3 Small Business Marketing Resolutions Google Wants You to Make in the New Year

Over the last two years Google has been strategically making changes to the way it serves up search information.  In late 2010 Google completely overhauled their search infrastructure by implementing Google Caffeine – which makes it easier for them to index, crawl and return search results faster.  With the foundation laid out they have made several strategic algorithmic changes in 2011 that impact search.  With more and more consumers conducting local search than ever before these changes have provided small local businesses the opportunity to compete against larger sleeping giants and win.  In this article I’m going to lay out each change and give you a strategy and New Year’s resolutions that will help you take advantage of the new online search playing field.  

 

Google Change #1:  Google Panda and the New Google Search Algorithm

 

Google Panda was rolled out in February of 2011.  It was a change in Google’s search results ranking algorithm that lowered the rank of low-quality websites. Sites with higher quality content now appear at the top of the search results pages.  The goal of Google Panda is to encourage and reward original and fresh content production.

In November of 2011 Google released a new search algorithm that impacted 35% of search according to Searchengineland.com.  The enhancement reinforces the Google Panda initiative and again rewards websites that produce fresh content.

Who Was Impacted?

Sites with duplicate content and affiliate advertiser sites were mainly impacted.  Earlier in 2011 I consulted for a dealer group with 84 locations – Basement Technologies.  They are an in-home waterproofing contractor and each of their dealers received a turnkey local market website from a 3^rd party web development company.  As soon as Google released Panda the dealers who all shared the very same website content immediately dropped off of the Google search engine results pages.  I implemented a blogging strategy for their corporate location and was able to increase their local web traffic by 600% by publishing original and fresh content articles.  This strategy helped the local Boston office generate 45-60 organic leads each month.  Bottom line - it is very important that you know where your content is coming from and that you are not sharing it with someone else.

Your 2012 Resolution

Start a blog right away and publish original content .  Make sure the blog is connected to your domain so you leverage your domain authority.  If you have duplicate content on your website take it down or replace it so you are not penalized in the search engines.  We offer a number of solutions for businesses of all sizes to help you implement this strategy.  To find the solution right for you visit: ServiceJournalist, MarketingSprints and ServiceCMO.

 

Google Change #2:  Google Places

 

This was a big one this year and it looks like Google rolled out changes to its Google Places product over the course of a few months.  Before we dig into the changes first let me point out that Google has incorporated a local search function on the far left side of the results page – giving the search user the ability to change the city or town they would like to search in.  We have already seen that we are starting to receive local business organic results when typing in terms like ‘Boston Plumber’ or ‘Boston Electrician’ when making ‘Boston’ the designated city or town.  However, and more recently Google Places map listings are trumping organic results and are appearing just below the paid search bar and actually inside paid search placement located top right of the page.

Here are recent changes we’ve identified:

1.  3^rd party reviews are gone.  Google has shut down the Yelp, Service Magic,  City Search and other third party review sites – only displaying Google reviews on the main page of the search results.  They moved the 3^rd party reviews to the very bottom of the Google Places display page.
2. Fraudulent or duplicate Google Places accounts are disappearing.  If you have noticed your competitors located on the maps listings with suspicious addresses in different cities or towns and know for sure that they are taking advantage of the old system then I wouldn’t worry.  It appears Google is removing or repositioning duplicate or fraudulent Google Places accounts.
3. Setting up a Google Places account now requires a stringent verification process.  About six months ago you could verify a listing with your cell phone.  Unverifiable phone numbers now require a physical postcard to be mailed to your location.  And – if you share an address with another company like in a virtual office, post office or other address with duplicate addresses your Places account may not be published.
4. I’ve read about Google Places accounts that were frozen due to a large number of false reviews. 
5. There is now a hover feature on a Google search page where you can quickly and easily view a Google Places page without actually clicking on it.

Your 2012 Resolution

If you haven’t already done so already take advantage of Google Places and sign up today.  It is free.  Make sure to optimize your listing with coupons, pictures and actionable information.  Push your happy customers to your Google Places site so they can give you a review.  It might also make sense for you to put a button on your website that displays your Google Places account.  There are also 50 other local search directories that I put my clients into.  You can download my Local Search Playsheet Here to get a listing of the top 50 local search directories.

