Google My Business not functioning as expected under the strain of coronavirus

Many updates are taking considerably longer than normal.

Source: searchengineland.com
During this time of crisis, it’s so important for local businesses and companies to make sure they are keeping all of their channels, including their Google My Business listing up to date with special hours, contact information and posts to keep their community informed to any changes or updates.
This was advice that Google had laid out not long ago, but now the listing service has been experiencing delays and functionality issues as local businesses and companies have been flooding the site and Google’s own staff is reduced. That’s not to say they haven’t been trying to avoid these problems – on Friday, Google temporarily disabled new local reviews as well as the ability of businesses to post responses to limit functionality during the crisis.
As such, it is critical to make sure your listing is updated and to be aware of any posting delays to your community. Remember to also update other channels such as your website, social media and local listings to ensure the information is accessible.

Alexa and Yext and Oh, the Possibilities

Wouldn’t it be cool if Amazon’s amazingly popular digital assistant for the home, Alexa, could recommend your business?
If you’re signed up for Sales Renewal’s Local Marketing program, Alexa will be doing this for your business very soon.

Anyone will be able to ask Alexa,  “Find X near me”  (where X is what your business does) and it will respond with your company contact info.  And the icing on the cake is that there’s no extra cost for this.

Yext is a Local Marketing platform that drives sales by:   

• increasing your site’s rank in local search and
• providing access to listing pages on 100+ popular, locally-oriented websites like Yelp, Mapquest, Bing, Yahoo Local, Trip Advisor and many more, including, now, Alexa

On July 25, Yext began sending the data in your Yext listing to Amazon. While Amazon doesn’t share just how its Alexa AI works or when the Yext data will be fully integrated, it’s safe to say the digital assistant is built to be helpful – millions of consumers look to Alexa for help finding products and services every day. Which will soon include your business too!
And if you are not signed up for Sales Renewal’s Local Marketing program, get in touch.  
 

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Want to better manage your listings and reach more prospective buyers? We can help.

Should You Stop Asking Your Customers for Reviews?

Because businesses have actively solicited customer reviews (and other feedback) for years, many online review sites look like over-caffeinated click-a-thons. It’s hard to sort out the helpful from the hype. But it’s clear that consumers want to consider other customers’ opinions and experiences before they buy – in other words, businesses need reviews. Savvy online shoppers, however, are becoming jaded, as they know they must read between the lines, sorting the real reviews from those that were planted or paid-for.

Business owners are sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place, too.

Yelp and Yext are both trying to help, in different ways.

Yext, the New Kid on the Block

Most people probably have heard of or have used Yelp’s reviews. These reviews live only on the Yelp site and help educate Yelp visitors on the businesses listed on Yelp.

Yext reviews are different. Yext reviews appear on only your site so are visible to all your visitors, and importantly, no competitors’ reviews appear (unlike on Yelp, where competitor reviews are 1-click away).

Also, and very notably, the average number of stars your business receives will appear in-line with Google’s search rankings.

How important is that?

According to Yext, internet users click 50% more often on starred listings than those without: because the stars make them stand out and because reviews truly influence buying behavior.

Remember, Search Engine Optimization (getting more traffic from search engines) is a 2-step process. First, your page has to rank well in Google’s search results (ideally on the first or second page) and second, visitors have to click on your listing rather than all the others on the search result page.

Most people forget that second step and that those noticeable stars will lead to more organic visitors to your site. (Read more about how the stars can can boost local rankings.)

Yelp Reviews

Since 2004, Yelp users have written about 150 million reviews, and the company works hard to help consumers sort out what’s real and what’s helpful. So while it may sound counter-intuitive for a review platform, Yelp strongly, clearly, and repeatedly has told businesses using its site to STOP asking their customers for reviews.

In 2018, that’s probably just a little too idealistic. “Everyone’s doing it” isn’t the best defense, but let’s be real: everyone’s doing it.

Wherever sales are made – online or off – shoppers are implored (and incented) to provide reviews. Receipts from Taco Bell, CVS, Kohls, Famous Footwear (among others) beg shoppers to rate their services, sauce packets, shoes, and to describe their service experience. Most of those requests come with incentives, and customers who complete reviews earn rewards ranging from points, coupons and free sandwiches to sweepstakes entries.

