Recently Bit.ly and Forbes.com came up with a really interesting way to see data. They got together and created an interactive map to see where some news sources are popular in the U.S.

This version of the map was for data gathered in January, 2012 but the map was published March 22, 2012. Interesting to note that NPR shows up strongly in only one state: Oregon. The Huffington Post was surprisingly popular in Appalachia. And Mississippi loves its Fox News – at least during this time period that the data was collected.

Data Scientists, Hilary Mason and Anna Smith, over at Bit.ly, put together the data for the interactive map for Forbes. Read more about this fascinating combo of data, shortened links from curators, mostly in Facebook and Twitter, and their popularity in different areas of the U.S. here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonbruner/2012/03/22/forbes-interactive-media-map/

What better way to describe Social Search than directly from Google’s “mouth” – their blog?

I’ve been studying SEO since 1999 when I realized that businesses would need more than just a website as a way to brand the business. As a business owner, you need to be the brand that’s found. Even back then, Google was positioning itself to be THE place or tool that people used to find information. It seems a bit silly to spell it out now but I wanted to put it into context so you could see how far we’ve come. We’ve come from pure information as search results to a world of PERSONAL search results, thanks to Social Search.

Understanding Social Search is an important topic I’ve been keeping up with since I realized (and declared to anyone who would listen) 28 months ago, when Twitter and Google hooked up in December of 2010, that there is no such thing as only “search engine optimization” anymore because Social and Search have become so intertwined that you simply cannot expect an optimized website to be found all over page one in Google or Bing if you use SEO methods that pre-date 2010. SEO methods that pre-date 2010 are methods that do NOT include optimized Social Networks and LinkedIn (a business network) or blogs.

From where does Google pull content to display as your personal search results?

Google’s Social Search results pull content from your Twitter followers and LinkedIn – if you have those networks linked in your Google+ profile – and also people from your Gmail contact list; Gmail chat buddies; and Google coworker groups. If you use Google Reader, you’ll see some search results from some of your websites and blogs you subscribe to. It’s all information that’s “found publicly on the web,” according to The Official Google Blog.

Google’s Social Search is actually three years old, as of this writing. It was announced in a blog post dated October 26, 2009. At that time Google+ did not exist in its current form. The About section existed then and it was called a Google Profile.

Recently (January, 2012) Google launched Search Plus, Your World. Here’s an excerpt from Google’s blog, below, explaining the three main ways this looks when you do a search and you’re logged into Google. This was the biggest change that Google has introduced since it began its existence. That’s how big this is, folks. I cannot emphasize enough how critical it is to you to get your Google+ page up and running and properly optimized and 100% completed. (See some highlights about how to get your Google+ profile set up from my blog post about that.) Here’s that excerpt from Google’s blog about Search, Plus Your World and what search results look like now, when you’re logged into Google:

1. Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
2. Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,
3. People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community.

Let’s examine each of these three main ways Google works nowadays so you can better understand Social Search.

Personal Results: let’s say you’re in Denver and don’t get out here much and aren’t familiar with the best places to eat, especially in the downtown area known as LoDo. Yeah, you could “Yelp it” but you’re not going to be as familiar with those reviewers as you would be with people in your Google+ Circles; Google contact list from your Gmail account; Twitter followers, etc. Right? And that’s what Google is betting on – that you’ll more likely search in Google and consider the personal search results from people in your networks whom you already trust. You trust them, because, after all, they ARE in your social networks already. These Yelpers are people you’re probably not nearly as familiar with. Additionally, these Google search results are much more personal in words and feelings than the Yelpers’ results. This might end up being a personal choice (pun intended) as to whether or not you prefer the Yelp reviews over your Google personal results or perhaps you’ll take both into account when deciding where to plunk down your hard-earned dollars next time you find yourself in LoDo Denver and you’re hungry.