 

Google Change #3:  Google Adwords

 

I would say that 9 out of 10 prospective customers I speak with have had a bad experience with Google Adwords.  I don’t think it is because of the product. My clients are extremely successful with paid search and know exactly how much they need to spend to make the phone ring.    I think it is because most small business owners are overwhelmed by the technology or have done business with paid search agencies that make a profit on the cost per click margin.    That’s why Google search partners are able to offer a ‘Free’ managed service offering because they make it up on the backend.  Google seems to be aware that their search partner program is hurting their business and have introduced several enhancements to their Google Adwords program to increase customer retention. 

1.  New ad extensions.  You can now increase the size of your ad with a number of new conversion tools like a phone number, links to your website, your Google Places account and more.  These new enhancements give you an opportunity to create more urgency and convert at a higher percentage.
2. Google Engage.  For small paid search management companies like The Service Coach Google has come out with Google Engage.  It is a program where I am able to offer new clients coupons to get started with adwords.  It does not provide me the ability to charge margin on clicks and I think this is a great program.  Small business owners SHOULD have a direct billing relationship with Google and know what your TRUE costs are.  I think this is a more transparent program and should work out well for both Google and the advertiser.
3. Google Adwords Express.  This is Google’s solution to help small businesses get up and running with Adwords faster who may not necessarily have a website.  Google points ads to your Google Places page.  I would not recommend Adwords Express for companies who need to generate leads.

Your 2012 Resolution

Set yourself up with a direct billing relationship with Google and give it another shot.  Set a conservative budget and scale your paid search efforts once you determine your true cost per lead and true cost per customer acquisition.  The Service Coach offers paid search management through our managed offering ServiceVisible.  We also offer paid search training in our Marketing Sprints Program.  You can download our Paid Search Playbook here to get the play-by-play on paid search for service businesses. 

 

 

About The Service Coach

The Service Coach helps service businesses of all sizes develop and implement proven digital marketing strategies.  Below are a number of common challenges we help service business owners solve: 

Website Visibility and Performance:  The average small business website has only 14 indexed web pages and most require IT involvement to make changes.  We make your website work harder with an easy to use content management system.  The CMS has built in tools that make it easy to create pages, measure performance and track critical marketing metrics like traffic and conversion.

Automating Proven Marketing Executions:  You have had success in the past launching campaigns that delivered a positive ROI but it is difficult for you to systemize and repeat proven marketing executions without a significant amount of time and resources. We take proven marketing executions and make them easy to deploy.

Long Sales Cycles:  You write estimates for high ticket, high margin replacement installations and find that it is taking longer to close deals than before.  We help you develop and implement sales tools and communications that speed up the buying process.

Customer Retention:  You have worked hard to generate new customers but do not have a process in place to grow and develop long term relationship with them.  We help you constantly stay in-front of your customers through a number of marketing executions including newsletters, blogging, social media and promotions.

Consistent Lead Generation: Lead flow is sporadic and unpredictable.  We help you generate a steady flow of leads at scalable costs through a number of layered lead generation strategies including paid search, email, local search directory placement, content development and more.

Turning Service Offerings into Easy-to-Sell Programs:  People purchase products and services that offer perceived value.  Without value it is often difficult to position your offering at its’ optimal price.  This typically leads to missed opportunities and contracts agreed to at a substantially discounted price. We transition your product  and service offerings into easy-to-sell programs.

Selling Recurring Revenue Preventative Maintenance Plans: One of the best ways to secure a customer relationship is to implement a recurring service model where the customer belongs to an exclusive offering where they have peace of mind knowing that your company will respond at a moment’s notice and take care of their equipment.  We help you build and develop recurring revenue streams and customer service plans that build long-last relationships.

Running Blind:  You may have heard the old adage “About half of my ads work, the problem is I’m not sure which half.”  If you’re running blind without visibility into marketing performance we can help.  We’ll wire up your marketing department so you’ll have visibility into marketing performance.  With data you’ll be able to make informed decisions and control costs.  You’ll know exactly how much a lead will cost, how much it will take to generate a new customer and more.

Request a one-on-one consultation and learn how The Service Coach can help your organization.  Call 1-866-532-6224 or fill out the form here.

 

 

About The Author:  Steve Teneriello is the Founder of The Service Coach and is a seasoned senior marketing strategist and business development professional experienced in both residential and commercial sales and digital marketing.  Throughout his career Steve has worked with over 300 small to medium-sized service business owners helping them develop and implement systematic and formula driven marketing, sales and operations strategies that fuel growth and profitability.  Learn More About Steve Here