Affordable Web Technology, Inc.

Google is now allowing local business owners to respond to reviews left on their Places page. This is a great way to engage with your customers and build relationships. As with any public interaction you should remember 1)Be nice, 2)Don’t get personal, and 3)Feedback is helpful.

Here are some additional guidelines from Google on posting reviews to Google Places

.

Forget about the Search Engines. Write great content focused on the people who are consumers of your information. Take a 30 second break and watch this 1960′s commercial featuring our favorite rabbit trying time and again to get his hands on Trix breakfast cereal.

Our rabbit seems to have a one track mind… It’s focused entirely on this great tasting cereal. Many website owners today have a one track mind as well… They’re focused entirely keywords for the sake of keywords.

We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Trix are for kids, and keywords are for people. The whole reason to put keywords into Page Titles, Meta Description, <h1> tags, alt tags, body content, anchor links, etc. are not to “game the system” or attempt to satisfy the Search Engines. It’s to satisfy the eventual users of our websites. The consumers of our information.

With the correct keywords in the right places, our site users will feel confident that they have found a site that truly satisfies their needs and provides the answers they are hunting for.

Content has always been king. With today’s Internet, it is even more important that we have great user-centric content on our sites. Update this content on a regular basis and ensure that the keywords you’re using speak directly to your site users.

Focus on the consumer of your information first. The Search Engines will be good with that approach as well.

Let me answer your question, with a question.  How many questions or solutions does your website provide? In today’s environment, on today’s internet, content is king. The more compelling content you have, the better chance you’ll have at attracting users to your site.

A top notch website today will usually have:

• Home page, which provides a quick position statement.
• Contact page.
• Privacy policy.
• Site map.
• Frequently asked questions.
• About us, or history page.
• Why choose us, or Value Proposition.
• Project gallery.
• Testimonials.

There’s your first nine pages. So, now it’s a question of how many questions, solutions, products, or services you offer. As each page on you site should stand on it’s own two feet. If you offer three products that don’t require installation, you’ll need three more pages. If those products require installation, you could easily have three more. If each product has a PDF manual, that’s three more. Do you products have a sales brochure? There are three more pages.

So, your simple site with three products has turned into a site with the potential of having 18 pages. Could you cover all this with, say, eight pages. Perhaps, but the Search Engines will have a tough time indexing your site and delivering it to a Search Engine Results Page.

What else can you be thinking about in order to add fresh content on an on-going basis? Consider these sources:

• Do you send out Press Releases? These could be re-printed on your site.
• Do you publish a newsletter? Either printed or an email version?
• Have you won any industry awards?
• Are you keeping up with site updates when you release new products or services?
• Do you have a blog attached to your site so you can post short ad-hoc articles throughout the year?

It’s starting to look a lot like content!

There are four major groups of buyers. They are Competitive, Spontaneous, Humanistic, and Methodical. Your website should communicate to each of these four types, so they can “self-serve” when they arrive. Give each buyer type what they need to make their decision. Use the descriptions and the table below to ensure that your pages satisfy all of these personality types on each of your calls to action.

Competitive – These are assertive personalities that want accomplishment. They are usually quick to make decisions and are goal oriented. They want to know what your product or service can do for them to solve their problem.

Sample Copy: (italicized words indicate which phrases this personality type will respond to most)

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

Spontaneous – The spontaneous personality wants acceptance and appreciates the personal touch. They want to know why your product or service is the best to solve their problem.

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

Humanistic – These individuals are creative, entertaining, and want applause. They want to know who has used your product or service to solve a problem.

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

Methodical – Methodical people appreciate facts and information presented in a logical and accurate manner. They want to know how your product or service can solve the problem.

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

In a July 2009 study, the most popular “First Thing in the Morning Resources” are:
TV – 30% in 2009, down from 36% in 2006
Print Newspapers – 19%, down from 23%
Search Engines – 19%, up from 10%

Search Engines Also Win For Breaking News
The study also looked at where do people turn for “news right now”:
Search Engines – 31% in 2009, up from 20% in 2006
TV – 30%, down from 43% in 2006

Read the entire article at http://alturl.com/39z6

Google announced Friday “Personalized Search Results For Everybody“.  We’ve had personalized search in the past, but it’s been on an opt-in basis. Now it’s on an opt-out basis only.

If you’re signed in as a Google user and have opted-in, nothings changed. If you’re not signed in, your search results will be customized based on 180 days of search activity. You can turn off personalization as well.

Watch this video for more information.

Why spend time and effort building an organized Ad Campaign and effective PPC Ads, then send a consumer to your a landing page that doesn’t provide enough information for them to make a buying decision? Or worse — send them to your standard Home Page!

To establish trust and prompt users to action, I incorporate as many of these 15 elements as possible into my custom landing pages.

1. Keywords to match the PPC Ad (which should have keywords that match the search).
2. Properly optimized on-page elements; title tag, h1 tag, meta tags, keywords in text, in-page links.
3. Strong title based on solid advertising principles.
4. Call to action at the top, (possibly middle), and bottom of the page.
5. Customer centric text. It’s not about what’s important to you as an advertiser. It’s about the customer.
6. Meaningful photos or graphics to re-in-force the text. Not to detract from the text.
7. Association memberships and associated images.
8. Include testimonials.
9. Utilize coupon or “web” special offer, especially if the call to action is only a phone call or email. You need to provide a mechanism to track the business.
10. Warranty information as apporpriate.
11. List the physical address and phone number of the business. This helps establish trust.
12. Features and benefits. Customers buy based on emotions and then justify their purchases with logic.
13. Payment terms and associated graphics.
14. Business hours. After hours charges.
15. Service area covered.

When creating Pay Per Click Ads, I try to incorporate as many of these 10 items as possible:

1. Incorporate a keyword in the ad title and description. If I can start the ad title with akeyword, even better.
2. Utilize a keyword in the display URL, and drop the http://www.
3. Create a unique sales proposition (USP).
4. Create a sense of urgency.
5. Include a call to action. Phone call, email, download, buy!
6. Use Domain Name that matches the industry or nature of the product or service being advertised.
7. Target the ad to a specific stage in the buying cycle; call, buy, compare.
8. Capitalize the first letter of each word in the title.
9. Include a geo-targeted qualifier if approporiate.
10. Provide incentives.

This helps keep the Quality score high and provides necessary details to the consumer so they can choose you as the firm to do business with. The next step is to create an effective custom landing page for your ads.

Google has updated their Business Listing Quality Guidelines. They are looking for legitimate businesses with physical addresses to claim these listings. Things like P.O. Boxes, phone numbers in the business name, and a precise address will be required now. This is a move to combat spammers and illegitimate business listings.