Profiles in Search: Ahhh…Google, thank you for making it so much easier to see a person’s Online Reputation pretty darn quickly. All you have to do is start typing that person’s name in the Google Search box. Google will auto-complete the name and show personal search results first – while you’re still in the search box. Click on the name and you’ll see all the relevant search results regarding that person you just Googled. And if it’s a common name, of course, Google will show all the people who have that name and have public content. I experimented and typed in “Michele” (without the quotation marks) and then “P” for last name to see who would show up in my auto-complete choices. I saw a name that I was not familiar with yet here it was in the personal search while I was still in auto-complete mode. I visited that person’s LinkedIn profile. Turns out that she and I are connected via a group in LinkedIn. She was a 3rd level “connection” in LinkedIn for me. The only thread between us is that we’re in a group in LinkedIn. This discovery was fascinating to me because Google must have examined my LinkedIn network via my LinkedIn link on my Google+ profile and showed this particular Michele P. as one of the choices when I typed in “Michele” (with one “L”, by the way) and “P” for the last name. Bottomline: when you Google someone’s name, Google will, first, show you names (and auto-complete them) that are people who are connected to you, even by the thinnest of threads.

People and Pages: When you search in Google for a brand or a topic or a particular interest or hobby, Google will show you Google+ pages and profiles of people in your network. Remember, that your “network” is not only Google+ Circles but all of the networks you have linked to from your Google+ profile, as long as the content is public.  So, if you do a search for Starbucks, and you have the personal search turned on (click the icon that looks like a person) you’ll see that brand’s Google+ page or profile appear in the top right area of page in Google. You’ll also see Google Places, which is the map for that particular brand.

Starbucks search results show the Starbucks Google+ profile in right area of page

“Behind most every query is a community” – Google says. This is particularly true for when you search by topic or area of interest. This is another VERY IMPORTANT reason to have a Google+ page for your business, as well as a Google+ profile for yourself.

About to Hire a SEO Expert Who Doesn’t Utilize Social? That’s a Red Flag. Turn and Run.

When considering hiring someone to integrate Search into your company’s marketing and online reputation strategy be sure to work with someone who has years of experience, not only in Search, but in Social.

Understanding Social Search

Now you have a better understanding of Social Search and why it’s so important to build your community online, as well as offline. The lines are getting blurred more and more between the two. It’s the people and companies who are NOT found in search results that we’re starting to wonder about. We’re starting to wonder why we can’t find anything about you or your company. Don’t let that happen. It’s so easy to build your Online Reputation when you remind yourself that Social and Search are married for life now. No divorce in their future.

What will Social Search look like five years from now? I think Social Search will look like everyone you know and everyone you don’t know yet are connected to because you share a common “knot” in the thread of Social Search. Thank about THAT for a while and let me know what YOU think by writing your comment and sharing this post with your networks. I sure appreciate hearing from you and that you’ll share this via the social plugins, below, too.

“We’ve found that people have a better experience viewing your timeline when they see a cover that is as unique and individualized as you are. This helps people learn more about you. ” – Facebook Help Center.

Thank you, Facebook, for urging business owners to think more like a marketer, telling a story about her or his brand. A picture is worth a thousand comments these days.

I love the Toyota USA cover image because it’s not about the car: it’s about the experience.

Here are the most important things I think you should know before you hire a web designer, graphic artist or photographer to create your company’s cover image and the tab images below it:

1. The cover image must be at least 720 pixels wide. I’ve read articles about this that have different width dimensions but this 720 pixels wide is what Facebook’s  help section says the minimum size in width should be.

2. Follow the rules. Facebook has rules about the cover image. Here they are:

Cover

3. Facebook is thinking like a good marketer: it wants you to emotionally connect to your audience with your cover image. Here are some examples:

Notice the excellent photography and creativity at work here. Can't you just SMELL the coffee?

Makes you want to go shopping, eh? Notice the red and white knick-knack on the book shelf - echoing Target's logo.

See how clever this is? Toyota PR is an electric car, obviously. Plugging into its own logo - clever!

