Local Search
Google Plus: Work Around for ‘No entry’ Symbol Image Bug
The “No Entry” bug is an ugly image artifact that shows an obtuse Google symbol in place of your profile photo in the main search results when you delete your profile photo. The problem was first reported in the Places forum in early July and the post has attracted 10 pages of comments and a…
Read MoreA Guide to Google Local Listing Page Identification
Google is in the midst of a massive migration of claimed business listings from the old Places Dashboard to the new Places for Business Dashboard. Simultaneously, they are apparently also in the midst of merging the new Places for Business Dashboard interface and functionality with the Google+ Page management interface … confusing on both a…
Read MoreLooking Back on Local U Advanced … Looking Ahead to 2014
Local U Advanced NYC is in the books, and we’d like to thank everyone who showed up last week to make the event such a big success. Our room at the Sheraton Hotel was filled with nearly 50 small business owners, national brand managers and local marketers (in-house and agency) looking to learn everything they…
Read MoreWhere Should a New Business Create a Listing: Google+ Page or Google Places for Business Dashboard?
Andrew Forster of of Adster Creative recently asked this great question: If you’re starting out with a brand new business, should you ‘create’ a listing in places.google.com or start in the Google+ platform? In the end, it doesn’t really matter which path you choose as the data goes to the same place (the canonical Knowledge…
Read MoreThe Real Truth About SEO & Call Tracking
The call tracking debate goes on and on and on and on. Why? Because, when done incorrectly, it severely cripples a business’ ability to rank well in the Google local search results. While experienced local marketers can tell which types of call tracking are harmful and which are not, the average small business owner — and many marketers…
Read MoreWhat Kind of Google+ Page Is It? – A Visual Guide to Google+ Local Pages
When Google moved the business Place pages to Google Plus last year, they started to slowly transition their small business dashboards to the new environment as well. Hopefully, soon there will be one consolidated dashboard where a business will be able to give Google their basic business information, add photos, buy Adwords Express/Offers, add videos…
Read MoreHow Long Should Your Business Description Be in the Google Places for Business Dashboard?
We received this question via Twitter this week from @AlexMorask: Would you happen to know [the] recommended length for [a] business description in Google Places and Google+? And here’s a reply that’s a little longer than what Twitter allows per tweet: In the old Google Places dashboard the limit was a measly 200 characters. Hardly…
Read MoreGoogle’s Carousel: Its Impact On Analytics … & A Spokane Taco Truck
How has Google Carousel impacted your local search traffic? Much like Aaron Weiche’s blurry Bigfoot analogy (ask him about it next time you see him), Google Carousel results are a tad blurry. At first glance, the change appears to result in a drop in Google local traffic. Granted, these are only two examples (from restaurant…
Read MoreHow To Segment Local Search In Google Analytics (with Free Dashboard!)
A few weeks ago at Local University Advanced, I led a lab session session focused on local search analytics and how to better utilize advanced segmentation. We had great questions (as well as awesome suggestions) from an audience very eager to take a deep dive into local analytics. We could’ve easily taken another hour to go…
Read MoreA Local Homage to Google Reader
With the official sunset of Google Reader yesterday, I thought I’d pay a simple homage with a few stories that have come across my screen in the last few months I’ve not yet had time to comment on. The Social Media Reality for SMBs Small businesses who’ve done more than dip their toes into the…
Read More