We’re all hyper-sensititive to the importance of local search via those eye-popping local marker tags in the organic listings – as are our SEO and internet marketing clients. Yet  it seems that even the most seasoned SEO’s and internet marketing professionals continue to gloss over the why’s and how’s of  the actual results that are appearing – in a seemingly arbitrary fashion - in “Googletime” as I prefer to call it, within the prime real estate of organic search results.

So, yet again Google is the fickle friend. Always there, ready and willing to help, but (more…)

We’re presenting a Webinar on Online Reputation Management (ORM) in a few weeks. As we pull things together, we thought it would be nice to share some information and tools to help you as an individual and as part of a business to follow and manage your online reputation.

First, what exactly is Online Reputation Management? In a narrow sense it refers to the practice of trying to get any negative comments/pages/mentions about a person or business to appear lower on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). In a broad sense it means taking inventory of what people are saying about you online, and doing what you can to have the most positive view of you or your business represented. This includes responding to negative reviews or ratings that may be out there.

Now that you know what ORM is, you need to take inventory of where you currently stand. There are plenty of tools you can use, and some of the more popular ones are:

• Search Engines: Just do a search on your business name and see what comes up – are there any negative results?
• Review Sites: Head to review sites like Yelp and Angie’s List to see what people are saying about you.
• Social Media: Visit Social Media communities (large ones like Facebook and even smaller, niche ones) and see how people are talking about your business.

If it seems that there are only positive things being said about your business, great. But some times you may find a negative review or post. What do you do then? There is a two part answer to this.

If the site allows, develop a professional response to the post. Be courteous, and address the issue at hand. If need be, see if you can take the conversation offline. Always keep in mind that whatever you type could be there forever, so don’t take a defensive stand and don’t attack the Poster personally. (If the Post is totally false, try and get it removed, as many sites have a process for this.)

The second part is to develop positive content for your business that has a chance for showing up in the search engines and pushing the negative comments down the SERP (Please Note: The new content does not have to be related to the negative comment). So if you found negative web pages when you searched on your business name, you will want to develop new content optimized for your business name. Some places where you can post the new content:

• Your website
• Your blog
• As a press release that you distribute
• In online communities
• As an article that you distribute

You’ll want to be sure not to duplicate content as you spread a positive message about your company, as search engines will tend to only choose one version of similar content to rank on SERPs. So if your plan was to submit content to each of the above, the plan may look like:

• Develop a new About Us page for the website
• Write a blog about a charity your business is supporting
• Write a press release about a new product you are launching
• Post to your Facebook Page about promotions within the company
• Write an article about why a product that you offer is such a good solution for a problem, and be sure to include company name and backlink in your boilerplate

Remember, if you don’t control your reputation online, somebody else will.

Do you currently monitor your online reputation? Will you start? Do you think it is important? Let us know.

Without further ado, Google has made the decision to jump both feet into the social media maelstrom. The search giant’s announcement this week to launch  the Google +1 program brings up a host of questions about where they’re headed next.  How will the Google +1 affect search engine optimization?

Google is the Goliath of search. It has muscled and finessed and “algorithmed” it’s way to the top.  It enjoys an unfettered view from the very pinnacle of internet search.  It’s the authority. The “hammer”.  The engine that everyone looks up to, trusts to do the hard work, and expects the real results from. 
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With the latest update of Google’s algo, plenty of sites have been feeling the burn. Here’s a list of some major players that have taken hits, from http://www.sistrix.com/blog/985-google-farmer-update-quest-for-quality.html:

As an example, we looked a little closer at AmericanTowns.com on Quantcast. (more…)

The debate over White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO is in the National spotlight with an article in the NY Times entitled “The Dirty Little Secrets of Search.” The ultimate goal of any SEO, whether using White Hat or Black Hat techniques, is to get their client’ website to rise to the top of the organic results.  An added burden of the Black Hat SEO is not to get caught using their deceptive techniques for fear of Google’s consequences.

As the story goes, JCPenney  was dominating the top of Google’s search results. They were occupying the #1 position for keywords such as “dresses”, “furniture”, “area rugs”, “skinny jeans” and a myriad of others. The question came up about how they are accomplishing this amazing feat! Through some investigative reporting by Doug Pierce, it was determined that JCPenney’s SEO company was utilizing Black Hat SEO techniques described as “the most ambitious attempt to game Google’s search results that he has ever seen”. (more…)