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Kindermusik september 2010
The document outlines various low-cost and no-cost strategies for growing a Kindermusik business, emphasizing the importance of online presence, effective marketing techniques, and leveraging technology. It provides practical steps for establishing a website, utilizing Google tools, enhancing social media engagement, and optimizing local search visibility. Additionally, it stresses the necessity of tracking and measuring marketing efforts while fostering strong customer relationships and leveraging word-of-mouth referrals.
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Similar to Kindermusik september 2010
Kindermusik september 2010
- 1. Low cost orno cost ways to grow your Kindermusik business
- 2. Award winning businessowner Have started 4 businesses from scratch, some of which have since been sold Now owner/director/franchisor of The Creative Collective. Work with start-ups through to large corporates locally, nationally and internationally Love training and assisting others Introduction – Yvette Adams
- 3. Rio (6 years)and Matisse (3 years) My business was started when my youngest was just 7 weeks old, from home. I’ve since gone on to win awards and have 5 staff, 25 contractors and 1 franchisee with many more planned! I’m a parent too!
- 4. What I didin my first year with Kindermusik head office…2007 2000 on the database 6729 on the database Unique users per month to site = 665 Unique users per month to site = Regularly 5000+ Communication frequency = infrequent Communication frequency = every two weeks – either newsletter or special offers Online sales = $6000 per annum Online sales = $100,000+ per annum Predominantly offline marketing Predominantly online marketing
- 5. So where areYOU at…??? Website? have one? use it? Google Places? know it? use it? SEO? know it? use it? Emarketing? know it? use it? Adwords? know it? use it? Facebook? know it? use it? Twitter? Know it? use it? Linkedin? know it? use it? YouTube? know it? use it? Blog? know it? use it?
- 6. Build their ‘brand’/‘profile’ Market more Work on the business, not in the business Get more leads/inquiries Get more sales And ideally…. Have more time! Earn more money! Take a holiday! What most business owners I meet are trying to do…
- 7. Building their onlinepresence/profile Ensuring they have a GOOD website with strong calls to action Creating a bullet proof conversion system Systemising/procedurising EVERYTHING they do Tracking and measuring EVERYTHING they do Delegating more – leverage their time Retaining & reactivating their customers Keeping in touch with a database regularly with quality content Conduct research to understand buying motives and barriers to sale Only doing marketing that gives a GREAT return on investment Create and take publicity opportunities for the good of their business Use cloud computing and other technology that saves time and money Have clear business objectives, a business plan What business owners should be doing if they want to succeed…
- 8. But first let’sshift some mindsets! STOP START Always doing what you’ve always done (because you’ll always get what you’ve always go, or worse – times are changing!) Thinking outside the square of the most innovative marketing strategies you could possibly engage in Burying your head in the stand and making excuses about being busy/non techie/limited by budget Being open minded about the possibilities and how they could benefit your business some of which are very easy to do and low cost or no cost! Throwing stuff out there with no proper measurement devices in place Tracking and measuring EVERYTHING you do Measuring the cost of advertising and marketing activities Measuring the impact of marketing activities Doing things offline… ..if they can often be done faster and cheaper online Looking for new business If you haven’t maximised what you’re already sitting on and what they are worth to you Hoping for the best and having a ‘bit of an idea’ of what you want to achieve at the end of the day Getting crystal clear about your objectives, setting SMART goals and targets
- 9. So let meshow you the exact steps you need to take to get your business humming….!
- 10. STEP 1 –Set up tracking devices Google Analytics or other web stats in place Offline procedures in place You must ask every single person who: Walks in Phones up Emails you For their: Name Email Phone – main and alternative is ideal Post code Preferred method of contact i.e. phone or email HOW THEY HEARD ABOUT YOU. ‘newspaper’ is not enough – try and extract exact name of the publication and note it .
- 11. STEP 2 –Get set up with the tools you need to be efficient Google has a lot to offer….
- 12. 2.1 GoogleAccount https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount 2.2 Google Profile http://www.google.com/profiles/ 2.3 Google Maps http://www.google.com/maps 2.4 Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts 2.5 Google Calendar http://www.google.com/calendar 2.6 Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics (covered) 2.7 Google Trends http://www.google.com/trends 2.8 Google Webmaster http://www.google.com/webmaster 2.9 Google Docs http:// www.google.com/docs 2.10 Google Sites http :// www.google.com/sites AND there is many more! A small intro to the suite of Google’s free tools
- 13. www.google.com/accounts/Login 2.1 Google Account
- 14. 2.2 Google Profilehttp://www.google.com/profiles
- 15. 2.4 – Alertyourself on Google Alerts
- 16. Automatically manages invitesand RSVP’s for events. Share whole calendars company-wide or with specific people. Have multiple calendars. Make calendars public, private or shared. View calendar that belong to other people. Quick to add calendar appointments (drag & drop). Full Calendar scheduling facility. Send calendar invitations to other people. Opportunity to sync your calendar with your mobile or Outlook. 2.5 – Google Calendar
- 17. 2.6 Google DocsNo Software Required – goodbye to Microsoft? Create, Edit Word Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations Sort Documents in Folders Share/collaborate on documents with other people Upload Emails and Microsoft documents straight in to Google Docs for editing
- 18.