Don’t do what Macy’s did. They put a picture of their building. Can you get a social crush on this? Big fail, Macy’s. I wish Macy’s would, instead, show us a mom and daughter happily shopping inside the store.

BAD EXAMPLE: DON’T DO THIS:

Bad example of a cover image. Can you emotionally connect with a building?

4. The tabs that are on the left side of the old fan page will now become big tabs underneath your cover image. Use these to have calls-to-action. After brainstorming your strategy, you can direct your designer to create images for these tabs. Depending on what you link them to, you can increase your revenue. For example, link a tab to your subscription form for your newsletter and build your list from your fans. Or link a tab to a landing page that has your video. In your video, you should greet your fan and give them something of value – whether that’s some free advice or something else that’s free. Be creative. Whatever your customers need, you should give it to them. So, though, I chastised Macy’s for its cover image, I think they did a great job with their tabs: There are customized images with calls-to-action to click on (“Win a Million!”).

Macy's did a great job with their tabs. There are customized images with calls-to-action below them.

5. Be sure to move your “Likes” tab away from the top row of tabs if you prefer that people not see your fan page stats. Just click the small tab editor button (far right of tabs) to reveal all tabs in “edit” mode; and hover over the tab to reveal the “move” tool and drag it down. The “Photos” tab is staying there for now, thanks to Facebook. You can’t move it. That tells us that Facebook loves it when you use photos. In a future post, I’ll share my strategy for how you can get more engagement with the use of photos and videos.

6.  Create “Milestones” for your company in your new fan page.  A Milestone is in your status box. I added a red arrow to this image:

Next: click on “Milestone” and follow the simple instructions. Create a Milestone for when your company was founded; for when you opened a new location; for when you had an A-ha! moment and implemented a new product…the sky’s the limit but you should make sure they are important events that happened in the history of your company. You should be doing a few of these now, before Facebook switches over.

7. As the user of a fan page, you can now send messages to the fan page:

8. HOT SEO Tip: In the “Company” section: use keywords that describe what you do and include a link to your website or blog:

That’s really all you need to know about your NEW Facebook fan page for now. In the future, I’ll write more about the strategy of the types of posts you should be creating every day, several times a day to reach and connect with your community of fans, friends and followers. Just remember that you’re building a community. It takes time to build relationships. Serve your fans with solutions that help them become successful.

I get the feeling that Facebook wants us to be more visual with our branding, rather than mostly conversational. Not that they didn’t allow it before. But now, with the NEW Facebook Business Page replacing your current one on March 30th, you can post a dramatic cover image and stunning photos of your products and people in your posts. No more tiny thumbnails. Plus, you can track milestones of your company, which builds credibility. Video and other content can be featured, stretching across the two columns in your Timeline, making for a dramatic, interactive page. Think: Pinterest meets Facebook meets YouTube, with a little bit of Tumblr. It smells like design in here!

Notice the strategy that American Express used in this simple post:

Feature a video on your new Facebook Business page. Really grabs your attention.

Get Ready Now by Thinking About Your Strategy

Study the examples below and think about YOUR strategy. If you own a restaurant: your cover image is a no brainer: choose a professional close-up photo of your most popular food item on the menu or capture a happy group of customers chowing down on their delicious, juicy burgers. If you’re a consultant, speaker or business coach, consider your branding carefully, just as you would for your header image of your website or if you were to have a billboard. Here’s where the talent of a great designer comes in. Be sure you work with an experienced one.

Place your logo in the lower left picture area  to mark your territory.  In the example below, Coca-Cola placed its Coke bottle there. The “Like” button is right below the right side of your cover image for new visitors to be come fans. Take a look at how Coca-Cola made sure you knew you were on their page. The name “Coca-Cola” is in the cover image  (the prime screen real estate: the upper area of the page–three times. It’s below the cover image; in the avatar (the label on the bottle) and in the “About” section.

