The WebSpecialist Blog

Facebook is talking about it. Google and Bing are allegedly obsessing about it. And all the little guys are even wondering about it. The "it" in question is local web optimization. So why is everybody buzzing about local when once upon a time the desired SEO goal was global domination?

Easy. As searches become more specialized, users are directed to businesses, people and places within steps of wherever they're using their laptop or smart phone. Therefore it's more vital than ever for small businesses to make sure their hours of operation, location and services are correctly listed online. Updating business profiles on search engines should be part of a local SEO strategy. Now more than ever, small companies are invited to be empowered by staying in control of their website, social media and search engine results. And we think that's great news. Viva local!

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Baltimore SEO gurus and Internet marketers have been waiting for the latest algorithm update from Google Panda. After all, the company clearly stated that Panda would be taking a holiday nap but would be back in action at the beginning of the year. And it appears that the wait is over: Panda 3.2 came roaring back last week and the updates are causing some marketers to cheer.

This 10th refresh apparently addresses issues with Panda's last update. Marketers, according to Brafton.com, are reporting that traffic levels have been restored to near pre-Panda levels. And because there have been no changes in terms of ranking signals, it seems this latest Google update, while important, is fairly minor. This round of adjustments is one in a series of 500 changes Google plans to make to its various search algorithms this year.

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Baltimore SEO experts as well as SEO gurus across the country have been closely watching the numerous Google Panda updates. The changes have been steady and constant since the beginning of the year, with the most recent round of updates coming down just last month. It's become something of a sport to see how Google updates Panda next. Sadly, we've learned via Twitter that our Panda Watch 2011 has come to a close.

As reported by Web Pro News, Google officially tweeted on December 14th, "no major Panda updates until next year." Insiders are speculating that Google is taking a holiday break in order to avoid another Florida update that could derail the season's heaviest period of online shopping. The Florida debacle from November 2003, as you may or not recall, was an update that knocked SEO and Google on its behind, leaving web users and retailers very angry. Panda updates are expected to resume in January — this also is when Google is expected to roll out a variety of new products.

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Social media is a fantastic way to beef up your local web optimization, and many marketers, web developers and small business owners have been keeping a watchful eye on Google+. Being a newbie in the social network world as well as a product from the innovators at Google, folks are fascinated by the possibilities Google+ has for marketing businesses. Now, after months of waiting, the first Google+ business pages are slowly starting to roll out. Here's the skinny on this potentially-powerful platform.

Exactly Like Facebook Pages Except Easier: Since the introduction of Google+ pages for business on November 7th, 61 percent of the world's top brands have adopted pages into their marketing practices. We'd guess the ease of setting up Google+ pages had something to do with that. Unlike Facebook pages, Google+ offers businesses a fast way to build pages that aren't riddled with ad solicitation and lame questions about friends and connections. Google+ pages are great for linking businesses to searches, too.

Just Like Facebook but with Less People: Although Google+ has all the makings of a great social media star, in the end it's still a Facebook world. Facebook still controls 65 percent of all of social media land, while Google+ has a tiny .05 percent. So while social media marketing might be easier on Google+, the price you pay for convenience is a smaller audience.

Social Media for SEO: Lest we forget that Google+ was created by the world's biggest search engine, and the site works exactly as such. The biggest benefit of Google+ pages is that fans can "like" your site with a +1 on Google+ as well as in Google searches. Google+ pages finally bridge the gap between SEO and social media seamlessly — that alone makes dabbling in it worth your time and effort.

By the way, we here at WSI WebSpecialist typically take a bit of a wait-and-see stance on a lot of new social platforms, only jumping in when we feel the platform offers something of clear value to us. But we actually set up our Google+ business page as soon as we could after it was released. We're still working on developing it, but feel free to check out our Google+ page if you'd like to see one example. And be sure to add us to your circles!

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Maryland SEO and search engine optimizers everywhere like to play the doom and gloom card whenever something new from Google is released — and no product from the company was met with more boos and eye rolls than Google Panda. The tough algorithm update was released last winter to extreme pessimism. Now marketers and SEOers alike have unlocked a way to make Panda work for them: fresh content.

A new infographic from Brafton reports that original content on a website can translate to sales. Katherine Griwert, who created and compiled the infographic for Brafton, says that 57 percent of marketers report that new customers have come in via company blogs. But spammers beware: Google Panda does not respond well to churned-out paid content and instead gives higher rankings to fresh content like blogs and social media interaction. In short, original content is a tasty recipe anybody can cook up to keep Google Panda fat and happy.

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Today I'm going to give you step by step directions on how to leave a review on a Google Local Business listing. Why is this important? Well, Google is increasingly integrating Local Business Listings into its search results. If you have a business, you want to be one of those lucky few businesses that shows up in the Local Business Listings when someone searches for your industry on Google.

How do you get to be in those top 3 listings, or even number 1? Well, one of the criteria for ranking high is how many favorable Google Place reviews your business has. Note that this isn't the only criterion, but it is certainly a large factor!

Please feel free to forward these directions to your clients. Let them know that you would love it if they left you a Google Place review about how much they love your services!

1. Go to http://maps.google.com and search for the name of the business that you want to leave a Google Place review for. You may need to include part of the business's location, such as its city and state, in the search. So for example, to find WSI WebSpecialist, you could type

   WSI WebSpecialist, Havre de Grace, MD

   in the search box. (You can actually find us by business name alone, but this is just an example.)
2. Once you see the business name in the left column, click on "More Info" next to the business name.
3. Scroll down until you see the header "Reviews by Google users."
   1. If you are logged into a Google Account, you will see "Been here? Rate and review."
      1. Click on "Rate and review"
      2. Write your review in the box provided. You can also rate the business out of 5 stars.
      3. Click "Publish."
4. If you are not logged in, you will see "Been here? Sign in to rate"
   1. Click "Sign in to rate"
      1. If you have a Google account already, log in and then you'll be forwarded to a page where you can leave a review.
         1. Write your review in the box provided. You can also rate the business out of 5 stars.
         2. Click "Publish."
         3. If you don't yet have a Google account:
            1. Click the button that says "Create an account now" and follow the instructions to create the account.
            2. Once created, go back to the Business Listing page and click on "Rate and review" to leave a review.
            3. Write your review in the box provided. You can also rate the business out of 5 stars.
            4. Click "Publish."

And that's it! Remember, Google Place reviews are good for your business's search rankings on Google. Also, don't be tempted into leaving "fake reviews" for your own business, as the business owner! Google takes harsh actions against businesses who "cheat." If you cheat, you might never find yourself on the first page of Google ever again!

Are you interested in getting more help in ranking higher on Google? Contact WSI WebSpecialist today about our search engine optimization services!

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Jeff Harrison commented on 23-Mar-2011 01:40 PM

Thanks for offering instructions. Maybe you could create a downloadable version to make them easier to pass along to customers. Also, I have found that a great incentive to get your customers to add reviews for you is to send them a personalized request
letter with not only the instructions, but also a $5 gift card to a local coffee or sandwich shop as a "thank you" for their time.

Meribel Airport Transfers commented on 14-Dec-2011 11:59 AM

Ok, might seem a silly question but how do you get your business listed in the first place - just done a search for our Ski Transfer business and we are not listed.

Jeff Harrison commented on 19-Dec-2011 07:53 PM

Pretty simple, actually - just go to http://www.google.com/places/ and click the button to "Get Started." Google walks you through the process. Of course, this assumes that the process is the same for you in France as it is here in the USA!