- 19. 2.8 Google SitesCreate simple or sophisticated websites/wikis without any programming knowledge. Share knowledge or files with your co-workers or the world. Centralise company information with an internal website. Easy to update information/photos/attachments/presentations. Google have a profile update for each staff member making it easy to find staff that may have special skills.
- 20. Apart from GoogleI have several other favourite programs I couldn’t live without which I’ll send to you post event to check out
- 21. STEP 3: Geta website and get it RIGHT! Visually appealing Fulfills the ‘8 second rule’ Data capture prominent and enticing for users to leave details i.e. incentive Any desired call to action prominently featured Social media links prominently featured Contact number prominently featured Opportunities for clients to ‘interact’ where-ever possible – comments, fill in form, check availability, view photos, videos, audios etc. Easy to find the information they want with multiple navigation points plus main service offerings clearly identifiable Loads fast Scannable copy with lots of internal links Search engine optimised Regularly updated so encourages repeat visits – events and news articles + streaming social media good here Does your website tick all these boxes? If not, work on it NOW!
- 22. STEP 4 –Establish and grow your online presence + social media!
- 23. 4.1 SEO –search engine optimisation Our methodology: Research – keywords & competitors Strategise plan of attack – select keywords, delegate tasks Internal optimisation (on page) - page title, header tags, meta description, alt tags on images and links , keyword density External optimisation (off page) - link strategies, article submissions, PR newswires, blogs
- 24. 4.1.1 Research –keywords & competitors Tools you can use: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal (free) 2. Goodkeywords – free 3. It’s not free, but it is pretty good: http://affiliate.wordtracker.com/d/722e16/699/a/155079/i Monthly cost: $52.70 4. http://www.keywordlocator.com . One time cost: $87 5. www.keywordspy.com + http://www.spyfu.com 6. Google Insights – compare search volume patterns across regions, categories and time frames 7. marketsamurai.com 8. domaintools.com – analyse ownership of competitor domains and therefore online strategy There are many more too.
- 25. 4.1.2 Research –select keywords Mistakes to avoid when selecting keywords: Targeting: Single-word terms Terms that are way too broad, and not focused to what you offer Terms that are too specialized, which nobody searches for Terms which are unpopular Highly-competitive terms which you can't hope to rank well for Number of Google Matches Term 11,600,000 writer 1,200,000 real estate writer 48,000 freelance real estate writer 9,000 freelance real estate writer los angeles
- 26. 4.1.3 Strategise planof attack – select keywords, delegate tasks I am going to target the following keywords and key phrases…… I am going to optimise the following pages as a priority……… And further pages in this priority……. I will need assistance from these areas……
- 27. 4.1.4 Internal optimisationof page page title header tags meta description keywords alt tags on images and links keyword density
- 28. 4.1.5 Work onkeyword density
- 29. 4.1.6 External optimisation(off page) Link strategies Article submissions PR newswires Blogs Forums Social media (more later)
- 30.
- 31. 4.1.8 PR newswires
- 32.
- 33. STEP 4 –Establish and grow your online presence + social media!
- 34. Pay per impressionPay per click Content network v search network Set your budget Track, measure, refine 4.2 Pay per click (PPC) – how it works
- 35. Google Adwords –target by keywords and regions Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) - http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/en_AU/ Microsoft adCenter - https://adcenter.microsoft.com Facebook – target by towns/cities, gender, marital status, education +++ Ebay – https://adcommerce.ebaypartnernetwork.com/adnetfiles/home/en-US/index.html Sensis Bidsmart - https://bidsmart.sensis.com.au/ Others Pay per click options
- 36. STEP 4 –Establish and grow your online presence + social media!
- 37. 4.3 – GoogleMaps Local Search Stats 60% of activity online is one way or another ‘related to local content’ (Google 05/03) 73% of activity online is in one way or another ‘related to local content’ (Google 5/07) 70% of online searchers will use local search to find offline businesses. (Kelsey group) 43% of search engine users are seeking a local merchant to buy something offline (comScore Networks) 54% of search users have substituted internet/search for the phone book (comScore Networks) 35% of ALL searches are ‘local’ (DM news)
- 38. 4.3.1 – Claimyour listing on Google Maps www.google.com/maps
- 39.