Here’s what you need to know to get ready

• Instead of the row of thumbnail photos along the top of the page (the “ribbon”), you’ll have one cover image. Use this section to brand your page with either a stunning photograph that makes your fans emotionally connect with your brand or go a slightly different direction for your cover image and think: billboard message by adding your company name and tagline on the photo or a message that underscores a key benefit of hiring your company or patronizing your place of business. Here’s when you need to hire a professional, experienced designer who knows branding and marketing. Just like you would for the design of your business card; your web design and other branding for your company.
• Your logo or picture of your face can go in the lower square area. This is your avatar. If you brand with your face, put your professional headshot photo there. If you want to use that spot to brand with your logo, go ahead. See how Starbucks put its icon image as its avatar in the image below? See the dramatic professionally photographed coffee beans? You can practically smell the coffee.
• Think of this area of your business page as the billboard of your brand. The less said, the better. Let the image or a few words do the talking.

Ford Mustang

See how clever Ford Mustang was in strategically designing the cover image so that the avatar appears over the grill of the Mustang. The avatar is the Mustang  grill ornament.

Ford Mustang designed an interesting cover image by using the Mustang as its avatar, which is placed over the grill in the cover image.

Highlight what matters

The first post on your page can be a place where you’ve pinned an important message. For instance, if you’re hosting a networking event, you can promote it in this area and link to a registration page that’s on your website or EventBrite or Meetup page.

Tabs can be found under the “Timeline” button

Tabs and Apps can be found under the Timeline button.

If you’re a graphic artist or web designer, it’s a great time to capitalize on Facebook’s changeover because all those Fan pages need branded cover images and strategy for getting  clients up and running in their new “uniform”: the NEW Facebook Business page: a Timeline of your brand.

You could almost think of your business Timeline as an online scrapbook of your company but with customers getting to express their opinions about your brand and ask questions within the pages of your scrapbook.  Facebook’s Business Timeline has a much more organic and growing feeling to it than the old fan page. I love it. What do you think of it?

Mobile Internet search is growing out of this world. With mobile- local search on the rise,  increasing by 50% each year, smartphone users are proving they are driving the economy. The businesses being found in Local Search are harvesting big returns on the relatively small investment of having a mobile website in place.   Nine out of ten smartphone users search locally for a product or service; and 88% of THOSE people call the business THAT same day.

Can you say Op-OR-tune-ity?

Three things to keep in mind when venturing into mobile marketing:

1. Your brand is being hunted. Think like your hunter. Your hunter is your smartphone user in search of your service or product. She is focused on finding you. She is READY TO BUY. Right now. Your job is to be found so she can call you.
2. Your local hunter will call you today if he finds you today AND if your website is thumb-friendly with large buttons and in-your-face-calls-to-action.  With a mobile-friendly website, your phone number shows up on the smartphone, ready to be used. I call this: click-to-call marketing.
3. Mobile hunters prowl at night. A study by Google showed that tablet and mobile phone usage “spiked” in the evening as people settled in front of the TV or just settled down in bed.

Create your mobile strategy within this first quarter of the year –even if it’s simply to get a mobile version of your website in place, you’ll be way ahead of your competition.  You’ll be the brand that’s found AND called in the same day. That could be tomorrow. Don’t wait.

Infographic by Skyrkt.com

If you’re frustrated because you’ve invested a good chunk of money into your website but your brand is invisible online and your customers can’t find you, today’s newsletter is just for you.

I have included links to the blog posts I’ve written regarding these topics, so you can read more valuable visibility tips. When you start using my top 10 tips for increasing your online visibility, you’ll soon notice a jump in website traffic and get that phone ringing more.

