is on the right. You can see the sponsored results highlighted in yellow, the maps listings in pink, and the organic search results in green.

Advertising in the New Google

Now that Google has reorganized its search results, it may be time to freshen up your advertising strategies a bit. The SEO specialists at Prospect Genius have hypothesized—and observed to be true—that having both an optimized organic search result and an optimized map search result is advantageous. Moreover, having the two tied together (i.e. including your optimized website in your optimized maps listing) is even better. This way your site will show up prominently in Google whether a prospective customer is searching in Google Places or just in Google itself.

Keyword Stuffing: Fast Track to the Back

To put it simply, keyword stuffing your company’s name or location is the leading way to get yourself rejected from Google Places or Google Maps. And that’s a serious problem, because with Google’s new blend of the maps and organic results, a rejected listing could set back your organic placement as well. Remember, as we discussed in the previous post, Google’s spam department can inflict wholesale penalties across the board, no matter which area of Google they find that you’ve committed bad behavior in. Don’t forget, these “penalties” are more than just a slap on the wrist: punishment can even include completely banning your website from Google!
For example, this type of keyword stuffing can get you in major trouble with Google: say your company is called “Bob’s Services,” but you list your business on Google Places as “Bob’s Appliance HVAC Plumbing Heating Cooling and AC Services of Houston Plano Ft Worth and Sugarland.” This strategy is almost guaranteed to backfire. It certainly won’t fool Google and will definitely keep your listing from being activated.
Why? Because Google compares what you entered in your listing with the info it has in its database about Bob’s Services, essentially trying to verify what the real information about the company is. When the information in all of the other online directories lists the business as “Bob’s Services,” Google will see that the keyword stuffed name entered on Google Places is just that, bogus. And when it uncovers a spammer (keyword stuffer or other rule-breaker), Google flags the listing for manual review, by an actual person. The end result is generally a major penalty for your website, including consequences that can extend to both your paid ads and organic results, not just maps listings!
Think you’re safe just because you’ve never listed your business anywhere else on the web? Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. The simple truth is that the Internet is one giant recycling center. Information on websites is routinely harvested (plagiarized) by automated programs and used on other sites. So even if you haven’t personally included your company in an Internet directory or anywhere else on the web, your info—including business address, name, and phone—is probably still out there somewhere. Additionally, a company you hired to promote your business may have created listings that you don’t know about. For example, your local yellow pages directory may have posted your information on its website as well as printed it in hard copy.
According to Google’s Guidelines, all of your business information must match (especially your business name and address) everywhere it appears on the web. This will gain you the best placement for your services once they are well optimized and help ensure that your listings won’t be rejected.

Be Proactive When Possible and Reactive When Necessary

Unsurprisingly, the best way to ensure you receive no penalties or rejections from Google is to do it right the first time! Of course, that isn’t always possible. Google’s guidelines do change and it’s easy to be unaware of some of the rules when you’re getting set up with Google. Or, if you made the mistake of working with an unscrupulous online advertiser, they may have engaged in underhanded practices on your behalf. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for these companies to take verboten shortcuts in the hopes that booming results the first month will get you to stay with their company in hopes of continued success…
However, the good news is that Prospect Genius offers Google listing optimization services to help your company maximize your Internet marketing success. Our professionals are experts at fixing prior bad behaviors, and we can help you clean up your listings for the best results. We’ll make certain they’re working for you, not against you!
To speak with a Prospect Genius team member about any of our programs (including maps and organics optimization), pick up the phone and give us a ring at (800) 689-1273 or visit our website (prospectgenius.com) to learn more.

The Mysteries of Online Advertising Explained

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

PPC or SEO: Which Is Best?

When it comes to advertising online, most small businesses realize they need to have a strong Internet presence. But with all of the different options—and acronyms—out there, it can be hard to determine which tactics will work best for your specific needs. Let us help clear up some of that alphabet soup confusion for you…

PPC = Pay Per Click

Unsurprisingly, this type of Internet advertising involves paid ads. These small ads appear on the top and/or side of the search engine results pages and contain a link to your website. That way, people can see the ad and then visit your site simply by clicking on the ad. Although a variety of factors can affect which place (1 through 10) your ad will occupy on the results page, it boils down to two main issues:

How much are you willing to spend on each click? The more you pay per click, the higher your ad can be placed. If one of your competitors wants to pay more, they’re typically going to rank higher than you do.
How closely does the topic of your website match the topic of the search? If, for example, your site is about plumbing services, but the search was for “wedding rings,” your website is not particularly relevant to the search performed. The more relevant your site is to the search, the lower the price per click…That makes relevancy extremely important for PPC campaigns.

SEO = Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization involves maximizing the relevance of your site content to the searches being performed. The good news is that you don’t have to pay for your placement like you do with PPC: That means all the traffic is FREE. But there is a catch. There are practically infinite factors controlling which sites are chosen for positions 1 through 10 in the middle of the search results page, and their order is all based on how much Google believes that your site is what the searcher is looking for. Because of this inherent complexity, most small business owners find the game of SEO to be even more overwhelming than PPC. It also takes considerable time and resources to optimize your site properly. In fact, simply optimizing your site often isn’t enough.

Nerd Alert! Here’s the Scoop…

SEO has two main parts:

On-page optimization: This involves optimizing the content of your own site. Let’s not get into the gory details, but the basics include properly constructing the structure of the site, its navigational links, and its text.
Off-page optimization: This involves maximizing how your site interacts with other websites.