For its part, Yelp doesn’t seem to mind going against the grain. The company’s clearly-stated policy prohibits listed businesses from soliciting reviews directly from customers. Yelp regularly identifies organizations it believes is “gaming the system, ” and penalizes them.

But Everyone’s Doing It – And You Should Too

We like that Yelp is doing what it can to actively weed out reviews that don’t meet its standards.

The ground rules it has established for businesses are designed to serve customers as well as listed businesses (and Yelp of course).

In our opinion, Yelp should be concerned about the businesses that are trying to game the system (contests, discounts, fake reviews) but not target those which are acting in good faith when requesting that customers rate and review their products and services.

It should be noted that Yelp does recognize that most businesses are playing fair: the company points out that it recommends nearly three-quarters of the reviews on its site.

So Ask Your Customers for Reviews – And Don’t Stop There

Your prospects read reviews and weight them heavily in purchasing decisions. According to Forbes, “88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.“

We recommend that our clients structure their businesses and train their staffs to stack the odds in their favor of getting good reviews by providing great products and services. We also recommend they manage those reviews by requesting that happy customers post reviews using Yext. The reviews can be automatically fed to a website – usually the Home or Testimonials Page, * and their stars will also appear in Google results when prospects are searching for your business.

Takeaway: Yext reviews and ratings being displayed on your website is good – and at the same time, your website gets more natural search traffic. A no brainer given Yext’s modest cost.

In other words, as long as you’re treating your customers (and review site partners) honestly, asking for reviews is good – and Yext reviews can make a good thing even better. Yelp reviews appear only on Yelp, but, that’s not necessarily bad. If you’re a local, B2C business in fact, it could be critically important so Yelp has its place in the review universe too. (Yelp may be all a local restaurant needs!)

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Questions about managing customer reviews, Yext, local search, or understanding how reviews sites affect buying behavior? Contact us.

* you do have a Testimonials page on your site, don’t you?

Best of Growth Spurts – Focus on Customer Feedback and Reviews

In this month’s content roundup, we’ve focused on the many different ways businesses use customer feedback and reviews in their day-to-day marketing and business development. Reviews can be used to boost your online, local presence via SEO. Through reviews, your fans can help do your marketing for you. Survey feedback can be used as a source of ideas for your content marketing plan. Feedback can be used for product development and changes, and also to retain customers by making them feel valued, respected, listened to.

Here are 5 timely and relevant posts that look at getting the most from customer feedback and reviews.

Three Customer Feedback Myths That Deserve Busting, marketingprofs.com – Surveys are invaluable tools for making sure you’re meeting customer expectations. Learn why simplicity is probably the best route to go. Read the full article here.

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Maximize Your Local Listings Presence with Online Reviews, yext.com – In today’s mobile-first world, reviews drive awareness and consumer decisions. Businesses need a comprehensive review strategy to beat the competition. Read the full article here.

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How User Reviews Can Drive Your Business – A The New York Times article looking at how online reviews and social connections are causing a shift in the balance of power from marketers to consumers concludes that no longer do marketers have the ability to fully control their sales messages, as consumers are using online reviews and ratings to inform their purchase decisions. Read more about the study here.

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Creating Magnetic Marketing Content with Surveys, surveygizmo.com – One of the many uses of surveys is to generate content for your blog. You can ask for feedback, report on findings, create a “top questions asked” series, and much more. Read more here.

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How Successful Companies Engage Customers During the New-Product Development Process, marketingprofs.com – From large-scale intelligence gathering, like crowdsourcing or social listening, to a narrower, targeted approach, like focus groups and advisory councils, successful B2B businesses use customer feedback to ensure they are on track with product development. Read more here.