Top 10 Online Visibility Tips

1. Get found in local search. If you own a retail business or other type of business that relies on local “feet” getting in the door or on the local community calling you for your locally-based services, then the first thing you should do is get found in Local Search – on the maps in Google, Bing and Yelp. Go claim your free accounts there and start scheduling a few minutes per day to check in on them and if someone has posted a review, be sure to respond immediately and in an appropriate manner – in the same way you would (or better!) in person. The whole world is watching. Well… at least your corner of the world is watching, locally.Lifeline: read this first, before you set up and start managing your Local Search listings: How To Build a Positive Online Reputation.
2. Get your face on Facebook. Facebook is now as big as the 3rd largest country in the world, if it were a country.  Facebook ain’t going away, folks. If you’ve resisted its powers so far, don’t wait any longer. Remember the days when, if you didn’t have a website, people wondered why? Well, now that same type of thinking applies if you don’t have a Facebook Fan Page for your business. Before you begin building a community in Facebook, educate yourself and formulate a strategy and goal; be consistent in your presence (show up daily, at least once per day or more, depending on how quickly you want to build interaction with your fans).  Facebook Fan Pages can be optimized to show up in Google when people search by keywords. Lifeline: You can always post questions on my Facebook Fan Page and I will answer them.
3. Social Search Optimization (what I USED to call “Search Engine Optimization” or SEO) is critical to your Online Visibility. Without search-friendly pages in your website or blog, you are invisible, especially if you are avoiding Tips 1 and 2, above. Lifeline: There are lots of articles on my blog if you want to find out the latest things that Google is up to Start with this one, about the “Farmer” Algorithm. 
4. Claim your Yelp and Trip Advisor pages by creating your free accounts there and filling in your business information, then start investing five minutes a day to manage your reputation. How would you like it if someone wrote a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, complaining about bad service or some other negative experience about your business? Online reviews are more powerful than a published letter in your newspaper because more and more people are learning to check out online reviews before they spend their money. Lifeline: For more about this important online reputation subject, read my blog post: How to Build a Positive Online Reputation. 
5. Google+ Profile and Google+ Business Page: When you search in Google for information about a service or product or whatever, you can now start a conversation with someone in your Google+ social network about whatever you’re searching for. Need I say more?  Think about that.
6. Pin your interests on Pinterest. There’s a new kid on the block and she’s giving Google a run for its money: Pinterest.com (pin-te-rest) is a virtual bulletin board - the kind of bulletin board that hangs on your wall at home, with cut-out pictures of things you want to get and postcards of places you’d like to go. That’s what Pinterest is, except that you can have several boards, each centering around one of your interests and your followers can see what you’re pinning to your boards. Here’s the kicker: Pinterest pages are bringing more traffic to my website and blog than Google and Facebook. And you can attract traffic to your blog or website when you pin pictures from it. As of this writing, Pinterest is so popular that the site has been up and down, which reminds me of the early days of Twitter. They need to fix their servers to accomodate their explosive growth. Be patient if you can’t access it for a few days, I’m sure they’ll fix it. If you need an invitation, I’ve got some left. Email me at: lori@dagamawebstudio.com and I’ll invite you. I’ll have another update on Pinterest in a couple more days for you. Lifeline: Read this post: Pin Your Interests On Pinterest.
7. Mobile-ize your website. By having a mobile version of your webiste, (one that’s “thumb-friendly”), you’ll significantly increase your chances of gaining new business because only a tiny percentage of small business owners have mobile websites. When your local customers whip out their smartphones to find a local service or product, 88% of them will contact the business they find on that same day. Lifeline: Here’s more information about how to mobilize your website.
8. Regularly participate in groups: in Facebook or LinkedIn or in Tweet Chats – or all three – as long as you consistently show up with a goal and valuable information to the group, you’ll begin to build Visibility, then Credibility and then Profitablility. Lifeline: here are a few I recommend: #LinkedInChat with Viveka Von Rosen; #Blogchat with Mack Collier; #SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson.
9. Join a membership site or networking site where social media experts hang out and help you. In addition to running my own business, I am part of SocialMediaBizSchool.com and we help busy small business owners figure out how to use social and digital media to grow business for a reasonable monthly fee. Lifeline: You can try us out for $7 for two weeks. We have a closed Facebook Group in which members can ask questions of us any time and we trainers are online so much that we usually answer your questions quickly. You get access to Viveka Von Rosen, the LinkedIn Expert; Denise Wakeman, the Blog Expert; Andrea Vahl, the Facebook Expert; Lou Bortone, the Video Marketing Expert; and me, Lori Gama, the Twitter Expert. We’re all social media consultants and we’re each focusing on one area in order to bring you a concentrated dose of each social network.
10. In-person networking. Surprise! Yes, in-person networking is CRITICAL to your business revenue and your credibility as an expert at what you do. If you aren’t out there, visible in your local community, meeting people in person, allowing them to get to know you, see your smile, feel the firmness of your handshake and listen to them explain their challenges and successes, you’re not going to grow very quickly. Check out Meetup.com and do a Google search for “business women (fill in your city)” and “business men (fill in your city)” and “business networking”; check out your local Chambers of Commerce. Here in Colorado, I recommend these groups: Loveland Chamber of Commerce; WDCColorado.org;  Northern Colorado Women In Business: (NorCOWIB) and Colorado Women of Influence (CWOI). Don’t forget to check out your community’s non-profits, as they are always in need of volunteers and board members. By doing this, you help your community, as well as get to know a smaller group of people to network with, who are usually the decision-makers of their companies.