- 40. A claimedlisting… (of course the Coast knows how to do it better!)
- 41. 4.3.2 – Fleshout your listing
- 42. The types ofcategories you might like to list for
- 43. The types ofcategories you might like to list for
- 44. Photos & VideosUp to 10 photos Up to 5 videos Videos must be on YouTube
- 45. Coupons Add fullycustomisable coupons to your listings including: Images Show on mobile phones Apply to multiple listings
- 46. What people aresaying about (reviews)– the price, the service etc – these filter in from various sources that provide reviews (more later) Post to your place page – Allows business owners to post updates to their place page via short announcements i.e. ‘we’re closed this Friday’. It appears on Googles Place page within minutes Service areas – Google realises businesses may only service certain areas, where you are willing to travel to serve certain customers i.e. deliver pizza. Street view – Imagery collections are continuing to expand. People can check out destinations before they get there. 3D view now too. Transit features – Who is looking for directions to you and where are they coming from. Not in Brisbane or Qld yet… The new additions to Google Places
- 47.
- 48. Example Place PagePosts Specials: "Free chips and salsa today from 4-6. We'll even throw in free guacamole." Posted 3 hours prior to the start of Afternoon Special Events: "Come to our open day" Today from 9:30 am to 11:45 am." Posted 4 hours prior to the event, linking to the Facebook event page. New products: "Have you checked out our newest musical instruments? Great for baby’s birthday!"
- 49. 4.3.3 – Encouragereviews and mentions on other sites (also known as citations)
- 50. Places you canencourage reviews Google Places - All listings have an option to leave a review, so encourage some of your favorite customers or clients to leave a review for you. Industry specific – E.g. If you happen to be in the travel and tourism industry, gently persuade happy customers to leave reviews on popular review sites like TripAdvisor . When you take a look at the top Google maps results you’ll notice that the top listings will have a good amount of reviews.
- 51.
- 52. … but don’tfake it!
- 53. Global review sitesYelp City Search Bing Local BOTW Local Brownbook.net infoUSA Superpages Insider Pages Local.com iBegin Yahoo! Local Feel free to contribute any citation or local directory sources you’ve found to be useful on our Web Wed Facebook group or linkedin group. Sharing is always encouraged!
- 54. http://www.raveaboutit.com.au/ -Local reviews for all types of businesses, from hairdressers to plumbers, Australia wide http://www.handylocal.com.au – On later Hot Frog http://www.startlocal.com.au Aussie Review sites
- 55. Don't count oncustomers tracking down your listing on Yelp, InsiderPages, Ezlocal and others. Add links to your website for each profile and further encourage customers to go leave reviews. See the below picture in which a doctor integrated links to his Yelp profile on his own website: To encourage reviews…link your business profiles on your own website/social network pages
- 56. Encourage reviews offlineto online
- 57.
- 58. We don't livein a perfect world and no one expects your business to be perfect (okay some do!) In fact, if your business has nothing but 5-star reviews across the board it might strike consumers as a bit suspect, is anybody that perfect? Also, negative reviews offer a golden opportunity for you to prove yourself, to go above and beyond. There are some good case studies online dedicated to incidences where businesses stepped up and made things right after something went wrong. See: http://consumerist.com/customer-service/above-and-beyond/ Don’t discourage bad reviews
- 59. 4.3.4 – Getlisted in local directories Many available – both free and paid Directory listings from wesites specific to your city are a great way to help you achieve some local pull in Google maps. A quick and easy way to find some local directories is to search for {name of city} + directory on Google.
- 60. Search ‘free businessdirectory’ or ‘free business listing’ or similar
- 61. Example of afree business directory
- 62.
- 63.
- 64. Yahoo & otherlocal search/listing options http://local.yahoo.com/ https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx STEP 4.3.5 – More ways to market locally…
- 65. STEP 4 –Establish and grow your online presence + social media!
- 66.
- 67.
- 68. Traffic Facebook FanPages are cited in Google Maps Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results Instant Credibility Build an Interested Local Following STEP 4 – Get a Facebook Fan Page for your local business & promote it! Why…?