Best of Growth Spurts – Our Favorite Posts from March

We regularly update our Growth Spurts blog with actionable marketing & technology advice, news and information. These articles are often hand-picked to address issues and projects we’re working on with our clients, but they are relevant to most business owners involved with any aspect of marketing their business. Here are our 4 favorite posts this month:

On Analytics

What Google Analytics Can’t Tell You, and How to Get the Info You Need

We’re firm believers in using Google Analytics, but years ago we identified the problem with relying only on Google Analytics to inform our marketing decisions. (Read about our Call Tracking case study here.) Continue reading…

On Web Marketing

Online Reviews: 20 Ways to Handle Bad Reviews, Boost Your Reputation & Win New Customers

Online reviews – love ’em, and hate ’em.

According to BrightLocal’s 2016 Local Consumer Review Survey, most people (91%) regularly or occasionally read online reviews. What’s even more striking is that 84% of people said they trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. Online reviews have become the new word-of-mouth marketing.

An established Reviews program is critical for any business. From requesting reviews to addressing negative comments, having a clear strategy will help you get the most out of this powerful marketing tool. Read this article for some good advice, then contact Sales Renewal to help.

On Website Design

The 7 Elements of Graphic Design, and How to Apply Them

Sure, you can “design” a Facebook cover or social media image using one of the many tools available (Canva, PicMonkey, inDesign, Adobe…). And these tools all make “good design” seem easy.

But don’t be deceived. Be sure you consider “professional” design services where it really counts. Website, branding materials, and other places where you need to make a long-lasting impression. Read the article here.

On Email Marketing

B2B Marketers Say Email Delivers the Highest ROI Leads

Study after study confirm that email marketing continues to be a top lead generation channel. This holds especially true if you are a B2B company. See the results of recent research showing that email is the top lead- and revenue-producing vehicle for B2B marketers.

Best of Growth Spurts – Our Favorite Posts from June

We regularly update our Growth Spurts blog with actionable marketing & technology advice, news and information. These articles are often hand-picked to address issues and projects we’re working on with our clients. We believe they are relevant to most business owners involved with any aspect of marketing their business, and we offer a regular summary roundup of the most popular/interesting posts.

On Exit Planning: Miscalculation: The Little Big Horn Of Exit Planning – Any business owner disagree with: “It’s far better to start planning two years earlier than you think necessary than five minutes too late”? The article’s author recently surveyed business owners and found that owners frequently underestimate what needs to be done to transfer their businesses to the person they choose, when they want, and for the amount of money they need. Find out more here.

On Content Marketing: 10 Techniques to Successfully Amplify Your Content Marketing – Write it and they will come? Only if you follow through by letting people know your content exists. These tips will help with one of the most important steps in content marketing: “amplify”, or get the word out. Some of our go-to techniques: Keep sharing your most popular posts; Update and republish relevant, evergreen posts; and Curate similar content (and include a link to your original post). Read all the tips here.

On Email Marketing: Using Email Addresses for Retargeting – Take your email list to the next level by combining it with re-targeted advertising. Even if you have a very small ad budget, you can take advantage of the re-targeting options available on Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Read more.

On Local Marketing: 10 Things People Still Get Wrong about Local SEO – Do you still believe targeting keywords for Local Search is irrelevant? Claiming a Google listing will automatically increase search visibility? A huge radius will make you rank better for local cities? Find out how Google really ranks your business on SEO.

On Analytics: Four Key Metric Groups for B2B Marketers – This article reviews four of types of metrics key to succeeding in the B2B marketing space:

• Lead generation metrics (ROI of ads & campaigns; raw leads; quality of leads);
• Top of funnel metrics (Visitors to most popular landing pages; Organic / non-paid traffic; PR and non-paid media impact)
• Community & nurturing metrics (Email metrics; Time to respond for user questions)
• Customer satisfaction / loyalty metrics (NPS score; Survey data )

Read the article for details about each of these metrics groups. How many of them are you using?

Goodbye, Google Sidebar Ads – What You Need to Know

If you’ve done a Google search on a laptop or desktop in the last few weeks, you’re sure to have noticed a big change. There’s a lot of white space on the right – gone are the sidebar ads and the maps and local listings. Instead, ads, maps and search results are combined in one center column, mirroring the mobile search experience. The removal of the ads follows on the heels of the new local “3 pack” change last August, which reduced local listings from 7 and moved it to the center column.
What impact will this have on local marketing, SEO and search advertising? While the changes are so new the verdict is still out, we’ve gathered insights from a number of experts in order to get an early read.