    What do you think of these tips? What are some of the ways you are working on increasing your Online Visibility? Tell us in the comments below.

• Its innovative design (though DaGama Web Studio created a somewhat similar style way back in 2008 for our client The Buzz Coffee and Yogurt – check it out here).
• Its a social network that’s more visual than verbal. No need to write much. You’re just collecting images; pinning them to virtual boards and checking out your friends’ boards and liking them and/or re-pinning their images.
• It’s becoming the top referral of traffic to your website or blog – even beating out Google and Facebook.
• 97% of Pinterest’s Facebook fans are women
• 1/5 of Facebook-connected users are on Pinterest daily, which is 2,000,000 members
  Take a look at this great infographic about Pinterest for more interesting data.

Here’s the kicker: Pinterest pages are bringing more traffic to my website and blog than Google and Facebook. You can attract traffic to your blog or website when you pin pictures from it onto your own Pinterest boards and when you add the Pin It button code (see mine at the end of this post).

As of this writing, Pinterest is so popular that the site has been up and down, which reminds me of the early days of Twitter. (Pinterest needs to fix their servers to accomodate their explosive growth. Be patient if you can’t access it for a few days, I’m sure they’ll fix it.)

Even though Pinterest is bringing more traffic to my website than Google and Facebook (check your Google Analytics and if you’ve been using Pinterest, probably the same is true for you) and I do recommend you start your own profile there, you should know that Pinterest is profiting from any pins that have affiliate links.

Is this a big deal?

Eh.

Maybe to some people it is a big deal that Pinterest did not disclose this information up front and now their shiny image is a little tarnished. There is somewhat of a backlash brewing about this, amongst some bloggers but when all is said and done, I think most Pinterest users won’t care.

LLSocial Has Two Good Posts You Should Read, If You Care About Pinterest Modifying Affiliate Links

LLSocial wrote a post that blew the whistle on Pinterest’s use of Skimlinks, which is a website that allows you to modify affiliate links or insert affiliate links.  LLSocial wrote a follow-up story because its first story got 35,000 page views and was cited as the source in some high-profile websites, including the New York Times, CBS News and Mashable. 

I find Pinterest particularly powerful when I combine it with Tweets and Facebook posts. Powerful, in the sense that, my brand gets more attention than usual. For example, I tweeted about an infographic that Brian Solis and his team created a few years ago and how it is still valid/ahead of its time. The link in the Tweet went to my Pinterest board of infographics. Brian re-tweeted my Tweet. Robert Scoble (Scobleizer) favorited my Tweet and I got a bunch of new, valuable, engaged followers in Twitter because of that one Tweet. (Thank you Brian and Robert!) Was it because of my using the Pinterest link in my Tweet or was it because I made a good point about Brian’s infographic (still valid/ahead of its time) or both? Not sure yet…

Pinterest is so knew that we are all still learning

I have to do more experimenting before I know for sure if injecting Pinterest juice into my Tweets is good strategy for growing my engaged followers in Twitter. First time out the gate, it worked.

