Local Search Marketing | Missoula based Internet Marketing Consultant

Hi Everyone,
It’s spring, which means it’s already been a full quarter since the year started! As always there is a lot of new digital marketing information to catch up on and hopefully implement into your strategy as we enter the next three months.

If you follow me on social media (Facebook / Twitter / Linkedin) you may have already seen some of the following articles, but I have also compiled some here so you may easily read through. Each month I sift through a variety of articles with topics you will find useful as you build an online marketing strategy for your business.

Enjoy and relax while you learn with the content I’ve shared, and if you have anything you want to discuss, drop me a line.
Andy Commons – Internet Marketing Consultant
Andy@andycommons.com
www.andycommons.com
406-962-5683

Search Engine Optimization
Google gives SEO tips on how to handle day-long site closures
Need to turn off your website for a period of time, but worry your Google rankings will drop? Here are some tips from Google’s John Mueller on how to handle it.

Blogs
Will my organic rankings suffer if I don’t have a blog?
A blog can be a major investment, but the SEO benefits can make it worth the effort. Columnist Stephanie LeVonne makes the case for why blogging works to improve search visibility.

The Best Words and Themes to Generate Featured Snippets
Featured snippets have proven to be a valuable source of organic traffic and increased click through rates. This post explores the effects of query modifiers, CPC, search volume, and query length on featured snippets.

Social Media
Follow These Simple Steps To A Massive Social Following
By following a few simple rules, any business can begin building or expanding their current social media presence.

So Facebook just announced something called Graph Search.

See how Facebook describes it here: http://www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch

Already there are tons of people weighing in on what it is, and if they like it.

I say it’s too early to tell, but if you run a business and are online (and I hope you are) this will be something to keep an eye on. I’ll try to help bring you just the basics so you don’t have to spend hours researching the next ‘new thing’.

While lots of people are less than impressed, AJ Kohn (https://plus.google.com/115106448444522478339) says Local Search is one of the better features. In my opinion, I’m always looking to USE facebook vs. being used by it… it can be a great marketing tool if used right, and Graph Search, like Google Places may become one of those Must Do activities to help you keep a competitive edge. AJ’s post about Graph Search and Local is here: http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/what-local-search-looks-like-in-facebooks-new-graph-search/6885/

He shows an example of a search for “Restaurants Nearby”. I’m telling you. Businesses need to pay attention.

Scott Gallagher of Local Marketing Source also has thoughts, which he put into a short video on the topic. http://www.localmarketingsource.com/blog/facebook-graph-search-facebook-enters-search/

Finally, Mike Elgen (https://plus.google.com/113117251731252114390) has his own take. He says, ” if you love Facebook, you’re going to love Graph Search. But if you hate Facebook — oh, boy, are you going to hate Graph Search. He points out some serious concerns about your privacy, and possible ways “bad people” will be able to use this new feature to do all sorts of nasty things.

His blog about it is here:
http://www.datamation.com/commentary/the-trouble-with-facebooks-graph-search-1.html

Since the only constant is change, here we go with another new thing to deal with as a local business. If you are trying to keep up, and sort out what you should or could be doing online, check out my special offer. I review your site, and then consult with you on how to get more qualified traffic to your site, and turn them into paying customers.

-Andy