- 69. Personal pages –you the individual Professional pages – you the business person Company pages v groups How it all works
- 70. How? ‘Like’ pagesand join groups where your target market hang out… Search ‘music’ or ‘parents’ and more under Home/Groups/ and search
- 71. How? Encourage peopleto like your page via your website…
- 72. How? Encourage peopleto like your page via your website…
- 73. How? Sign uplocal Facebook Fans… Search users in specific location on facebook.grader.com
- 74. How? Advertise onFacebook…
- 75. How? Advertiseon Facebook…
- 76. To establish orbuild your profile online To drive traffic to your website To network with potential customers, influencers, or others in your niche. To get valuable feedback – surveys, polls To build a community To act as an alternative form of communication – quick and easy To hire people – be they volunteers or paid? To update your community of new class timetables /updates/achievements /end of terms/deadline to enrol etc. To promote events/product launches/updates/fund-raising drives? To raise money for a child/family in need To show a more personal side of yourself To run occasional “twitter only” discounts and specials STEP 5 – Get on Twitter, and start ‘tweeting’ Why…?
- 77. STEP 5.1 –Find accounts & follow them
- 78. STEP 5.2 -Sign up local Twitter followers Click on ‘Top Users’ Once in click on ‘twitter elite in a specific location’
- 79. Sign up localTwitter followers
- 80. STEP 5.3 –Link up accounts & schedule tweets and posts ahead of time… and manage multiple accounts with ease.
- 81.
- 82. Don’t forget it’sALL public
- 83.
- 84. The big growthareas…iphone apps
- 85. Social networking meetssearch marketing…
- 86. Social networking meetssearch marketing…
- 87. Facebook is havinga crack too… but it’s not here…yet!
- 88. There’s one morevery powerful marketing method I’ve purposely overlooked…Can you guess what it is? Word of mouth!!! Referrals Incentives Strategic alliances The overall customer experience Surveys/polls Mystery shoppers Immediate feedback asking for a referral
- 89. Your Homework Checkout Google Tools – they could save you time and money! Check out the links I send you – they could save you time and money too! Get a website and get it right – does it tick all the boxes? If not, get them ticked! Optimise your website Explore pay per click campaigns on Google Adwords and others Claim your listing on Google Maps, flesh out your listing, encourage reviews Get listed on free and paid business directories – from local to industry specific and more! Get a Facebook page and grow your community Get a Twitter account, follow people and start tweeting Manage all your social media from the one dashboard Explore the new emerging technologies – iPhone apps, Gowalla, FourSquare and Facebook Places (when it comes) Get key company documents i.e. templates, forms, contacts, procedures and policies ONLINE utilizing technology such as wikis, Google Docs or otherwise where you can share and collaborate online and mobilize your business. Make sure your marketing features your website and other social media community links ALWAYS and PROMINENTLY Make sure you have a good email signature with these links too! Track and measure results, then refine! Have fun with it all!!!
- 90. Want more onthis stuff? EVENT DAY + 48HRS AFTER SPECIAL! High quality, professional produced DVD sets Use the code ‘ musik01 ’ to receive 20% off all DVD product orders for the next 48 hours
- 91. Want constant tips& inspiration? http://www.facebook.com/thecreativecollective http://www.twitter.com/creativecollect http://www.linkedin.com/companies/the-creative-collective http://www.youtube.com/dacreativecollective P: 07 545 11315 w: www.thecreativecollective.com.au
Editor's Notes
- #14 www.growthmarketing.com.au
- #15 www.growthmarketing.com.au
- #16 www.growthmarketing.com.au
- #17 www.growthmarketing.com.au
- #42 Now make sure you fill out everything. The more information you include the better it is for your business. This includes adding as many photos as you’re allowed and adding yourself to as many relevant categories as possible (up to 5). Also make sure the address you use for your Google Local listing is the same address you have listed on your website. Note (added April 21, 2010): Google Local Business Center has changed its name to Google Places .
- #47 Google Places allows business owners to further refine how customers locate and use their services. If you travel to serve customers, you can now show which geographic areas you serve. And if you run a business without a storefront or office location, you can now make your address private. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF6Myrky_Pc&feature=channel Google has finally added options for business owners to set their service areas, as reported a couple weeks ago by Matt McGee . Today it officially rolls out, again , along with a re-branding of the Local Business Center , now simply called Google Places. The service area is great for those businesses that work from a home address they would rather not display, or businesses that serve multiple areas from one physical location, which is very common in larger metro areas (think plumbers, landscapers, remodeling contractors, interior decorators, etc..). Up till now many of those businesses targeting multiple cities had to resort to obtaining unique addresses and phone numbers in those other cities, often through UPS box addresses, a practice Google now frowns upon. The question is , how are rankings influenced by these new service area settings? Will a business located in “ City A ” , yet services the adjacent “ City B ” to the north, be able to rank for City B search queries when all its citation sources mention City A? It ’ s too early to tell and for some of my clients that this is well suited too I ’ m a little hesitant incredibly hesitant to make any changes as they already rank well. Perhaps the next fresh client becomes the guinea pig.