Here is my Pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/lorigama/

Bottomline: Like with any new thing you’re considering using to promote your brand:

1. Do some thinking about your strategy with Pinterest
2. Have a goal
3. Have fun with it and you’ll attract new fans who will naturally begin to like you and trust you and become part of your tribe.

If you need an invitation, I’ve got some left. Fill out my contact form and provide your email address and I’ll invite you. I’ll have another update on Pinterest in a couple more days for you.

How are YOU using Pinterest? For business? Or pleasure? Or both? Leave a comment, you know I love it when you do that. Pin It

• 80% of companies use social media for recruitment and 95% of them use LinkedIn.
• If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 3rd largest country, behind China and India.
• Users accessing Facebook through their mobile phones grew by 200% from 2011-2012
• 53% of employers use research potential job candidates in social networks
• 3500 images are uploaded to Flickr per minute

What are some of your favorite stats from this infographic? Comments are much appreciated.

Source: The Growth of Social Media: An Infographic

There’s a tool that exists that’s an absolutely HUGE opportunity for you to get found by your local customers and you probably already own this tool: your smartphone. More importantly, your “probable” customers most likely own a smartphone.  With 95% of smartphone users searching for local businesses on their phones and with 88% of these consumers taking action within the day of their search, you simply must have a mobile-friendly version of your website.

My hunch is that most of these local searchers take action RIGHT AWAY, rather than later within the day. If you don’t have a mobile website that’s thumb-friendly and has a “Call Now” button, you’re missing out on revenue. (Note: I think this is SO critical to your success that I’ve added on Mobile Websites as a new service at DaGama Web Studio.)

I was shocked when I read those statistics. I knew it must be high but 95% is practically all of your probable customers! Read on, below, if you’d like to learn how you can do some do-it-yourself (DIY) action steps to take control of what people say about you in local search results  - your “probable” customers are reading those online consumer reviews and basing their decisions on them as to whether or not to do business with you.

Take Control of What People Say About Your Business Online

Now, because of Google Places and Yelp, it’s much easier for you to take control and manage what your customers say about you online. This is part of your Online Reputation(read more about that in my blog post: How To Build a Positive Online Reputation).

Google Places

You can do lots of things in your Google Places listing that will ultimately impact your revenue in a positive way. Simply by taking control of it might give you an edge over your competitors if they haven’t done so already with their Google Places listings. You can post photos and videos and add categories that your services should be listed under and you can list your hours of operation. When you, the owner, log into your Google Places account, you can view the statistics there that will help you improve your listing, such as what search queries people have used to find your listing. Think of your Google Places listing as one of your most valuable tools in increasing your revenue. It’s another way to compete in today’s market. Go to Google Places now and claim your business. (Let me know if you need help.)

CAUTION: If you’re a home-based business and don’t have a virtual or remote office address, you might not want to post your home address as your place of business. Be careful.

Yelp

Have you heard of Yelp? Yelp is another website where consumers can create a free account and post their reviews of places they’ve spent their money in, such as restaurants, beauty salons, auto mechanics – and so on. You, the business owner, should claim your Yelp account (it’s free) so you can take control of it. When someone posts a positive review, you should thank them. I recommend giving that person some sort of gift to thank them AFTER they have posted a positive review. You can’t do it beforehand, because that violates Yelp’s policy of “no bribing”. And if someone posts a negative or “so-so” type of review, you can respond just as you would if they had called you (your response is seen by your probable customers so be extra nice and helpful). Online consumer reviews are becoming more and more popular because people don’t want to waste their money on a place that doesn’t return on the investment with good service and good products. In fact, A Lightspeed Research survey discovered that after reading just two negative reviewsabout a company, consumers won’t bother doing business with that company, no matter that two total strangers posted those reviews.