Here’s where the nerdy part comes in: Google regards links to your site like votes. If person A links to person B’s website, person A must think that person B’s site is of some value. Creating that link functions like a vote, and according to Google more votes equal more value.
That’s the basics, but the reality of the situation is somewhat more complicated. Off-page optimization is all about increasing the number of quality links pointing to your site. The tricky part is that not all links count, and not all links are of the same value. Off-page optimization involves figuring out which links will help boost your website’s results ranking in the best way!

That’s Nice, But Which One Do I Pick?

Choosing between PPC and SEO depends a lot on your goals but also on your budget. Let’s look at it like opening a store in the real world: Do you want to quickly set up a kiosk in the mall to capitalize on holiday shoppers, or do you want a storefront that you can build value in over time?
Like the kiosk, PPC is the clear choice if you’re looking for immediate results. You can set it up, turn it on, and get traffic the next day. There are already shoppers in the mall (and on the web), so you just have to rent some space to get to them. The downside is that the kiosks tend to have high rent because they’re prime real estate. The same is true for PPC. The rates are high, and increasing all the time because more and more companies are using PPC and consequently bidding up the prices.
Opting to construct a storefront is more like SEO. You can leverage a storefront for years to come—you have control over your own space and your business will become more recognized and trusted as the years go by, just like with SEO. Although there are costs involved with building a store (or website) and getting people to visit it (online traffic), the long-term cost is far less than with PPC. It also becomes harder and harder to knock you out of your spot the longer you’re in business.

What This Means for Your Business

In an ideal world, you would have an unlimited budget for online advertising—and if you did, we would recommend that you do both SEO and PPC! This would ensure you get the best of both worlds. As the SEO ramps up, you can cut back on the PPC campaign: That way you get immediate results but also long-term stability.
However, most small businesses are operating on a limited Internet marketing budget. If that’s the case, we generally recommend SEO. That’s because SEO can be looked as more of an investment than an expense. The simple truth is that it is a more cost-effective strategy. Of course, it all depends on your goals, but most of our clients find they’re happy they went with our program over a PPC campaign. That’s generally because the cost is lower and the overall value just can’t be beaten by PPC.

Dip Your Toe in the Water

If you’re ready to try out a little of this SEO thing but don’t want to jump all the way in, Prospect Genius has a great way for you to sample it. Our Ad Blast program can promote your website in all sorts of local places online. We use this strategy for our Lead Generation customers, but we now offer it as a stand-alone service. For a low, one-time fee, we’ll generate a whole pile of links pointing back to your site. We leverage directories, newspapers, classified ads, online magazines, and a bunch of other site types to make your business more visible to people the web.
This program is especially effective if you have a seasonal special or sale that you want to advertise online. Give us a call (800-689-1273) if you’d like to learn more about how SEO, our Ad Blast campaign, and the PG team can help your business!
Prospect Genius has other services that can complement the Ad Blast program as well. For details, visit our website.

The Ins and Outs of Googling Yourself

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Googling Yourself: Too Much of a Good Thing
Are you one of those people that googles themselves every day? Then you might want to reconsider. Of course, googling yourself isn’t going to make you go blind or anything like that, but it can skew the results you see. That’s because Google is designed to provide each person with individual results. Factoring in things like search history, what particular search terms you favor, where you are searching from, and other data, Google search results are tailored specifically for you. So if you search for something, you’ll get different results than your next-door neighbor or even your coworkers.
If you continually search for one term or keyword—say, your name or a service like “Hardwood Flooring in New York City”—and then don’t click on any of the results, Google will assume you did not like the listings it returned. The next time you perform the same search, Google will give you slightly different results. If you don’t click on any of the results again, it will again assume you don’t like the results and try another variation the next time. This cycle will just keep continuing and continuing…
In your own, individualized Google results, you can drive your placement down in the listings by repeatedly searching for—and not clicking on—yourself. This certainly happens for your own personal search engine results, but if you do it enough, it’s also conceivable that you could impact your rankings when other people search as well!
So while there are certainly valid reasons to occasionally search for yourself online, the key is to not get carried away! Constant searching for your name or company will ensure you don’t get a good representation of your actual placement on Google.

Everything in Moderation
So now you know why it’s important to not google yourself all the time, but there are some good reasons to search for yourself every once and a while…
1. Reputation management. For local companies, your reputation is everything. Bad PR can run off potential clients, so you need to know what’s being said about you online. Occasionally googling your company’s name or services can help you see what people are putting on the Internet about your business. At Prospect Genius, our lead generation service encompasses a lot of reputation management elements: by distributing press releases, articles, blog entries, and social networking posts about your local company online, we generate a positive buzz and make sure that prospective customers can see the great things that are being said about you on the web! If you’re interested in finding out more about reputation management online, check out this article about how to be both proactive and reactive.
2. Checking on the competition. Did you know that some unscrupulous companies use their competition’s names in their own advertising? That means that your competitors could be using YOUR company’s name as part of their PPC or AdWords advertising strategy. And according to this article, it doesn’t seem like Google is willing to do much about this nefarious practice! However, searching for your business’s name online every so often can help alert you to when your competition is using this underhanded tactic. If you do see this happening, you may wish to contact both us here at Prospect Genius for online advertising help as well as an attorney for legal assistance.
Just like with so many other things, you’ll need to find the right balance when it comes to searching for your company online: too often can have negative effects, but too little can leave your business vulnerable. Occasional Google searches can help you stay on top of your online reputation and competitors without causing any major setbacks.
For more information on how Prospect Genius can help your company navigate the treacherous waters of online advertising, give us a call at 1-800-689-1273 or visit our website today.

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