The Key Changes

Here’s what has changed in this worldwide rollout that happened in mid-February:

• There are no text ads on the right sideof the search results on desktop.
• The total number of text ads that will appear on a page shrinks from 11 to a maximum of 7:
  • 4 text ads (up from 3) are in the main area above the organic listings.
  • 3 text ads will show at the bottom of the SERPs.

Here’s what’s not changed:
“PLAs demonstrate strong user interaction when they’re on the right side, so they’re staying put.” – Search Engine Land

What This Means for PPC Advertising

“With the new layout, the top four ads will dominate the above the fold section of almost all searches… Click through rates for these ads should significantly rise, which is great news for conversion focused advertisers who have an appetite for more volume. If, of course, you are in the top few ad slots.” – Ad News
“It seems intuitive that having fewer ads on each SERP is going to make ad positions more competitive. The effect on click prices is yet to be seen.” – Marketing Land
It’s important to enable any extensions possible. “Top ads are eligible to show more extensions, and those same extensions can also show at the bottom of the page. Now that text ads on the right rail are gone, each opportunity you get to display an ad is an opportunity to show a helpful ad extension. Investigate all of them and add any that you might be missing.” – Search Engine Land

What This Means for Search Results

“[The addition of the 4th top ad] combined with the range of different ad extensions available, will push down the organic search results even further. Every extra extension pushes the results down by one line… [In spite of this], it’s actually looking like this change will show an increase in organic traffic for websites that are ranked in the top positions.” – Ad News
Early testing shows that the longer the query, the less likely the SERPs will include either ads or the “local pack.” According to Erin Everhart, Lead Manager, Digital Marketing, SEO at The Home Depot, “The value of long-tail keywords just increased, since those keywords are naturally appearing higher above the fold. Yes, they are searched for less often, but they’re now even more likely to provide higher CTRs in addition to the higher conversion rates they’ve historically come with. The longer the query, the closer a person is to purchase.”

5 Easy Ways to Make Local Marketing Matter

Local marketing – marketing that’s focused on reaching customers in a specific geographic area – is not for every business. But if you have a physical presence in a specific location and provide services to your community (think bank, florist, shoe store, restaurant, deli, dry cleaners, etc….), you will most likely be able to benefit by using a targeted approach to build your credibility as a local resource online as well as off.

Chances are, if you’re a local business and have done any sort of online marketing, you’ve already:

• listed your business on local resource websites and directories (Chamber of Commerce);
• set up a Facebook page;
• have a Twitter account and a Google+ Local page

But there’s plenty more you can do. And much of it is almost painless to roll in to your day-to-day plans.

Local Marketing Matters – Online and Off

The local, in-person or in-store activities you do often have “digital” parallels, and when they are managed in concert, they can have an amplifying effect. Of course, local events will bring physical traffic to your store. And promoting these events online can help confirm for the search engines that you are, indeed, a quality, local business. This in turn will help your rankings in search engine results and will help bring traffic to your website and, ultimately, your store.

Here are 5 simple ways to take “digital” advantage of your in-person activities.

1. Get involved in the community

• In person: Join a Local Chamber or Business Association
• Online: Get your business listed on the Chamber or Association website

2. Give back

• In person: Sponsor a town event
• Online: receive coverage in the local paper, by submitting a press release or inviting the local editors to the event

3. Partner with other local businesses

• In person: Co-host an event
• Online: Cross-promote the event on your and their social media sites; split the cost of advertising the event; submit a co-sponsored press release to the local papers

4. Reward loyal customers

• In person: Set up a loyalty system (like a frequent buyer punch card)
• Online: Loyal customers become your online “brand advocates”

5. Customer reviews

• In person: Ask for reviews and feedback after special events; provide an in-store comment book; save letters written by happy customers
• Online: Publish the reviews your website, etc. (with permission, of course)