- #50 Citation building is different than link building because a citation may not always include an actual link. As long as the full address matches the address on your website, it’s counted as a citation and helps boost your position in Google Local search results. Check out Google maps results in a competitive industry (such as the Seattle hotel industry) and you notice top listings have more citations than lower listings – in most cases. Citations are not the sole deciding factor, but they definitely help. When you view a Google Map listing in its entirety there is a section called “More about this place”. This is a great place to find citations from people competing in the same local industry as you.
- #65 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #67 In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a fair bit happening online these days.
- #68 With all these mediums, conversations are potentially going to happen online about you / your service / your product / your business / your competitors / your industry these days, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT. Whether you participate or not.
- #69 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #71 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #72 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #73 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #74 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #76 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #77 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #78 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #79 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #80 Five Reasons to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business Traffic Good SEO campaigns all share a common focus: improving your ranking in the Google search results. More generally, a good SEO campaign should seek to improve your rankings at whatever sites boast the highest traffic. At the moment, Google is by far the most used site for local searches. Ninety percent of local consumers use search engines and 65% of the time that search engine is Google. In fact, Google has consistently been the number #1 visited website since September 2007, when it passed Myspace.com . That is, until the week of March 13, 2010. During the week of March 13th, 2010 Google was the second most visited U.S. website. The first? Facebook. According the CNN, which cites the web analysis firm Experian Hitwise, “Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google received only 7.03%.” The article further notes: Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%. It’s impossible to ignore Facebook’s explosive growth. With more than 400 million active users , half of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, Facebook is poised to play a substantial roll in the future of local business search. Structure your current SEO campaign for Google optimization, but make a Facebook fan page for your small business right now; it may become the focal point of your online marketing strategy in the not-to-distant future. Facebook Fan Pages are Cited in Google Maps Last week, our Local SEO Guru, Jorge , stumbled upon a Google profile for an Ace Hardware in Villa Park, IL that included detail citations for Facebook and Twitter links. The Google profile has not been claimed by the business owner, which means these details were deemed important and collected by Google’s web crawler. If Google thinks a Facebook Fan Page is important, it is, and you should too. Facebook Fan Pages Rank in Organic Search Results For a long time Facebook pages were private, hidden from search engine results. Now fan pages, and even many user profiles, are public and can be found in search queries: So, why is this important? Any website found in organic search results has been indexed, read and filed away by Google, if you will. When Google reads these fan pages, it sees your business name, address, description, links and keywords. Reaffirming these details on your fan page will raise your stock in Google’s eyes and give you a boost in the local search rankings. Instant Credibility At EZlocal, we provide a space on business profiles for a link to your Facebook fan page. When a prospective customer follows that link to the fan page, they will see you have an established fan base. They will see that you have tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of fans. That builds instant credibility. Sure, having a normal website is helpful, but it only tells people what your business is about. A Facebook fan page tell people what your business is about AND that it is well liked. Build an Interested Following Perhaps the greatest reason to create a Facebook fan page for your small business is so that you can build a fan base, a contingent of people who like and use your product or service. These people want to hear from you. They are excited when you post a coupon or announce a sale. They may even recommend your business to their friends. Keep in mind, the average Facebook user has 130 friends . When a person becomes a fan of your small business, 130 people who like and respect them get an update in their friend feed. Perhaps of few of those people then become fans and your business’ name starts popping up in more and more updates. Does this snowball effect always lead to a large fan base of customers? No. But, if you don’t create a fan page, you never have the chance to find out.
- #82 An online reputation is just as important as an offline one. If someone were talking badly about you ‘on the street’ you would want to know right? And there is a high chance if you didn’t like what they were saying about you that you would go right up to them and deal with the situation right? Well so it goes online. You need to keep a finger on the pulse. You need to participate. So how? It helps to remember the ‘party analogy’ when it comes to online, in particular social media… And we all love a good party don’t we? Meet people and start conversations Ask questions Listen Answer questions, if relevant (i.e. if you can be helpful) Listen to others advice Share the advice if you believe in it (and encourage others to share yours)
- #83 Hands up if you have seen this do the rounds. I had to include it in today’s presentation. It’s a classic. It is very easy to vent on social media but the consequences can be massive. If you were this girl’s employer you’d be glad you were aware of her posts right?
- #84 However you can take it too far. For some it becomes a guilty obsession. They can’t help themselves… to the point of no return…quite simply, it is an addiction.
- #91 Make hand out